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The ESV Global Study Bible's Study Notes

Ezekiel 15

Ezekiel 15:1-8

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

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

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

4 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?

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

6 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.

7 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.

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

EZEKIEL—NOTE ON Ezekiel 15:1 Comparing Israel to a vine is a common OT theme (e.g., Psalms 80:8; Jeremiah 2:21). (On Israel as a vineyard, see Isaiah 5:1; Jeremiah 12:10; as an olive tree, see Jeremiah 11:16; Romans 11:17.) The mixing of vine imagery and spiritual unfaithfulness in Jeremiah 2:20 is also found in Ezekiel 15:1. Ezekiel further develops the vine metaphor in ch. Ezekiel 17:1 (compare Ezekiel 19:10). Here in Ezekiel 15:1, the point is simple: the wood of a vine is fit only for burning—and so it is with the inhabitants of Jerusalem (v. Ezekiel 15:6). Such a pessimistic evaluation matches God’s evaluation of the whole of Israelite history in ch. Ezekiel 20:1.

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