Bible Strands
Ezekiel 15:2
“Son of man, how does the wood of the vine surpass any other branch among the trees in the forest?
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The Lord addresses Ezekiel through a prophetic vision, directing the prophet’s attention to a parable about a vine. The question is posed immediately after the divine word is delivered to the seer in the preceding verse.
The words — The phrase עֵץ הַגֶּפֶן ('etz ha.gefen) literally translates to "the wood of the vine." The interrogative מַה (mah) frames the rhetorical question regarding the vine’s comparative value among forest trees.
The thread — The vine motif appears in Hosea 10:1 as a symbol of Israel’s prosperity, Psalm 80:8 as a plant transplanted from Egypt, and Isaiah 5:1 as a cultivated vineyard. Ezekiel 15:2 shifts the focus from agricultural yield to structural timber, questioning the vine’s utility apart from its fruit.
Why it lands — The verse forces a reader to evaluate the vine’s worth based solely on its wood rather than its produce. It demands an honest assessment of value that excludes sentimental attachment to the plant itself.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
Son of man, What is the vine tree more than any tree, or than a branch which is among the trees of the forest?
Cross-references
- 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.
- Psalms 80:8 You uprooted a vine from Egypt; You drove out the nations and transplanted it.
- Isaiah 5:1 I will sing for my beloved a song of his vineyard: My beloved had a vineyard on a very fertile hill.
- Song of Solomon 2:15 Catch for us the foxes—the little foxes that ruin the vineyards—for our vineyards are in bloom.
- Song of Solomon 6:11 I went down to the walnut grove to see the blossoms of the valley, to see if the vines were budding or the pomegranates were in bloom.
- Song of Solomon 7:12 Let us go early to the vineyards to see if the vine has budded, if the blossom has opened, if the pomegranates are in bloom—there I will give you my love.
- Song of Solomon 8:11 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.
- Jeremiah 2:21 I had planted you like a choice vine from the very best seed. How could you turn yourself before Me into a rotten, wild vine?
- Luke 20:9 Then He proceeded to tell the people this parable: “A man planted a vineyard, rented it out to some tenants, and went away for a long time.
- John 15:1 “I am the true vine, and My Father is the keeper of the vineyard.