3. The Vision of the Resurrection and Re-quickening of the Dead Bones, and the Symbolical Action with the One Stick out of the Two Sticks, along with the Interpretation (Ch. 37)
1The hand of Jehovah was upon me, and [as] Jehovah took me out in the Spirit and made me rest [brought me, set me down] in the midst of the 2valley, and it was full of bones. And He led me over by them round about, and behold, [there were] very many on the surface of the valley, and behold, 3[they were] very dry. And He said to me, Son of man, will these bones 4live [become alive]? And I said, Lord Jehovah, Thou knowest. And He said to me, Prophesy over these bones, and say to them, Ye dry bones, hear the 5 word of Jehovah, 5Thus saith the Lord Jehovah to these bones, Behold, I 6bring spirit into you, and ye live. And I give sinews on you, and make flesh to come up over you, and cover you with skin, and give breath in you, and 7ye live, and know that I am Jehovah. And I prophesied as I was commanded; and there came a voice as I prophesied, and behold, a rustling, and 8the bones drew near, bone to his bone. And I looked, and behold, sinews and flesh came up on them, and skin covered them from above, yet breath 9[was] not in them. And He said to me, Prophesy to the Spirit; prophesy, son of man, and say to the Spirit, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Come from the four winds, thou Spirit, and breathe into these slain, that they may live 10[become alive]. And I prophesied as He commanded me, and the Spirit came into them, and they lived [became alive], and stood upon their feet a very great 11army. And He said to me, Son of man, these bones [are] the whole house of Israel; Behold, they say, our bones were dried and our hope perished, for us, 12we are undone. Therefore prophesy, and say to them, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Behold, I open your graves, and lead you up out of your graves, 13My people, and bring you to the land of Israel. And ye know that I am Jehovah, when I open your graves and lead you up out of your graves, My 14people; And I give My Spirit in you, and ye live, and I bring you to rest upon your land, and ye know that I, Jehovah, spoke and did—sentence of 15,16Jehovah. And the word of Jehovah came to me, saying, And thou, son of man, take to thee a stick, and write on it, For Judah and for the sons of Israel, his associates; and take another stick, and write on it, For Joseph, the 17stick of Ephraim, and of the whole house of Israel, his associates. And bring them near the one to the other for thee into one stick, that they may be 18[become] one in thy hand. And when the sons of thy people shall speak to 19thee, saying, Wilt thou not show us what these [sticks] are to thee? Then say to them, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Behold, I take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel his associates, and put them on it, that is, the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, that they may be one in My hand. 20And the sticks on which thou shalt write are 21in thy hand before their eyes. And say to them, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Behold, I take the sons of Israel out from among the heathen, whither they went, and gather them from round about, and bring them to 22their land. And I make them one people in the land, on the mountains of Israel, and one king shall be king to them all; and they [there] shall no more be two peoples, and they shall never again be divided into two kingdoms. 23And they shall no more defile themselves with their foul idols, and with their detestable things, and with all their transgressions; and I help them from all their dwelling-places where they have sinned, and cleanse them, and they 24shall be My people, and I will be their God. And My servant David shall be king over them, and one shepherd shall be to them all; and they shall 25walk in My judgments, and shall keep My statutes, and do them. And they dwell upon the land which I gave to My servant Jacob, in which your fathers dwelt, and they dwell on it, they and their sons, and their sons’ sons, for ever, 26and David My servant [is] prince to them for ever. And I make for them a covenant of peace, an everlasting covenant [covenant of eternity] shall be with them; and I give them and multiply them, and give My sanctuary in their 27midst for ever. And My dwelling is over them, and I am their God and they shall be My people. 28And the heathen know that I, Jehovah, sanctify Israel, in that My sanctuary is in their midst for ever.
Eze_37:23. ...
ἱíá ìç
…
åí ïἱò ἡìáñôïóáí ἐí áὐôïéò
,
÷
.
ἐí ô
.
÷ñïóï÷èéóìáóéí áὐôùí ê
. …
ἀðï ðáóùí ô
.
ἀíïìéùí ὡí ἠìáñôïóáí ἐí áὐôáéò
—(Another reading:
ôùòéäí
et Arabs.)
Eze_37:24.
ἀñ÷ùí ἐí ìåóù áὐôùí
…
ὁôé ἐí
—
Eze_37:25. …
ïἱ ðáôåñåò áὐôùí
—
Eze_37:28. Sept.: ...
ὁ ἁãéáæùí áὐôïõò
—
EXEGETICAL REMARKS
The two sections of the chapter, Eze_37:1-14 and Eze_37:15-28, are already distinguished by the introductory formula (Eze_37:1; Eze_37:15); still more decidedly by their difference of form,—first a vision, and then a symbolic action; as also by their contents, which, however, with all their diversity, show the most intimate connection—what in the first section is prophesied of the whole of Israel is in the second ratified by promise in relation to the parts. [Hengst.: “the restoration of Israel as a covenant-people, and the restoration of Israel as a brotherhood.”] The re-quickening and reunion of Israel. The interpretation is connected with both prophetic sections of our chapter, appended (Eze_37:11-14) to the first, while in the second it is given along with the prophecy. The connection with Ezekiel 30. is apparent from the close of that chapter, Eze_37:24 sq.
