If you warn the wicked, and he does not turn from his wickedness, or from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity: If, on the other hand, Ezekiel warns the bad people that God will punish them and they do not repent from their bad living, then God will punish them in the same way as he punished the others. They too will die because of their sins. The only difference is that Ezekiel has given the warning. His wickedness and his wicked way refer to evil lives of the bad people.

But you will have saved your life: If Ezekiel warns the bad people, even if they don’t repent, God will not hold him responsible for their deaths. This clause may be rendered “but you will have saved yourself” (New International Version, International Children’s Bible, New English Bible), “but you will have saved your own life” (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh), “and you will be innocent” (Contemporary English Version), or “but I will not hold you responsible for his death.” New King James Version says “but you have delivered your soul” (similarly King James Version). It is misleading to translate the Hebrew word nefesh rendered life as “soul,” because this word does not mean the same thing as “soul” in Christian theology. Here it clearly refers to a person’s life.

The Hebrew language has a number of different words for “sin.” Four of them are used in verses 18-21 . The word translated wicked or wickedness in verses 18-19 suggests something evil in the character of people; they are naturally bad. They do not respect God and they deliberately break the rules of the covenant. Similarly, the two words translated iniquity in verses 18-20 have the sense of crooked character. They are very strong terms for “sin.” But the word translated “sin” in verses 20-21 refers to a mistake, an occasional wrongdoing, missing the mark like an arrow missing the target. Some translations make no distinction among these words (so Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version, New Century Version). Many languages may find it difficult to to distinguish among these different words for “sin,” but translators should try to do so if possible. In the models below, wicked is rendered as “bad” or “evil,” iniquity as “sin,” and “sin” as “mistake” or “do something wrong.”

A model for verses 18-19 is:

• 18 When I say to a bad person, ‘You will surely die,’ you must warn him so he can repent and stay alive. If you don’t speak out to warn him to stop his bad living, he will die because of his sin. But I will hold you responsible for his death. 19 But if you warn the bad person and he does not repent of his evil and bad living, he will die because of his sin. But, because you warned him, I will not hold you responsible for his death.

In verses 18-19 the Hebrew uses the masculine singular (for example, “that wicked man”) to describe the sinful people. It does not refer only to males, but to wicked people in general, both men and women. This is called the generic use of the masculine. In translation it is important to reflect this inclusive sense by the choice of appropriate terms that do not restrict the passage to men only. This is the reason why inclusive plurals are used in the discussion, even though the model retains the singular. Those languages with gender-inclusive pronouns may retain the singular throughout. Translators can avoid the problem in languages such as English by using the plural, for example, “wicked people,” “they” and “them.”

Quoted with permission from Gross, Carl & Stine, Philip C. A Handbook on Ezekiel. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2016. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .