Ezekiel 18:2 (YLT)

Passage

`What--to you, ye--using this simile Concerning the ground of Israel, saying: Fathers do eat unripe fruit, And the sons' teeth are blunted?

Nearby Context

Ezekiel 18:1 `And there is a word of Jehovah unto me, saying:

Ezekiel 18:2 `What--to you, ye--using this simile Concerning the ground of Israel, saying: Fathers do eat unripe fruit, And the sons' teeth are blunted?

Ezekiel 18:3 I live--an affirmation of the Lord Jehovah, Ye have no more the use of this simile in Israel.

Ezekiel 18:4 Lo, all the souls are Mine, As the soul of the father, So also the soul of the son--they are Mine, The soul that is sinning--it doth die.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "what--to", "ye--using", "simile", "concerning", "ground", "israel", "saying", and "fathers". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "what--to" and "ye--using", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 1's "And there is a word of Jehovah..." into verse 3's "I live--an affirmation of the Lord Jehovah...", so "what--to" and "ye--using" 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 "what--to" and "ye--using" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.