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Ezekiel 37

The theme of this chapter is the sure and certain hope of Israel’s
recreation by the prophetic word and Spirit to be God’s people in God’s
place under God’s rule.

Context
This chapter falls in the compositional unit, chs 33-37, which is introduced by the
announcement of the fall of Jerusalem in ch. 33. It is precisely in this situation that the
exiles would feel that all hope was gone and that Babylon was to be their grave (v. 11). So
ch. 37 looks back to the fall of Jerusalem in ch. 33; but also looks forward to the climax of
the book—especially in the closing verse of the chapter, ‘when my sanctuary is among
them forevermore’ (v. 28). Chapters 38–39 come as a parenthesis before the fulfilment of
this in chs. 40–48.

Chapter 37 contributes to the balanced structure of the book by repeating, with


significant variation, certain motifs and themes from the first part of the book. The
symbolic actions of this chapter, signifying new life for the nation, balance the symbolic
actions signifying the death of the nation in chs. 4 and 5. The scattered bones of 37:1
recall the scattered bones of 6:5. The valley where Ezekiel receives his vision in 37:1 is
the same valley where he had received his commission in 3:22 (Biq v‰ in both cases),
and the tumult (ravaH) of the bones coming together in 37:7 recalls the tumult (ravaH) of
the heavenly chariot in 3:12. Finally, the death to life experience of the nation in ch. 37—
the Spirit enters the bones and they stand up—recalls the same experience of Ezekiel
himself in 2:2. Ezekiel’s own death and resurrection in chs 1–2 prefigures that of the
nation.

Structure
There are two main sections to the chapter: vv. 1-14, and vv. 15-28 (the latter of which is
introduced in the customary Ezekielian manner). The first contains a vision and its
interpretation (the vision of the dry bones); 169 the second a symbolic act and its
interpretation (the joining together of the two sticks). The theme of the first section is the
reconstitution of Israel; the theme of the second the reunification of Israel. Both sections
end with the recognition formula: then [someone] will know that I am Yahweh (or, that I
have done it). In the first section it is Israel herself who knows that Yahweh has done it (v.
14); in the second it is the surrounding nations (v. 28). This highlights once again the
concern of Yahweh for his name—so important in Ezekiel’s preaching (cf. 36:20-23).

The first section has a number of puzzling features. For example, Ezekiel—acting
strictly according to Yahweh’s instructions—first prophesies to the bones, and this results
in their being reconstituted into bodies again, but they remain dead (vv. 4-8). He is then
commanded to prophesy to the wind, and when he does so the wind enters into the
reconstituted bodies and they come to life and stand up (vv. 9-10). Why this distinct two-
stage process?

The second puzzling feature is that when Ezekiel is told to prophesy to the exiles in vv. 11-
14 he uses a metaphor—the raising of the dead out of their graves—which does not
correspond to the vision, in which the dry bones lie on the surface of the ground. This
could be explained by assigning vv. 11-14 to a secondary stage in the development of the
text—an expansion which betrays the hand of a second (but not-too-skilful) author or
editor. 170 This would mean that in the original text the vision remained a private one,
with no accompanying oracle; verses 11-14 were added to fill the gap.

A certain lack of congruence between the vision and what follows must be acknowledged.
It could be that the contents of the two sections were originally separate and have been
brought together for thematic reasons in the formation of the book. But this does not
mean that vv.11-14 must be assigned to someone other than Ezekiel. Furthermore the
matching recognition formulas in vv. 14 and 28 suggest an overall design to the chapter,
implying that the person responsible for this arrangement of the material was purposeful
and skilful rather than clumsy.

The problem is eased slightly by the recognition that the oracle of vv. 11-14 is not strictly
speaking an interpretation of the vision (which was given to Ezekiel alone) but a response
to the complaint of the people in v. 11b: ‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we
are cut off completely’. The people themselves would thus perceive no inconsistency
between the vision and the oracle. The oracle obviously relates in a general way to the
content of the vision (both vision and oracle affirm the reconstitution of the nation) but
the oracle is more a direct response to the people’s own perception of their condition than
a direct interpretation of the vision (which they have not seen). If their perception of their
condition is ‘We are dead and buried’, the response is ‘No, Yahweh will bring you up from
your graves’.

In the second part of the chapter the people actually see the symbolic action of the
prophet, and the oracle which follows (19-28) is an explicit interpretation of this action.
This oracle falls into three parts—the first and second being introduced by the same
formula, ‘Say to them, “Thus says the Lord GOD”’ (vv. 19, 21), and the second and third
both ending (or nearly ending) in the same way; viz. with the covenant formula, ‘They
shall be my people and I will be their God’ (vv. 23, 27). The final part of the oracle (vv. 24-
27), 171 dealing with a new David and a new sanctuary, is less obviously related to the
symbolic action than the first two parts are, but is a natural development of the idea that
Israel will be reconstituted as one nation. The one nation idea recalls the period of the
united monarchy, when the symbols of Israel’s unity were the Davidic house and the
temple.

