The Bible

 

Ezekiel 15

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1 And there is a word of Jehovah unto me, saying:

2 `Son of man, What is the vine-tree more than any tree? The vine-branch that hath been, Among trees of the forest?

3 Is wood taken from it to use for work? Do they take of it a pin to hang any vessel on it?

4 Lo, to the fire it hath been given for fuel, Its two ends hath the fire eaten, And its midst hath been scorched! Is it profitable for work?

5 Lo, in its being perfect it is not used for work, How much less, when fire hath eaten of it, And it is scorched, Hath it been used yet for work?

6 Therefore, thus said the Lord Jehovah: As the vine-tree among trees of the forest, That I have given to the fire for fuel, So I have given the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

7 And I have set My face against them, From the fire they have gone forth, And the fire doth consume them, And ye have known that I [am] Jehovah, In My setting My face against them.

8 And I have made the land a desolation, Because they have committed a trespass, An affirmation of the Lord Jehovah!'

   

Commentary

 

Tree

  
tree

In general, trees represent the deepest and most significant intellectual concepts: the ones that come to us most directly from the Lord. This varies depending on us and our states: the people of the Most Ancient Church, who were in a state of loving the Lord, understood truth automatically and internally through what the Writings call "perception"; people in lower states (including most of us) have to work a little harder to learn it from the Word and by willing to follow the Lord. In other parts of the Bible, especially in the prophets and New Testament parables, the meaning of "tree" is broader, meaning not just a person's intellectual concepts but the whole person.

'Trees,' as in Joel 1:10-12, signify knowledges.

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