5 If it was not useful for anything when it was whole, how much less can it be made into something useful when the fire has burned it and it is charred?
5 Behold, when it was whole, it was used for nothing. How much less, when the fire has consumed it and it is charred, can it ever be used for anything!
5 "Hardly. When it was whole it wasn't good for anything. Half-burned is no improvement. What's it good for?
5 Indeed, when it was whole, no object could be made from it. How much less will it be useful for any work when the fire has devoured it, and it is burned?
5 Vines are useless both before and after being put into the fire!
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Ezekiel 15:5
Chapter Contents
Jerusalem like an unfruitful vine.
If a vine be fruitful, it is valuable. But if not fruitful, it is worthless and useless, it is cast into the fire. Thus man is capable of yielding a precious fruit, in living to God; this is the sole end of his existence; and if he fails in this, he is of no use but to be destroyed. What blindness then attaches to those who live in the total neglect of God and of true religion! This similitude is applied to Jerusalem. Let us beware of an unfruitful profession. Let us come to Christ, and seek to abide in him, and to have his words abide in us.