Psalms 80:15-16

80:15 the root ¹  your right hand planted,

the shoot you made to grow! ² 

80:16 It is burned ³  and cut down.

They die because you are displeased with them. ⁴ 

Ezekiel 15:2-8

15:2 “Son of man, of all the woody branches among the trees of the forest, what happens to the wood of the vine? ⁵  15:3 Can wood be taken from it to make anything useful? Or can anyone make a peg from it to hang things on? 15:4 No! ⁶  It is thrown in the fire for fuel; when the fire has burned up both ends of it and it is charred in the middle, will it be useful for anything? 15:5 Indeed! If it was not made into anything useful when it was whole, how much less can it be made into anything when the fire has burned it up and it is charred?

15:6 “Therefore, this is what the sovereign Lord says: Like the wood of the vine is among the trees of the forest which I have provided as fuel for the fire – so I will provide the residents of Jerusalem ⁷  as fuel. ⁸  15:7 I will set ⁹  my face against them – although they have escaped from the fire, ¹⁰  the fire will still consume them! Then you will know that I am the Lord, when I set my face against them. 15:8 I will make ¹¹  the land desolate because they have acted unfaithfully, declares the sovereign Lord.”

Ezekiel 20:47

20:47 and say to the scrub land of the Negev, ‘Hear the word of the Lord: This is what the sovereign Lord says: Look here, ¹²  I am about to start a fire in you, ¹³  and it will devour every green tree and every dry tree in you. The flaming fire will not be extinguished, and the whole surface of the ground from the Negev to the north will be scorched by it.

Matthew 3:10

3:10 Even now the ax is laid at ¹⁴  the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.

John 15:6

15:6 If anyone does not remain ¹⁵  in me, he is thrown out like a branch, and dries up; and such branches are gathered up and thrown into the fire, ¹⁶  and are burned up. ¹⁷ 

¹ tn The Hebrew noun occurs only here in the OT. HALOT 483 s.v. III כֵּן emends the form to כַּנָּהּ (kannah, “its shoot”).

² tn Heb “and upon a son you strengthened for yourself.” In this context, where the extended metaphor of the vine dominates, בֵּן (ben, “son”) probably refers to the shoots that grow from the vine. Cf. Gen 49:22.

³ tn Heb “burned with fire.”

⁴ tn Heb “because of the rebuke of your face they perish.”

⁵ 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.

⁶ tn The word הִנֵּה (hinneh, traditionally “behold”) draws one’s attention to something. Sometimes it may be translated as a verb of perception; here it is treated as a particle that fits the context (so also in v. 5, but with a different English word).

⁷ map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.

⁸ tn The words “as fuel” are not in the Hebrew text, but are implied.

⁹ tn The word translated “set” is the same Hebrew word translated as “provide” in the previous verse.

¹⁰ sn This escape refers to the exile of Ezekiel and others in 597 b.c. (Ezek 1:2; 2 Kgs 24:10-16).

¹¹ tn The word translated “make” is the same Hebrew word translated as “provide” in v. 6.

¹² tn The word הִנֵּה (hinneh, traditionally “behold”) indicates becoming aware of something and has been translated here as a verb.

¹³ tn Fire also appears as a form of judgment in Ezek 15:4-7; 19:12, 14.

¹⁴ sn Laid at the root. That is, placed and aimed, ready to begin cutting.

¹⁵ tn Or “reside.”

¹⁶ sn Such branches are gathered up and thrown into the fire. The author does not tell who it is who does the gathering and throwing into the fire. Although some claim that realized eschatology is so prevalent in the Fourth Gospel that no references to final eschatology appear at all, the fate of these branches seems to point to the opposite. The imagery is almost certainly that of eschatological judgment, and recalls some of the OT vine imagery which involves divine rejection and judgment of disobedient Israel (Ezek 15:4-6, 19:12).

¹⁷ tn Grk “they gather them up and throw them into the fire, and they are burned.”