Ezekiel 15:4

4 Lo! it is given [to the fire] into meat; [the] fire wasted ever either part thereof, and the midst thereof is driven into a dead spark; whether it shall be profitable to work? (Lo! it is sent into the fire for fuel; the fire destroyed each part of it, and the midst of it is driven into a dead spark; shall it be profitable, or useful, for anything?)

Ezekiel 15:4 Meaning and Commentary

Ezekiel 15:4

Behold, it is cast into the fire for fuel,
That is; a vine tree when cut down, or a branch when cut off, it is good for nothing else; and that is the use it is generally put to; see ( John 15:6 ) ; and this, it is suggested, would be the end of the Jewish nation; who were become by their sins like a wild vine, and were fit fuel for the fire of divine wrath: the fire devoureth both the ends of it;
the branch cast into it, and so is quickly consumed. Kimchi explains this by ( Isaiah 9:12 ) ; "the Syrians before, and the Philistines behind, and they devour Israel with open mouth"; and Abendana of the ten tribes; but it seems only to design how soon the fire takes it; and how inevitable the consumption is when it is fired at both ends: and the midst of it is burnt:
presently; it being dried, and reduced to a brand by the heat of the fire at both ends: this Kimchi interprets of the city of Jerusalem, which was in the midst of the land: is it meet for [any] work?
no; for if it was not fit for any work when cut down, or cut off, much less when burnt in the fire.

Ezekiel 15:4 In-Context

2 Son of man, what shall be done to the tree of a vine, of all the trees of woods, that be among the trees of woods? (Son of man, what shall be done to the vine tree, of all the trees in the woods, that be among the trees of the woods?)
3 Whether tree, or timber, shall be taken thereof, that work be made? either shall a stake be made thereof, that any vessel hang thereon? (Shall wood, or timber, be taken from it, so that some work be made of it? or shall a stake, or a peg, be made of it, so that something can hang on it?)
4 Lo! it is given [to the fire] into meat; [the] fire wasted ever either part thereof, and the midst thereof is driven into a dead spark; whether it shall be profitable to work? (Lo! it is sent into the fire for fuel; the fire destroyed each part of it, and the midst of it is driven into a dead spark; shall it be profitable, or useful, for anything?)
5 Yea, when it was whole, it was not covenable to work; how much more when fire hath devoured, and hath burnt it, nothing of work shall be made thereof? (Yea, when it was whole, it was not suitable, or useful, for anything; how much more when the fire hath devoured it, and hath burned it, so that nothing useful shall be made out of it!)
6 Therefore the Lord God saith these things, As the tree of a vine is among the trees of woods, which I gave to fire to devour, so I gave the dwellers of Jerusalem, (And so the Lord God saith these things, Like the vine tree is among the trees in the woods, which I gave to the fire to devour, so I shall take the inhabitants of Jerusalem,)
Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.