Ezekiel 15:4

4 Instead, it is thrown into the fire for fuel; the fire devours both ends of it, and its middle is burned. Is it useful for any work?

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, how is the wood of the vine better than any other wood, the vine branch which is among the trees of the forest?

3 Is wood taken from it to make any object? Or can men make a peg from it to hang any vessel on?

4 Instead, it is thrown into the fire for fuel; the fire devours both ends of it, and its middle is burned. Is it useful for any work?

5 Indeed, when it was whole, no object could be made from it. How much less will it be useful for any work when the fire has devoured it, and it is burned?

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