Bible Dictionary
SOUR
Sour describes something unripe or turned from its proper condition. Scripture uses the image of sour grapes for inherited consequences and of drink becoming sour or ending.
Definition
Sour may describe something immature or unripe, as with sour grapes. It may also describe something that has turned aside, degenerated, or come to an end. The word therefore carries both a taste-related and a figurative sense.
Biblical Usage
The saying that the fathers have eaten sour grapes is used in passages discussing the consequences associated with earlier generations. Another passage says that a drink has turned sour, with the sense that the carouse is gone or over.
Historical Background
The English word represents two distinct underlying ideas: one meaning immature or unripe, and another meaning to turn aside or degenerate. Translation margins explain the latter as “gone” or “the carouse is over.”
Historical Bible Dictionaries
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (ISBE)
<p>sour:</p><p>(1) bocer, "immature," "unripe": "The fathers have eaten sour grapes" (Jer 31:29 f; Eze 18:2; compare Isa 18:5 the King James Version).</p><p>(2) cur, "to turn aside," "degenerate": "Their drink is turned sour" (the King James Version margin "gone," the Revised Version margin "Their carouse is over").</p>