Ezekiel 15:3

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?)

Ezekiel 15:3 Meaning and Commentary

Ezekiel 15:3

Shall wood be taken thereof to do any work?
&c.] The carpenter and joiner, the house or ship builder, are employed in; as to build houses of, make beams, rafters, floors build ships with, make masts of or any vessel or utensil for the use of man? it never is; it is not fit for any such purpose. Pliny ^F4 speaks of some rarities made of the wood of vines, but not things of common use; and these not of any vines, but of some peculiar ones, favoured by the air and soil or will [men] take a pin of it to hang any vessel thereon?
it is not fit to make a peg of to hang a hat on; and much less for anything that requires more strength.

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FOOTNOTES:

F4 Nat. Hist. l. 14. c. 1.

Ezekiel 15:3 In-Context

1 And the word of the Lord was made to me, and he said,

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!)