Ezekiel 15:4
in Ezekiel 15No, it is cast into the fire for fuel. The fire devours both ends, and the middle is charred. Can it be useful for anything?
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Behold, it is cast into the fire for fuel; the fire hath devoured both the ends of it, and the midst of it is burned: is it profitable for any work?
KJV
Behold, it is cast into the fire for fuel; the fire devoureth both the ends of it, and the midst of it is burned. Is it meet for any work?
⋯
This verse in Ezekiel 15
Commentary
8 notes on this verseBehold, 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 Joh 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.
This site's exposition
cast into the fire for fuel
on Ezekiel 15:4-5
Fire is the vine wood's only use, and the parable pushes the point further, if it was useless even whole, how much less use is it once the fire has already devoured both ends and charred the middle. Keil reads the double negative built into verse 5, how much less shall it be meet, as the argument's real center, a wood already worthless made doubly worthless by partial burning. The image anticipates Jerusalem specifically, a city that has already survived one round of judgment and stands no better for it.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Chapter 15, verse 1 onwards) And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: Son of man, what will be done with the vine wood among all the trees of the forest which are among the trees of the woods? Will its wood be taken to make something, or will a peg be made from it to hang any vessel on? Behold, it is given to the fire for fuel: both ends of it have been consumed by the fire, and the middle part has turned into ashes. Will it be useful for any work?
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
When it is good for nothing else it is useful this way, and answers a very needful intention, for fuel is a thing we must have, and to burn any thing for fuel which is good for other work is bad husbandry.
), Samaria and the cities of Judah; and now Jerusalem, that was the midst of it, was thrown into the fire, to be burnt too, for it is meet for no work; it will not be wrought upon, by any of the methods God has taken, to be serviceable to him.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
The fire devoureth both the ends of it, and the midst of it is burned - Judea is like a vine branch thrown into the fire, which seizes on both the ends, and scorches the middle: so both the extremities of the land is wasted; and the middle, Jerusalem, is now threatened with a siege, and by and by will be totally destroyed.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
cast into . . . fire-- (Joh 15:6). both the ends--the north kingdom having been already overturned by Assyria under Tiglath-pileser; the south being pressed on by Egypt (2Ki 23:29-35). midst of it is burned--rather, "is on flame"; namely, Jerusalem, which had now caught the flame by the attack of Nebuchadnezzar.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Behold, it is cast into the fire - The wood is in itself useless for any purpose; but what if it have been cast into the fire, and half burned, what of it then?
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
Behold, [if] it were given to the fire to be consumed Adevorer in Old French, to be devoured, consumed. Behold I asked you about a whole one, which is not fit for anything.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 5 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
13 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| הִנֵּ֥ה | hineh | there! | H2009 → | 843 times |
| לָאֵ֖שׁ | laesh | to the fire | H784 → | 378 times |
| נִתַּ֣ן | nitan | it is given | H5414 → | 2011 times |
| לְאָכְלָ֑ה | leokhlah | for fuel | H402 → | 18 times |
| אֵת֩ | ʾet | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| שְׁנֵ֨י | shenei | [the] two | H8147 → | 768 times |
| קְצוֹתָ֜יו | ketzotav | ends its | H7098 → | |
| אָכְלָ֤ה | ʾakhelah | it consumes | H398 → | 810 times |
| הָאֵשׁ֙ | haesh | the fire | H784 → | 378 times |
| וְתוֹכ֣וֹ | vetokho | and [the] middle of it | H8432 → | 418 times |
| נָחָ֔ר | nachar | it is charred | H2787 → | 10 times |
| הֲיִצְלַ֖ח | hayitzlach | ¿ is it successful | H6743 → | 65 times |
| לִמְלָאכָֽה׃ | limlakhah | for a product | H4399 → | 167 times |
הִנֵּ֥הthere!
hinehH2009 →843 times
לָאֵ֖שׁto the fire
laeshH784 →378 times
נִתַּ֣ןit is given
nitanH5414 →2011 times
לְאָכְלָ֑הfor fuel
leokhlahH402 →18 times
אֵת֩<obj.>
ʾetH853 →10935 times
שְׁנֵ֨י[the] two
sheneiH8147 →768 times
קְצוֹתָ֜יוends its
ketzotavH7098 →
אָכְלָ֤הit consumes
ʾakhelahH398 →810 times
הָאֵשׁ֙the fire
haeshH784 →378 times
וְתוֹכ֣וֹand [the] middle of it
vetokhoH8432 →418 times
נָחָ֔רit is charred
nacharH2787 →10 times
הֲיִצְלַ֖ח¿ is it successful
hayitzlachH6743 →65 times
לִמְלָאכָֽה׃for a product
limlakhahH4399 →167 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
John 15:6If anyone does not remain in Me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers. Such branches are gathered up, thrown into the fire, and burned.
it leads to
- Matthew 7:19
Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
- Hebrews 6:7–8
For land that drinks in the rain often falling on it and that produces a crop useful to those for whom it is tended receives the blessing of God.
- Matthew 13:41
The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will weed out of His kingdom every cause of sin and all who practice lawlessness.
- Matthew 7:19
Through
Hebrews 12:29“For our God is a consuming fire.”
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 4:24
For the LORD your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.
- Deuteronomy 9:3
But understand that today the LORD your God goes across ahead of you as a consuming fire; He will destroy them and subdue them before you. And you will drive them out and annihilate…
- Hebrews 10:27
but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume all adversaries.
- 2 Thessalonians 1:8
in blazing fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.
- Isaiah 66:15
For behold, the LORD will come with fire—His chariots are like a whirlwind—to execute His anger with fury and His rebuke with flames of fire.
- Deuteronomy 4:24
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Ezekiel
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Carl Friedrich Keil, Biblical Commentary on the Prophecies of Ezekiel; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Ezekiel; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.