Passage
“What do you mean, that you 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 (WEB)
Nearby Context
Ezekiel 18:1 Yahweh’s word came to me again, saying,
Ezekiel 18:2 “What do you mean, that you 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,” says the Lord Yahweh, “you shall not use this proverb any more 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 who sins, he 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 "Yahweh s word came to me again..." into verse 3's "As I live says the Lord Yahweh...", 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.