Are Children Punished for Parents Sins

Points of Dispute

These are some of the central points of dispute (נקודות המחלוקת) between the various commentators:

• Are the Parents Punished for Their Own Sins?
  • Yes – Bavli Makkot, Bemidbar Rabbah, Rambam, Radak, Ralbag, R"Y Nachmias, Ohev Ger, R. Reggio, Hoil Moshe
  • Partially (distributed punishment) – Akeidat Yitzchak
  • Only if their descendants sin – Pesikta DeRav Kahana, Mishnat R. Eliezer 2nd possibility, R. Saadia
  • Only if their descendants are righteous – R. Yisrael b. Yosef
  • No – Mekhilta DeRashbi, Ibn Ezra, R"Y Bekhor Shor, Ramban, Meiri, Seforno
• Types of Sins
  • All – Most commentators
  • Capital crimes – Akeidat Yitzchak
  • Idolatry – Mekhilta DeRabbi Yishmael, Rashi, Rambam, Radak, R. Avraham b. HaRambam, Ramban, R"Y Nachmias, Abarbanel
• Nature of the Punishment
  • All – Most commentators
  • Light punishment – Shadal
  • Death – R. Astruc
  • Wiping out blood line – Pesikta DeRav Kahana, Rashbam, Ibn Ezra, R"Y Bekhor Shor, Rambam, Ramban, Seforno, HaMeamer
• "פֹּקֵדַעֲוֹןַאָּבוֹת" – Mercy or Vengeance?
  • Mercy – Mekhilta DeRashbi, Pesikta DeRav Kahana, Mishnat R. Eliezer, Ibn Ezra, R"Y Bekhor Shor, Shadal
  • Vengeance – Rambam, Radak, R. Yosef Nachmias, Malbim, HaMeamer, Cassuto
  • Both – R. Saadia Gaon, Ibn Kaspi, Akeidat Yitzchak
  • Neither (Natural Order) – Ralbag, Hoil Moshe
• Adult Progeny or Minors
  • Even innocent adult children – Avot DeRabbi Natan, Mishnat R. Eliezer 1st possibility, Rambam
  • Just innocent minors – R. Astruc
  • Guilty adults + innocent minors – Radak, R"Y Nachmias
• Personal Reward and Punishment
  • Even in this world – Radak, R"Y Nachmias
  • Only in the World to Come – R. Saadia Emunot veDeiot, R. Meir Wolf, R. D"Z Hoffmann
  • After Resurrection – R. Shelomo Astruc
• Individual or National?
  • Individual only –
  • National only – Cassuto
  • Both – Radak, Ralbag, Akeidat Yitzchak, Hoil Moshe
• Vayikra 20:5
  • Innocent adult children – R. Meir Wolf
  • Guilty family members – Sifra, Bavli Shevuot, Targum Pseudo-Jonathan, Rashi, Ralbag, Malbim
  • Minors –
  • Non-family accomplices – Targum Onkelos, R"Y Bekhor Shor, R. Reggio
• Confessing Sins of Parents
  • Sins of parents only – Shadal
  • Sins of children continued their parents – Sifra, Bavli Sanhedrin, Targum Onkelos, Targum Pseudo-Jonathan, Rashi, Ralbag
  • Sins of children only – Ohev Ger
• Immediate Recompense in Devarim 7:10
  • Sinner rewarded so will be punished in the World to Come – Targum Onkelos, Targum Pseudo-Jonathan, R. Saadia Gaon, Rashi
  • Sinner punished – Rashbam, Ibn Ezra, Radak and R"Y Nachmias
  • Sinner witness punishment of his descendants – R. D"Z Hoffmann
• Individual Punishment in Devarim 24:16
  • Human courts – R. Saadia, Rashbam, Ibn Ezra, Radak, R. Avraham b. HaRambam, Ralbag, Ibn Kaspi, Shadal
  • Divine punishment – Bavli, Pesikta DeRav Kahana, Bemidbar Rabbah
  • Divine punishment when children follow path of parents – R"Y Bekhor Shor
• Nation's Claim in Yechezkel 18
  • Righteous are punished for sins of others – R"E of Beaugency 1st interpretation, Radak, Ibn Kaspi
  • No reason not to sin as sinners go unpunished – Rashi, R. Yosef Kara, R"E of Beaugency
  • No point in repenting, as it will not help – Shadal
• Prophecy of Yirmeyahu 31 and Yechezkel 18
  • Nation will recognize their sins and the opportunity to repent – Ibn Kaspi, Hoil Moshe
  • Nation will no longer sin – Radak, Malbim
  • Individual justice in the time of redemption –
  • Individual justice in the World to Come – R. Saadia
• "פֹּקֵד"
  • Remember – Ibn Ezra, R"Y Bekhor Shor
  • Avenge – Targum Onkelos, Targum Pseudo-Jonathan, Ramban
  • Store up – R. Yehuda in Mekhilta DeRashbi, Mishnat R. Eliezer 2nd possibility, R. Saadia according to R"Y Nachmias's first possibility
  • Reduce – R. Saadia according to R"Y Nachmias's second possibility
• "ע לַבָּּנִיםַע לַשִלֵשִיםַוְע לַרִ בֵּעִים"
  • Only the first is punished if all are wicked – Mishnat R. Eliezer 2nd possibility
  • Only the fourth – Mekhilta DeRashbi, Ibn Ezra, R"Y Bekhor Shor
  • Either the second, third, or fourth – Ramban, Seforno
  • All four (the duration of the sinner's lifetime) – Rambam, R"Y Nachmias, Akeidat Yitzchak, Abarbanel, HaMeamer, R. Reggio, Hoil Moshe
  • Many generations (round number) – Ibn Kaspi
  • Forever – R. Yishmael b. Yosef
• "לְשֹּנְאָּיַ"
  • Parents – Ibn Kaspi, Shadal, R. D"Z Hoffmann
  • Children – Rashi, Rashbam
  • Both – perhaps Ibn Ezra and R"Y Nachmias
• "וְעֹּשֶהַחֶסֶדַל אֲלָּפִיםַלְאֹּהֲב יַ"
  • Even if they sin – Cassuto
  • All non-idolaters – Radak, R"Y Nachmias
  • Only if they are also righteous – Ibn Ezra, R"Y Bekhor Shor, Radak, R"Y Nachmias, Shadal
  • Distributed – Akeidat Yitzchak
  • To all righteous people forever (unconnected to merits of Patriarchs or ancestors) – R. Reggio

