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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.”

Personal Responsibility for Sin

18 The word of the Lord came to me: “What do you mean by using this proverb concerning the land of Israel:

‘The fathers eat sour grapes,(A)
and the children’s teeth are set on edge’?(B)

As I live”—this is the declaration of the Lord God—“you will no longer use this proverb in Israel.(C) Look, every life belongs to me.(D) The life of the father is like the life of the son—both belong to me. The person who sins is the one who will die.(E)

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