Discovery BoxEzekiel 15:2-3 
Context15:2 “Son of man, of all the woody branches among the trees of the forest, what happens to the wood of the vine? 1 15:3 Can wood be taken from it to make anything useful? Or can anyone make a peg from it to hang things on?
Ezekiel 20:32
Context20:32 “‘What you plan 2 will never happen. You say, “We will be 3 like the nations, like the clans of the lands, who serve gods of wood and stone.” 4
1 tn Most modern translations take the statement as a comparison (“how is vine wood better than any forest wood?”) based on the preposition מִן (min). But a comparison should have a word as an adjective or stative verb designating a quality, i.e., a word for “good/better” is lacking. The preposition is translated above in its partitive sense.
sn Comparing Israel to the wood of the vine may focus on Israel’s inferiority to the other nations. For the vine imagery in relation to Israel and the people of God, see Ps 80:8-13; John 15:1-7; Rom 11:17-22.
2 tn Heb “what comes upon your mind.”
3 tn The Hebrew could also read: “Let us be.”
4 tn Heb “serving wood and stone.”
sn This verse echoes the content of 1 Sam 8:20.
