Ezekiel 18:3Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

that an individual may bear the consequences of their parents’ actions. The Lord counters this belief through the prophet Ezekiel: 'As I live,' declares the Lord God, 'this proverb shall no longer be heard in Israel: The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge.' Additionally, Moses states, 'Fathers shall not be put to death for their children' (Deuteronomy 24:16). It is recorded about a certain king that he refrained from punishing the children of wrongdoers, adhering to the law of Moses (2 Kings 14:6). However, if someone inquires, 'How then is it written, “He visits the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generation”’ (Exodus 20:5)?

I, the Lord, declare that this saying shall no longer be in use among the people of Israel. All souls belong to Me; the soul of the father is Mine, and the soul of the son is also Mine. The soul that sins shall die. The Lord affirms that this saying will not be uttered in Israel anymore; for all souls are His. Just as the soul of the father belongs to Me, so too does the soul of the son. The soul that transgresses will face death, which signifies not the annihilation of existence, but rather a separation from the source of life, for I am the life itself.

Ezekiel 18:1-2 The word of the Lord came to me, addressing me as ‘Son of man.’ He asked, ‘What does this proverb mean to you in the land of Israel: "The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge?" Ezekiel 18:3. As I live, says the Sovereign Lord, this proverb shall no longer be used in Israel. Ezekiel 18:4. For every soul belongs to me, the father’s soul as well as the son’s; the soul that sins is the one that shall die. Some may perceive that this prophecy shifts to a different subject, yet it aligns with the earlier discourse. After he outlined Zedekiah's wrongdoing, he prophesied that a descendant of the royal lineage would ultimately reign over all creation.

Understand, O honorable one, that the phrase ‘The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge’ does not constitute the essence of Scripture, but rather reflects the misguided judgment of unrighteous Jews. By transgressing even more than their forebears, they perceived themselves to be enduring retribution for their ancestors’ sins and proclaimed this belief. However, the divine and unblemished Judge, recognizing that their suffering was for their own wrongdoings rather than those of others, declared, ‘I live, saith the Lord, if this proverb, which the Jews concocted to mislead themselves and their listeners, continues to be uttered; for each individual is accountable for his own sin. The soul that sinneth, it shall die.’

The Pharisees embraced the belief in the reincarnation of souls, asserting that after death, the human spirit would inhabit another body for the atonement of its transgressions. They mistakenly reasoned that even the man born blind was not sighted at his initial birth; having sinned in his previous form, he was born blind a second time as a form of punishment and as a means of cleansing from his earlier misdeeds. The proverb circulating among them was: ‘The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge’ (Ezekiel 18:2). Many Jews struggled to grasp this saying, despite God’s declaration through the Prophet Ezekiel that they would not witness its realization. ‘As I live,’ says the Lord God, ‘if this saying is still used in Israel’ (Ezekiel 18:3).