Eze_37:1-10
. The Quickening of the Bones in the Valley.
Eze_37:1.
äָéְçָä
, comp. Eze_1:3 (
åַäְּäִé òָìָéå
) and Eze_33:22 (
äָéְúָä àֵìַé
). Although not the stronger introductory formula (as in Eze_8:1), yet the description given of Ezekiel’s condition is sufficient simply to set aside a mere “product of poetical intuition” (Hitzig). “The abrupt commencement without and” is, according to Hengstenberg, meant to point out that “the fact here related is extraordinary, and out of connection with the usual prophetic activity.” [“As the subject itself is a quite unusual one, so also the description is such as Ezekiel never elsewhere draws. Such a never-seen sight is seen by itself in a moment of higher inspiration, or never,” Ewald.] As the Vulgate, so also Hitzig, against the accent: “in the Spirit of Jehovah;” but
éְäåָֹä
is subject, and
áְøåּçַ
simply:
ἐí ôíåõìáôé
(Mat_22:43), in contrast to
ἐí óùìáôé
(2Co_12:2), to which it is easy to supply
àֱìֹäִéí
(Eze_11:24), which (as Keil justly observes) was omitted because of the
éְçåָֹä
(comp. Eze_8:3). Ecstatic state in which he was inwardly transported from the things around him.—The valley can only be the one mentioned in Eze_3:22, when we consider that those who speak in Eze_37:11 were settled there in the neighbourhood, and consequently could be represented as the bones in the valley. At all events, it is not a valley in general, but a certain valley; and if nothing else, that (
åְäִéà
) which was full of bones. Hengstenberg points out the contrast to the mountain (Eze_17:22), the “lowness of condition”! Hitzig: “The valley is fitted to represent a huge grave;” but the thought is less of graves than of their opposite (
òַìÎôְּðֵé
, Eze_37:2), namely, that the slain (Eze_37:9) have remained unburied, their bones bleach and dry there.—The bones are men’s bones (Isa_66:14); in the connection here: the remains of the slain, abundance of which might be in the disturbed districts of Judah; according to the Talmudists: slain Ephraimites, 1Ch_7:20 sq. Looking from the midst of the valley, he could warrant that it was full of bones.
Eze_37:2.
òֲìֵéäֶí
, over by them, or “over past them;” hence not: “over,” to tread them with the feet, or to hover over them, but: round about, so that he might be able to view them exactly, as the repeated
åְäִðֵּä
, as the result of such inspection, brings to view the very many and their being very dry, neither sap nor strength in them. Comp. moreover, Ezekiel 6. [Ewald refers for “the rapid narration, with its constant fall into the present,” to his Grammar, § 342 b.]
The question in Eze_37:3 is fitted to bring the prophet, and, through him, his hearers and readers, to the consciousness of the impossibility presented to human eyes (son of man); and considering the words uttered by Israel (Eze_37:11), its intention doubtless is to bring out the despair of the people, in order to make room in their hearts for the prophecy of salvation (Eze_37:12). Ezekiel’s answer refers the matter to God (Rev_7:14), for with God there is no impossibility, unless He wills it, and that God alone can know. Comp. on this point Isa_26:19.
Eze_37:4. When Ezekiel is summoned to prophesy over the bones, their future, asked (Eze_37:3) by Jehovah in relation to them, comes to view as an affair of Jehovah’s, of His counsel, will, and purpose; they may therefore be addressed (
åְàָî× àֲìֵéäֶí
), however dry they are. Grotius observes: so much the more as the prisoners in the exile are to be understood.—The word of Jehovah (Eze_36:1; Eze_36:4) mediates the salvation, the life to be prophesied. Hence not see, for then death, and nothing but death, will come to view. In Ezekiel’s vision all depends on “hearing;” recognise God’s word, and trust to it (Joh_4:48; Joh_20:19). This, at the same time, legitimates as divine the word of Ezekiel’s prophetic announcement. The tenor, however, of the divine word—Jehovah announces what will take place, what He purposes to do (Amo_3:7)—follows in Eze_37:5. What is said to them is, from the certainty of its being accomplished, in reality said of them, as
äִðֵּä
already formally points to the accomplishment.—
øåּçַ
, although followed by
åִçְéִéúֶí
of the effect generally on the whole, is yet not exactly
ø× çַéִéí
of Gen_6:17, or
ðִùְׁîַçÎú× ç×
of Gen_7:22, “breath”; for it is just that which is in a living being that is here left out of view, and, in contrast to that which is dried up, above all, simply the creative divine power, hence spirit quite objectively and generally is contemplated. (“The Spirit of God is the principle of all real life in the creaturely existence,” Häv.) That we have here another order (Hengst.) than in the execution (Eze_37:7 sq.) is not the case, for the more detailed description which follows immediately in Eze_37:6 presents the same order as the execution follows. The Spirit also does not press forward at the beginning as the (Hitzig) chief thing, without which the rest, the merely bodily resurrection, is of no importance (Hengst.), but as
åִçְéִéúֶí
implies: “to live” in genera], without separation for the present into political and spiritual, so
àֲðִé îֵáִéà áָëֶí ø×
introduces the divine causality simply as first, as conditio sine qua non. The more special is expressed
Eze_37:6—by a parallel
åְðָúַúִּé
; and afterwards by
ðִּéãִéí
, the “binding matter,” the sinews, and by the making of “flesh to come up,” and by the
÷øí
(a word only found in Ezekiel), with skin, the outward form of life is completed, from which the spirit which enlivens the flesh is distinguished, but is as yet to be considered as natural, now as breath, the individual life, in consequence of which it certainly can be said:
åִéãַòְúֶּí×
. But the spiritual element, although intimated in this, is first expressly stated in the interpretation (Eze_37:14), with reference back to Eze_36:27.