Are Children Punished for Parents' Sins? Related Topics

• Four Generations of Egyptian Exile
  • Canaanites punished because no hope for repentance – R"Y Bekhor Shor
  • Canaanites punished for sins of parents – Rashbam, Ramban, Seforno
  • Israelites punished for sins of parents – Abarbanel
• Datan and Aviram
  • Innocent adult children –
  • Guilty adult children – Ralbag, R. Reggio
  • Minors – Tanchuma, Rashi, R. Aharon b. Meshulam, R. Astruc
• Who is killed in the עיר הנדחת?
  • Innocent adult children – Rambam Moreh Nevukhim, R. D"Z Hoffmann
  • Minors – Rambam Mishneh Torah, Ralbag
  • Only guilty adult children – Abba Chanan in Sifre Devarim, Ramah, R. Shimshon of Sens, Ramban
• Akhan
  • Innocent adult children – simple reading
  • Minors – Radak
  • Special Divine command – Hoil Moshe
  • Guilty adult children – Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer, Radak, Hoil Moshe
  • No children (only Akhan) – Bavli Sanhedrin, Rashi, Ralbag
• Shaul's Descendants and the Givonim
  • Innocent adult children – simple reading
  • Special Divine command – Ramah, Radak
  • Adult children abetted crime – R. Saadia
  • Adult children continued parents' ways – Radak
• Geichazi
  • Innocent adult children – simple reading
  • Guilty adult children – Radak, Hoil Moshe
• Promise to Yehu
  • Reward – Ibn Kaspi
  • Punishment – Mekhilta DeRashbi, R"Y Bekhor Shor
• Menashe
  • Punished for own sins – Radak
  • Not punished for own sins – Mishnat R. Eliezer 2nd possibility, R"E of Beaugency, Ibn Kaspi