Ezekiel 37

The Valley of Dry Bones

1 The hand of the LORD was on me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the LORD and set me in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones.

2 He led me back and forth among them, and I saw a great many bones on the floor of the valley, bones that were very dry.

3 He asked me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” I said, “Sovereign LORD, you alone know.”

4 Then he said to me, “Prophesy to these bones and say to them, ‘Dry bones, hear the word of the LORD!

5 This is what the Sovereign LORD says to these bones: I will make breath^[a] enter you, and you will come to life.

6 I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin; I will put breath in you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the LORD.’ ”

7 So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I was prophesying, there was a noise, a rattling sound, and the bones came together, bone to bone.

8 I looked, and tendons and flesh appeared on them and skin covered them, but there was no breath in them.

9 Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to it, ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Come, breath, from the four winds and breathe into these slain, that they may live.’ ”

10 So I prophesied as he commanded me, and breath entered them; they came to life and stood up on their feet—a vast army.

11 Then he said to me: “Son of man, these bones are the people of Israel. They say, ‘Our bones are dried up and our hope is gone; we are cut off.’

12 Therefore prophesy and say to them: ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: My people, I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them; I will bring you back to the land of Israel.

13 Then you, my people, will know that I am the LORD, when I open your graves and bring you up from them.

14 I will put my Spirit in you and you will live, and I will settle you in your own land. Then you will know that I the LORD have spoken, and I have done it, declares the LORD.’ ”

One Nation Under One King

15 The word of the LORD came to me:

16 “Son of man, take a stick of wood and write on it, ‘Belonging to Judah and the Israelites associated with him.’ Then take another stick of wood, and write on it, ‘Belonging to Joseph (that is, to Ephraim) and all the Israelites associated with him.’

17 Join them together into one stick so that they will become one in your hand.

18 “When your people ask you, ‘Won’t you tell us what you mean by this?’

19 say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: I am going to take the stick of Joseph—which is in Ephraim’s hand—and of the Israelite tribes associated with him, and join it to Judah’s stick. I will make them into a single stick of wood, and they will become one in my hand.’

20 Hold before their eyes the sticks you have written on

21 and say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: I will take the Israelites out of the nations where they have gone. I will gather them from all around and bring them back into their own land.

22 I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel. There will be one king over all of them and they will never again be two nations or be divided into two kingdoms.

23 They will no longer defile themselves with their idols and vile images or with any of their offenses, for I will save them from all their sinful backsliding,^[b] and I will cleanse them. They will be my people, and I will be their God.

24 “ ‘My servant David will be king over them, and they will all have one shepherd. They will follow my laws and be careful to keep my decrees.

25 They will live in the land I gave to my servant Jacob, the land where your ancestors lived. They and their children and their children’s children will live there forever, and David my servant will be their prince forever.

26 I will make a covenant of peace with them; it will be an everlasting covenant. I will establish them and increase their numbers, and I will put my sanctuary among them forever.

27 My dwelling place will be with them; I will be their God, and they will be my people.

28 Then the nations will know that I the LORD make Israel holy, when my sanctuary is among them forever.’ ”

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Ezekiel 37 Commentary

Chapter 37

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)

Verses 1-14 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.

Verses 15-28 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.

Taken from Matthew Henry Commentary on the Whole Bible (Concise)

