“The fathers have eaten sour grapes”
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'? (Ezekiel 18:2 BSB)
What it sounds like today
An obscure saying about grapes and teeth.
The cultural key
The line is a well-worn proverb of the exile, and Ezekiel quotes it to argue against it. Biting into sour, unripe grapes leaves a sharp, gritty ache that sets the teeth 'on edge', and the saying uses that vivid sensation to voice a bitter complaint: the fathers sinned ('ate the sour grapes'), but it is the innocent children who suffer the aftertaste ('teeth set on edge'). In other words, we are being punished for our ancestors' guilt, not our own, and it is not fair. Both Ezekiel here and Jeremiah (31:29-30) cite the proverb precisely in order to retire it: 'the soul who sins is the one who will die', each person is accountable for his own choices, not doomed by his parents' record. So the strange grape-and-teeth image is really a debate about inherited guilt and personal responsibility. The modern reader hears nonsense about fruit; the first hearers heard a slogan they lived by, being formally overturned.
Recovered meaning
The proverb, sour grapes eaten by fathers set the children's teeth on edge, is the exiles' complaint that they are punished for their ancestors' sins. Ezekiel quotes it to overturn it: each person answers for his own sin, not his parents'.