Passage
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?
Ezekiel 18:2 (ASV)
Nearby Context
Ezekiel 18:1 The word of Jehovah came unto me again, saying,
Ezekiel 18:2 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?
Ezekiel 18:3 As I live, saith the Lord Jehovah, ye shall not have [occasion] any more to use this proverb in Israel.
Ezekiel 18:4 Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die.
Study Lenses
The verse centers on "mean", "proverb", "concerning", "land", "israel", "saying", "fathers", and "eaten". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "mean" and "proverb", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.
The nearby context moves from verse 1's "The word of Jehovah came unto me..." into verse 3's "As I live saith the Lord Jehovah...", so "mean" and "proverb" belong inside that flow. In Ezekiel context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.
A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "mean" and "proverb" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.