Essay for Deuteronomy 24:16
לֹֽא־יוּמְת֤וּ אָבוֹת֙ עַל־בָּנִ֔ים וּבָנִ֖ים לֹא־יוּמְת֣וּ עַל־אָב֑וֹת אִ֥יש בְּחֶטְא֖וֹ יוּמָֽתוּ׃ (ס)
The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, neither shall the children be put to death for the fathers; every man shall be put to death for his own sin.
The Five Books of Moses, by Everett Fox
An issue of deep concern to the exiles in Babylonia, this questioning of free will is raised a number of times in the Bible. In Ex. 22:23, God was to punish oppressors by making their “wives widows, and [their] children orphans”; Deuteronomy has toned this down by punishing the evildoer and not his or her children. Cf. Fishbane (1988) for discussion.
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