Ezekiel 37:11
in Ezekiel 37Then He said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Look, they are saying, ‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope has perished; we are cut off.’
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Then he said unto me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel: behold, they say, Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are clean cut off.
KJV
Then he said unto me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel: behold, they say, Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost: we are cut off for our parts.
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This verse in Ezekiel 37
Commentary
16 notes on this verseA commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Our bones are dried-- (Ps 141:7), explained by "our hope is lost" (Isa 49:14); our national state is as hopeless of resuscitation, as marrowless bones are of reanimation. cut off for our parts--that is, so far as we are concerned.
This site's exposition
these bones are the whole house of Israel
on Ezekiel 37:11-14
The vision interprets itself, “these bones are the whole house of Israel”. The promise answers with opened graves, a return to the land, and “I will put My Spirit in you”. The fathers and many since heard the general resurrection here, and Jerome records the passage read at funerals.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers5 voices
If there is some excellent glory in the eye, it is particularly in this: that either it is the leader of the body or it is not abandoned by the functions of the other members. I think this is what is taught to us through that vision of the prophet Ezekiel.
A commentator
Origen of AlexandriaCOMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 10:233 · Written before 253.
proposed
The mystery of the resurrection is great and difficult for many of us to understand. It is mentioned also in many other passages of the Scriptures and is proclaimed no less through these words in Ezekiel.
For instance, Ezekiel leaps in the spirit of prophecy over all the intervening time, with its vast duration; he stands, by his powers of foresight, in the actual moment of the Resurrection, and, as if he had really gazed on what is still to come, brings it in his description before our eyes. He saw a mighty plain, unfolded to an endless distance before him, and vast heaps of bones upon it flung at random, some this way, some that; and then under an impulse from God these bones began to move and group themselves with their fellows that they once owned, and adhere to the familiar sockets, and then clothe themselves with muscle, flesh, and skin (which was the process called "decorating" in the poetry of the Psalms); a Spirit in fact was giving life and movement to everything that lay there.
The vision is a famous one and is celebrated by being read in all the churches of Christ.
The hope of resurrection is the root of every kind of good work, for the expectation of reward braces the soul to productive toil. And whereas every worker is ready to sustain his toil if he can look forward to being repaid for his labors, where toil has no recompense the soul is soon discouraged and the body flags with it. A soldier who expects his share of the spoils is ready for war. But no one is prepared to die serving a king so undiscerning that he does not provide rewards for labors. In the same way, any soul that believes in resurrection takes care for itself, as is right, but any soul that disbelieves the resurrection abandons itself to destruction. A person who believes that the body survives to rise again is careful of this garment and does not soil it by fornicating. But a person who does not believe in the resurrection gives himself up to fornication, abusing his own body as if it were nothing to him. A mighty message and teaching of the holy Catholic church is belief about the resurrection of the dead; mighty and most indispensable. While many deny it, the truth claims credence for it. Greeks deny it, Samaritans disbelieve, while heretics tear away the half. Truth never appears but in one shape, while contradiction assumes a hundred.
9 more voices on this verse
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Chapter 37, verses 1 onwards) The hand of the Lord was upon me, and He brought me out in the Spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. And He led me around among them, and behold, there were very many on the surface of the valley, and behold, they were very dry. And He said to me, 'Son of man, can these bones live?' And I answered, 'O Lord God, you know.'
The Puritans and the Awakening4 voices
That they were so divided among themselves, too much of the old enmity between Judah and Ephraim remaining even in their captivity. But, as to this, by a sign of two sticks made one in the hand of the prophet is foreshown the happy coalition that should be, at their return, between the two nations of Israel and Judah,
The application of this vision to the present calamitous condition of the Jews in captivity: These bones are the whole house of Israel, both the ten tribes and the two. See in this what they are and what they shall be. The depth of despair to which they are now reduced,
Let who will cherish some hope, we see no ground for any." Note, When troubles continue long, hopes have been often frustrated, and all creature-confidences fail, it is not strange if the spirits sink; and nothing but an active faith in the power, promise, and providence of God will keep them from quite dying away.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — odd-straight-quotes
Then he said unto me, son of man,....
The Nineteenth Century4 voices
I HAVE read to you the vision of the resurrection of the dry bones. Keep it in your minds, that you may understand the text. The figure is a very apt, instructive and impressive one. It is not, however, a mere figure—it is a parable based upon a remarkable representation of the resurrection of the dead. Although the children of Israel, at that time, knew little enough concerning the resurrection, yet the Lord, the Holy Spirit, knew all about it and He used it as a striking picture of the salvation of Israel from that national death which had come upon them. We may, with equal accuracy, see in it, a vivid representation of the work of Grace upon the hearts of all those who are quickened into spiritual life by the power of Divine Grace. Men, by nature, are dead in sin till they hear the voice of God and feel the quickening breath of the Spirit—and are made to live according to that Word of God—"He that believes in Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: and whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die." Such a metaphor as this before us, drops with teaching as a honeycomb with honey, and it will be our own fault if we are not taught by it! The salvation of men by the Grace and power of God is as great a wonder as the general resurrection. The putting of spiritual life into a natural man is a marvel of marvels and should excite as much wonder as the raising of Lazarus, or of Jairus' daughter, or of the young man at the gates of Nain. Even the rising up of the dead at the last trumpet is not a greater prodigy than the bringing of dead hearts unto the life of God! I shall not, however, detain you by fuller observations upon spiritual resurrection, for I have work to do of another kind upon which we will spend the bulk of our time and the whole of our energies.
