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1 And 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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[AD 420] Jerome on Ezekiel 15:1-8
(Chapter 15, verse 1 onwards) And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: Son of man, what will be done with the vine wood among all the trees of the forest which are among the trees of the woods? Will its wood be taken to make something, or will a peg be made from it to hang any vessel on? Behold, it is given to the fire for fuel: both ends of it have been consumed by the fire, and the middle part has turned into ashes. Will it be useful for any work? Even though it was intact, it was not suitable for work: how much more so when that fire devoured it and consumed it, will nothing come from it as a work? Therefore, thus says the Lord God: Just as the vine tree among the trees of the forest, which I have given to the fire for devouring, so I will give the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and I will set my face against them. They will come out of the fire, and the fire will consume them. And you will know that I am the Lord, when I set my face against them and make the land a waste and desolate, because they have been transgressors, says the Lord God. For this is what we have interpreted: both parts of it have been consumed by fire, and half of it has been reduced to ashes. The Seventy have translated it as: The annual purgation consumes it by fire, and sends it to an end. Again, when we said: When I set my face against them, they turned, when I hardened. They have interpreted it as a transgression and a sin. Moreover, through various similes, which the Greeks call parables, the destruction of the city of Jerusalem is foretold. And as above (Chapter IV), in the pan in which the meats of the people were fried, and on the side on which the fortifications and the mounds of battering rams and siege machines were painted, the siege of the same city and the famine are described, and afterwards we will read about it here in the same passage: in Jeremiah also it is written (Jeremiah I, 13), the pot which is kindled from the face of the north indicates the city of Jerusalem; and the forests of Negev, and Teman, and Darom being cut down, signify this very thing: so in the present place, the same Jerusalem is compared to fruitful vineyards and vines. Concerning which it is written elsewhere: I have planted you a fruitful vineyard, the whole truth: how have you turned into the bitterness of a strange vine? (Jeremiah II, 21.) And in Isaiah: I have planted, he says, a choicest vine (Isaiah V, 2), which sounds beautiful and chosen. And in the Psalms we read: You have transferred a vineyard from Egypt: you have cast out the nations, and have planted it: you were the leader of its journey in its sight (Psalm LXXIX, 9). And we learn more clearly, as the Scripture says: But the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel (Isaiah V, 7). As long as this vineyard produces fruit, there is nothing more valuable than it in all the trees of the forest; but if it ceases to bear grapes, it will be of no use at all, unless it is given over to fire with its roots and branches. Other trees of the forest (not to mention fruit-bearing trees, of which the Scripture makes no mention at present) when they do not bear fruit, provide much usefulness when cut down, both in agriculture and in the use of weapons: when they are made into shields, they are shaved into spears, they form gates, they enclose armories, fridges, and chests; and they provide all the furniture for a house. But if a vine once ceases to produce grapes, it is so useless that not even a peg can be made from it, on which something can hang. And when you cut off the little branches, fire first seizes both parts of them, then the flame consumes them: and it is so useless when reduced to ashes that even when it is whole, it provides no benefit without fruits. However, there is ambiguity in the Hebrew word Sene (), which is written with three letters, Sin, Nun, and Yod; if it is read as Sene, it means two; if as Sane, it means years. And it came to pass, that for its two extremities, which we have interpreted as each part of it, the Seventy interpreted its annual purification: when Aquila said, its two last things; Symmachus Theodotion, its two extremities. And there is an order: As a fruitless vine is given to the fire, for no advantage: so also Jerusalem, nay its inhabitants, shall be given to burnings, so that they may come forth from the fire, and the fire may consume them, that is, even if they have escaped from the city, they shall be consumed by the hostile sword outside; and those who remain, pressed down by the weight of their own miseries, shall recognize me as the Lord: when I have set my face against them, and given them over to eternal desolation. For sinners have not arisen like the rest of the nations, but rather transgressors. For it is one thing to neglect what you are ignorant of, and another to despise what you have cherished. We can understand the vineyard and Jerusalem according to spiritual intelligence, understanding the multitude of believers. But if it is negligent, and loses the cultivation of the former religion, and brings neither the fruits of virtues, nor makes the wine that gladdens the heart of man, it will be handed over to eternal flames, and considered as nothing. For the servant who knows his master's will and does not do it, he will be beaten with many blows (Luke XII, 47). Such a thing the Lord also speaks in the Gospel according to John: I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit, he will take it away. And everyone who bears fruit, he will prune it so that it may bear more fruit (John XV, 2, 2). Indeed, the Savior is the vine, and we are the branches, and God (also called) the Father is the vinedresser, as long as we keep God's commandments, we are constantly cultivated, and our cultivation is purification: For it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy (Romans IX, 16). But if we bear fruit, we are pruned by the Father, so that we may bear even more fruit. It is shown that all of our effort, with the help of God, leads to the end and produces the fruit of fullness. But those who do not produce fruit will be taken away by the Father. And when they are taken away, Scripture does not say what the Father will do with them, except that perhaps separation from the body of Christ is a perpetual punishment and destruction. What we have understood in the vineyard and the vine, the Savior teaches in the Gospel under a different figure: Salt is good, but if salt loses its flavor, it is no longer useful, except to be thrown out and trampled on by men (Mark 9:49). And the eye that illuminates the whole body, if it is blind, hears from the Lord: If the light that is in you is darkness: how great will the darkness be? For indeed, the punishment of the transgressor, and of the one who has denied God when choked, is lighter than that of those who have never had knowledge of God. But the trees of the meadows or forests, according to the variety of believers, have some usefulness in a great house; in which not only are there vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and earthenware; some for honor, others for dishonor.

Source: Commentary on Ezekiel