Ezekiel37
American Standard Version · Public Domain
1The hand of Jehovah was upon me, and he brought me out in the Spirit of Jehovah, and set me down in the midst of the valley; and it was full of bones.
2And he caused me to pass by them round about: and, behold, there were very many in the open valley; and, lo, they were very dry.
3And he said unto me, Son of man, can these bones live? And I answered, O Lord Jehovah, thou knowest.
4Again he said unto me, Prophesy over these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of Jehovah.
5Thus saith the Lord Jehovah unto these bones: Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live.
6And I will lay sinews upon you, and will bring up flesh upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and ye shall live; and ye shall know that I am Jehovah.
7So I prophesied as I was commanded: and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and, behold, an earthquake; and the bones came together, bone to its bone.
8And I beheld, and, lo, there were sinews upon them, and flesh came up, and skin covered them above; but there was no breath in them.
9Then said he unto me, Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, son of man, and say to the wind, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live.
10So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army.
11Then he said unto me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel: behold, they say, Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are clean cut off.
12Therefore prophesy, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Behold, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, O my people; and I will bring you into the land of Israel.
13And ye shall know that I am Jehovah, when I have opened your graves, and caused you to come up out of your graves, O my people.
14And I will put my Spirit in you, and ye shall live, and I will place you in your own land: and ye shall know that I, Jehovah, have spoken it and performed it, saith Jehovah.
15The word of Jehovah came again unto me, saying,
16And thou, son of man, take thee one stick, and write upon it, For Judah, and for the children of Israel his companions: then take another stick, and write upon it, For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and for all the house of Israel his companions:
17and join them for thee one to another into one stick, that they may become one in thy hand.
18And when the children of thy people shall speak unto thee, saying, Wilt thou not show us what thou meanest by these?
19say unto them, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Behold, I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel his companions; and I will put them with it, even with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they shall be one in my hand.
20And the sticks whereon thou writest shall be in thy hand before their eyes.
21And say unto them, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the nations, whither they are gone, and will gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land:
22and I will make them one nation in the land, upon the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king to them all; and they shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all;
23neither shall they defile themselves any more with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions; but I will save them out of all their dwelling-places, wherein they have sinned, and will cleanse them: so shall they be my people, and I will be their God.
24And my servant David shall be king over them; and they all shall have one shepherd: they shall also walk in mine ordinances, and observe my statutes, and do them.
25And they shall dwell in the land that I have given unto Jacob my servant, wherein your fathers dwelt; and they shall dwell therein, they, and their children, and their children’s children, for ever: and David my servant shall be their prince for ever.
26Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them; and I will place them, and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore.
27My tabernacle also shall be with them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
28And the nations shall know that I am Jehovah that sanctifieth Israel, when my sanctuary shall be in the midst of them for evermore.
Study Guide
Public-domain commentary and original-language notes for Ezekiel 37.
Chapter Summary
In this chapter: God restores dried bones to life. (1-14). The whole house of Israel is represented as enjoying the blessings of Christ's kingdom. (15-28).
vv1-14
No created power could restore human bones to life. God alone could cause them to live. Skin and flesh covered them, and the wind was then told to blow upon these bodies; and they were restored to life. The wind was an emblem of the Spirit of God, and represented his quickening powers. The vision was to encourage the desponding Jews; to predict both their restoration after the captivity, and also their recovery from their present and long-continued dispersion. It was also a clear intimation of the resurrection of the dead; and it represents the power and grace of God, in the conversion of the most hopeless sinners to himself. Let us look to Him who will at last open our graves, and bring us forth to judgment, that He may now deliver us from sin, and put his Spirit within us, and keep us by his power, through faith, unto salvation.
vv15-28
This emblem was to show the people, that the Lord would unite Judah and Israel. Christ is the true David, Israel's King of old; and those whom he makes willing in the day of his power, he makes to walk in his judgments, and to keep his statutes. Events yet to come will further explain this prophecy. Nothing has more hindered the success of the gospel than divisions. Let us study to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace; let us seek for Divine grace to keep us from detestable things; and let us pray that all nations may be obedient and happy subjects of the Son of David, that the Lord may be our God, and we may be his people for evermore.
Key Words
יָד: a hand (the open one (indicating power, means, direction, etc.),
עַל: above, over, upon, or against (yet always in this last relation with a downward aspect) in a great variety of applications
יָצָא: to go (causatively, bring) out, in a great variety of applications, literally and figuratively, direct and proxim.
רוּחַ: wind; by resemblance breath, i.e. a sensible (or even violent) exhalation; figuratively, life, anger, unsubstantiality; by extension, a region of the sky; by resemblance spirit, but only of a rational being (including its expression and functions)
נוּחַ: to rest, i.e. settle down; used in a great variety of applications, literal and figurative, intransitive, transitive and causative (to dwell, stay, let fall, place, let alone, withdraw, give comfort, etc.)
תָּוֶךְ: a bisection, i.e. (by implication) the centre
בִּקְעָה: properly, a split, i.e. a wide level valley between mountains
מָלֵא: full (literally or figuratively) or filling (literally); also (concretely) fulness; adverbially, fully
עֶצֶם: a bone (as strong); by extension, the body; figuratively, the substance, i.e. (as pron.) selfsame
עָבַר: to cross over; used very widely of any transition (literal or figurative; transitive, intransitive, intensive, causative); specifically, to cover (in copulation)
Cross References
Ezekiel 37The divine word has quickening power; dry bones hear just as the spiritually dead hear the Son's voice.
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Belief in resurrection relies on God who calls things that are not as though they were.
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God breathes the breath of life into inanimate bodies, repeating the creative act of Genesis.
Supported by Matthew Poole
The prophetic vision of the dead living and rising from the dust parallel to Israel's revival.
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The promised indwelling of the Spirit of God to cause His people to live and walk uprightly.
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God sends forth His Spirit or breath to create and renew the face of the earth.
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God promises to ransom His people from the power of the grave and redeem them from death.
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The symbolic use of rods or sticks written upon to represent the tribes of Israel.
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The cessation of rivalry between Ephraim and Judah, joining them in prophetic unity.
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Prophecy of the house of Judah walking with the house of Israel coming out of captivity.
Supported by Matthew Henry
The ultimate fulfillment of uniting scattered folds into one flock under one Shepherd.
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The messianic promise of the servant David set up as the one shepherd over God's flock.
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The foundational truth that God alone has the power to kill and make alive.
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The breath of life from God entering bodies, causing them to stand on their feet.
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Verbal echo of bones scattered at the grave's mouth, illustrating Israel's desperate national despair.
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Zion's lament of being forgotten and forsaken, matching the cry that 'our hope is lost.'
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The reception of Israel described as nothing less than 'life from the dead.'
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Christ making the divided groups one, breaking down the middle wall of partition.
Supported by Matthew Henry
The children of Judah and Israel gathered together, appointing for themselves one head.
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The promise that restored Israel shall serve the Lord and David their king.
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New Testament application of God tabernacling with His people as their God.
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The cleansing of Israel from all their filthiness and idols, accompanying their restoration.
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Israel returning and seeking the Lord their God and David their king in the latter days.
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The same plain or valley context where Ezekiel previously experienced the hand of the Lord.
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