Verse-by-Verse Commentary
The Book of Ezekiel
Chapter 37: The Valley of Dry Bones
Ezekiel is set down in a valley full of bones, 'very many' and 'very dry,' and asked the impossible question: 'can these bones live?' As the prophet preaches to them and calls on the breath of God, the bones rattle together, take on sinew and flesh, and stand up 'an exceeding great army.' God explains: these bones are 'the whole house of Israel,' a people who said 'our hope is lost,' and He will open their graves and put His Spirit in them. Then, with two sticks joined into one, He promises to reunite His divided people into 'one nation' under 'one king' and 'one shepherd,' David His servant, in 'an everlasting covenant,' with 'My tabernacle also shall be with them.' It is a chapter about resurrection, reunion, and the God who comes to dwell in the midst of His people for ever.
About This Commentary
This is a verse-by-verse study of Ezekiel chapter 37, the valley of dry bones and the two sticks made one. For each section you will find the KJV text, the Hebrew words that sharpen the meaning, plain explanation, and a Gospel Focus. This famous chapter moves from resurrection by the Spirit to the promise of one people, one King, and God's dwelling in their midst for ever. Every Scripture quotation is from the King James Version.
Setting the Stage
Can These Bones Live?
A valley of dry bones, and a people who said "our hope is lost."
Raised by the Spirit
The preached word and the breath of God make the dead stand up alive.
Made One in His Hand
Judah and Joseph joined: one nation, one king, no longer divided.
My Tabernacle With Them
An everlasting covenant of peace, and God dwelling in their midst for ever.
O Ye Dry Bones, Hear the Word of the LORD (Ezekiel 37:1-14)
In a valley of dry bones God asks whether they can live, then raises them as Ezekiel preaches and the breath of God enters, a picture of a hopeless people, and of every dead sinner, given new life by the word and the Spirit.
I Will Put My Spirit in You, and Ye Shall Live
"The hand of the LORD was upon me, and carried me out in the spirit of the LORD, and set me down in the midst of the valley which was full of bones, And caused me to pass by them round about: and, behold, there were very many in the open valley; and, lo, they were very dry. And he said unto me, Son of man, can these bones live? And I answered, O Lord GOD, thou knowest. Again he said unto me, Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the LORD. Thus saith the Lord GOD unto these bones; Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live: And I will lay sinews upon you, and will bring up flesh upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and ye shall live; and ye shall know that I am the LORD. 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. And when I beheld, lo, the sinews and the flesh came up upon them, and the skin covered them above: but there was no breath in them. 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. So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army. 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. Therefore prophesy and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel. And ye shall know that I am the LORD, when I have opened your graves, O my people, and brought you up out of your graves, And shall put my spirit in you, and ye shall live, and I shall place you in your own land: then shall ye know that I the LORD have spoken it, and performed it, saith the LORD."
Hebrew Study
"breath," "wind," "spirit," all one word, ruach (רוּחַ). The whole vision turns on a single Hebrew word that means breath, wind, and Spirit. God will cause "breath" (ruach) to enter; Ezekiel prophesies to the "wind" (ruach) to come "from the four winds"; and at the end God says "I... shall put my spirit (ruach) in you, and ye shall live." The point is unmistakable: the life of the dead comes only from the Ruach of God. Bones can be reassembled and covered with flesh, "but there was no breath in them", until the Spirit of God breathes. Religion can build a body; only God's Spirit gives life.
"our hope is lost: we are cut off," nigzarnu (נִגְזַרְנוּ). To be cut off, severed, as good as dead. This is Israel's own confession of despair in exile: "Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost." They felt not merely wounded but finished, a graveyard of a nation. It is precisely to the hopeless, the "very dry," the "cut off," that this promise of resurrection comes.
Explanation
God sets Ezekiel down in a valley "full of bones", not fresh bodies, but bones long dead and "very dry." Then comes the searching question: "can these bones live?" Ezekiel wisely leaves it with God, "O Lord GOD, thou knowest." He is then told to do something that looks absurd: "Prophesy upon these bones... O ye dry bones, hear the word of the LORD." As he preaches, the valley erupts, "a noise, and behold a shaking", and the bones assemble, "bone to his bone," and are covered with sinew, flesh, and skin. But they are still corpses, "there was no breath in them." So God commands a second prophecy, this time to the breath: "Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live." Now "the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army."
Then God gives the meaning. "These bones are the whole house of Israel", a people whose despairing cry was "our hope is lost: we are cut off." To them God promises resurrection: "I will open your graves... and bring you into the land of Israel", and, the heart of it, "I... shall put my spirit in you, and ye shall live." The immediate meaning is the raising of Israel from the grave of exile back to their land. But the picture reaches far beyond that, to every dead thing God makes alive by His Spirit.
