Ezekiel / Chapter 15

Ezekiel 15

8 verses • Westminster Leningrad Codex

Translator's Introduction

What This Chapter Is About

Ezekiel 15 is one of the shortest chapters in the prophetic corpus — eight verses containing a single devastating parable. The vine (gefen), a traditional symbol of Israel's election and fruitfulness (Isaiah 5:1-7, Psalm 80:8-16, Hosea 10:1), is stripped of its positive connotations. Ezekiel asks a seemingly innocent question: what advantage does vine wood have over other trees of the forest? The answer is: none. Vine wood is useless for construction — you cannot even make a peg from it. Its only value lies in its fruit. Once it stops bearing fruit, vine wood has one destiny: the fire. And Jerusalem is that fruitless vine, already partially charred at both ends (the deportations of 605 and 597 BCE), with the middle now smoldering. The conclusion is inescapable: the fire will consume what remains.

What Makes This Chapter Remarkable

The genius of this parable lies in its reversal of a beloved national image. Israel had long understood itself as God's vine — planted, tended, and protected (Psalm 80:8-16, Isaiah 5:1-7). But Ezekiel does not compare Jerusalem to a fruitful vine that has gone bad (as Isaiah does). He compares it to vine wood — the raw timber, stripped of any fruit. And vine wood, considered purely as wood, is the most worthless lumber in the forest. It is too soft, too twisted, too weak for any structural purpose. The only thing vine wood is good for is burning. By shifting the metaphor from the vine's fruit to the vine's wood, Ezekiel removes even the memory of fruitfulness. Jerusalem is not a vine that failed to produce — it is wood fit only for fuel. The brevity of the chapter reinforces the point: there is nothing more to say.

Translation Friction

The phrase ha-gefen mah yihyeh ets ha-gefen ('the vine — what will the wood of the vine be?') in verse 2 is syntactically compressed, and we expanded slightly for clarity while preserving the rhetorical punch of the question. The image of both ends burned and the middle charred (verse 4) likely refers to the historical sequence: the first deportation (605 BCE, Daniel and others), the second deportation (597 BCE, Ezekiel and Jehoiachin), with the remaining population in Jerusalem now under siege. We note this in translator_notes without importing it into the rendering itself. The verb ma'alu ma'al ('they have acted unfaithfully') in verse 8 uses the same cognate accusative intensification seen in 14:13.

Connections

The vine as Israel appears in Isaiah 5:1-7 (the Song of the Vineyard), Psalm 80:8-16 (the vine brought out of Egypt), Hosea 10:1 (Israel as a luxuriant vine), and Jeremiah 2:21 (a choice vine gone wild). Jesus takes up the vine imagery in John 15:1-8, identifying himself as the true vine and warning that branches that bear no fruit are gathered and burned — a direct echo of Ezekiel's logic. The fire imagery connects backward to the burning coals of chapter 10 and forward to the fire allegory of chapter 19:12-14. The concept of Jerusalem as fuel for fire appears also in 21:31-32.

Ezekiel 15:1

וַיְהִ֥י דְבַר־יְהוָ֖ה אֵלַ֥י לֵאמֹֽר׃

The word of the LORD came to me:

KJV And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. Standard prophetic reception formula. The brevity of this chapter — only eight verses — makes it one of the shortest prophetic oracles in the Hebrew Bible, yet its theological impact is enormous.
Ezekiel 15:2

בֶּן־אָדָ֕ם מַה־יִּהְיֶ֥ה עֵץ־הַגֶּ֖פֶן מִכָּל־עֵ֑ץ הַזְּמוֹרָ֕ה אֲשֶׁ֥ר הָיָ֖ה בַּעֲצֵ֥י הַיָּֽעַר׃

"Son of man, how is the wood of the vine better than any other wood — the vine branch that grows among the trees of the forest?

KJV Son of man, What is the vine tree more than any tree, or than a branch which is among the trees of the forest?