The prophecy, in accordance with the command given to Ezekiel (Eze_37:4), is not limited (as Hengst.) in Eze_37:7 to the summons to the bones to “hear,” sq., but comprehends also what Jehovah says to these bones in Eze_37:5-6; for that He is the speaker makes the saying a prophecy, although to prophesy in general may be said to mean the same as: “to speak in the Spirit.”—The voice which came was audible; its simplest interpretation is in accordance with Eze_1:25. The prophet was to prophesy; what Jehovah purposed to say to the bones (Eze_37:4-6), the prophet now prophesies; and since he prophesies according to the command, Thus saith Jehovah, that which was prophesied to the bones is from God, and the voice is to be understood as Jehovah’s, from which the New Testament representation is perhaps coloured (Joh_5:28), and neither a “noise” nor “sound” in general-anything like a thunder-clap would be out of place in this sublime and orderly connection—nor in particular: “the sound of a trumpet.” Keil’s position, that it cannot be supposed that God should bind His voice of power to the prophecy of the prophet, has in reality no significance. On the other hand, he is right in referring
øַòַùׁ
(Eze_3:12; Eze_12:18) to the noise by which the effect of the word of Jehovah announced itself to the bones, now coming together in consequence thereof. [Hävernick makes the “sound” pass into a “mighty peal.” Hitzig, in order to have the “fitting impulse” from the ground, translates: “earthquake” (Mat_27:51), under reference to Eze_38:19.] God’s voice of power is followed by a rustling, caused by the bones coming rustling up from the surface of the valley. Thereafter (
åְ
consecutive) “the bones come together,” which may be thus distinguished from what follows, that it refers to whatever belongs to one body, while
òֶöֶí àֶìÎòַö×
specializes a single bone in relation to another, e.g. the upper to the lower part of the arm (on the form
çִּ÷ְøְáåּ
, see Ewald, Gr. p. 505). [“This may also be interpreted of the first movements of the scattered Israelites in the various settlements in Chaldea, and their assembling for quiet consultation, where the members of the people met again in secret,” Schmieder.]
Eze_37:8, as was promised in Eze_37:6. [“May be interpreted of Israel’s first growth in hope, conscious strength, and vigour,” Schmieder.] The remark that yet breath was not in them may serve formally for the dramatic colouring of the event in the representation; as to actual fact, it sets forth the creative power of God in the action, which is in this way twofold. That thereby is shown that “the restoration is first pre-eminently an external, political one” (Hengst.), is not of necessity contained in the text, but the original creation of man, as related in Gen_2:7, forms a pattern for the text. (Joh_7:39 makes the deepest application of the
åְøåּçַ×
.)—Correspondingly, therefore, Ezekiel has in Eze_37:9 to prophesy once more,—this time to the Spirit (Eze_37:5), that is, not to the “breath,” for that is
øåּçַ
only in a living person, as we have already said, and still less to the “wind,” which is the sensuous natural symbol of the Spirit. And from what follows it is still clearer that the “outpouring of the Spirit” cannot be spoken of here, but what is spoken of is the universal spirituality which pervades all creation. Hence the Spirit is to come from the four winds; not without reference, moreover, to Eze_5:10; Eze_5:12; Eze_12:14; Eze_17:21 (Mat_24:31; Rev_7:1).
îֵàַøְáַּò×
makes clear the distinction between
øåּçåֹú
and
äָøåּçַ
. Our passage has nothing to do with the “breathing on” in Joh_20:22, and just as little is “the fulness and force of the Spirit’s operations, Act_2:2” (Hengst.), indicated by the “wind from the four winds.”
åּôְçִé
makes a very plain allusion to Gen_2:7. [“The quickening Spirit of God awakens the resolution to return to God’s covenant and to the land of their fathers,” Schmieder.]—Slain: killed, not deceased (Doct. Reflect. 5). The colouring is taken from those condemned and executed by the Chaldeans (Eze_37:11). Regarding
åְéִçְéåּ
, comp. on Eze_37:5.
