The hand of the Lord came upon me; he led me out by the Spirit of the Lord and set me in the middle of a valley that was full of bones.
Jehovah’s hand. Eze 1:3; Eze 3:14, Eze 3:22; Eze 33:22; Eze 40:1; Rev 1:10.
led me in the Spirit. Eze 8:3; Eze 11:24; 1Ki 18:12; 2Ki 2:16; Luke 4:1; Ac 8:39.
Source: The Treasury of Biblical Knowledge
By the resurrection of dry bones, Eze 37:1-10,
Israel’s dead hope is revived, Eze 37:11-14.
By the union of two sticks, Eze 37:15-17,
the incorporation of Israel into Judah is shown, Eze 37:18-20.
The promises of the Messiah, Eze 37:21-28.
full of bones Eze 37:11; Ps 141:7.
Source: The Treasury of Biblical Knowledge
In this vision of the dry bones God discusses the method and means of restoring and rebuilding his nation in his land. The vision illustrates the blessing and safety promised in the covenant of peace and the new covenant. God presents the vision and instructs the prophet; in vv. Eze 37:7-10Ezekiel interacts with the vision, and in v. Eze 37:11-14 God interprets the vision.
Source: New Illustrated Caribbean Bible Commentary
The text recalls the past visionary experiences of Ezekiel (Eze 1:1, Eze 1:3; Eze 2:2; Eze 3:12, Eze 3:14; Eze 8:1, Eze 8:3, Eze 8:7) although the word vision is not used in these verses.
bones: this word does not only speak of death, it actually speaks of many deaths, but according to Jewish custom, leaving bones in the open air was undignified and indecent. Leaving the bodies unburied until the bones were exposed was inconceivable.
Source: New Illustrated Caribbean Bible Commentary
THE HAND OF JEHOVAH… BONES. Through the Holy Spirit Ezekiel sees in a vision a valley full of bones. The bones represent “the house of Israel” (v. Eze 37:11), that is, both Israel and Judah in exile, whose hope had died when they were scattered among the heathen. God commanded Ezekiel to prophesy over the bones (vv. Eze 37:4-6 ). The bones were then brought to life in two stages:
(1) a political resettlement in the land (vv. Eze 37:7-8) Y
(2) a spiritual restoration of faith (vv. Eze 37:9-10). This vision was given to assure the exiles that they would be restored by the power of God and once again become an active community in the promised land, despite their seemingly hopeless circumstances (vv. Eze 37:11-14 ). The time between these two stages is not given.
Source: Full Life Study Bible
37. Resurrection of the Israelite Nation.
Ezekiel’s preceding statements no doubt aroused skepticism in most listeners. How will Judah ever see herself restored to her homeland in full freedom? Nebuchadnezzar’s empire seemed omnipotent, and therefore his oppression was to remain for centuries. The prophet, to further enhance his promises, communicates to them a vision that he has had about the restoration of Israel. It is true that the Israelite people had been reduced to a skeletal state, but divine omnipotence can again revive these desiccated bones. Israel will be restored as a nation, and again all the Israelites, leaving their former schismatic traditions, will unite to form a single future kingdom. The chapter is clearly divided into two parts: a) vision on the restoration of the Israelite community (1-14); b) symbolic action on the union of the two Israelite kingdoms, Judah and Ephraim (15-28).
Vision of dry bones (1-10).
1 The hand of Yahweh was upon me, and Yahweh took me outside and set me in the middle of a field that was full of bones. 2 He made me pass near them all around, and I saw that they were exceedingly numerous on the face of the field and completely dry. 3 And he said to me, Son of man, can these bones live? And I answered: Lord, Yahweh, you know it. 4 And he said to me: Son of man, prophesy over these bones and say to them: Dry bones, hear the word of Yahweh. 5 Thus says the Lord Yahweh to these bones: I will cause the spirit to enter you, and you will live, 6 and I will put sinews on you, and cover you with flesh, and spread skin over you, and put spirit into you, and you will live and you will know that I am Yahweh. 7 Then I prophesied as he commanded me, and as I prophesied a noise was heard, and there was a shaking and a bone-to-bone drawing together. 8 I looked and saw that nerves came upon them, and flesh grew and covered them with skin, but there was no spirit in them. 9 Then he said to me: Prophesy to the spirit, prophesy, son of man, and say to the spirit: Thus says the Lord, Yahweh: Come, oh spirit! come from the four winds and blow on these dead bones, and they will live. 10 I prophesied as I was commanded, and the spirit entered them, and they revived and stood up, an extremely large army.