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. The question is rhetorical and expects the answer 'It is not.' The word ets here means 'wood' or 'timber,' not 'tree' in the living sense — the question is about the utility of the raw material, not the beauty of the growing plant. This shift from the vine as a living, fruit-bearing plant to the vine as dead lumber is the key to the parable.
  2. Ha-zemorah ('the branch, the vine-shoot') specifies vine wood in particular — the thin, gnarled branches of the grapevine. Among the trees of the forest (ba'atsei ha-ya'ar), the vine is unremarkable as timber.
Ezekiel 15:3

הֲיֻקַּ֥ח מִמֶּ֛נּוּ עֵ֖ץ לַעֲשׂ֣וֹת לִמְלָאכָ֑ה אִם־יִקְח֤וּ מִמֶּ֙נּוּ֙ יָתֵ֔ד לִתְל֥וֹת עָלָ֖יו כָּל־כֶּֽלִי׃

Can wood be taken from it to make anything useful? Can anyone even make a peg from it to hang a utensil on?

KJV Shall wood be taken thereof to do any work? or will men take a pin of it to hang any vessel thereon?

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. The two questions descend from general to trivial: Can you make anything from vine wood? Can you even make a peg? The yated ('peg, pin') is the most basic wooden implement — if vine wood cannot even serve as a peg, it is utterly worthless as lumber.
  2. The verb lital ('to hang') clarifies the peg's purpose — hanging household vessels. Vine wood is too soft and twisted to hold weight even at this minimal level.
Ezekiel 15:4

הִנֵּ֥ה לָאֵ֖שׁ נִתַּ֣ן לְאָכְלָ֑ה אֵ֣ת ׀ שְׁנֵ֣י קְצוֹתָ֗יו אָכְלָ֤ה הָאֵשׁ֙ וְתוֹכ֣וֹ נָחָ֔ר הֲיִצְלַ֖ח לִמְלָאכָֽה׃

It has been thrown into the fire as fuel. The fire has consumed both its ends, and its middle is charred. Is it useful for anything now?

KJV Behold, it is cast into the fire for fuel; the fire devoureth both the ends of it, and the midst of it is burned. Is it meet for any work?

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. The image of both ends consumed and the middle charred (nachar, 'scorched, blackened') likely refers to Jerusalem's historical situation: the deportations of 605 and 597 BCE have already consumed the 'ends' of the nation (the first exiles), and the remaining population in Jerusalem — the 'middle' — is now smoldering under siege. The chronological reading is not certain but fits the historical context precisely.
  2. The rhetorical question hayitslach limlakhah ('is it useful for work?') uses the same word for 'useful' (tsalach) that elsewhere means 'prosper' or 'succeed.' The vine wood cannot prosper — it cannot serve any constructive purpose.
  3. Hinneh ('look') draws attention to the present state of affairs: the burning has already begun. This is not a future threat but a current reality.
Ezekiel 15:5

הִנֵּ֣ה בִּהְיוֹת֣וֹ תָמִ֗ים לֹ֥א יֵעָשֶׂ֖ה לִמְלָאכָ֑ה אַ֣ף כִּי־אֵ֤שׁ אֲכָלַ֙תְהוּ֙ וַיֵּחָ֔ר וְנַעֲשָׂ֥ה ע֖וֹד לִמְלָאכָֽה׃

Even when it was whole, it could not be made into anything useful. How much less, now that fire has consumed it and it is charred, can it still be made into anything useful!

KJV Behold, when it was whole, it was meet for no work: how much less shall it be meet yet for any work, when the fire hath devoured it, and it is burned?

