The vine tree among the other trees of the forest The chapter pursues the same general line of thought as ch. Ezekiel 14:12-23, and ch. 16. In ch. Ezekiel 14:12-23 the prophet had replied to a feeling that might arise in men's minds that Jehovah would spare the sinners of the people for the sake of... [ Continue Reading ]
or than _a branch_ Perhaps: the vine-branch which is, the words taking up "the vine tree" of previous clause. Owing to the verb the natural sense is: _what shall be_made of _the wood of the vine among all wood, the vine branch_that is among the trees of the forest? Cf. Ezekiel 15:3. With the compara... [ Continue Reading ]
Uselessness of the wood of the vine. _to do any work_ i.e. use for any work or purpose. The words may mean, to make it into any work or article of workmanship. It has too little firmness even to be made into a pin to hang any article upon.... [ Continue Reading ]
A hypothetical sentence: Behold, when it hath been cast into the fire for fuel, when the fire hath devoured both the ends of it, and the midst of it is charred, will it be meet for any work? This part of the similitude is borrowed from the actual instance of Israel. As it is Jerusalem, including Jud... [ Continue Reading ]
_meet for no work_ Lit., _it could not be made into_, or, _used for_any work; how much less, when the fire hath devoured it and it is charred, shall it be any more used for, or made into any work.... [ Continue Reading ]
Application of the figure to Jerusalem 6. _which I have given_ The reference is to the supposition in Ezekiel 15:4. It is nowhere said in the passage that the vinewood is fit only fur fuel, nor that it has been appointed (when created by God) to be burnt; Ezekiel 15:4 is a supposition that in a par... [ Continue Reading ]
_go out from_one _fire_ Rather: THEY HAVE COME OUT OF THE FIRE, BUT THE FIRE shall devour them. They are in the condition of a brand that has been plucked for a moment from the fire (Ezekiel 15:4), but they shall be plunged again into it to be burnt. Only scathed and charred as yet, they shall be wh... [ Continue Reading ]
The figure of "burning" in the fire is expressed in literal language: the land shall be made a desolation. Like his predecessor Jeremiah, the prophet sets little store by the existence of Israel as a state or kingdom among other states. Israel's mission is religious, not political. See on ch. Ezekie... [ Continue Reading ]