Ezekiel 37:1-14

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Ezekiel 37:1–14

37 The hand of the Lord came upon me and brought me out in the Spirit of the Lord, and set me down in the midst of the valley; and it was full of bones. 2 Then He caused me to pass by them all around, and behold, there were very many in the open valley; and indeed they were very dry. 3 And He said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?”

So I answered, “O Lord God, You know.”

4 Again He said to me, “Prophesy to these bones, and say to them, ‘O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! 5 Thus says the Lord God to these bones: “Surely I will cause breath to enter into you, and you shall live. 6 I will put sinews on you and bring flesh upon you, cover you with skin and put breath in you; and you shall live. Then you shall know that I am the Lord.” ’ ”

7 So I prophesied as I was commanded; and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and suddenly a rattling; and the bones came together, bone to bone. 8 Indeed, as I looked, the sinews and the flesh came upon them, and the skin covered them over; but there was no breath in them.

9 Also He said to me, “Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live.” ’ ” 10 So I prophesied as He commanded me, and breath came into them, and they lived, and stood upon their feet, an exceedingly great army.

11 Then He said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They indeed say, ‘Our bones are dry, our hope is lost, and we ourselves are cut off!’ 12 Therefore prophesy and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “Behold, O My people, I will open your graves and cause you to come up from your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel. 13 Then you shall know that I am the Lord, when I have opened your graves, O My people, and brought you up from your graves. 14 I will put My Spirit in you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken it and performed it,” says the Lord.’ ”

Ezekiel’s experience of the Spirit of Yahweh indicates the onset of a visionary trance. Ezekiel does not see corpses of people who died recently (those from the siege of Jerusalem. Instead, he sees a wide plain filled with dry bones—apparently randomly strewn human bones, not skeletons. The scene resembles a long-forgotten battlefield, where two armies fought and died with no one left to bury them. Over time, the bones would have been bleached and dried by the elements, while animal scavengers may have scattered them across the field. Based on Ezekiel’s familiarity with Egyptian and Mesopotamian cultural and religious practices, he may have heard about the Zoroastrian  practice of exposing corpses to the elements instead of burying or cremating them. Zoroastrians also believed in a physical resurrection of the dead.

Yahweh is not asking Ezekiel for his opinion on whether people can be brought back to life. The prophet would have been familiar with that possibility based on the experiences of the prophets Elijah and Elisha. Ezekiel’s response indicates his understanding that the possibility depended entirely on Yahweh’s actions. 

Yahweh answers by commanding Ezekiel to prophesy, thereby demonstrating the faith implicit in his response. His command to prophesy to dry bones would seem a pointless effort. But Ezekiel has prophesied over inanimate objects before, most recently in his oracle of restoration for the mountains of Israel. Not only will the bones be reanimated, they will be completely restored with tendons, muscles, and skin. Ezekiel acts directly as Yahweh’s agent of renewal. Yahweh did not need Ezekiel’s participation to achieve the outcome He desired, but He involved Ezekiel anyway, testing his faith and obedience and using him to accomplish His will.

The bones are brought back together and the bodies are restored, but the essence of life is still absent. The second command emphasizes that life had not yet been restored. The earlier prophecy promised “breath” before the sinews, flesh, and skin. The two levels of prophecy and fulfillment provide an element of dramatic suspense and highlight the importance of the “breath”. The essence of life enters after the body is created, just as when God created Adam. 

Yahweh explains to Ezekiel that the bones represent all of Israel. The dryness of the bones reflects the exiles’ hopeless pessimism. The interpretation also expands on the vision by predicting Israel’s return to their land in the future, symbolized by a resurrection of the dead from their graves. The dry bones represent the nation of Israel collectively and throughout history—not just the recent victims of invasion and exile. Even the northern tribes, exiled much earlier by the Assyrians in 722 bc, are included. The people’s statement reflects the exiles’ general attitude. Resurrection of the dead metaphorically illustrates Israel’s restoration as a nation. Faithlife Bible.

Not only do the bones speak of death, indeed of many deaths, but for bones to be left in the open was an indignity and indecency according to Jewish custom. To leave bodies unburied until the bones were exposed was unthinkable.

The prophet placed his faith completely in the living God. Ordinarily, one would say “no” to the question God posed. But Ezekiel did not limit God; he knew the Almighty could make bones live. The word translated breath is translated in other places as wind or Spirit. The breath sent by God into the lifeless bodies symbolizes the Holy Spirit, who brings renewal, regeneration, and rebirth. 

These passages are not about resurrection from physical death, but rebirth from spiritual death brought about by divine power. Psalm 87 is another text in the Hebrew Scriptures that speaks of spiritual rebirth. The point of Jesus’ words to Nicodemus was that he should have known and understood the concept of a second birth.

The dramatic noise and then coming together of the bones with new flesh must have been chilling and thrilling to the prophet. This was a prophetic portrayal of the rebirth of Israel.

The dead bones in the valley must have looked like the aftermath of a horrible military defeat in which there were no survivors even to bury the dead. But now the army stood upon their feet.

The bones symbolize the whole house of Israel. This identification picks up on imagery already used: (1) those identified as dry or spiritually dead; (2) those identified as despondent and dejected, with no apparent hope of being “resurrected” as the people of the living God; and (3) those described as disassembled and dispersed before being rejoined and rebuilt. 

The major thrust passage is the coming spiritual rebirth of God’s chosen people through the agency of His Spirit. The spiritual rebirth would miraculously revive and restore human beings to what God had intended them to be in the beginning. The same body-breath sequence occurs in the creation of Adam. NKJ Bible.

Genesis 2:7 And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.

Deuteronomy 32:39 ‘Now see that I, even I, am He, And there is no God besides Me;I kill and I make alive; I wound and I heal; nor is there any who can deliver from My hand.

1 Samuel 2:6 “The LORD kills and makes alive; He brings down to the grave and brings up.

Psalm 104:29  You hide Your face, they are troubled; You take away their breath, they die and return to their dust.

Psalm 104:30 You send forth Your Spirit, they are created; and You renew the face of the earth.