Jeremiah 23:34
23:34 I will punish any prophet, priest, or other person who says “The Lord’s message is burdensome.” 1 I will punish both that person and his whole family.’” 2
Jeremiah 31:30
31:30 Rather, each person will die for his own sins. The teeth of the person who eats the sour grapes will themselves grow numb. 3
1 tn Heb “burden of the Lord.”
2 tn Heb “And the prophet or the priest or the people [common person] who says, ‘The burden of the Lord,” I will visit upon [= punish] that man and his house.” This is an example of the Hebrew construction call nominative absolute or casus pendens (cf. GKC 458 §143.d).
3 sn The Lord answers their charge by stating that each person is responsible for his own sin and will himself bear the consequences. Ezek 18 has a more extended treatment of this and shows that this extends not just to the link between parents and children but between former behavior and future behavior of the same individual. To a certain extent the principle articulated here is anticipatory of the statement in v. 34 which refers to the forgiveness of former sins.