Ezekiel 18:2

Translations

Modern

“What do you people mean by quoting this proverb about the land of Israel: ‘The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the teeth of the children are set on edge’?

Traditional

What mean ye, that ye use this proverb concerning the land of Israel, saying, The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge?

Literal

“What is it to you that you are quoting this proverb concerning the land of Israel, saying, ‘The fathers eat sour grapes, and the teeth of the sons are set on edge’?

Latin

Quid est quod inter vos parabolam vertitis in proverbium istud in terra Israël, dicentes: Patres comederunt uvam acerbam, et dentes filiorum obstupescunt?

Original

Hebrew

English

“What do you people mean by quoting this proverb about the land of Israel: ‘The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the teeth of the children are set on edge’?

Notes

Ezekiel 18:1–2

The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the teeth of the children are set on edge: The people were repeating a proverb. This meant that innocent children sometimes suffer for their parents’ actions.

In Ezekiel’s time, the people used this saying to make a complaint. They believed that their ancestors had committed the sins that caused the exile. They thought they were suffering for sins they did not commit (compare Lamentations 5:7).

Ezekiel 15:1–24:14

This section includes eight metaphors, each showing from a different angle the certainty of Jerusalem's upcoming judgment. The images are of:

a worthless vine (Ezekiel 15);
a faithless wife (Ezekiel 16);
a vine and two eagles (Ezekiel 17);
Sour grapes (Ezekiel 18);
a lion and her cubs (Ezekiel 19);
a sword (Ezekiel 21);
two corrupt sisters (Ezekiel 23); and
a cooking pot (Ezekiel 24).

Events

Prophecies of Ezekielc. 593 BC

Related verses

Jeremiah 31:29–30
“In those days, it will no longer be said: ‘The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the teeth of the children are set on edge.’
Lamentations 5:7
Our fathers sinned and are no more, but we bear their punishment.
Ezekiel 37:19
…you are to tell them that this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel associated with him, and I will put them together with the stick of Judah. I will make them into a single stick, and they will become one in My hand.’
Ezekiel 37:11
Then He said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Look, they are saying, ‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope has perished; we are cut off.’
Isaiah 3:15
Why do you crush My people and grind the faces of the poor?” declares the Lord GOD of Hosts.
Ezekiel 17:12
“Now say to this rebellious house: ‘Do you not know what these things mean?’ Tell them, ‘Behold, the king of Babylon came to Jerusalem, carried off its king and officials, and brought them back with him to Babylon.
Ezekiel 37:25
They will live in the land that I gave to My servant Jacob, where your fathers lived. They will live there forever with their children and grandchildren, and My servant David will be their prince forever.
Ezekiel 25:3
Tell the Ammonites to hear the word of the Lord GOD, for this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Because you exclaimed, “Aha!” when My sanctuary was profaned, when the land of Israel was laid waste, and when the house of Judah went into exile,
Romans 9:20
But who are you, O man, to talk back to God? Shall what is formed say to Him who formed it, “Why did You make me like this?”
Matthew 23:36
Truly I tell you, all these things will come upon this generation.
Jeremiah 15:4
I will make them a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth because of what Manasseh son of Hezekiah king of Judah did in Jerusalem.
Ezekiel 6:2–3
“Son of man, set your face against the mountains of Israel and prophesy against them.

People

Israel: Patriarch, son of Isaac, father of twelve tribes

Glossary

Ezekiel, Book of Proverbs, Book of Sin

Topics

Children: Not Punished for Parents' Sake Grape: Proverb of Grapes Heredity: General Scriptures Concerning Infidelity: General Scriptures Concerning Proverbs: Miscellany of Punishment: Entailed: Upon Children Responsibility: According to Privilege The Vine: Proverbial Allusion to Fathers Eating the Unripe Fruit of

Ezekiel 18:2

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