Ezekiel 18:2

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

Ezekiel 18:2 in Other Translations

King James Version (KJV)
2 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?
English Standard Version (ESV)
2 "What do you mean by repeating this proverb concerning the land of Israel, 'The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge'?
New Living Translation (NLT)
2 “Why do you quote this proverb concerning the land of Israel: ‘The parents have eaten sour grapes, but their children’s mouths pucker at the taste’?
The Message Bible (MSG)
2 "What do you people mean by going around the country repeating the saying, The parents ate green apples, The children got stomachache?
American Standard Version (ASV)
2 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?
GOD'S WORD Translation (GW)
2 "What do you mean when you use this proverb about the land of Israel: 'Fathers have eaten sour grapes, and their children's teeth are set on edge'?
Holman Christian Standard Bible (CSB)
2 "What do you mean by using this proverb concerning the land of Israel: The fathers eat sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge?
New International Reader's Version (NIRV)
2 "You people have a proverb about the land of Israel. What do you mean by it? It says, " 'The parents eat sour grapes. But the children have a bitter taste in their mouths.'

Ezekiel 18:2 Meaning and Commentary

Ezekiel 18:2

What mean ye, that ye use this proverb concerning the land of
Israel
This is spoken to the Jews in Babylon, who used the following proverb concerning the land of Israel; not the ten tribes, but the two tribes of Judah and Benjamin, concerning the desolation of the land, and the hardships the Jews laboured under, since the captivity of Jeconiah, and they became subject to the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar: this expostulation with them suggests that they had no just cause, or true reason, to make use of the proverb; that it was impious, impudent, and insolent in them, and daring and dangerous; and that they did not surely well consider what they said. The proverb follows: saying, the fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth
are
set on edge?
that is, as the Targum explains it,

``the fathers have sinned, and the children are smitten,''
or punished, as the ten tribes for the sins of Jeroboam, and the two tribes of Judah and Benjamin for the sins of Manasseh; hereby wiping themselves clean; and as if they were innocent persons, and free from sin, and were only punished for their forefathers' sins, and so charging God with injustice and cruelty; whereas, though the Lord threatened to visit the iniquity of parents upon their children, and sometimes did so, to deter parents from sinning, lest they should entail a curse, and bring ruin upon their posterity; yet he never did this but when children followed their fathers' practices, and committed the same sins, or worse; so that this was no act of unrighteousness in God, but rather an instance of his patience and long suffering; see ( Jeremiah 31:29 Jeremiah 31:30 ) .

Ezekiel 18:2 In-Context

1 The word of the LORD came to me:
2 “What do you people mean by quoting this proverb about the land of Israel: “ ‘The parents eat sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge’?
3 “As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign LORD, you will no longer quote this proverb in Israel.
4 For everyone belongs to me, the parent as well as the child—both alike belong to me. The one who sins is the one who will die.
5 “Suppose there is a righteous man who does what is just and right.

Cross References 1

  • 1. S Job 21:19; Isaiah 3:15; Jeremiah 31:29; Lamentations 5:7
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