Ezekiel 18:7 - Exposition

Hath restored to the debtor his pledge. The law, found in Exodus 22:1-31 .25 and Deuteronomy 24:6 , Deuteronomy 24:13 , was a striking instance of the considerateness of the Mosaic Law. The garment which the debtor had pledged as a security was to be restored to him at night. Such a law implied, of course, the return of the pledge in the morning. It was probably often used by the debtor for his own fraudulent advantage, and it was a natural consequence that the creditor should be tempted to evade compliance with it. The excellence of the man whom Ezekiel describes was that he resisted the temptation. Hath spoiled none by violence. Comp. Le Ezekiel 6:1-5 , which Ezekiel probably had specially in view. The sin, common enough at all times ( 1 Samuel 12:3 ), would seem to have been specially characteristic of the time in which Ezekiel lived, from the king downwards ( Jeremiah 22:13 ). As contrasted with the sin, there was the virtue of generous almsgiving ( Isaiah 58:5-7 ).