Yechezkel 15

1 5 And the Devar Hashem came unto me, saying,

2 Ben adam, how is the etz hagefen (wood of the grapevine) better 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 yated (peg) of it to hang any vessel thereon?

4 Hinei, it is cast into the eish for fuel; the eish devoureth both the ends of it, and the middle of it is charred. Is it fit for any melachah (work)?

5 Hinei, when it was tamim (whole), it was fit for no work; how much less shall it be fit yet for any work, when the eish hath devoured it, and it is charred?

6 Therefore thus saith Adonoi Hashem: As the etz hagefen among the trees of the forest, which I have given to the eish for fuel, so will I give the inhabitants of Yerushalayim.

7 And I will set My face against them; they shall go out from one eish, and another eish shall devour them; and ye shall have da’as that I am Hashem, when I set My face against them.

8 And I will make ha’aretz desolate, because they have committed ma’al (unfaithfulness, betrayal of a trust), saith Adonoi Hashem.

Yechezkel 15 Commentary

Chapter 15

Jerusalem like an unfruitful vine.

- If a vine be fruitful, it is valuable. But if not fruitful, it is worthless and useless, it is cast into the fire. Thus man is capable of yielding a precious fruit, in living to God; this is the sole end of his existence; and if he fails in this, he is of no use but to be destroyed. What blindness then attaches to those who live in the total neglect of God and of true religion! This similitude is applied to Jerusalem. Let us beware of an unfruitful profession. Let us come to Christ, and seek to abide in him, and to have his words abide in us.

Chapter Summary

INTRODUCTION TO EZEKIEL 15

The destruction of Jerusalem is again prophesied of in this chapter, and is set forth under the simile of a vine tree, which, for its uselessness, is committed to the fire. The simile is in Eze 15:1-5; the application of it in Eze 15:6-8.