Ezekiel 15:5

5 "Behold, while it is intact, it is not made into anything. How much less, when the fire has consumed it and it is charred, can it still be made into anything!

Ezekiel 15:5 Meaning and Commentary

Ezekiel 15:5

Behold, when it was whole it was meet for no work
Before it was cut into pieces, and east into the fire, it was not fit to make so much as a pin of to hang anything on; so Israel, when all together, before the ten tribes were carried captive, or the Jews before the captivity of Jeconiah, were useless and unfruitful, and to every good work reprobate: how much less shall it be meet yet for [any] work when the fire hath
devoured it, and it is burned?
as its wood is good for nothing before it is burned, its ashes are useless after.

Ezekiel 15:5 In-Context

3 "Can wood be taken from it to make anything, or can men take a peg from it on which to hang any vessel?

4 "If it has been put into the fire for fuel, and the fire has consumed both of its ends and its middle part has been charred, is it then useful for anything?

5 "Behold, while it is intact, it is not made into anything. How much less, when the fire has consumed it and it is charred, can it still be made into anything!

6 "Therefore, thus says the Lord GOD, 'As the wood of the vine among the trees of the forest, which I have given to the fire for fuel, so have I given up the inhabitants of Jerusalem;

7 and I set My face against them. Though they have come out of the fire, yet the fire will consume them. Then you will know that I am the LORD , when I set My face against them.

Footnotes

• [a]. Lit "a work"
• [b]. Lit "a work"