Gospel Focus
This vision is one of Scripture's clearest pictures of the new birth and the resurrection. Every sinner apart from God is exactly like these bones: "dead in trespasses and sins" (Ephesians 2:1), dry, hopeless, "cut off." No amount of self-effort can raise the dead. Two things raise them here, and they are the same two God uses now: the preached word and the breath of the Spirit. God tells Ezekiel to preach to what is dead, "O ye dry bones, hear the word of the LORD", for "faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God" (Romans 10:17), and we are "born again... by the word of God" (1 Peter 1:23). Then the breath, the Spirit, gives the life the word announces, just as God promised in the previous chapter, "I will put my spirit within you." This is why we preach even to hearts that seem past hope: God quickens the dead through His word and His Spirit. He "hath quickened us together with Christ" (Ephesians 2:5). And the vision points on to the last day, when "all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, And shall come forth" (John 5:28-29). The God who opened the graves of Israel will one day open every grave. No one is too dry, too far gone, too "cut off" for the breath of God. Preach the word; the Spirit raises the dead.
They Shall Be One in Mine Hand (Ezekiel 37:15-28)
Ezekiel joins two sticks into one as a sign: God will reunite divided Israel into one nation under one king and one shepherd, David His servant, cleanse them, make an everlasting covenant of peace, and set His tabernacle in their midst for ever.
My Tabernacle Also Shall Be With Them
"The word of the LORD came again unto me, saying, Moreover, thou son of man, take thee one stick, and write upon it, For Judah, and for the children of Israel his companions: then take another stick, and write upon it, For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and for all the house of Israel his companions: And join them one to another into one stick; and they shall become one in thine hand. And when the children of thy people shall speak unto thee, saying, Wilt thou not shew us what thou meanest by these? Say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel his fellows, and will put them with him, even with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they shall be one in mine hand. And the sticks whereon thou writest shall be in thine hand before their eyes. And say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the heathen, whither they be gone, and will gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land: And I will make them one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king to them all: and they shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all: Neither shall they defile themselves any more with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions: but I will save them out of all their dwellingplaces, wherein they have sinned, and will cleanse them: so shall they be my people, and I will be their God. And David my servant shall be king over them; and they all shall have one shepherd: they shall also walk in my judgments, and observe my statutes, and do them. And they shall dwell in the land that I have given unto Jacob my servant, wherein your fathers have dwelt; and they shall dwell therein, even they, and their children, and their children's children for ever: and my servant David shall be their prince for ever. Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them: and I will place them, and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore. My tabernacle also shall be with them: yea, I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And the heathen shall know that I the LORD do sanctify Israel, when my sanctuary shall be in the midst of them for evermore."
Hebrew Study
"one stick... one in mine hand," echad (אֶחָד). The word for "one." Since the division of the kingdom after Solomon, Israel had been two, Judah in the south, Ephraim/Joseph in the north. God takes two sticks and makes them "one stick," "one nation," under "one king," with "one shepherd." The God who is Himself one, "the LORD our God is one LORD" (Deuteronomy 6:4), makes His people one. Division is undone in His hand.
"My tabernacle also shall be with them," mishkan (מִשְׁכָּן). The dwelling-place, the same word used of the wilderness tabernacle where God's presence rested among Israel. God's final promise is not merely a restored land or a united nation but Himself dwelling with His people, "I will be their God, and they shall be my people." This is the goal of all redemption: God with us. It is fulfilled when "the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us" (John 1:14, literally "tabernacled"), and completed when "the tabernacle of God is with men" for ever (Revelation 21:3).
Explanation
God gives Ezekiel a sign-act. He takes "one stick" for Judah and another for "Joseph, the stick of Ephraim," and joins them so "they shall become one in thine hand." When the people ask what it means, God explains: He will gather scattered Israel and "make them one nation... and one king shall be king to them all," so that "they shall be no more two nations." The centuries-old division of God's people will be healed. More than that, He will cleanse them, "I will... cleanse them: so shall they be my people, and I will be their God."
The King He names is "David my servant", not the long-dead son of Jesse, but the promised Son of David, the Messiah, who is also the "one shepherd" of chapter 34. Under Him the people will "walk in my judgments" and dwell in the land "for ever." Then God stacks up the great covenant words: "a covenant of peace," "an everlasting covenant," "my sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore," "My tabernacle also shall be with them," and the covenant refrain, "I will be their God, and they shall be my people." The chapter that began in a graveyard ends with God dwelling among a cleansed, united, living people for ever.
Gospel Focus
The joining of the two sticks is a shining picture of what Christ came to do. In the flesh He is the Son of David, the promised King, "David my servant... their prince for ever," and He is the "one shepherd" who said, "there shall be one fold, and one shepherd" (John 10:16). He does not only reunite Judah and Ephraim; He breaks down every wall, "he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition" (Ephesians 2:14), gathering Jew and Gentile into one body. Division is the enemy's work; oneness is God's, for the LORD who makes His people one is Himself one God.
