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Ezekiel 15:6

in Ezekiel 15

Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘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 people of Jerusalem.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

Therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah: As the vine-tree among the trees of the forest, which I have given to the fire for fuel, so will I give the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

KJV

Therefore thus saith the Lord God; As the vine tree among the trees of the forest, which I have given to the fire for fuel, so will I give the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

This verse in Ezekiel 15

Commentary

6 notes on this verse
Therefore thus saith the Lord God,.... Now follows the application of the simile: as the vine tree among the trees of the forest, which I have given to the fire for fuel; to be burnt, as other trees of the forest are, and along with them: so will I give the inhabitants of Jerusalem; to be destroyed along with other nations by the Chaldeans; they being no better, but as bad, if not worse, like wild vines among forest trees; and therefore must fare no better: this was the decree and determination of the Lord.

This site's exposition

so I will give up the people of Jerusalem

on Ezekiel 15:6-8

The application is plain. They escape one fire only to meet another, for “another fire will consume them.” Fruitless election brings the fire rather than exemption, and the land is made desolate “because they have acted unfaithfully.”

The record, by era

The Church Fathers1 voice

A commentator

Jerome

Commentary on Ezekiel · Written before 420.

proposed

(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

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

Note, Those who are not fruitful to the glory of God's grace will be fuel to the fire of his wrath; and thus, if they give not honour to him, he will get himself honour upon them, honour that will shine brightly in that flaming fire by which impenitent sinners will be for ever consumed.

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

21 ); and, if it had brought forth fruit suitable to its character as a holy city, it would have been the glory both of God and Israel. It was a vine which God's right hand had planted, a branch out of a dry ground, which, though its original was mean and despicable, God had made strong for himself ( Ps. lxxx.

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-citation-number

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

Therefore thus saith the Lord - As surely as I have allotted such a vine branch, or vine branches, for fuel; so surely have I appointed the inhabitants of Jerusalem to be consumed. The design of this parable is to abate the pride of the Jews; to show them that, in their best estate, they had nothing but what they had received, and therefore deserved nothing; and now, having fallen from all righteousness, they can have no expectation of any thing but judgment unmixed with mercy.

How the passage was read

What the Jewish commentators add

have I placed Jerusalem. Its two ends were consumed by the fire, [i.e.,] the two exiles: When Jehoiakim was exiled, some of the royal seed and of the nobles were exile with him, as it is said in Daniel (1:3).
Rashi: France, 1040–1105 · Rashi on Ezekiel 15:6:1, via Sefaria, The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg

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. 3 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

19 Hebrew words

Every 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.

  • לָכֵ֗ן<to> therefore

    lakhenH3651 →771 times

  • כֹּ֤הthus

    kohH3541 →577 times

  • אָמַר֙he says

    ʾamarH559 →5305 times

  • אֲדֹנָ֣י[the] Lord

    ʾadonaiH136 →440 times

  • יְהוִ֔הYahweh

    yahwehH3069 →306 times

  • כַּאֲשֶׁ֤רjust as

    kaasherH834 →5497 times

  • עֵץ־[the] wood of

    ʾetz-H6086 →328 times

  • הַגֶּ֙פֶן֙the vine

    hagefenH1612 →55 times

  • בְּעֵ֣ץamong [the] tree[s] of

    beetzH6086 →328 times

  • הַיַּ֔עַרthe forest

    haiyaarH3293 →59 times

  • אֲשֶׁר־which

    ʾasher-H834 →5497 times

  • נְתַתִּ֥יוI have given it

    netativH5414 →2011 times

  • לָאֵ֖שׁto the fire

    laeshH784 →378 times

  • לְאָכְלָ֑הfor fuel

    leokhlahH402 →18 times

  • כֵּ֣ןso

    kenH3651 →771 times

  • נָתַ֔תִּיI have given

    natatiH5414 →2011 times

  • אֶת־<obj.>

    ʾet-H853 →10935 times

  • יֹשְׁבֵ֖י[the] inhabitants of

    yosheveiH3427 →1079 times

  • יְרוּשָׁלִָֽם׃Jerusalem

    yerushalimH3389 →643 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

The walk

8 stops

Each 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

    Ezekiel 15:2

    “Son of man, how does the wood of the vine surpass any other branch among the trees in the forest?

    it leads to

    • Hosea 10:1

      Israel was a luxuriant vine, yielding fruit for himself. The more his fruit increased, the more he increased the altars. The better his land produced, the better he made the sacred pillars.

    • Isaiah 5:1–7

      I will sing for my beloved a song of his vineyard: My beloved had a vineyard on a very fertile hill.

    • Psalms 80:8–16

      You uprooted a vine from Egypt; You drove out the nations and transplanted it.

    • Song of Solomon 8:11–12

      Solomon had a vineyard in Baal-hamon. He leased it to the tenants. For its fruit, each was to bring a thousand shekels of silver.

    • Song of Solomon 2:15

      Catch for us the foxes—the little foxes that ruin the vineyards—for our vineyards are in bloom.

  • Through

    Jeremiah 25:18

    to make them a ruin, an object of horror and contempt and cursing, as they are to this day—Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, its kings and officials;

    it leads to

    • Jeremiah 24:9

      I will make them a horror and an offense to all the kingdoms of the earth, a disgrace and an object of scorn, ridicule, and cursing wherever I have banished them.

    • Jeremiah 44:22

      So the LORD could no longer endure the evil deeds and detestable acts you committed, and your land became a desolation, a horror, and an object of cursing, without inhabitant, as it is this…

    • Psalms 60:3

      You have shown Your people hardship; we are staggered from the wine You made us drink.

Where this verse is studied

On this page

About Ezekiel

Ezekiel’s Vision of the Valley of Dry Bones, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
Ezekiel’s Vision of the Valley of Dry Bones, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Ezekiel; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Patrick Fairbairn, An Exposition of Ezekiel.