The picture presented by the prophet is horrifying: a field full of dry bones. In the name of God he proclaims a new oracle to the exiles. The expression the hand of Yahweh was upon me indicates in the prophetic literature a special irresistible divine influence on the seer! The vision appears perfectly staged. The prophet circles the apocalyptic field of human skeletons exposed to the elements. Everything was impression of death. On the one hand, Ezequiel sees that these bones were incalculable, and on the other he knows that they are completely dry, without ribs or meat. The breath of life had long since departed from them. The Lord asks him about the possibility that these skeletons are revived by life again (v.3). The prophet does not deny the possibility of the resurrection of these bones 2, since he knows that God is omnipotent: Lord, you know, is the prudent response of Ezekiel (v.3).
No doubt in the vision the prophet sees that Yahweh wants to do something exceptional. At his command he prophesies over the dry bones. Ezekiel appears as an instrument of this resurrection, since he will be the champion of the hope of the national resurrection of Israel in captivity. The word prophesy indicates that Ezekiel must conduct himself as a prophet, that is, transmitter of a divine plan. The vivification of the bones appears highly dramatized: first the nerves come together, then they are filled with flesh and, finally, they are vivified by the vital breath (v.6). According to the popular mentality, life came directly from God, who infused each being with the vital breath 3.
Here this spirit is the last thing that happens to the skeleton already articulated with nerves and flesh. In the formation of the first man, the same order is followed, since the vital breath is infused after the man has been configured in the external material. In Ezekiel’s vision, the vital breath or spirit (ruach) has to come from the four winds (v.9), because it had to inform all the bones that in the field they were scattered in the four directions. No one should remain without being quickened. As a consequence of the prophet’s invocation to the spirit on those dry bones, they became alive, and before the astonished eyes of the seer there was an immense army of resurrected men (v.10).
Explanation of the vision (11-14).
11 Then he said to me: Son of man, these bones are the entire house of Israel. They are saying: Our bones have dried up, our hope has failed, we are lost. 12 Therefore prophesy and say to them, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: I will open your graves and bring you out of your graves, my people, and I will bring you to the land of Israel, 13 and you will know that I am Yahweh when I open your graves and bring me out of your graves, my people, 14 and put my spirit in you and live, and give you rest in your land, and you will know that I am Yahweh, I said it and I did it, oracle of Yahweh.
The explanation of the apocalyptic vision is clear in the context and the subsequent statement: the resurrected bones are the exiles of Israel, who believe themselves to be without hope of national resurrection: we are lost. (v.11). Desperation was the characteristic of the exiles after the final ruin of Jerusalem. They believe they are totally abandoned by their God. Ezequiel wants to lift spirits. The vision that he has just exposed is the best symbol of what is going to happen in the future, since Israel will be reanimated again, with the help of God, and reintegrated into her homeland. The exiled Israelites are like dead in their tombs, but Yahweh is going to take them out of this state, reviving them to make them return to the land of Palestine (v.14). Nothing in the context favors the view that this is the resurrection of the dead, even limited to the Israelite people as in Dan 12:24.
A single kingdom under the single scepter of the new David (15-28).
15 The word of Yahweh was addressed to me, saying: 16 Son of man, take a stick and write on it: “Judah and the children of Israel who are united with him.” Then take another one and write on it: “Joseph, the staff of Ephraim and of all the house of Israel that is united with him.” 17 Then join them one with the other, so that they are one, and one only make in your hand. 18 And when the children of Israel ask you: Will you not teach us what that is? 19 Say to them, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Behold, I will take the staff of Joseph, which is in the hands of Ephraim and of the tribes of Israel that are united with him, and I will put it on the staff of Judah, making one staff. , and it will be one in my hand. 20 Let the sticks on which you write be before their eyes, and say to them, 21 Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the nations to which they have gone, gathering them from all sides, and I will bring to your land. 22 And I will make them one people in the land, on the mountains of Israel, and they will all have one king; they will never again be two nations, they will never again be divided into two kingdoms, 23 they will never again defile themselves with their idols; I will deliver them from all the rebellions with which they have sinned and I will purify them, and they will be my people, and I will be their God. 24 My servant David will be their king, and they will all have one shepherd, and they will walk in the paths of my commandments, and they will keep my precepts, putting them into practice. 25 And they will inhabit the land that I gave to my servant Jacob, in which your fathers inhabited. They will inhabit it and their children’s children forever and ever, and forever their prince David, my servant. 26 I will establish with them a covenant of peace that will be an everlasting covenant; I will settle them, increase them, and set my sanctuary in their midst forever. 27 I will make my dwelling place among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 28 And the nations will know that I, Yahweh, sanctify Israel, when my sanctuary is in their midst forever.
After solemnly announcing, in the explanation of the previous vision, the repatriation of the exiles, the prophet announces that in the future the traditional division of the ten northern tribes, with Ephraim at the head, and the two southern ones, with Judah for capital. This union of the twelve tribes is expressed by Ezekiel with a symbolic action to draw more attention from the listeners. By divine order, the prophet takes two sticks; on one he is to write: Judah and the Israelites who are attached to it; and in another: Joseph and the house of Israel…