New International Version
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 versions
- King James Version (KJV)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)"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 King James Version (NKJV)“What do you mean when you use this proverb concerning the land of Israel, saying: ‘The fathers have eaten sour grapes, And the children’s teeth are set on edge’?
- New Living Translation (NLT)“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’?
Context of Ezekiel 18:2
1The word of the Lord came to me: “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. 4For 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.
Read all of Ezekiel 18Ezekiel 18:2 word by word
מַה־לָּכֶ֗ם אַתֶּם֙ מֹֽשְׁלִים֙ אֶת־הַמָּשָׁ֣ל הַזֶּ֔ה עַל־אַדְמַ֥ת יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל לֵאמֹ֑ר אָבוֹת֙ יֹ֣אכְלוּ בֹ֔סֶר וְשִׁנֵּ֥י הַבָּנִ֖ים תִּקְהֶֽינָה׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- What mean ye, that ye useמָשַׁלmâshal · to use a proverbH4911
- this proverbמָשָׁלmâshâl · proverbH4912
- concerning the landאֲדָמָה'ădâmâh · land: soilH127
- of Israelיִשְׂרָאֵלyiώrâ'êl · IsraelH3478
- sayingאָמַר'âmar · to sayH559
- The fathersאָב'âb · fatherH1
- have eatenאָכַל'âkal · to eatH398
- sour grapesבֹּ֫סֶרbôser · unripe grapeH1155
- and the children’sבֵּןbên · son: childH1121
- teethשֵׁןshên · toothH8127
- are set on edgeקָהָהqâhâh · be bluntH6949
Cross-references for Ezekiel 18:2
- Ezekiel 17:12“Say to this rebellious people, ‘Do you not know what these things mean?’ Say to them: ‘The king of Babylon went to Jerusalem and carried off her king and her nobles, bringing them back with him to Babylon.
- Isaiah 3:15What do you mean by crushing my people and grinding the faces of the poor?” declares the Lord, the Lord Almighty.
- Romans 9:20But who are you, a human being, to talk back to God? “Shall what is formed say to the one who formed it, ‘Why did you make me like this?’ ”
- Ezekiel 6:2“Son of man, set your face against the mountains of Israel; prophesy against them
- Ezekiel 7:2“Son of man, this is what the Sovereign Lord says to the land of Israel: “ ‘The end! The end has come upon the four corners of the land!
- Ezekiel 25:3Say to them, ‘Hear the word of the Sovereign Lord. This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Because you said “Aha!” over my sanctuary when it was desecrated and over the land of Israel when it was laid waste and over the people of Judah when they went into exile,
- Ezekiel 36:1“Son of man, prophesy to the mountains of Israel and say, ‘Mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord.
- Ezekiel 37:11Then he said to me: “Son of man, these bones are the people of Israel. They say, ‘Our bones are dried up and our hope is gone; we are cut off.’
- Jeremiah 15:4I will make them abhorrent to all the kingdoms of the earth because of what Manasseh son of Hezekiah king of Judah did in Jerusalem.
- Jeremiah 31:29“In those days people will no longer say, ‘The parents have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge.’
- Lamentations 5:7Our ancestors sinned and are no more, and we bear their punishment.
- Matthew 23:36Truly I tell you, all this will come on this generation.
Commentaries on Ezekiel 18:2
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 2The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge? - We have seen this proverb already, Jeremiah 31:29, etc., and have considered its general meaning. But the subject is here proposed in greater detail, with a variety of circumstances, to adapt it to all those cases to which it should apply. It refers simply to these questions: How far can the moral evil of the parent be extended to his offspring? And, Are the faults and evil…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 2Concerning the land of Israel - Rather, “in the land of Israel,” i. e., upon Israel‘s soil, the last place where such a paganish saying should be expected. The saying was general among the people both in Palestine and in exile; and expressed the excuse wherewith they ascribed their miserable condition to anyone‘s fault but their own - to a blind fate such as the pagan recognized, instead of the discriminating judgment of an All-holy God.Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 1-2The 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).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1-32Vindication of God's moral government as to His retributive righteousness from the Jewish imputation of injustice, as if they were suffering, not for their own sin, but for that of their fathers. As in the seventeenth chapter he foretold Messiah's happy reign in Jerusalem, so now he warns them that its blessings can be theirs only upon their individually turning to righteousness. 2. fathers ... eaten sour grapes, ... children's teeth ... set on…Read the comment
Topics related to Ezekiel 18:2
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Ezekiel 18
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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