Ezek. 37:1 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 the
valley; it was full of bones. 2 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. 3 And he said to
me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” And I
answered, “O Lord GOD, you know.” 4 Then he
said to me, “Prophesy over these bones, and
say to them, O dry bones, hear the word of the
LORD. 5 Thus says the Lord GOD to these
bones: Behold, I will cause breath to enter you,
and you shall live. 6 And I will lay sinews upon
you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and
cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and
you shall live, and you shall know that I am the
LORD.”

Ezek. 37:7 So I prophesied as I was


commanded. And as I prophesied, there was a
sound, and behold, a rattling, and the bones
came together, bone to its bone. 8 And I looked,
and behold, there were sinews on them, and
flesh had come upon them, and skin had
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 the breath,
Thus says the Lord GOD: Come from the four
winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that
they may live.” 10 So I prophesied as he
commanded me, and the breath came into
them, and they lived and stood on their feet, an
exceedingly great army.

Ezek. 37:11 Then he said to 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.’ 12
Therefore prophesy, and say to them, Thus says
the Lord GOD: Behold, I will open your graves
and raise you from your graves, O my people.
And I will bring you into the land of Israel. 13
And you shall know that I am the LORD, when I
open your graves, and raise you from your
graves, O my people. 14 And I will put my Spirit
within you, and you shall live, and I will place
you in your own land. Then you shall know that I
am the LORD; I have spoken, and I will do it,
declares the LORD.”

Ezek. 37:15 The word of the LORD came to me:


16 “Son of man, take a stick and write on it,
‘For Judah, and the people of Israel associated
with him’; then take another stick and write on
it, ‘For Joseph (the stick of Ephraim) and all the
house of Israel associated with him.’ 17 And
join them one to another into one stick, that
they may become one in your hand. 18 And
when your people say to you, ‘Will you not tell
us what you mean by these?’ 19 say to them,
Thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I am about to
take the stick of Joseph (that is in the hand of
Ephraim) and the tribes of Israel associated with
him. And I will join with it the stick of Judah,
and make them one stick, that they may be
one in my hand. 20 When the sticks on which
you write are in your hand before their eyes, 21
then say to them, Thus says the Lord GOD:
Behold, I will take the people of Israel from the
nations among which they have gone, and will
gather them from all around, and bring them to
their own land. 22 And I will make them one
nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel.
And one king shall be king over them all, and
they shall be no longer two nations, and no
longer divided into two kingdoms. 23 They shall
not defile themselves anymore with their idols
and their detestable things, or with any of their
transgressions. But I will save them from all the
backslidings in which they have sinned, and will
cleanse them; and they shall be my people, and
I will be their God.

Ezek. 37:24 “My servant David shall be king


over them, and they shall all have one
shepherd. They shall walk in my rules and be
careful to obey my statutes. 25 They shall
dwell in the land that I gave to my servant
Jacob, where your fathers lived. They and their
children and their children’s children shall dwell
there forever, and David my servant shall be
their prince forever. 26 I will make a covenant
of peace with them. It shall be an everlasting
covenant with them. And I will set them in their
land and multiply them, and will set my
sanctuary in their midst forevermore. 27 My
dwelling place shall be with them, and I will be
their God, and they shall be my people. 28 Then
the nations will know that I am the LORD who
sanctifies Israel, when my sanctuary is in their
midst forevermore.”

Major Theological Themes


• Defilement and cleansing. Note again the priestly categories of Ezekiel’s thought.
The most defiling thing for Ezekiel is pagan worship. It is from this that Israel will be
cleansed under the new covenant (36:25). The goal towards which the book moves
is pure worship.

• The only solution for the problem of sin in human hearts is radical surgery
performed by God himself. Spiritual life comes only by the infusion of God’s Spirit.
• Yahweh’s concern for his Name. This is the basis of his action towards both Israel
and the nations (see 36:20-21, 22, 23, 31, 32). This emphasis is very strong in
Ezekiel. As Block observes, God’s actions in human history are driven by revelatory
aims: that his people and the world may know that he is Yahweh’ (p.366).

• The absolute reliability of God and his covenant promises. However things may
have appeared to the exiles and the surrounding nations, God had not abrogated
his covenant. Rather, his promises still stand and will be fulfilled.

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