Read & Study the Bible Online - Bible Portal
Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Ezekiel 37:15-28

Here are more exceedingly great and precious promises made of the happy state of the Jews after their return to their own land; but they have a further reference to the kingdom of the Messiah and the glories of gospel-times. I. It is here promised that Ephraim and Judah shall be happily united in brotherly love and mutual serviceableness; so that whereas, ever since the desertion of the ten tribes from the house of David under Jeroboam, there had been continual feuds and animosities between... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Ezekiel 37:15

The word of the Lord came unto me again ,.... Immediately or quickly after he had the above vision of the dry bones, and the explanation of it: saying : as follows: read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Ezekiel 37:16

Moreover, thou son of man, take thee one stick ,.... Or "wood" F1 עץ אחד "lignum unuin", V. L. Pagninus, Montanus, &c.; ; a stick of wood; or table, as the Targum; a board or plank. The Septuagint version renders it a "rod"; and so the Arabic; an emblem of a kingdom or government, as this was: and write upon it ; the following words: for Judah, and the children of Israel his companions ; for the tribe of Judah, and the tribe of Benjamin, which adhered together, and as... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Ezekiel 37:17

And join them one to another into one stick ,.... Clap the sticks, planks, boards, or tables, to one another; glue them together, or set them so close to one another, that they may seem as one stick, plank, board, or table: and they shall become one in thine hand ; they shall look as if they were one. R. Joseph Kimchi, the father of David, thinks they really became one, by means of a miracle wrought; but there is no need to suppose this; it is enough that they appeared to be so. read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Ezekiel 37:18

And when the children of thy people shall speak unto thee, saying ,.... The children of Israel and Judah in captivity, of which people Ezekiel was and to whom he was sent as a prophet; who seeing him take two sticks, and write on them, and then join them together, would naturally put such a question to him: wilt thou not show us what thou meanest by these ? for they concluded he had some meaning in it, and that it was not a mere childish diversion and amusement; and therefore would... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Ezekiel 37:19

Say unto them, thus saith the Lord God ,.... Here follows the explanation of the sign or emblem: behold, I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel his fellows : that is, the kingdom of Israel, consisting of the ten tribes, of which Ephraim was the chief: and will put them with him, even with the stick of Judah ; with the kingdom of Judah: and make them one stick ; these two kingdoms one kingdom: and they shall be one in my hand ... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Ezekiel 37:20

And the sticks whereon thou writest ,.... Or art about to write the above things, according to order and direction: shall be in thine hand before their eyes ; shall be held up to them to look at for some time, and observe the cement of the two sticks; and learn and lay up in their minds what is meant by this emblem; and be assured that what is hereafter said as a further explication of it shall certainly be fulfilled. read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Ezekiel 37:21

And say unto them, thus saith the Lord God ,.... Or, as the Targum, "thou shalt prophesy to them;' for what follows is a prophecy of what shall be in the latter day: behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the Heathen, whither they be gone , or, "from among the Gentiles" F2 מבין הגויים "e medio ipsarum gentium", Junius & Tremellius; "ex gentibus", Starckius; "e vel medio gentium", Piscator, Cocceius. ; not only the Chaldeans, where they were carried... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Ezekiel 37:22

And I will make them one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel , As they were in the times of David and Solomon, who were both types of the Messiah; and to whose times is referred this prophecy by the ancient Jews F5 Zohar in Gen. fol. 85. 4. , as then to have its accomplishment: and one king shall be king to them all , not Zerubbabel, nor Nehemiah, nor Judas Maccabaeus; for these were neither of them kings; and much less such as reigned for ever, as it is said this king... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Ezekiel 37:23

Neither shall they defile themselves any more with their idols ,.... With their dung , or dunghill gods F7 בגלוליהם "diis stercoreis suis", Junius & Tremellius, Polanus; "stercoribus suis", Cocceius, Starckius. ; either with the idols of the Gentiles, or their own: after their return from the Babylonish captivity, the Jews were no more addicted to idolatry; and the image worship of the Papists is an abhorrence to them at this day, and a stumblingblock to them in their... read more

Group of Brands