I’m trying to understand the “Watchman” passage in Ezekiel 3:16-21 (largely repeated in 33:1-9). Excerpting from 3:18-19 (ESV):
If….you give him no warning….in order to save his life (ləḥayyōtô), that wicked person shall die for his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand (dāmô mîyyādəkā ʾăbaqqēš).
But if you warn the wicked, and he does not turn from his wickedness….he shall die (yāmût) for his iniquity, but you will have delivered your soul (ʾet–napšəkā hiṣṣaltā).
I’m trying to determine whether “deliver your soul” means anything different from “save [your] life”. For some reason, each time the wicked man turns from his wickedness he “saves his life”, but the watchman, by his obedience, “delivers [his] soul”.
In the logic of the contingencies, these two don’t seem to be exactly interchangeable. They have different opposites:
- “save his life” ↔ “die”, whereas
- “deliver his soul” ↔ “his blood I will require…” .
The last I understand (mostly from looking at the more dynamic translations) to mean “I will hold you responsible for his death”. This makes me wonder whether “deliver his soul” actually means “not be held responsible [for another’s death]”.
Does “deliver your soul” mean anything different from “save your life”?
Louise Cummings
Legal or not. It won’t happen in my Church. They might be forced to build that way. But I’ll leave church and go home. And then go back to church. I live close enough to do that.
Louise Cummings
No God does not support gays. He loves them as we do and pray for them. God says it’s an abomination.
Varnel Watson
Most people do not live that close and do not have this solution
Paul Hughes
Make all restrooms single-occupant and unisex, with a lock on the door, and entryways in full public view or monitored by security cameras.
Paul Hughes
BUT women will not like that, they don’t like using a restroom that is also used by men.