“Son of man, what is the vine tree more than any tree, the vine-branch which is among the trees of the forest?
Parallel Translations
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“Son of man, what is the vine tree more than any tree, the vine-branch which is among the trees of the forest?
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Son of man, What is the vine tree more than any tree, or than a branch which is among the trees of the forest?
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'Son of man, what is the vine-tree more than any tree, the vine branch which grew up among the trees of the forest?
Cross-references (17)
Passages linked to Ezekiel 15:2 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Hosea 10:1 Israel is a luxuriant vine that produces his fruit. According to the abundance of his fruit he has multiplied his altars. As their land has prospered, they have adorned their sacred stones.
- Psalms 80:8-16 You brought a vine out of Egypt. You drove out the nations, and planted it. You cleared the ground for it. It took deep root, and filled the land. The mountains were covered with its shadow. Its boughs were like God’s cedars. It sent out its branches to the sea, its shoots to the River. Why have you broken down its walls, so that all those who pass by the way pluck it? The boar out of the wood ravages it. The wild animals of the field feed on it. Turn again, we beg you, God of Armies. Look down from heaven, and see, and visit this vine, the stock which your right hand planted, the branch that you made strong for yourself. It’s burned with fire. It’s cut down. They perish at your rebuke.
- Isaiah 5:1-7 Let me sing for my well beloved a song of my beloved about his vineyard. My beloved had a vineyard on a very fruitful hill. He dug it up, gathered out its stones, planted it with the choicest vine, built a tower in the middle of it, and also cut out a wine press in it. He looked for it to yield grapes, but it yielded wild grapes. “Now, inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, please judge between me and my vineyard. What could have been done more to my vineyard, that I have not done in it? Why, when I looked for it to yield grapes, did it yield wild grapes? Now I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard. I will take away its hedge, and it will be eaten up. I will break down its wall, and it will be trampled down. I will lay it a wasteland. It won’t be pruned or hoed, but it will grow briers and thorns. I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain on it.” For the vineyard of Yahweh of Armies is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah his pleasant plant: and he looked for justice, but, behold, oppression; for righteousness, but, behold, a cry of distress.
- Song of Solomon 2:15 Catch for us the foxes, the little foxes that plunder the vineyards; for our vineyards are in blossom.
- Song of Solomon 6:11 I went down into the nut tree grove, to see the green plants of the valley, to see whether the vine budded, and the pomegranates were in flower.
- Song of Solomon 7:12 Let’s go early up to the vineyards. Let’s see whether the vine has budded, its blossom is open, and the pomegranates are in flower. There I will give you my love.
- Song of Solomon 8:11-12 Solomon had a vineyard at Baal Hamon. He leased out the vineyard to keepers. Each was to bring a thousand shekels of silver for its fruit. My own vineyard is before me. The thousand are for you, Solomon, two hundred for those who tend its fruit.
- Jeremiah 2:21 Yet I had planted you a noble vine, a pure and faithful seed. How then have you turned into the degenerate branches of a foreign vine to me?
- Luke 20:9-16 He began to tell the people this parable. “A man planted a vineyard, and rented it out to some farmers, and went into another country for a long time. At the proper season, he sent a servant to the farmers to collect his share of the fruit of the vineyard. But the farmers beat him, and sent him away empty. He sent yet another servant, and they also beat him, and treated him shamefully, and sent him away empty. He sent yet a third, and they also wounded him, and threw him out. The lord of the vineyard said, ‘What shall I do? I will send my beloved son. It may be that seeing him, they will respect him.’ “But when the farmers saw him, they reasoned among themselves, saying, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him, that the inheritance may be ours.’ They threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. What therefore will the lord of the vineyard do to them? He will come and destroy these farmers, and will give the vineyard to others.” When they heard that, they said, “May that never be!”
- John 15:1-6 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the farmer. Every branch in me that doesn’t bear fruit, he takes away. Every branch that bears fruit, he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. You are already pruned clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Remain in me, and I in you. As the branch can’t bear fruit by itself unless it remains in the vine, so neither can you, unless you remain in me. I am the vine. You are the branches. He who remains in me and I in him bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. If a man doesn’t remain in me, he is thrown out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them, throw them into the fire, and they are burned.
