Ezekiel 37:7
in Ezekiel 37So I prophesied as I had been commanded. And as I prophesied, there was suddenly a noise, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to bone.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
So 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.
KJV
So I prophesied as I was commanded: and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold a shaking, and the bones came together, bone to his bone.
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This verse in Ezekiel 37
Commentary
5 notes on this verseon Ezekiel 37:4-10
In minute detail the holy prophet Ezekiel teaches and describes how strength will be restored to our dry bones, feeling return and motion added; how, with the return of sinews, the whole structure of the human body will grow strong, and how the driest bones will be clothed with restored flesh and the openings of the veins and the streams of the blood will be concealed by a veil of skin drawn tautly over them.
This site's exposition
Prophesy upon these bones
on Ezekiel 37:4-8
The means of the miracle is the point of it: prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the Lord, preaching commanded to an audience that cannot hear. As the prophet obeys there is a noise and a shaking, bone to his bone, sinews and flesh and skin, and then the verse's deliberate halt: but there was no breath in them. The bench draws the two-stage shape as the text draws it, structure without life first, which guards the vision from meaning mere reorganization, as Fairbairn puts it: a nation can be reassembled and still be a corpse.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
on Ezekiel 37:7-8
For the prophets have proclaimed two advents of His: the one, that which is already past, when He came as a dishonoured and suffering Man; but the second, when, according to prophecy, He shall come from heaven with glory, accompanied by His angelic host, when also He shall raise the bodies of all men who have lived, and shall clothe those of the worthy with immortality, and shall send those of the wicked, endued with eternal sensibility, into everlasting fire with the wicked devils. And that these things also have been foretold as yet to be, we will prove.
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
on Ezekiel 37:7-10
But we call in vain, still they are dead, still they are very dry; we must therefore be earnest with God in prayer for the working of the Spirit with the word: Come, O breath! and breathe upon them. God's grace can save souls without our preaching, but our preaching cannot save them without God's grace, and that grace must be sought by prayer.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
on Ezekiel 37:1-10
THIS vision has been used, from the time of Jerome onwards, as a description of the resurrection and certainly it may be so accommodated with much effect. What a vision of the great day the words picture before the mind's eye! The great army of the quick, who once were dead, seem to start up as we read. Here, too, we have a very fit and appropriate question to be asked in a tomb—"Son of man, can these bones live?"
The words behind it
13 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְנִבֵּ֖אתִי | venibeti | and I prophesied | H5012 → | 115 times |
| כַּאֲשֶׁ֣ר | kaasher | just as | H834 → | 5497 times |
| צֻוֵּ֑יתִי | tzuveiti | I was commanded | H6680 → | 494 times |
| וַֽיְהִי־ | vayhi- | and it came | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| ק֤וֹל | kol | a sound | H6963 → | 506 times |
| כְּהִנָּֽבְאִי֙ | kehinavei | when prophesied I | H5012 → | 115 times |
| וְהִנֵּה־ | vehineh- | and there! | H2009 → | 843 times |
| רַ֔עַשׁ | raash | a rattling | H7494 → | 17 times |
| וַתִּקְרְב֣וּ | vatikrevu | and they drew near | H7126 → | 280 times |
| עֲצָמ֔וֹת | atzamot | [the] bones | H6106 → | 126 times |
| עֶ֖צֶם | ʾetzem | bone | H6106 → | 126 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| עַצְמֽוֹ׃ | atzmo | bone its | H6106 → | 126 times |
וְנִבֵּ֖אתִיand I prophesied
venibetiH5012 →115 times
כַּאֲשֶׁ֣רjust as
kaasherH834 →5497 times
צֻוֵּ֑יתִיI was commanded
tzuveitiH6680 →494 times
וַֽיְהִי־and it came
vayhi-H1961 →3559 times
ק֤וֹלa sound
kolH6963 →506 times
כְּהִנָּֽבְאִי֙when prophesied I
kehinaveiH5012 →115 times
וְהִנֵּה־and there!
vehineh-H2009 →843 times
רַ֔עַשׁa rattling
raashH7494 →17 times
וַתִּקְרְב֣וּand they drew near
vatikrevuH7126 →280 times
עֲצָמ֔וֹת[the] bones
atzamotH6106 →126 times
עֶ֖צֶםbone
ʾetzemH6106 →126 times
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
עַצְמֽוֹ׃bone its
atzmoH6106 →126 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Acts 2:2Suddenly a sound like a mighty rushing wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting.
it leads to
- Acts 4:31
After they had prayed, their meeting place was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.
- 1 Kings 19:11
Then the LORD said, “Go out and stand on the mountain before the LORD. Behold, the LORD is about to pass by.” And a great and mighty wind tore into the mountains and shattered…
- John 3:8
The wind blows where it wishes. You hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”
- Psalms 18:10
He mounted a cherub and flew; He soared on the wings of the wind.
- Acts 16:25–26
About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them.
- Acts 4:31
Through
Acts 4:19But Peter and John replied, “Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God’s sight to listen to you rather than God.
it leads to
- Acts 5:29
But Peter and the other apostles replied, “We must obey God rather than men.
- Exodus 1:17
The midwives, however, feared God and did not do as the king of Egypt had instructed; they let the boys live.
- 1 Corinthians 10:15
I speak to reasonable people; judge for yourselves what I say.
- Acts 5:29
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies4
On this verse
About Ezekiel
This page draws on Ambrose of Milan, On the Death of Satyrus 2.69; Charles Spurgeon, The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 582: “The Restoration And Conversion Of The Jews” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; Justin Martyr, The First Apology, Chapter LII; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Patrick Fairbairn, An Exposition of Ezekiel.