Son of man, How is the wood of the vine tree better than any tree, or than a branch which is among the trees of the forest?
Read Chapter 15
George Leo Haydock
AD 1849
Wood. Small branches or tendrils. The vines of that country were probably small. (Calmet)
The wild vine (Sanctius) grows very large, and the wood is durable, so that statues, pillars, and ladders were formed of it. (Pliny, xiv. 1.)
Strabo (ii., and xi.) mentions the trunk of a vine which two men could hardly clasp, and the bunch of grapes was two cubits high. But the prophet speaks of the small branches, which are fit only for the fire. (Calmet)
God's Church is often compared to a vine on account of its fruit, and the branches separated form her resemble the useless cuttings. (St. Augustine, tr. lxxxi. in John) (Worthington)
See Ward's Tree of Life, where this is set in a very striking light. In every age the Church makes fresh conquests, while heretics leave and persecute her. (Haydock)
