God Deals Justly with Individuals

18 Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying, (A)What do you people mean by using this proverb about the land of Israel, saying,

(B)The fathers eat sour grapes,
[a]But it is the children’s teeth that have become blunt’?

As I live,” declares the Lord [b]God, “you certainly are not going to use this proverb in Israel anymore. Behold, (C)all [c]souls are Mine; the [d]soul of the father as well as the [e]soul of the son is Mine. The [f]soul who (D)sins will die.

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Footnotes

  1. Ezekiel 18:2 Lit I.e., the children suffer for the fathers’ sins
  2. Ezekiel 18:3 Heb YHWH, usually rendered Lord, and so throughout the ch
  3. Ezekiel 18:4 Or lives
  4. Ezekiel 18:4 Or life
  5. Ezekiel 18:4 Or life
  6. Ezekiel 18:4 Or person

Individual Retribution

18 The Lord’s message came to me: “What do you mean by quoting this proverb concerning the land of Israel:

“‘The fathers eat sour grapes,
And the children’s teeth become numb?’[a]

“As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord,[b] you will not quote this proverb in Israel anymore! Indeed! All lives are mine—the life of the father as well as the life of the son is mine. The one[c] who sins will die.

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Footnotes

  1. Ezekiel 18:2 tn This word occurs three times, in the Qal stem here and the parallel passage in Jer 31:29-30, and in the Piel stem at Eccl 10:10. In the latter passage it refers to the bluntness of an ax that has not been sharpened. Here the “bluntness” of the teeth is not due to grinding them down because of the bitter taste of sour grapes but to the fact that they have lost their “edge,” “bite,” or “sharpness” because they are numb from the sour taste. For this meaning for the word, see W. L. Holladay, Jeremiah (Hermeneia), 2:197.
  2. Ezekiel 18:3 tn This expression occurs often in Ezekiel (5:11; 14:16, 18, 20; 16:48; 17:16, 19; 20:3, 31, 33; 33:11, 27; 34:8; 35:6, 11).
  3. Ezekiel 18:4 tn Heb “life.”