There’s a tendency to judge people by their parents. There’s even a label for someone who was born to an unwed mother. It’s totally unfair, of course. There’s a theory that this practice comes from the Bible.
In Numbers, the passage states that God is forgiving, but the sins of the parents will be punished for generations to come. I can hear it now: “That’s not fair! Why should someone be punished for what their parents did?”
Great point. People should not be punished for someone else’s crimes. But that’s not what the passage means. Back then there were three or four generations of a single family living under one roof. When God punished sins, it would affect everyone in that household. (The Bible Exposition Commentary on Numbers, Warren W. Wiersbe.)
As further evidence, I cite Ezekiel. There it says the one who sins is the one who is punished, not the one who is righteous.
Missing the meaning of a passage is easy. The idioms used may have no context to modern culture, so understanding can be difficult. A more modern example of the “third or fourth generations” concept could be seen in the television show The Waltons.
The show takes place in the mountains of Virginia during the Great Depression. In that show, which aired from 1972-1981, three generations lived in a single large home. If something bad happened to anyone in the house, everyone else living there would feel the impact.
When reading the Bible, take care not to force your own preconceptions onto the words there. Translators are often confronted with the dilemma of a strict word-for-word translation, or concept-for-concept choice.
Okay, those who know me understand I’m a fan of science fiction - books and movies. There’s a Klingon phrase which could be translated as, “Your nose is shiny.” In 2020 on planet Earth that doesn’t mean much. To a Klingon, it’s a mortal insult. If you think it means a “brown-noser,” you’re wrong. If you don’t know Klingon culture, you can’t comprehend what it means.
That’s why it’s important, when reading the Bible, to know the context behind the words. Simply reading the stories there can seem convoluted and strange without that understanding. Why do you think some books are banned for using the “N” word? When they were written the word simply had a meaning, but now it’s offensive.
Since those books are now deemed offensive, we’ll be without the literature of Mark Twain - maybe for three or four generations.
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