Fathers And Children

Et factus est sermo Domini ad me, dicens: Quid est quod inter vos parabolam vertitis in proverbium istud in terra Israel, dicentes: Patres comederunt uvam acerbam, et dentes filiorum obstupuerunt? LXX: Et factus est sermo Domini ad me, dicens: Fili hominis quae est parabola haec in filios Israel, dicentium: Patres comederunt uvam acerbam, et dentes filiorum obstupuerunt? Hoc quod Septuaginta dixerunt, fili hominis, in Hebraico non habetur. Monet autem divina Scriptura illud quod in Exodo dictum est: Ego sum Dominus Deus tuus. Deus aemulator, qui reddo peccata patrum super filios, usque ad tertiam et quartam generationem his qui oderunt me, et facio misericordiam in millia his qui diligunt me, et custodiunt praecepta mea . Et iterum: Descendit Dominus in nube et astitit iuxta Moysen, et invocavit Moyses nomen Domini, et transiit Dominus ante faciem eius, et invocavit eum, dicens: Domine Deus miserator et misericors, patiens et multae misericordiae, et verax, et iustitiam servans, et misericordiam in millia, auferens iniquitates, et iniustitias, et peccata: et non emundabit iniquitates patrum super filios et super filios filiorum, in tertiam et quartam generationem, sic accipi debere, quasi proverbium, et parabolam, ut aliud in verbis sonet, aliud in sensu teneat; quod in parabola quoque duarum aquilarum supra diximus. Unde et Dominus in septuagesimo septimo psalmo: Aperiam, inquit, in parabolis os meum: loquar propositiones ab initio. Et in Evangelio parabolam sementis, et lolii, et sinapis, quod cum sit minimum omnium seminum, in magnam consurgit arborem, ita proponit, ut aliud praetendat in verbis, aliud in sensibus teneat. Et nos usque in praesentem diem putabamus duo testimonia Exodi, quae supra posuimus non esse parabolam, sed simplicem explicare sententiam. Et quamquam non auderemus quidpiam dicere, nec vas fictile loqui contra figulum, quare ita, vel ita me fecisti: tamen scandalum patiebamur occultum, quod iniustitia videretur Dei, alium peccare, et alium luere peccata. Si enim reddit peccata patrum super filios in tertiam et quartam generationem, iniustum videtur ut alius peccet, et alius puniatur. Sed ex eo quod sequitur: his qui me oderunt, comminationis, sive praecepti scandalum solvitur. Non enim ideo puniuntur in tertia et quarta generatione, quia deliquerunt patres eorum, cum patres potius qui fuerunt peccatores puniri debuerint; sed quia patrum exstiterunt aemulatores, et oderunt Deum haereditario malo, et impietate in ramos quoque de radice crescente. Santus Hieronymus, Commentariorum In Ezechielem, Lib VI, Caput XVIII Source: Migne PL 25.167b-168a

And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 'Why is it that among you turn this parable into a proverb in the land of Israel saying, 'The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the teeth of the children are set on edge?' 1 The Septuagaint reads: 'And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 'Son of man, what is this parable among the sons of Israel, saying: 'The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the teeth of the children are set on edge?' The 'son of man' which the Septuagint has here is not found in the Hebrew. Divine Scripture gives warning about this in Exodus where it says, 'I am the Lord your God. I am a jealous God, who visits the sins of the father on the sons, even to those of the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, and I am merciful to thousands who love me and keep my teachings.' 2 And again, 'The Lord descended in a cloud and stood next to Moses, and Moses called on the name of the Lord, and the Lord passed before his face, and he called on Him, saying, 'O Lord, merciful and compassionate God, patient and greatly merciful and true, guard of righteousness, merciful to thousands, taking away iniquity and injustice and sin, He who shall not cleanse the iniquities of the father from the son or from the sons of the sons, even to the third and fourth generation.' 3 So it should be understood, as a proverb and as a parable, where there is one thing spoken and another should be grasped by the mind, as in the parable above where we spoke of the two eagles. 4 Whence in the seventy seventh Psalm the Lord says: 'I shall open my mouth in a parable, I shall speak sayings from the beginning.' 5 And thus in the parable of the sower in the Gospel, and in the tares, and with the mustard seed, which is the smallest of all the seeds, which rises up to a great tree, something is given in words and something else grasped by the mind. Yet we, even to the present day, think the testimonies from Exodus, which we have set forth above, are not a matter of parable, but have a simple meaning. And that we should not dare speak a word, as that earthenware pot against the potter, 'Why did you make me so?' 6 However we suffer hidden scandal, because it seems to be an injustice of God, that one sins and another is scourged for sin. For if He returns the sins of the father to the sons into the third and fourth generation, it seems unjust that one man sins and another is punished. But from that which follows, 'those who hate me', the threat, or the scandal of the teaching, is resolved. For they are not punished in the third and fourth generation because of the errors of their fathers, when it should be that the fathers who were sinners should be punished, but because they emulate their fathers and by evil inheritance hate God. The impiety of the root reaches even to the branches. Saint Jerome, Commentary On Ezekiel, Book 6, Chapter 18 1 Ezek 18.2 2 Exod 10.5, Deut 5.9-10 3 Exod 34.5- 4 Ezek 17.1-10 5 Ps 77.15 6 Isaiah 45.9