Eze_37:10. Exchanging Hithp.
åְäִðַּáְּàúִé
(Ewald, Gr. p. 331) for Niphal of Eze_37:7, and
öִåָּðִé
Piel in place of Pual in Eze_37:7.
Eze_37:9; Eze_37:5. The Spirit, in order to become the breath of life in them (comp. Eze_2:2; Eze_3:24).—2Ki_13:21; Rev_11:11.
Eze_37:11-14
.The Divine Interpretation of the Vision
The process in the vision Eze_37:1-10 is symbolical, as shown by the phrase in Eze_37:11 : these bones are, etc., which refers to the whole vision as it treated of the bones. Hence the bones, which lay there very dry, but at Jehovah’s word became alive, which were very many (Eze_37:2), a very great army (Eze_37:10), bear the sense of and signify the whole house of Israel; and this already prepares for the second section of our chapter. According to Hitzig, Judah and Israel combined denote the State broken up by the war, and also the generation cut off by it; against which view we observe that the dead cannot be “saying” here any more than the bones, but, as in Eze_11:15 sq., the Israel in exile must be contemplated, who now indeed compared themselves to the dead, but to whom, on the contrary, life is immediately (Eze_37:12) to be proclaimed and promised. In what they say (comp. Eze_33:10) is contained the so frequently overlooked tertium comparationis, and the cause for the vision in Eze_37:1-10. Hence the divine interpretation does not primarily start from the outward condition of the people in general, and still less from that of a part of them, the dead of Israel, but from what the despair of those in exile says, hence from the frame of mind which thus found voice: our bones are dried, etc. The relation of
éָáְùׁåּ
and
éְáֵùׁåֹú
(Eze_37:2) to each other is evident.—
ðִâְæַøְðåּ
, properly: “cut off,” separated, shut out from God’s help (Psa_88:6 [5], 31:23 [22]; Isa_53:8).—
ìָðåּ
, according to Gesenius, a superfluous pronominal dative, as much as to say: We are undone. Hitzig: Reduced to ourselves. [Delitzsch: It is over with us. Hengst.: We are cut off for us, referring the “for us” to the sadness of the fact for those concerned.] The language which they employ corresponds thoroughly to the question in Eze_37:3. That which, believing themselves abandoned, without any hope (Eze_19:5) of again rising up to be a nation, they say of themselves, Ezekiel beheld in the valley,—merely very dry bones. So much the more, and the more literally, can what was done with these bones, a procedure which the prophet had to prophesy, and was afterwards permitted to behold, avail as a promise to them.
Eze_37:12 therefore parallel to Eze_37:4 sq., but still keeping primarily in view the despairing speech of the exiles:
äִðָּáֵà åְàָîַøְúָּ
, not yet, however,
äðֵּä àֲðִéîֵáִéà áָëֶí øåּçַ×
(Eze_37:5), as Eze_37:14 hereafter, but first: behold, I open your graves, meaning thereby the abodes of the exile, since the Jews who were in exile considered themselves like dead men. The accommodating interpretation changes the valley with the many bones on its surface into many graves, which have “to be opened,” etc. My people, here and in the following a very comforting title. Israel, however, ought always to be so, and therefore also to have constantly been so. Consequently we have at the same time prominence given to the contrast between Israel’s destiny and its deadly despair, and hence a notification of its unbelief and offences in general.—What in the vision the clothing with sinews, flesh, and skin was in relation to the bones (Eze_37:6 sq.), could in the interpretation applying to the living be regarded as political restoration, as this has to begin with leading out of Babylon and bringing back to Canaan.
Eze_37:13.
åִéãַòְúֶּí
reminds of
åִéãַòְúֶּí
in Eze_37:6.
Eze_37:14 takes up
åְðָúַúִּé áָëֶí øåּçַ
of Eze_37:6 and the rest of the vision, pointing, however, by
øåּçִé
to Eze_36:27, as by
åְäִðַּçְúִּé
to
ìְòåֹìָí
in the following, for which comp. Ezekiel 28:26, 34. The inspiriting and quickening for a home system which is to have permanence, and especially in the case of a people like Israel, will of necessity be spiritual and religious.—Isa_14:1.—Eze_17:24; Eze_22:14; Eze_36:36.
Eze_37:15-18
. The Reunion of Israel and Judah
After the vision thus interpreted, there follows in Eze_37:16—accompanied by an interpretation—a symbolic action, the outward reality of which there is no difficulty in admitting. Both the contents (comp. Eze_37:11) and the transition with
åְ
connect what follows with the first section of the chapter, of which it forms the continuation and completion. Israel again become a nation, must, overcoming the separation which had taken place, also again become one nation. What follows draws the consequence from what has preceded.—
òֵõ
, “board” (tablet), or “staff,” or simply “wood,” stick.—For the “writing,” comp. Numbers 17.—The sons of Israel, his associates (while the text reads the singular for “association”), are, according to Hengstenberg, a “small” part of Benjamin, Simeon, and Levi, and the members of the kingdom of the ten tribes who had attached themselves to Judah; according to Keil: the “greater” part of Benjamin and Simeon, the tribe of Levi, and the pious Israelites who had at various times immigrated into Judah from the kingdom of the ten tribes, 2Ch_11:13 sq., 15:9, 30:11, 18, 31:1.—Joseph is placed first, as Hengstenberg says, because Ephraim’s equality with Judah rests upon him in consequence of the blessing of Jacob; more simply, because it is the genealogical title of the patriarch. That the stick of Ephraim (comp. Eze_37:19), which has been looked on as a later interpolation, is subjoined, is an addition taken from historical reality, for Ephraim was the head of the kingdom of the ten tribes.
