Jeremiah 31:29

“When that time comes, people will no longer say, ‘The parents have eaten sour grapes, but the children’s teeth have grown numb.’ ¹ 

"In those days people will no longer say, ‘The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge.’

"In those days they will not say again, ‘The fathers have eaten sour grapes, And the children’s teeth are set on edge.’

"The people will no longer quote this proverb: ‘The parents eat sour grapes, but their children’s mouths pucker at the taste.’

"When that time comes you won't hear the old proverb anymore, Parents ate the green apples, their children got the stomachache.

In those days they will no longer say, The fathers have been tasting bitter grapes and the children’s teeth are put on edge.

In those days they shall no longer say: "The parents have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge."

"In those days they shall say no more: ‘The fathers have eaten sour grapes, And the children’s teeth are set on edge.’

“When that time comes, people will no longer say, ‘The parents have eaten sour grapes, but the children’s teeth have grown numb.’ ¹ 

¹ tn This word only occurs here and in the parallel passage in Ezek 18:2 in the Qal stem and in Eccl 10:10 in the Piel stem. In the latter passage it refers to the bluntness of an ax that has not been sharpened. Here the idea is of the “bluntness” of the teeth, not from having ground them down due to the bitter taste of sour grapes but to the fact that they have lost their “edge,” “bite,” or “sharpness” because they are numb from the sour taste. For this meaning for the word see W. L. Holladay, Jeremiah (Hermeneia), 2:197.

sn This is a proverbial statement that is also found in Ezek 18:2. It served to articulate the complaint that the present generation was suffering for the accrued sins of their ancestors (cf. Lam 5:7) and that the Lord was hence unjust (Ezek 18:25, 29). However, Jeremiah had repeatedly warned his own generation that they were as guilty or even more so than their ancestors. The ancestors were indeed guilty of sin but the present generation had compounded the problem by their stubborn refusal to turn back to God despite repeated warnings from the prophets and hence God would withhold judgment no longer (cf. especially Jer 16:10-13 and compare Jer 7:24-34; 9:12-16 (9:11-15 HT); 11:1-13).