- Deuteronomy 32:32-33 For their vine is of the vine of Sodom, of the fields of Gomorrah. Their grapes are poison grapes. Their clusters are bitter. Their wine is the poison of serpents, the cruel venom of asps.
- Song of Solomon 2:13 The fig tree ripens her green figs. The vines are in blossom. They give out their fragrance. Arise, my love, my beautiful one, and come away.”
- Isaiah 44:23 Sing, you heavens, for Yahweh has done it! Shout, you lower parts of the earth! Break out into singing, you mountains, O forest, all of your trees, for Yahweh has redeemed Jacob, and will glorify himself in Israel.
- Micah 3:12 Therefore Zion for your sake will be plowed like a field, and Jerusalem will become heaps of rubble, and the mountain of the temple like the high places of a forest.
- Zechariah 11:2 Wail, cypress tree, for the cedar has fallen, because the stately ones are destroyed. Wail, you oaks of Bashan, for the strong forest has come down.
- Matthew 21:33-41 “Hear another parable. There was a man who was a master of a household, who planted a vineyard, set a hedge about it, dug a wine press in it, built a tower, leased it out to farmers, and went into another country. When the season for the fruit came near, he sent his servants to the farmers, to receive his fruit. The farmers took his servants, beat one, killed another, and stoned another. Again, he sent other servants more than the first: and they treated them the same way. But afterward he sent to them his son, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ But the farmers, when they saw the son, said among themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him, and seize his inheritance.’ So they took him, and threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him. When therefore the lord of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those farmers?” They told him, “He will miserably destroy those miserable men, and will lease out the vineyard to other farmers, who will give him the fruit in its season.”
- Mark 12:1-9 He began to speak to them in parables. “A man planted a vineyard, put a hedge around it, dug a pit for the wine press, built a tower, rented it out to a farmer, and went into another country. When it was time, he sent a servant to the farmer to get from the farmer his share of the fruit of the vineyard. They took him, beat him, and sent him away empty. Again, he sent another servant to them; and they threw stones at him, wounded him in the head, and sent him away shamefully treated. Again he sent another; and they killed him; and many others, beating some, and killing some. Therefore still having one, his beloved son, he sent him last to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ But those farmers said among themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’ They took him, killed him, and cast him out of the vineyard. What therefore will the lord of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the farmers, and will give the vineyard to others.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (10 sources)
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain Which brings forth no fruit, no more than the…
Which brings forth no fruit, no more than the other trees of the forest do: meaning that if Jerusalem, which bore the name of his Church, did not bring forth fruit it would be utterly destroyed.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Eze 15:2 Son of man, What is the vine…
Eze 15:2 Son of man, What is the vine tree more than any tree, [or than] a branch which is among the trees of the forest?
Ver. 2. What is the vine tree more than any tree?] The Jews took upon them, because a "vine brought out of Egypt," and such as God’s own right hand had planted. But insomuch as they were now become fruitless and also useless "trees twice dead, plucked up by the roots," {Jdg 1:12} what had they to glory in above other nations? Surely they were therefore worse than others, because they ought to have been better. True it is that a vine in itself, considered with the fruit it beareth, is no contemptible tree. But if it be withered or pulled out of the earth, it is no way comparable to other trees or shrubs, which, when felled, are put to sundry good uses that the vine - lignum tenus, gibbosum et tortuosum - a crooked, low, writhen thing - will never serve to; as to make spears, doors, tables, ships, houses, &c.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain The house of Israel is often compared to a…
The house of Israel is often compared to a vine, which when barren or fruitless is very contemptible and unprofitable. This the prophet minds them of to humble them, and awaken them to fruitfulness; Will you boast yourselves of this?
Than a branch which is among the trees of the forest; one single branch of a tree in the forest is of more use and worth than the whole vine tree is, except for its fruit.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain Shall wood be taken thereof to do any work?....…
Shall wood be taken thereof to do any work?.... The carpenter and joiner, the house or ship builder, are employed in; as to build houses of, make beams, rafters, floors, &c. build ships with, make masts of, &c. or any vessel or utensil for the use of man? it never is; it is not fit for any such purpose. Pliny (d) speaks of some rarities made of the wood of vines, but not things of common use; and these not of any vines, but of some peculiar ones, favoured by the air and soil
or will men take a pin of it to hang any vessel thereon? it is not fit to make a peg of to hang a hat on; and much less for anything that requires more strength.