Eze_37:17.
åְ÷ָøַá àֹúָí àֶçָã àֶìÎàִçָã
reminds of
åַúִּ÷ְøְáåּ òֲöָîåֹú òֶöֶí àֶìÎòַöְîåֹ
in Eze_37:7.—
áְּéָãֶêָ
illustrates
ìְêָ
, corresponding to the symbolic action—here in the hand of Ezekiel, as hereafter in his word. In order to make them appear as one stick, they must hare been adapted for that, and could scarcely have been “staves.”
Eze_37:18. Comp. Eze_24:19. The purpose of the symbolic action, what it was meant to incite, on which account it is to be conceived of as externally real (Eze_37:20).—What (are) these sticks to thee? that is: what is their signification?
Eze_37:19, the interpretation. Where Eze_37:16 has the stick of Ephraim, we have now the stick of Joseph, which first of all implies exactly the same as the stick described “for Joseph.” In what respect it is designated the stick of Ephraim is then made plain by the Words: which is in the hand of Ephraim (the expression
áְּéַã
doubtless suggested by
áְּéָãֶêָ
, Eze_37:17); and thereby, at the same time, the transition is made from the sign to the thing signified, for to be in the hand = to be in the possession, in the power, hence it denotes the supremacy of this tribe. Hence, too, instead of
åְëָìÎáֵּéú éִùְׂøָàֵì
, more expressly
éְùִׁáְèֵé éִùְׂøָàֵì
(“staves,” “sticks,” as “tribes”).—If the noun is anticipated by
òָìָéִå
, it would certainly be better to read, with Hitzig,
àֶì
, than
àֶú
: “to it, to the stick of Judah.” It lies away, however, from
ìֹ÷ֵçַ
, as Keil connects, to combine
àåֹúָí
, namely, the tribes, after they have been put on the stick of Joseph (
òָìָéå
), by
àֶú
with the stick of Judah; besides, one does not see why the tribes already joined to Joseph should still have to be united with him. The “taking” is ended with the tribes of Israel, his associates; the “giving” relates to those (
àåֹúָí
) taken together (
åְ
), that is, Joseph-Ephraim and his tribes, for the purpose of union (
àֶçָãåַòֲùִׂéúִí ìְòִõ
) with Judah, and it is only to this that
òָìָéå
can refer. Hengstenberg explains
àֶú
: “the stick of Judah, I mean,” “to indicate that Judah is the proper stem of the people of God.” The interpretation still keeps a firm hold of the symbolic action (
ìְòֵõ àֶçָã
), and
àֶçָã áְּéָãִé
evidently expresses an antithesis to Ephraim’s hand,—the union by and in God, as opposed to the separation by and in Ephraim (comp. Isa_11:13).
Eze_37:20. The symbolic sign which the prophet is to perform (Eze_37:16) is expressly designed for the eyes of those concerned, and, with the repetition of the thing to be done, at the same time mediates the connection with what follows.
Eze_37:21 sq. treats of the effecting of the reunion of the nation, after first glancing back to Eze_37:12 sq. Comp. Eze_36:24; Eze_11:17; Eze_20:34; Eze_20:41; Eze_34:13.
Eze_37:22.
åְòָùִׂéäִé àåֹúָí ìְâåֹé àֶçָã
is the
åַòֲùִׂéúִí ìְòֵõ àֶçָã
of Eze_37:19. The now plainly expressed signification of the stick.—Eze_34:13-14.—The one nation will be one kingdom. Comp. Eze_37:24-25; comp. Hos_3:5. [According to Hävernick, the unity of the kingdom testifies to its truth, that it represents Jehovah.] Qeri
éִäְéåּ
, but
âּåֹé
might also serve as subject to
éִäְéֶä
. Strong and effective negation of the old, that has passed away for ever.—Since sin, and especially idolatry, had contributed to the separation spoken of, the discourse turns to that, Eze_37:23. Comp. Eze_14:11; Eze_36:25; Eze_5:11.—
îåֹùְׁáֹúֵéäֶí
ought not, after Eze_6:6; Eze_6:14, to cause so much difficulty to expositors. The worship of idols, which is the subject of discourse, is just localized “transgression.” The relief consists in this, that idolatry disappears, Eze_36:29. To think with Hengstenberg of the places of abode in the exile, so that the earlier sins in Canaan did not come into account—that they, as it were, left their sins behind them in the foreign land, etc., neither suits the present connection,—is a thought here postponed, as Hitzig justly observes,—nor harmonizes with Eze_37:12 sq., according to which the exile, on the contrary, localizes the wages of sin, i.e. death. Alteration of the text is equally unnecessary, just as Keil’s “preserving from,” and Kliefoth’s idea of leading out into the glorified Canaan, are imported into the text. Comp. besides, Eze_34:13.—Eze_36:25; Eze_33:28; Eze_34:24. The closing statement, recurring in Eze_37:27, only in reverse order, seems to interrupt the consecution of the verses, so that the prophecy forms itself into two sections
Eze_37:21-23 and Eze_37:24-27—with one conclusion. What the first section contains more as to the thing done and generally, is given in the second Messianically and as to the individual, for the full completion of the thought.
