complete verse (Ezekiel 15:4)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Ezekiel 15:4:

  • Kupsabiny: “A fire is not increased at all by it. And when the back and front end have burned to become black and the middle is burning brightly is it then still possible for you to make anything from those trees?” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “Of course not! Possibly it can only be used as-fuel; but even still it quickly becomes- just -ashes” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “And after a branch of a grapevine is thrown into a fire, and the fire burns both ends and chars/scorches the branch in the middle, will it then be useful for anything?” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Ezekiel 15:4

Lo renders the Hebrew particle hinneh. Here it gives dramatic vividness to the parable. Most translations ignore it (so Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version), because such a particle is unnatural in the receptor languages. However, those languages that have particles for dramatic effect will do well to retain it.

It is given to the fire for fuel means the wood of the grapevine is only good for making a fire. It is useless for anything else. Good News Translation provides a helpful model here, saying “It is only good for building a fire.”

When the fire has consumed both ends of it, and the middle of it is charred, is it useful for anything?: This is another rhetorical question that stresses how useless the vine wood is. The picture here is of vine wood that has been in the fire for a short time and then someone takes it out. It is half burnt—its ends have burned up and the middle has begun to smolder. This makes the wood even weaker. This question may be rendered as a statement by saying “When both ends get burned and the middle starts to burn [or, get black], it is of no use at all.”

Quoted with permission from Gross, Carl & Stine, Philip C. A Handbook on Ezekiel. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2016. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .