Ezekiel 15 KJV
Jerusalem the Useless Vine
Ezekiel Chapter 15: Jerusalem the Useless Vine
The chapter's vine metaphor uniquely emphasizes that unlike fruit-bearing vines in Isaiah 5 or Psalm 80, this wood has no utilitarian value even for pegs or vessels, underscoring Israel's election as purely relational rather than intrinsic.
1nd the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
2 Son of man, What is the vine tree more 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 pin of it to hang any vessel thereon?
4 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?
5 Behold, when it was whole, it was meet for no work: how much less shall it be meet yet for any work, when the fire hath devoured it, and it is burned?
6 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.
7 And I will set my face against them; they shall go out from one fire, and another fire shall devour them; and ye shall know that I am the LORD, when I set my face against them.
8 And I will make the land desolate, because they have committed a trespass, saith the Lord GOD.
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Did You Know?
The chapter's vine metaphor uniquely emphasizes that unlike fruit-bearing vines in Isaiah 5 or Psalm 80, this wood has no utilitarian value even for pegs or vessels, underscoring Israel's election as purely relational rather than intrinsic.
The cryptic reference to fire consuming 'both the ends' and 'the midst' alludes to the 597 BCE deportation of Jehoiachin alongside the earlier 605 BCE tribute and the looming 586 BCE destruction, framing three successive waves of judgment within one image.
Ezekiel 15 functions as a prophetic lawsuit (rib) pattern drawn from ancient Near Eastern treaty curses, where the vine's worthlessness serves as evidence of covenant breach rather than a simple agricultural illustration.
The absence of any summons to repentance or future hope distinguishes this oracle from most surrounding chapters in Ezekiel, presenting total consumption as the sole remaining outcome of Jerusalem's history.
Its placement immediately before the extended marriage allegory of chapter 16 creates a deliberate literary progression from inanimate object to intimate relational betrayal, intensifying the emotional force of the judgment sequence.