Ezekiel 15:2

“Son of man, of all the woody branches among the trees of the forest, what happens to the wood of the vine? ¹ 

"Son of man, how is the wood of a vine better than that of a branch on any of the trees in the forest?

"Son of man, how is the wood of the vine better than any wood of a branch which is among the trees of the forest?

"Son of man, how does a grapevine compare to a tree? Is a vine’s wood as useful as the wood of a tree?

"Son of man, how would you compare the wood of a vine with the branches of any tree you'd find in the forest?

Son of man, what is the vine-tree more than any branching tree which is among the trees of the woods?

O mortal, how does the wood of the vine surpass all other wood—the vine branch that is among the trees of the forest?

"Son of man, how is the wood of the vine better than any other wood, the vine branch which is among the trees of the forest?

“Son of man, of all the woody branches among the trees of the forest, what happens to the wood of the vine? ¹ 

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.