Eze_37:24. See on Eze_34:23.
Eze_37:22.—Eze_11:20; Eze_36:27.
Eze_37:25. Eze_36:28; Eze_28:25; Eze_34:24.—
òַãÎòåֹìָí
, so that the terminus ad quem is “concealed,” cannot be seen; hence for an interminable future, is to be understood Messianically, that is, in Christ, as shown by the immediately following
ìְòåֹìí
, and all that comes after. As we find expressed here without interruption (this is the peculiarity of the whole prophecy here, in distinction to that repeated from Ezekiel 34, 36) the unity of the nation, its continued possession of Canaan, and that very plainly of the earthly Canaan, so just as plainly is all conceived of under the dominion of the King Messiah. Israel’s nationality in Canaan is bound up (Eze_37:22) with this one kingdom. As to the moral and spiritual condition of the people, their position towards God (Eze_37:23), Eze_37:24 connects likewise with the one shepherd, the King David = Messiah, the “walking in, sq.,” “keeping,” and “doing.” And in the same connection occurs Eze_37:26 (likewise
ìְòåֹìָí
, and also
áְּøִéú òåֹìָí
), for which comp. Eze_34:25 (Isa_55:3; Jer_32:40). As shown by comparing Eze_34:25, and confirmed by the connection with Eze_37:21-23, especially Eze_37:23, as that is the peculiar, the leading idea of the divine covenant, to which the
ìָäֶí
corresponds, and by the whole mode of expression here, including the repeated “giving,” the making of the covenant proceeds from God in the most manifest exhibition of grace. The fact that
áְּøִéú ùָׁìåֹí
is alike explained and completed by
áְּøִéú òåֹìָí
, expresses the Messianic character of this covenant; for the terminus ad quem (
òåֹìָí
) of Israel, still hid to appearance, is just the Messiah. In the “salvation” (
ùָׁìåֹí
), when it embraces time and eternity, eternity in time, alongside of the ideal reference in the whole, the real side in the particular cannot be wanting; hence what is the daily bread for a nation, namely, putting them in the position of increase, cannot be wanting; therefore: And I give them [Keil: to be a nation] and multiply them, Eze_36:10-11; Eze_36:37. But with the giving of the sanctuary of Jehovah in their midst for ever, another Messianic type, now in close preparation for Ezekiel 40 sq., is presented to us in the text, in addition to the one king and shepherd for all, the servant of Jehovah, David. Comp. on Eze_11:16. The reference to Lev_26:9; Lev_26:11 is shown by the harmony of the prophecy with the promise given by Moses. And although the
îִùְׁëָּï
there in Eze_37:11 (as
ùָׁëַï
is said of the symbol of Jehovah’s presence in the wilderness) does not so much signify the outward building, and in Ezekiel too (Eze_37:27) it is regarded as
òֲìֵéäֶí
, yet
áְּúåֹëָí
, which stands beside
îִ÷ְãָּùׁ
, points to the midst of the people; comp. Exo_25:8. Hitzig is right in this, and also as to what distinguishes this passage from Eze_11:16. But he overlooks the express reference to each other of
îִ÷ְãָּùִׁé áְּúåֹëָí ìְòåֹìָí
and
îְ÷ַãֵּùׁ àֶúÎéִùְׂøָàֵé
, Eze_37:28. There is, at all events, expressed a visible national unity in Canaan as formerly, one political government, which, however, as mediated by the one King Messiah, exhibits itself as a national life purified from idolatry and conformed to law, hence moral, so also an outward serving of God by Israel is here prophesied, the sanctuary of Jehovah in the midst of Israel—that this cannot be Zerubbabel’s temple is triumphantly proved to the Jews by Keil, from the fact conceded by themselves, that the Shechinah was wanting to it;—but the heathen see therein (
áִּäְéåֹú
, Eze_37:28) something yet different, namely, the continuing (particip.) sanctification of Israel by God, hence religious-moral conditions. [Not merely gratiosa Dei habitatio in cordibus eorum, as Piscator.] We remember here, where what is prophesied of the sanctuary is so evidently connected with the promised servant David as king and prince, that the kingship is specially prominent in Ezekiel’s figure of the Messiah (Introd. § 9); and besides this, the passage here shows that, as likewise observed in the Introduction, § 9, with Ezekiel the main point of view continues to be the Messianic nation, the Messianic salvation of the nation. And so the phrase: My sanctuary in their midst for ever,
ìְòåֹìָí
explaining itself in
îְ÷ַãֵּùׁ
(Eze_37:28), appears essentially as prophesied of the future church of salvation, the realized kingdom of priests (Introd. § 9). (Comp. Zech. 2:14 [Zec_2:10]; Joh_1:14; Rev_21:3; Rev_7:15; 1Co_3:16; 1Co_6:19; 2Co_6:16.) [“This promise has, at all events, come to be gloriously fulfilled in the election which forms the stem of the Christian Church. It is again taken up in the saying of Christ: ‘Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world,’ ” Hengst.]