I HAVE read to you the vision of the resurrection of the dry bones. Keep it in your minds, that you may understand the text. The figure is a very apt, instructive and impressive one. It is not, however, a mere figure—it is a parable based upon a remarkable representation of the resurrection of the dead.
These bones are the whole house of Israel - That is, their state is represented by these bones; and their restoration to their own land is represented by the revivification of these bones.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
We are cut off for our parts - That is, “as for us, we are cut off.” The people had fallen into despair.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
these bones are all the house of Israel They are an intimation and an example of the entire house of Israel in their exile, for they say, “Our bones have become dried up from the troubles; our hope is lost, and what further hope can we have for salvation?
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
Therefore, prophesy that I am destined to resurrect you a second time.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 5 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
18 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיֹּאמֶר֮ | vaiyomer | and he said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| אֵלַי֒ | ʾelai | to me | H413 → | 5510 times |
| בֶּן־ | ben- | O son of | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| אָדָ֕ם | ʾadam | humankind | H120 → | 551 times |
| הָעֲצָמ֣וֹת | haatzamot | the bones | H6106 → | 126 times |
| הָאֵ֔לֶּה | haeleh | <the> these | H428 → | 746 times |
| כָּל־ | kol- | [are] all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| בֵּ֥ית | beit | [the] house of | H1004 → | 2046 times |
| יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל | yisrael | Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
| הֵ֑מָּה | hemah | they | H1992 → | 553 times |
| הִנֵּ֣ה | hineh | there! | H2009 → | 843 times |
| אֹמְרִ֗ים | ʾomerim | [they are] saying | H559 → | 5305 times |
| יָבְשׁ֧וּ | yaveshu | they have dried up | H3001 → | 59 times |
| עַצְמוֹתֵ֛ינוּ | atzmoteinu | bones our | H6106 → | 126 times |
| וְאָבְדָ֥ה | veavedah | and it has been lost | H6 → | 184 times |
| תִקְוָתֵ֖נוּ | tikvatenu | hope our | H8615 → | |
| נִגְזַ֥רְנוּ | nigzarnu | we have been cut off | H1504 → | |
| לָֽנוּ׃ | lanu | <for> ourselves |
וַיֹּאמֶר֮and he said
vaiyomerH559 →5305 times
אֵלַי֒to me
ʾelaiH413 →5510 times
בֶּן־O son of
ben-H1121 →4930 times
אָדָ֕םhumankind
ʾadamH120 →551 times
הָעֲצָמ֣וֹתthe bones
haatzamotH6106 →126 times
הָאֵ֔לֶּה<the> these
haelehH428 →746 times
כָּל־[are] all
kol-H3605 →5413 times
בֵּ֥ית[the] house of
beitH1004 →2046 times
יִשְׂרָאֵ֖לIsrael
yisraelH3478 →2507 times
הֵ֑מָּהthey
hemahH1992 →553 times
הִנֵּ֣הthere!
hinehH2009 →843 times
אֹמְרִ֗ים[they are] saying
ʾomerimH559 →5305 times
יָבְשׁ֧וּthey have dried up
yaveshuH3001 →59 times
עַצְמוֹתֵ֛ינוּbones our
atzmoteinuH6106 →126 times
וְאָבְדָ֥הand it has been lost
veavedahH6 →184 times
תִקְוָתֵ֖נוּhope our
tikvatenuH8615 →
נִגְזַ֥רְנוּwe have been cut off
nigzarnuH1504 →
לָֽנוּ׃<for> ourselves
lanu
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
Ephesians 2:1And you were dead in your trespasses and sins,
it leads to
- Colossians 2:13
When you were dead in your trespasses and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our trespasses,
- Ephesians 2:5–6
made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in our trespasses. It is by grace you have been saved!
- Colossians 3:1–4
Therefore, since you have been raised with Christ, strive for the things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.
- Romans 8:2
For in Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set you free from the law of sin and death.
- Ephesians 4:18
They are darkened in their understanding and alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardness of their hearts.
- Colossians 2:13
Through
Jeremiah 31:1“At that time,” declares the LORD, “I will be the God of all the families of Israel, and they will be My people.”
it leads to
- Jeremiah 30:22
“And you will be My people, and I will be your God.”
- Jeremiah 30:22
Through
Ezekiel 39:25Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: Now I will restore Jacob from captivity and will have compassion on the whole house of Israel, and I will be jealous for My holy name.
it leads to
- Ezekiel 34:13
I will bring them out from the peoples, gather them from the countries, and bring them into their own land. I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, in the ravines, and in…
- Ezekiel 34:13
Through
Ezekiel 36:10I will multiply the people upon you—the house of Israel in its entirety. The cities will be inhabited and the ruins rebuilt.
it leads to
- Ezekiel 36:33
This is what the Lord GOD says: On the day I cleanse you from all your iniquities, I will cause the cities to be resettled and the ruins to be rebuilt.
- Ezekiel 36:33
Where this verse is studied
About Ezekiel
This page draws on 14 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Charles Spurgeon, The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 1676: “Despair Denounced and Grace Glorified” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition); Cyril of Jerusalem, Catechetical Lecture 18:1; Gregory of Nyssa, ON THE SOUL AND THE RESURRECTION; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, COMMENTARY ON EZEKIEL 11:37.1-14; Jerome, Commentary on Ezekiel; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Origen of Alexandria, HOMILIES ON LEVITICUS 7:2.9; Origen of Alexandria, COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 10:233 and Patrick Fairbairn, An Exposition of Ezekiel.