The Pulpit Commentary - Deuteronomy 24:16-18
Public justice to be pure. Unseen principles of justice lie at the foundation of human society, and if rottenness and decay appear in these foundations, the social structure will soon topple and fall. Visible prosperity is built upon invisible justice. In the absence of justice, property becomes untenable, commerce vanishes, peace spreads her wings for flight. "If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?" I. THE MAGISTRATE 'S TEMPTATION . Human nature, at its... read more
The Pulpit Commentary - Deuteronomy 24:16
Responsibility not to be transferred according to human caprice. We desire to notice this interesting direction. It is a contrast to the second commandment. There, God represents himself as "visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children." We see it also in the law of heredity operating in nature. But it is a weapon which God retains in his own hand. We may for wise purposes treat men in the lump, and blend in common consequences the innocent and guilty. But man in his judgments... read more