Cross References 47

1. S Ezekiel 1:3; Ezekiel 8:3
2. S Ezekiel 11:24; Luke 4:1; Acts 8:39
3. Jeremiah 7:32
4. S Jeremiah 8:2; Ezekiel 40:1
5. Deuteronomy 32:39; S 1 Samuel 2:6; Isaiah 26:19; 1 Corinthians 15:35
6. Jeremiah 22:29
7. S Genesis 2:7; Psalms 104:29-30; Revelation 11:11
8. S Exodus 6:2; Ezekiel 38:23; Joel 2:27; Joel 3:17
9. ver 14; Psalms 104:30; Isaiah 32:15; Ezekiel 39:29; Zechariah 12:10
10. Jeremiah 49:36; Daniel 7:2; Daniel 8:8; Daniel 11:4; Zechariah 2:6; Zechariah 6:5; Revelation 7:1
11. S Ezekiel 12:7
12. Revelation 11:11
13. S Job 17:15; S Lamentations 3:54
14. ver 21; Deuteronomy 32:39; 1 Samuel 2:6; Isaiah 26:19; Jeremiah 29:14; Hosea 13:14; Amos 9:14-15; Zephaniah 3:20; Zechariah 8:8
15. S Exodus 6:2
16. S Ezekiel 17:24; Hosea 13:14
17. S ver 9; S Isaiah 11:2; Joel 2:28-29
18. S Jeremiah 43:2
19. Eze 36:27-28,36; Revelation 11:11
20. S 1 Kings 12:20; 2 Chronicles 10:17-19
21. Numbers 17:2-3; 2 Chronicles 15:9
22. ver 24; Isaiah 11:13; S Jeremiah 50:4; Hosea 1:11
23. S Ezekiel 24:19
24. Zechariah 10:6
25. S ver 12; S Isaiah 43:5-6; S Ezekiel 20:42; Ezekiel 36:24; Ezekiel 39:27; Micah 4:6
26. S Ezekiel 17:22; S Ezekiel 34:13-14
27. Isaiah 11:13; Jeremiah 3:18; Jeremiah 33:24; S Jeremiah 50:4; Hosea 1:11
28. Ezekiel 36:25; Ezekiel 43:7
29. S Jeremiah 7:24
30. Ezekiel 11:18; S Ezekiel 36:28; Nahum 2:2
31. Isaiah 55:4; Hosea 3:5
32. S 1 Samuel 13:14; S Isaiah 32:1
33. Isaiah 40:11; Ezekiel 34:23; Zechariah 13:7
34. Psalms 78:70-71; S Jeremiah 30:21; S Ezekiel 21:27
35. S Ezekiel 28:25
36. S Ezra 9:12; Amos 9:15
37. S Psalms 89:3-4; Isaiah 11:1; S Ezekiel 34:23-24
38. S Numbers 25:12; Isaiah 55:3
39. S Genesis 9:16; S Deuteronomy 29:14; S Hebrews 13:20
40. S Jeremiah 30:19
41. Leviticus 26:11
42. S Ezekiel 16:62
43. S Leviticus 26:11; John 1:14
44. S Ezekiel 34:30; S Ezekiel 36:28; S 2 Corinthians 6:16*
45. S Exodus 31:13; Ezekiel 20:12
46. Hosea 1:10-11
47. Ezekiel 43:9; Zephaniah 3:15

Footnotes 2

[a]. The Hebrew for this word can also mean "wind" or "spirit" (see verses 6-14).
[b]. Many Hebrew manuscripts (see also Septuagint); most Hebrew manuscripts "all their dwelling places where they sinned"

Chapter Summary

INTRODUCTION TO EZEKIEL 37

This chapter contains a prophecy of the Jews' return from captivity to their own land; of the union of the each tribes with one another; and of the glorious kingdom of Christ among them. Their restoration is represented by a vision of dry bones made alive; the place in which they were; the condition they were in; and the manner in which they were made to live, are described, Eze 37:1-10, the explication and application of this vision to the Jews, Eze 37:11-14, their union is signified by a sign or emblem of two sticks, which became one in the hand of the prophet, Eze 37:15-17, the meaning of this is shown, Eze 37:18-20, then follow promises of their return to their own land, in express words; of their being one kingdom, under one King, Christ, the antitype of David, of their sanctification; of their covenant interest in God, made manifest to them; and of his presence, and dwelling among them, Eze 37:21-28.

Taken from John Gill's Exposition of the Bible