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(ProQuest: ... denotes non-US-ASCII text omitted.)
Jeremiah, like his roughly contemporary countryman Ezekiel, reports the use of a popular proverb in order to make a statement about Judah's future: "The parents have eaten sour grapes [...], and the children's teeth are set on edge" (Jer 31:29; Ezek 18:2). Although the term ... may designate unripe fruit in general, such as dates, most commentators understand it to refer specifically to immature, and therefore sour, grapes.1 In any event, the proverb seems to be clear enough in its intended meaning: one generation suffers the consequences of the mistakes and offenses committed by the previous generation(s).
One significant difficulty, however, is to determine the meaning of the term ..., which is generally understood to indicate that the teeth are "set on edge." Apart from its use with this proverb in Jeremiah 3 1 and Ezekiel 18, the term occurs in only one other biblical text, Eccl 10: 10, where it refers to the dulling of the blade of a chisel or axe.2 Some scholars suggest that the Vg's obstipuerunt ("be numb") adequately conveys the sense, though certainly the "dulling" of iron seems to be a more suitable image. Regardless of whether the teeth become "dull" or "numb" or whether they "ache" or "bleed," the question of the larger significance of this image remains. An axe or a chisel does not become dull with one stroke; likewise, teeth would become neither dull nor numb with one eating of sour fruit, especially if this dulling or numbing were the result of the wearing away of tooth enamel.3 The end result would require a lengthy process and a long period of time. The proverb may well have in mind, therefore, the assumption that any present consequence is not the result simply of one past action, but rather is the end result of a lengthy history of such actions. If you eat sour grapes long enough, your teeth will be worn away and they will ache.
This interpretation would certainly suit the understanding of the Deuteronomistic editors of Jeremiah, who conceive of Judah's failure and fate to have been generations in the making, sealed finally by Manasseh himself (Jer 15:4; cf. 2 Kgs 21:10-15; 23:25-27; 24:3-4). A recurring theme in Jeremiah is...