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Ezequiel 15

BLIVRE · Chapter 15/48

1E veio a mim a palavra do SENHOR, dizendo:

2Filho do homem, em que é a madeira da videira é melhor que toda madeira? [Ou] o que é o sarmento entre as madeiras do bosque?

3Por acaso tomam dele madeira para fazer alguma obra? Toma-se dele alguma estaca para pendurar nela algum vaso?

4Eis que é posto no fogo para ser consumido; suas duas pontas o fogo consome, e seu meio fica queimado. Por acaso serviria para alguma obra?

5Eis que quando estava inteiro não se fazia [dele] obra; menos ainda depois de consumido pelo fogo, tendo se queimado, servir para obra alguma.

6Portanto assim diz o Senhor DEUS: Tal como a madeira da videira entre as madeiras do bosque, a qual entreguei ao fogo para que seja consumida, assim entregarei os moradores de Jerusalém.

7Pois porei meu rosto contra eles; ainda que tenham saído do fogo, o fogo os consumirá; e sabereis que eu sou o SENHOR, quando tiver posto meu rosto contra eles.

8E tonarei a terra em desolação, pois transgrediram gravemente,diz o Senhor DEUS.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

God compares Jerusalem to a vine branch: wood useless for any construction, and even more useless once burned by fire.

Explanation

This is one of the shortest chapters in the book and uses a simple, direct metaphor: unlike other trees, vine wood is not useful for making furniture or tools — it is only good for producing fruit (wine) or, if it produces none, for being burned. The comparison is harsh because Israel was often described as 'God's vineyard' (Isaiah 5, Psalm 80), so saying that the vine does not even yield useful wood implies that, without fruit, it truly has no purpose at all. The practical application is a reminder that the identity of a people chosen by God was tied to the purpose of reflecting His righteousness, not to automatic privileges.

Fun facts

  • The comparison of Israel to a vine appears at least six different times in the Old Testament, always highlighting the expectation of spiritual fruitfulness.
  • Jesus takes up this same image in a positive way in John 15, calling Himself the 'true vine' — perhaps in direct contrast to the fruitless vine of Ezekiel.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. Ezequiel 15:1Opening formula for a brief parable: the comparison of Jerusalem to the useless wood of the vine.
  2. Ezequiel 15:2Vine wood is fit for neither furniture nor a peg — only for burning. It is a deliberately humbling image: Jerusalem is not compared to a noble cedar but to a twig with no use at all outside of fire.
  3. Ezequiel 15:3The rhetorical question already gives away the answer: vine wood is fit neither for building anything nor for hanging objects on — it has no practical use at all.
  4. Ezequiel 15:4Even before being fully burned, vine wood was already useless — the fire only finishes consuming something that never had any building value to begin with.
  5. Ezequiel 15:5This drives the argument further: if the wood was already useless intact, it is even less useful once burned — the comparison grows steadily more unfavorable to Jerusalem.
  6. Ezequiel 15:6The application of the parable is direct: just as vine wood has already come out of one fire and is still headed for another, Jerusalem had already been through hardship before and was still heading toward the same destruction.
  7. Ezequiel 15:7God promises that Jerusalem will not escape one tragedy only to suffer another right after — the judgment will repeat until it is complete.
  8. Ezequiel 15:8The chapter closes by tying down the reason behind the whole parable: the land’s desolation is a direct response to the unfaithfulness the people committed.

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