And the crown of the chapter is the promise, "My tabernacle also shall be with them." This is the deepest longing of the whole Bible answered: God dwelling with man. It came true when "the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us" (John 1:14), the one God Himself come in flesh to tabernacle among His people. It continues now, for God puts His Spirit within the believer, making the body His temple. And it will be perfected when the voice from the throne cries, "Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God" (Revelation 21:3), the very words of Ezekiel's "everlasting covenant" fulfilled for ever. From the dry bones to the dwelling of God, this chapter is the gospel in miniature: God raises the dead, makes His people one, and comes to live with them for ever.
Chapter 37 in Review
Ezekiel 37 falls into two matching halves. In the valley of dry bones, God asks "can these bones live?" and answers His own question by raising a graveyard into "an exceeding great army", but only after Ezekiel preaches the word and the breath (the Spirit) enters, for a body without the Ruach of God "there was no breath in them." The bones are "the whole house of Israel," a people who despaired, "our hope is lost: we are cut off"; to them God promises, "I... shall put my spirit in you, and ye shall live." In the second half, two sticks become one: God will reunite divided Israel into "one nation" under "one king" and "one shepherd," David His servant, cleanse them, and make "an everlasting covenant," setting His "tabernacle" in their midst for ever.
For the Apostolic reader the chapter is the gospel in outline. First, resurrection: every sinner is "dead in trespasses and sins," dry and hopeless, and is made alive only by the preached word and the Spirit of God, "born again... by the word of God" and quickened by the breath of the Lord. Second, oneness: the God who is one makes His people one, and the King who unites them is Christ, the Son of David, the "one shepherd" who "hath made both one." Third, indwelling: the goal of it all is "My tabernacle also shall be with them," fulfilled when "the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us," and consummated when "the tabernacle of God is with men" for ever. God raises the dead, unites the divided, and comes to dwell with His people. That is the whole hope of the gospel, and God says of it, "I the LORD have spoken it, and performed it."
- No one is too "dry" or "cut off" for God; He raises the hopeless dead (37:11-12; Ephesians 2:1).
- God raises the dead by two means He still uses: the preached word and the breath of His Spirit (37:4, 9; Romans 10:17; 1 Peter 1:23).
- A body without the Spirit is still a corpse, "there was no breath in them"; only the Ruach of God gives life (37:8, 14; John 6:63).
- The God who is one makes His divided people one nation under one King and one shepherd (37:22, 24; Deuteronomy 6:4; Ephesians 2:14).
- "David my servant" is the promised Son of David, Christ the King and shepherd for ever (37:24-25; John 10:16).
- The goal of redemption is God dwelling with man, "My tabernacle also shall be with them" (37:27; John 1:14; Revelation 21:3).
Questions for Reflection
- Is there a situation you have written off as "our hope is lost"? What does the valley of dry bones say to it?
- God raised the bones through preaching and the Spirit. How does that shape the way you pray for and speak to the spiritually dead?
- The bones had flesh but no breath until the Spirit came. Can there be religion without the life of the Spirit? How do you tell the difference?
- God's aim is to dwell with His people. How does "My tabernacle also shall be with them" change the way you think about His presence in your life?
References & Sources
Scripture is quoted from the King James Version (KJV). The Hebrew terms are standard and can be checked in any Hebrew lexicon: ruach ("breath," "wind," "spirit," verses 5-14, one word throughout); nigzarnu ("cut off," verse 11); echad ("one," verses 17, 19, 22); mishkan ("tabernacle," verse 27). The dry-bones vision pictures Israel's national restoration (verses 11-14) and, by the same principle, spiritual resurrection: Ephesians 2:1-5; John 5:25, 28-29; regeneration by the word: Romans 10:17; 1 Peter 1:23; James 1:18. Life only by the Spirit: John 6:63; and compare the previous chapter, Ezekiel 36:26-27. The two sticks: the reunion of Judah and Ephraim/Joseph, divided since 1 Kings 12. "David my servant" as the Messiah, the Son of David and one shepherd: Ezekiel 34:23-24; John 10:16; the middle wall broken: Ephesians 2:14-16; the one God who makes His people one: Deuteronomy 6:4. God's tabernacle with men: John 1:14; Revelation 21:3. If anything here does not look right, a verse, a reference, or a wording, please tell us at info@FruitBearers.net. Thank you for helping us keep Bible Learning error free.
- The valley of dry bones raised by the word and the Spirit: Ezekiel 37:1-14; Ephesians 2:1-5; Romans 10:17; John 5:28-29.
- The two sticks made one; one nation, one King, one shepherd; God's tabernacle in their midst for ever: Ezekiel 37:15-28; John 10:16; Ephesians 2:14; John 1:14; Revelation 21:3.