At this point of the understanding of our prophecy—and herein its most important advance, in distinction to Eze_11:16, is perhaps announced—the certainly not unintentional exchange of: My sanctuary in their midst, of Eze_37:26, for: My dwelling over them, in Eze_37:27, must decidedly be taken more spiritually than is done when Hengstenberg refers it to the “protecting power” which is afforded in the house of God (Psa_68:29 [30]), or Keil, to the “position of the temple towering up over the city.” Hitzig comes nearer the truth when he directs attention to God’s dwelling in heaven, directly (?) over the temple of Jerusalem (Isa_33:5; Psa_29:9; Psa_104:3; 1Ki_8:33-34; Gen_28:17; Psa_7:7 [8]). The sanctification of Israel before the world, as connected with the Kingship of the Messiah, and the establishing of the eternal sanctuary of God in Israel’s midst, as effected by the founding of the Church of Christ, serve for illustration and fulfilment of the
òֲìֵéäֶí
in Ezekiel here, as is very clear from Acts Ezekiel 2, to which is prefixed a repeated (comp. Luk_24:50 sq.) and circumstantial account of the exaltation of the Son of man, Ezekiel 1
Eze_37:23. Eze_11:20; Gen_17:7.—Eze_34:30.
Eze_37:28 (Eze_36:23; Eze_36:36). Although the mention of the heathen is still confined to the “knowing” of the sanctification of Israel, yet such knowledge cannot remain without result, without fruit; comp. Isa_44:5.—“Indication of the participation of the heathen in the promised salvation” (Hengst.).—Eze_20:12. “To sanctify” is to purge from sin as well as to consecrate, hence embracing forgiveness of sin, and quickening. The former must become clear to the heathen from the latter, and so much the clearer as they have seen the judgment of God executed on His people—have even executed it themselves. Comp. for the harmony with the promises in the Pentateuch, Exo_31:13; Lev_22:32.
ADDITIONAL NOTE ON Ezekiel 37
[“In closing this section, we present a brief outline of the view that has been taken of the prophecies contained in the three closely related chapters, 34, 36, 37, and which in substance applies equally to many other portions of the prophetical Scriptures. 1. They were originally given to revive and animate the hearts of God’s covenant-people, by holding out to them the assured prospect of a reversion from the present evil, and their still certain destination in God’s purpose to the highest and most honourable place on the earth. 2. It was the duty of those to whom such prophecies were delivered at once to believe the word spoken to them, and apply themselves in earnest to do what was needed to secure its accomplishment; and had they only done this, a far larger measure of the promised good would have been reaped than they actually experienced: this later prospect of blessing, like the earlier, given before entering Canaan, greatly failed through their own sinful unbelief. 3. But there being manifestly ideal features introduced into the delineation, especially the good spoken of being so peculiarly connected with the rule and presidency of David, clearly betokens a kind and degree of blessing which could not have been completely fulfilled under the Old Covenant, nor intended to be altogether fulfilled any time according to the letter. It shows the prophecies in question to be, like several of an earlier kind in Ezekiel, descriptions of the future under the form and image of the past—not as if the past were actually to return again, but that its general spirit and character were to revive. 4. The new things thus to be looked for in the future could only meet with their full and adequate accomplishment in Christ, who is certainly the David of the promise. They are consequently of a higher and more comprehensive nature than any that could be enjoyed under the Old Covenant, when the kingdom of God was so straitened in its dimensions, and so outward and earthly in its visible constitution. But still they were of necessity described under the hue and aspect of the things belonging to the Old Covenant—as if it were these only returning again, or these with certain alterations and improvements, such as might give the future a pre-eminence in glory over the past. For only by means of what belonged to existing or previous dispensations of God could the prophet have given any detailed exhibition of what might be expected under another and higher dispensation. The details of the future must have been cast into the mould of things already perceived or known. 5. Therefore, in forming one’s conceptions now of the real import of such prophecies—now that the transition has been made into the new and higher dispensation—we must throw ourselves back upon the narrower and more imperfect relations amid which they were written, and thence judge of what is still to come. Thus, as the David of the promise is Christ, so the covenant-people are no longer the Jews distinctively, but the faithful in Christ; and the territory of blessing no longer Canaan, but the region of which Christ is king and lord. What was spoken immediately of the one class of personages and relations, may most fully be applied to the other; and by such a method of interpretation alone do we get a uniform and consistent principle to carry us through the whole. While those, on the other hand, who would find a literal Israel, and a non-literal David, or a literal restoration in Christian times, and a non-literal tabernacle and ritual of worship, arbitrarily confound together things dissimilar and incongruous, and render certainty of interpretation absolutely impossible. 