Israel: The useless vine
1 This word of Yahweh came to me,
2 ¡°Son of man, in what way is the wood of the vine superior to that of any
other tree in the forest?
3 Do they take its wood to make anything? Do they use it to make a peg for
hanging a tool?
4 But now they have used it as fuel and the fire has burned it at both ends
leaving the middle charred. Is it then of any use?
5 If it was of no use when it was whole, of even less use will it be when
burnt in the fire.¡±
6 That is why Yahweh speaks thus, ¡°I took the vine from among all the trees
of the forest, and I gave it to the fire to be burned. This is how I have
just dealt with those living in Jerusalem.
7 I will turn my face against them. Though they escaped from the fire, the
fire will burn them and you will know that I am Yahweh when I turn against
them.
8 I will make the land desolate because they have been unfaithful ¨C word of
Yahweh.¡±
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Comments Ezekiel, Chapter 15
• 15.1 In chapters 15¨C23 the sins of Judah throughout history are denounced
four times, in different ways: chapters 16, 20, 22, 23.
In this chapter, the image of the vine is used to depict the necessary
conclusion of Judah¡¯s history: the nation is to be destroyed and its capital
burned. Like the wood of the vine when Yahweh chose it, Israel did not stand
out from other people, neither in number, nor in quality. Since they did not
fulfill their mission, they can neither continue as God¡¯s people, nor again
become a people like the rest.