Cornelius a Lapide
Table of Contents
Synopsis of the Chapter
God continues to display the wicked and incorrigible ways of the Jews compared to other nations, through the image of the cut vine-wood, which compared to other woods is good for nothing except to be burned. Therefore He foretells that He will burn Jerusalem with fire.
Vulgate Text: Ezekiel 15:1-8
1. And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: 2. Son of man, what shall become of the wood of the vine compared to all the woods of the forests that are among the trees of the woods? 3. Shall wood be taken from it to make any work, or shall a peg be fashioned from it on which to hang any vessel? 4. Behold, it has been given to the fire for fuel: the fire has consumed both ends of it, and the middle of it has been reduced to ashes — shall it be useful for any work? 5. Even when it was whole, it was not fit for work: how much less, when the fire has devoured and burned it, shall anything be made from it? 6. Therefore thus says the Lord God: As the vine-wood among the trees of the forest, which I have given to the fire to devour, so I will deliver up the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 7. And I will set My face against them: they shall go out from the fire, and the fire shall consume them. And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I have set My face against them, 8. and I have made the land desolate and impassable, because they have been transgressors, says the Lord God.
Verse 2: Compared to All the Woods of the Forests
2. COMPARED TO ALL THE WOODS OF THE FORESTS — that is, compared to all wild and unfruitful trees. 'From' (ex) is taken as 'compared to' (præ), as also in Psalm cxxxviii, 6. For the Hebrew min means: In what respect does vine-wood surpass any other tree, if it bears no fruit? That is, it is so far from surpassing them that it is the most worthless of all, and is good for nothing but to be burned. So Vatablus and Maldonatus.
Note: God willed that the Church and holy souls should be not a pleasure garden nor a grove, but a vineyard — so that they might bear not flowers, not leaves, not branches, but fruit. Secondly, says our Prado, the Church is not an apple tree, not a fig tree, but a vine, because of the pleasantness and excellence of its fruit. For wine was given to mankind as a tree of life, to gladden the heart, refresh the spirits, rouse the mind, and foster life. And just as in the vine — that is, in a lowly and despised wood — there is within the most efficacious and finest juice, so in the Church is the grace of Christ, which through lowly and poor apostles inebriated the whole world with its power. Moreover, this wine produces virgins, namely the most pure and immortal: for the ever-green vine is a symbol of immortality.
Hence the vine is like a virgin; whence this is its riddle:
I do not wish to be joined to a bed, though it pleases me to be wed. I want no husband in my chamber; by myself my offspring is born. I do not wish to suffer burial; I know how to plunge myself beneath the earth.
Thirdly, no tree is more fruitful for its slenderness than the vine, says Pliny in Book XIV, chapter iv. Again: "We find that the vine and the pomegranate have borne fruit from the trunk, not from the branch or boughs," says Pliny, Book XVII, chapter xxv. This is what good and humble men do, who hide their fruits, that is, their works of righteousness; whereby virtue is safer and less exposed to the snares of demons, who rush upon displayed wares in a single assault:
Live for yourself, and flee far from great renown. Live for yourself, and as much as you can, avoid the spotlight: A cruel thunderbolt comes from a lofty citadel,
says Ovid, Tristia III, elegy 4.
Fourthly, the vine dies from cold, says Pliny in Book XVII, chapter xxiv; likewise from niter, alum, hot seawater, and bean husks. It is injured by radish, laurel, cabbage, and hazel. "The radish and laurel," says Pliny, "injure the vine by their odor or mixture of juice. For the vine is understood to be sensitive to smell, and to be affected by odor in a wonderful way: and therefore when these are nearby, it turns away and retreats, fleeing their hostile flavor. From this Androcides derived his medicine against drunkenness, prescribing that radish should be chewed. The vine also hates cabbage and every herb; it hates the hazel too — unless they are far away, it is sad and sick. Niter indeed and alum, hot seawater, and bean husks or bitter vetch are its ultimate poisons." In like manner, the Church and the holy soul practically dies from the cold of sloth, from the niter and alum of anger, from the seawater of bitterness; it is injured by the radish of harshness, the laurel of ostentation, the herbs of vanity, the hazel of envy. Therefore it flees these hostile juices and behaviors.
Fifthly, this Jewish vineyard was cultivated by God and the Prophets, but bore no fruit. Hence, cut off and pruned, or uprooted, it is good for nothing except to be burned, while other wood when cut can be used for making spears, doors, boards, ships, and houses. So therefore incorrigible Judea will be given over to fire, while other nations will be hewn by Christ and the Apostles to become vessels made for honor. So St. Jerome and Polychronius. To this Christ alluded in John xv, 5, saying: "I am the vine, you are the branches: he who abides in Me and I in him, bears much fruit: for without Me you can do nothing." Explaining this, St. Augustine, Tract. 81 on John: "The branches of a vine are so much more contemptible if they do not remain in the vine, as they are more glorious if they do remain." And proving this from this passage of Ezekiel, he adds: "One of two things is fitting for a branch: either the vine or fire. If it is not in the vine, it will be in the fire; therefore, that it may not be in the fire, let it be in the vine. So in Rome we continually burn vine branches in winter, and we rarely have bundles of other wood." The same St. Augustine, Sentences, sentence 364: "The branches are so in the vine that they contribute nothing to the vine, but receive from it so that they may live. For the vine is in the branches in such a way that it supplies vital nourishment to them and does not take from them. And therefore both having Christ abiding in oneself and abiding in Christ benefits the disciples, not Christ. For when a branch is cut off, another can sprout from the living root; but the one that is cut off cannot live without the root."
Verse 4: The Fire Has Consumed Both Ends of It
4. THE FIRE HAS CONSUMED BOTH ENDS OF IT. — In Hebrew: both extremities. For from vine branches nothing remains in the fire, because since they burn so easily, the fire soon consumes them entirely. But from other logs thrown into the fire, firebrands remain, from which a peg or something else can be made. So St. Jerome and the Chaldean. As if to say: The middle of this vine has been reduced to ashes, that is, half of the Jewish people has been consumed by Nebuchadnezzar under Jehoiakim and Jehoiachin; the other part will shortly be consumed under Zedekiah.
Note: He calls it fire, meaning the extreme and most bitter destruction inflicted either by sword, famine, or fire. See Canon xxvi. The Septuagint, instead of schene meaning 'both,' reads with different vowel points schane, meaning 'annual.' Hence they translate: The fire consumed its annual pruning, that is, the branches that are pruned from the vine each year were thrown into the fire. Thus in one year God pruned and purged Judea through Pharaoh, in another year through Nebuchadnezzar under Jehoiakim, in another under Jehoiachin, etc.
Verse 5: When the Fire Has Devoured It
5. WHEN THE FIRE HAS DEVOURED IT — namely, since the vine-wood has been burned halfway, as was said above, what will become of the remaining scorched part?
6. I HAVE GIVEN (that is, I am accustomed to give) TO THE FIRE.
7. THEY SHALL GO OUT FROM THE FIRE, AND THE FIRE SHALL CONSUME THEM. — That is, if they have escaped from the fire, again into
the fire I will cast them, so that they may be utterly burned — just as with vine branches, what remains we throw into the fire again. As if to say: These Jews will pass from one calamity to another, from famine to siege, from siege to death or captivity. So Theodoret. Origen takes it differently, as if to say: The Jews will pass from the disaster of Nebuchadnezzar to the disaster of Vespasian.
WHEN I HAVE SET MY FACE AGAINST THEM — when I have fixed My threatening countenance to punish them.