6. Sixthly, the view thus given is confirmed by the reproduction of some of these prophecies in the field of the New Testament Church, set free, as was to be expected, from the outward distinctions and limits of the Old. Thus, in particular, the resurrection-scene of this 37th chapter substantially recurs in the 20th chapter of Revelation, and is followed precisely as here by the attack from the embattled forces of Gog and Magog; while not a word is said which would confine the things spoken to the land of Canaan, or the literal Israel; it is the Church and people of Christ at large that are discoursed of. We say nothing respecting the probable time and nature of the events there referred to, but simply point to the identity in character of what is written with the prophecies before us. In those visions of the Apocalypse, the inspired evangelist stretches out the hand to Ezekiel, and shows how the word spoken so long before by that servant of God, freed from the peculiarities of its Jewish form, is to find its application to the Christian Church. The shell has gone, but the substance remains. 7. We may add, lastly, that the common interpretation, which understands Christ by David, and takes all the rest literally, must inevitably tend to justify the Jew in his unbelief. For he naturally says, Your Messiah has not done the thing you yourselves hold must be done—to fulfil the prophecy; He has not set up His throne in Canaan, and gathered Israel there, and re-established the old worship in its purity; this was the very purpose for which He was to appear, and we must wait till He comes to do it. On the basis of the literal interpretation, there seems no satisfactory answer to this; and it is well known that since it has become prevalent, many Jews believe that Christians are coming over to their view of the matter. We are not surprised to hear, as we have heard, of converted Jews declaring that such a mode of interpretation would carry them back to Judaism.”—Fairbairn’s Ezekiel, pp. 412–414.—W. F.]
DOCTRINAL REFLECTIONS
1. What has Jehovah caused, Eze_37:1-10, to be prophesied for comfort to His people (Eze_37:12-13)? The resurrection of the dead in the literal sense Kliefoth still maintains, a view which is the older ecclesiastical one, shared by Jews and Christians, so that Jerome, when expressing a different opinion regarding famosam hanc visionen, omnium ecclesiarum Christi lectione celebratam, thought it necessary to state that he did not therefore by any means wish to deny the doctrine of the resurrection. How little the connection in Ezekiel says in favour of the dogma of the general resurrection of the dead is best seen from the artificial way in which Eze_37:11 sq. is disposed of. Kliefoth interprets the prophesied bringing of Israel into their own land (as already, Eze_36:28) of the “final introduction of the people of God into the eternal Canaan,” and the quickening in Eze_37:14, of “inward renewal by the Spirit of God;” an interpretation which he has also put upon Eze_36:25 sq. From similar perplexity, Eze_37:11 has been combined with the “first resurrection” of Revelation 20, and the bringing of Israel into their own land understood in accordance with Mat_5:5. Hengstenberg, holding that “all the other comforting words of the prophet relate to things of this world,” insists upon this connection in general, and singles out in particular Eze_36:8, “which was soon to take its beginning,” and the connection of Eze_37:15 sq. and the vision. If the relation is this, that the house of Israel of the vision, reanimated by the Spirit of God, is “the whole” (Eze_37:11), and hence is to experience the reunion symbolized (Eze_37:15 sq.), then this union, which cannot be sought for among “the last things,” will also not suppose the re-quickening of Israel past. But in addition to the contradiction between the wider and the narrower connection, comes also the contrariety of the picture drawn here to the doctrine laid down in 1 Corinthians 15; those who rise again in Ezekiel’s vision simply return into earthly existence, with skin and flesh and bones. If the doctrine of the general resurrection is maintained in Eze_37:1 sq., then Eze_37:11 sq. must more or less, as also Kliefoth gives to understand, he denied to be “in the proper sense an interpretation and explanation of the significant occurence:” we must content ourselves with an application for an express purpose, namely, in order to comfort and raise up the hope of Israel with the prospect in question (see above, Eze_37:1). Against this Hengstenberg, appealing at the same, time to analogies in Daniel, Zechariah, and Ezekiel himself, justly observes: “Whosoever feels himself constrained to take Eze_37:11-14 not as an interpretation, even thereby expresses judgment concerning his view of Eze_37:1-10.” Eze_37:11 begins expressly with an explanation of the signification of “these bones,” which formed the subject of discourse, Eze_37:1-10.
2. A question which, unless one dismisses entirely the doctrine of the resurrectio mortuorum from the text before us, comes into consideration is, whether this dogma already existed in the time of Ezekiel? Hengstenberg, for example, denies indeed the express application of the doctrine to our passage, but makes the dogma serve as “figure.” Hence he must answer the question put in th
