Would children be punished because of their father's sins?

[tonychanyt]

1. Would children be punished because of their father's sins?
   
   1. God reserved his right to punish multiple generations of the Israelites for their idolatry. Deuteronomy 5:

2. 8“‘You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. 9 You shall not bow down to them or serve them; for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, 10 but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.

   The above applied only to the Israelites when their fathers turned to idolatry, as the following will clarify:
   
   2. In terms of the civil code, Israelite judges were not allowed to deal out such punishment, Deuteronomy 24:
   
   

   16“Fathers shall not be put to death because of their children, nor shall children be put to death because of their fathers. Each one shall be put to death for his own sin.

   3. In terms of the death penalty, Ezekiel 18:
   
   

   4 For everyone belongs to me, the parent as well as the child—both alike belong to me. The one who sins is the one who will die.

   It could be physical death or eternal death. Each person is responsible for his own sins. Your father's sins will not condemn you to hell.
   
   Would children be punished because of their father's sins?
   
   No, by the civic code, children were not to be punished for their father's crimes.
   
   No, children were not condemned to eternal death for their father's sins.
   
   Children were punished indirectly by the environment that their fathers had generated.
   
   Jeremiah 31:
   
   

   29 In those days they shall no longer say:
   “‘The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge.’
   30 But everyone shall die for his own iniquity. Each man who eats sour grapes, his teeth shall be set on edge.

 

[AlexB23]

1. God reserved his right to punish multiple generations of the Israelites, Deuteronomy 5:

The Hebrew keyword is visiting, not necessarily punishing. For example, the descendants of Adam and Eve did experience the negative natural/physical consequences of their parents' sins. See also My take on Original Sin.

2. In terms of the civil code, Israelite judges were not allowed to deal out such punishment, Deuteronomy 24:


3. In terms of the death penalty, Ezekiel 18:


It could be physical death or eternal death.



This chapter hints at the judgment of eternal life in the NT. This means that the descendants of Adam and Eve will be judged individually by their sins. Regarding eternal judgment, each person is responsible for his own sins. Your father's sins will not condemn you to eternality.

Jeremiah also alluded to eternal judgment in chapter 31:


These are three different kinds of judgments.

Would children be punished because of their father's sins?

No, by the civic code, children were not to be punished for their father's crimes.

No, children were not condemned to eternal death for their father's sins.

Children were punished indirectly by the environment that their fathers had generated.

I threw 2nd Kings into the mix as well, as well as the verses that you posted. According to the Bible, children are not inherently punished for their fathers' sins. Here are some biblical verses that support this:

1. Ezekiel 18:20 - "The soul who sins shall die. The son shall not suffer for the iniquity of the father, nor the father suffer for the iniquity of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself."
2. 2 Kings 14:5-6 - "And as soon as the royal power was firmly in his hand, he struck down his servants who had struck down the king his father. But he did not put to death the children of the murderers, according to what is written in the Book of the Law of Moses, where the Lord commanded, “Fathers shall not be put to death because of their children, nor shall children be put to death because of their fathers. But each one shall die for his own sin.”"
3. Jeremiah 31:29-30 - "In those days they shall say no more, 'The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge.' But every one shall die for his own iniquity. Each man who eats sour grapes, his own teeth shall be set on edge."

These verses make it clear that individuals are responsible for their own sins and will not be punished because of the sins of their ancestors. Children are not inherently rewarded or punished based on their father's actions.

 

[returntosender]

You mean like the diseases we inherit from our parents, as in the propensity to?