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Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Ezekiel 37:1-14

Here is, I. The vision of a resurrection from death to life, and it is a glorious resurrection. This is a thing so utterly unknown to nature, and so contrary to its principles (a privatione ad habitum non datur regressus?from privation to possession there is no return), that we could have no thought of it but by the word of the Lord; and that it is certain by that word that there shall be a general resurrection of the dead some have urged from this vision, ?For? (say they) ?otherwise it would... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Ezekiel 37:1

The hand of the Lord was upon me ,.... The Spirit of the Lord, a powerful impulse of his upon the prophet; the Targum interprets it a spirit of prophecy; See Gill on Ezekiel 1:3 , and carried me out in the Spirit of the Lord : out of the place where he was to another; not really, but visionally, as things appeared to him, and as they were represented to his mind by the Spirit of God: and set me down in the midst of the valley which was full of bones : of men, as the Targum adds:... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Ezekiel 37:1

The hand of the Lord was upon me - The prophetic influence was communicated. And carried me out in the spirit - Or, And the Lord brought me out in the spirit; that is, a spiritual vision, in which all these things were doubtless transacted. The valley which was full of bones - This vision of the dry bones was designed, first, as an emblem of the then wretched state of the Jews; secondly, of the general resurrection of the body. read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Ezekiel 37:1

The hand of the Lord was upon me . The absence of the customary "and" (comp. Ezekiel 1:1 , Ezekiel 1:3 ; Ezekiel 3:14 , Ezekiel 3:22 ), wanting only once again ( Ezekiel 40:1 ), appears to indicate something extraordinary and unusual in the prophet's experience. In the words of Ewald, such a never-beheld sight one sees freely (by itself) in a moment of higher inspiration or never;" and that in this whole vision the prophet was the subject of a special and intensified inspiration is... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Ezekiel 37:1-3

The valley of death. The picture so impressively presented in these verses is a picture of the Israelitish people in their Eastern captivity. The national life is for a period suspended. The people are dead and dry as bones scattered upon the surface of an open valley which has been the scene of carnage in battle. Yet the description is always and justly held to portray the moral condition of our sinful humanity apart from the quickening interposition of the Lord and Giver of life. I.... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Ezekiel 37:1-12

From death to life. The primary reference Of this prophecy is placed beyond all doubt by the passage itself (see Ezekiel 37:12 ). 1. Israel was in a forlorn and hopeless condition in her dispersion and captivity; she seemed to be irrecoverably lost; as a nation she was as one dead, if not buried. 2. But God had a gracious purpose concerning her. He intended to exercise his Divine power on her behalf; the dead should be revived; the lost should be found; the scattered should be... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Ezekiel 37:1-14

The valley of dry bones. I. A VISION OF RESTORATION . Undoubtedly, the restoration of Israel is the immediate thought in the mind of Ezekiel. He sees his people stricken to death. The nation is virtually dead. The exiled citizens of Jerusalem have lost all spirit and energy. But with the restoration will come a restored energy to the people. The nation also will once more rise up as from the dead. These resurrections of communities have been seen more than once in history; e . g... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Ezekiel 37:1-14

The vision of dry bones. As an architect, before erecting a mansion, sketches accurately all his plan on paper—a guide to himself and to his co-workers—so, prior to God's resuscitation of Israel, he sketches out his plan before the mental eye of Ezekiel. By a mighty influence from God, the prophet is borne away in spirit to a great valley in Chaldea, devoted to the burial of Israel's dead. The spot possibly was sadly familiar to the prophet's eye. The loose sand had been swept aside by... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Ezekiel 37:1-28

1. The view, that what the prophet beheld in vision was the final resurrection of mankind , though favored by Jerome, Calovius, and Kliefoth, must be abandoned, not because the doctrine of a general resurrection would not have been a powerful consolation to the pious-hearted in Israel, or because that doctrine was not then known, but because, in the prophet's own explanation, the bones are declared to be those, not of the whole family of man, but merely of the house of Israel. At the... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Ezekiel 37:1

The valley - The same word as “the plain” Ezekiel 3:22; Ezekiel 8:4. The “dry bones” represented the Israelites dispersed abroad, destitute of life national and spiritual. read more

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