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(d) Nat. Hist. l. 14. c. 1.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain The vine-tree - Israel is here compared to a…
The vine-tree - Israel is here compared to a vine, which, when fruitless, is utterly unprofitable. This the prophet minds them of to humble them, and awaken them to fruitfulness. A branch - One branch of a tree in the forest is of more use than the whole vine- tree is, except for its fruit.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 2. What is the vine tree more than…
Verse 2. What is the vine tree more than any tree] It is certain that the vine is esteemed only on account of its fruit. In some countries, it is true, it grows to a considerable size and thickness: but, even then, it is not of a sufficient density to work into furniture. But whatever may be said of the stock of the vine, it is the branch that the prophet speaks of here; and I scarcely know the branch of any tree in the forest more useless than is the branch of the vine. Out of it who can even make a pin to drive into a mud wall, or hang any vessel on? A vine would never be cultivated for the sake of its wood; it is really worthless but as it bears fruit. What is Israel? Good for nothing, but as God influenced them to bring forth fruit to his glory. But now that they have ceased to be fruitful, they are good for nothing, but, like a withered branch of the vine, to be burnt.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain The vine ... - The image is grounded on…
The vine ... - The image is grounded on a well-known figure Psa 80:8; Isa. 5. The comparison is not between the vine and other trees, but between the wood of the vine and the wood of other trees.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Wood. Small branches or tendrils. The vines of that…
Wood. Small branches or tendrils. The vines of that country were probably small. (Calmet) --- The wild vine (Sanctius) grows very large, and the wood is durable, so that statues, pillars, and ladders were formed of it. (Pliny, [Natural History?] xiv. 1.) --- Strabo (ii., and xi.) mentions the trunk of a vine which two men could hardly clasp, and the bunch of grapes was two cubits high. But the prophet speaks of the small branches, which are fit only for the fire. (Calmet) --- God’s Church is often compared to a vine on account of its fruit, and the branches separated form her resemble the useless cuttings. (St. Augustine, tr. lxxxi. in John) (Worthington) --- See Ward’s Tree of Life, where this is set in a very striking light. In every age the Church makes fresh conquests, while heretics leave and persecute her. (Haydock)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 2. or than a branch] Perhaps: the vine-branch which…
2. or than a branch] Perhaps: the vine-branch which is,—the words taking up “the vine tree” of previous clause. Owing to the verb the natural sense is: what shall be made of the wood of the vine among all wood, the vine branch that is among the trees of the forest? Cf. Eze_15:3. With the comparative sense the accents should be disregarded: what is the wood of the vine more than any wood of the branch which is &c. On Israel as the vine cf. Gen_49:22; Isa_5:1; Deu_32:32; Jer_2:21; Eze_17:5; Eze_19:10; Psalms 80; Hos_10:1.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain What is the vine tree, etc.? The prophet"s mind…
What is the vine tree, etc.? The prophet"s mind had apparently been dwelling, after the close of his previous utterance, on the imagery of earlier writers, in which Israel had appeared as the vine of Jehovah (Gen_49:22; Psa_80:9; Hos_10:1 Isa 5; Deu_32:32; Jer_2:21) and to which he himself refers again in Eze_19:10. He saw how men might pervert that image to their own destruction. And he expands the parable, as our Lord does in John 15. Men might dwell, perhaps were actually dwelling, on the thought that they were branches of the true vine, and therefore could not perish. He exposes the groundlessness of that hope in tones of scornful sarcasm. If the vine did not bear fruit, or if it only brought forth wild grapes, then its special excellence was gone, and it challenged comparison with other trees only as a timber tree, and what was its worth as such? If Israel was not true to its vocation, it was poorer and weaker than the heathen nations round it. So far the general thought is clear. In dealing with details, we note that the words in italics, "or than," should disappear, and that the words should stand as in the Revised Version, What is the vine more than any tree, the vine branch which is among the trees of the forest?
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.