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.
<html><b>what will become of the vine tree out of all [other] trees</b> How will its end be different from that of all other trees? <b>the branch that was among the trees of the forest</b> Not about the vine of the vineyards, which produces fruit, am I asking you, but about the branch of a vine that grows in the forest.</html>
<html><b>Will…be taken from it, etc.</b> It is not for that. <b>any utensil</b> Heb. כל כלי.</html>
<html><b>Behold, [if] it were given to the fire to be consumed</b> Adevorer in Old French, to be devoured, consumed. Behold I asked you about a whole one, which is not fit for anything. Now I shall add more to the question: Behold if they put a branch of it into the fire, and the fire consumed it at its two ends of its outer surface until its inside became charred… <b>were charred</b> Heb. נָחָר, blackened from the fire, brouir in French, to blacken, to scorch. נָחָר derives from the same form found in (Job 30:30): “and my bones dried out (חָרָה) from the heat.” Some translate this as e(s)sart in Old French, calcined, burnt to ashes, as [its sense] in Hosea (8:5) and also in (Job 19:11): “He has kindled (וַיַחַר) His wrath against me.” Menachem (p. 93) [however] related it to “my bones dried out.” <b>is it fit</b> [Is it] still fit for work?</html>
<html><b>have I placed</b> Jerusalem. Its two ends were consumed by the fire, [i.e.,] the two exiles: When Jehoiakim was exiled, some of the royal seed and of the nobles were exile with him, as it is said in Daniel (1:3). After him were exiled his son Jeconiah and the craftsmen and the gate sentries. “And its inside was charred” [based on above, verse 4] Concerning Zedekiah, the one who remained therein, I have already decreed (10:2): “and fill your hands with fiery coals…and cast [them] onto the city.”</html>
<html><b>From the fire they have emerged</b> They transgressed the words of the Torah, which were given from fire, and nations as strong as fire will destroy them.</html>