Shall wood be taken thereof to do any work? or will men take a pin of it to hang any vessel thereon?
Parallel translations
- WEB Will wood be taken of it to make anything? Will men take a pin of it to hang any vessel on it?
- BSB Can wood be taken from it to make something useful? Or can one make from it a peg on which to hang utensils?
- NKJV Is wood taken from it to make any object? Or can men make a peg from it to hang any vessel on?
- NASB Can wood be taken from it to make anything, or can even a peg be taken from it on which to hang any utensil?
- NLT Can its wood be used for making things, like pegs to hang up pots and pans?
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Vine wood is too useless even to make a peg for hanging a vessel. It has no structural worth at all.
Overview
God presses the image: you cannot build or even fashion a simple peg from a vine. Its only conceivable value lies in fruit, never in its substance. So Jerusalem, having failed to bear the fruit of faithfulness, has nothing else to commend it before God.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 4
- Luke 14:34–35Salt is good: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be seasoned?
- Matt 5:13Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.
- Jer 24:8And as the evil figs, which cannot be eaten, they are so evil; surely thus saith the LORD, So will I give Zedekiah the king of Judah, and his princes, and the residue of Jerusalem, that remain in this land, and them that dwell in the land of Egypt:
- Mark 9:50Salt is good: but if the salt have lost his saltness, wherewith will ye season it? Have salt in yourselves, and have peace one with another.
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
The promise of one Shepherd-King David, a new heart and new Spirit, and the river of life flowing from the temple all stream toward Christ, the good Shepherd who gives the Spirit.
How Ezekiel 15:3 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.