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Ezekiel 37:9

in Ezekiel 37

Then He said to me, “Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and tell the breath that this is what the Lord GOD says: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe into these slain, so that they may live!”

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

Then 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.

KJV

Then said he unto me, Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, son of man, and say to the wind, Thus saith the Lord God; Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live.

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This verse in Ezekiel 37

Commentary

6 notes on this verse

A commentator

Ambrose of Milan

On the Death of Satyrus 2.69 · Written before 397.

on 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 unto the wind

on Ezekiel 37:9-10

The second word is to the breath itself: come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live. The Hebrew ruach runs through the whole vision as wind, breath and Spirit in one word, the philology every careful commentator carries, and Genesis 2:7 stands behind the shape, dust formed first and breath breathed after. The breath comes, they live, and they stand upon their feet, an exceeding great army: the valley of the slain ends as a muster.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

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 Century3 voices
The wind - Rather, as in the margin and as in Eze 37:5. The bones are the bones of the “slain,” because the scene was one which was likely to occur in the time of the Chaldaean invasion, and the fact of violent death reminded the prophet of the miserable condition of the people.

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?"
ACCORDING to some commentators, this vision in the valley of dry bones may refer to three forms of resurrection. Holy Scripture is so marvelously full of meaning that one interpretation seldom exhausts its message to us. The chapter before us is an excellent example of this fact and supplies an illustration of several Scriptural Truths of God. Some think they see, here, a parable of the resurrection of the dead. Assuredly, Ezekiel's vision pictures what will happen in the day when "the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised."

The words behind it

23 Hebrew words

Every 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.

  • וַיֹּ֣אמֶרand he said

    vaiyomerH559 →5305 times

  • אֵלַ֔יto me

    ʾelaiH413 →5510 times

  • הִנָּבֵ֖אprophesy

    hinave'H5012 →115 times

  • אֶל־to

    ʾel-H413 →5510 times

  • הָר֑וּחַthe breath

    haruachH7307 →378 times

  • הִנָּבֵ֣אprophesy

    hinave'H5012 →115 times

  • בֶן־O son of

    ven-H1121 →4930 times

  • אָ֠דָםhumankind

    ʾadomH120 →551 times

  • וְאָמַרְתָּ֨and you will say

    veamartaH559 →5305 times

  • אֶל־to

    ʾel-H413 →5510 times

  • הָר֜וּחַthe breath

    haruachH7307 →378 times

  • כֹּֽה־thus

    koh-H3541 →577 times

  • אָמַ֣ר׀he says

    ʾamarH559 →5305 times

  • אֲדֹנָ֣י[the] Lord

    ʾadonaiH136 →440 times

  • יְהוִ֗הYahweh

    yahwehH3069 →306 times

  • מֵאַרְבַּ֤עfrom four

    mearba'H702 →318 times

  • רוּחוֹת֙winds

    ruchotH7307 →378 times

  • בֹּ֣אִיcome

    boiH935 →2568 times

  • הָר֔וּחַO breath

    haruachH7307 →378 times

  • וּפְחִ֛יand blow

    ufechiH5301 →12 times

  • בַּהֲרוּגִ֥יםon the killed ones

    baharugimH2026 →167 times

  • הָאֵ֖לֶּה<the> these

    haelehH428 →746 times

  • וְיִֽחְיֽוּ׃so they may live

    veyichyuH2421 →282 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

10 in all, six open

The number beside each verse is how many compiled reference works tie it to this one. The strongest six stand open.

John 3:8The 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.”20 worksSong of Solomon 4:16Awake, O north wind, and come, O south wind. Breathe on my garden and spread the fragrance of its spices. Let my beloved come into his garden and taste its choicest fruits.10 worksPsalms 104:30When You send Your Spirit, they are created, and You renew the face of the earth.9 worksJohn 20:22When He had said this, He breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.9 works2 Corinthians 5:15And He died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died for them and was raised again.8 worksEzekiel 37:14I 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 will do it, declares the LORD.’”8 works
The other 4 cross-references, with their words ▾
Revelation 7:1After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back its four winds so that no wind would blow on land or sea or on any tree.8 worksEzekiel 37:5This is what the Lord GOD says to these bones: I will cause breath to enter you, and you will come to life.6 worksZechariah 6:5And the angel told me, “These are the four spirits of heaven, going forth from their station before the Lord of all the earth.6 worksRevelation 10:11And they told me, “You must prophesy again about many peoples and nations and tongues and kings.”4 works

The walk

8 stops

Each 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

    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.”

    it leads to

    • Ecclesiastes 11:4–5

      He who watches the wind will fail to sow, and he who observes the clouds will fail to reap.

    • 1 Corinthians 2:11

      For who among men knows the thoughts of man except his own spirit within him? So too, no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.

    • Acts 2:2

      Suddenly a sound like a mighty rushing wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting.

    • 1 John 2:29

      If you know that He is righteous, you also know that everyone who practices righteousness has been born of Him.

    • Mark 4:26–29

      Jesus also said, “The kingdom of God is like a man who scatters seed on the ground.

  • Through

    Psalms 104:30

    When You send Your Spirit, they are created, and You renew the face of the earth.

    it leads to

    • Job 33:4

      The Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life.

  • Through

    Ezekiel 37:14

    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 will do…

    it leads to

    • Ezekiel 36:27

      And I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes and to carefully observe My ordinances.

    • Joel 2:28–29

      And afterward, I will pour out My Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions.

Where this verse is studied

About Ezekiel

The Prophet Ezekiel — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain
The Prophet Ezekiel — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain
Ezekiel: the study guide →Read Ezekiel 37 →

This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Ambrose of Milan, On the Death of Satyrus 2.69; Carl Friedrich Keil, Biblical Commentary on the Prophecies of Ezekiel; Charles Spurgeon, The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 582: “The Restoration And Conversion Of The Jews” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition); Charles Spurgeon, The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 2246: “Come From the Four Winds, O Breath!” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.

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