Yechezkel 15:4

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)?

Yechezkel 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.

Yechezkel 15:4 In-Context

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.