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. The a fortiori argument (qal vachomer): if vine wood was useless even when intact (tamim, 'whole, complete, unblemished'), how much more useless is it now that fire has partially destroyed it. The logic is airtight and devastating.
  2. Tamim ('whole, complete') is the same word used for unblemished sacrificial animals in Leviticus — a subtle priestly echo. Even an 'unblemished' vine-branch is worthless as wood; a charred one is beyond discussion.
Ezekiel 15:6

לָכֵ֗ן כֹּ֤ה אָמַר֙ אֲדֹנָ֣י יְהוִ֔ה כַּאֲשֶׁ֤ר עֵץ־הַגֶּ֙פֶן֙ בְּעֵ֣ץ הַיַּ֔עַר אֲשֶׁר־נְתַתִּ֥יו לָאֵ֖שׁ לְאָכְלָ֑ה כֵּ֣ן נָתַ֔תִּי אֶת־יֹשְׁבֵ֖י יְרוּשָׁלָֽ͏ִם׃

Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: As I have given the wood of the vine among the trees of the forest to the fire as fuel, so I have given up the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

KJV Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; As the vine tree among the trees of the forest, which I have given to the fire for fuel, so will I give the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. The parable's application is stated without ambiguity: Jerusalem's inhabitants are the vine wood, and God himself has consigned them to fire. The verb natatti ('I have given') appears twice — God gave the vine wood to fire, and God gave Jerusalem to fire. The divine agency is explicit; this is not random catastrophe.
  2. The phrase yoshvei Yerushalaim ('the inhabitants of Jerusalem') specifies those still living in the city — the exiles in Babylon (Ezekiel's audience) are not included in this judgment, though they witness it.
Ezekiel 15:7

וְנָתַתִּ֤י אֶת־פָּנַי֙ בָּהֶ֔ם מֵהָאֵ֣שׁ יָצָ֔אוּ וְהָאֵ֖שׁ תֹּאכְלֵ֑ם וִידַעְתֶּם֙ כִּֽי־אֲנִ֣י יְהוָ֔ה בְּשׂוּמִ֥י אֶת־פָּנַ֖י בָּהֶֽם׃

I will set my face against them. They have come out of one fire, but the fire will still consume them. Then you will know that I am the LORD, when I set my face against them.

KJV And I will set my face against them; they shall go out from one fire, and another fire shall devour them; and ye shall know that I am the LORD, when I set my face against them.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. The phrase meha'esh yatse'u veha'esh tokhlam ('from the fire they have come out, but the fire will consume them') captures the survivors' false hope: escaping one catastrophe (the deportation of 597) does not mean safety. The fire is not finished with them.
  2. Natatti et panai bahem ('I will set my face against them') repeats the hostile attention formula from 14:8 — God's focused judgment-gaze directed at those who remain in Jerusalem.
  3. The recognition formula viyda'tem ki ani YHWH ('then you will know that I am the LORD') closes the oracle. Every divine judgment aims at this recognition.
Ezekiel 15:8

וְנָתַתִּ֥י אֶת־הָאָ֖רֶץ שְׁמָמָ֑ה יַ֚עַן מָ֣עֲלוּ מַ֔עַל נְאֻ֖ם אֲדֹנָ֥י יְהוִֽה׃

I will make the land a wasteland, because they have acted with deep unfaithfulness, declares the Lord GOD."

KJV And I will make the land desolate, because they have committed a trespass, saith the Lord GOD.

Notes & Key Terms 1 term

Key Terms

מַעַל ma'al
"unfaithfulness" — trespass, sacrilege, breach of trust, unfaithfulness, treachery

A term denoting violation of a sacred relationship or sacred property. In priestly usage, ma'al is a breach of the holy — using what belongs to God for profane purposes, or violating the trust inherent in the covenant relationship.

Translator Notes

  1. The verb ma'alu ma'al ('they have acted with unfaithfulness, trespassed a trespass') uses the cognate accusative for emphasis — the same intensifying construction seen in 14:13. The root m-'-l denotes sacrilege or breach of sacred trust, not merely moral failure.
  2. Shemamah ('wasteland, desolation') is Ezekiel's characteristic word for the post-judgment condition of the land — a place emptied of life and purpose. The vine-land that should have been fruitful becomes barren ground.
  3. The chapter ends abruptly — eight verses, no restoration promise, no hope clause. The vine is for burning. That is all.
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