Ezekiel 37:11

Then He said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Look, they are saying, ‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope has perished; we are cut off.’

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — God addresses Ezekiel, identifying the vision of dry bones as representing the entire house of Israel, immediately following Ezekiel’s successful prophecy that caused the bones to revive into a vast army.

The words — The Hebrew בֵּ֥ית כָּל־ (beit kol-) literally means “house of all,” directly equating the scattered bones with the totality of Israel’s national identity.

The thread — The motif of national despair and divine restoration echoes in Psalms 77:7, where Israel questions God’s lasting favor, and is fulfilled in Ezekiel 39:25 through God’s promise to restore Jacob from captivity.

Why it lands — The text records God’s explicit interpretation of the vision before detailing the promised resurrection, demanding the reader acknowledge that divine restoration addresses a people who have declared their hope dead and their future cut off.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Hebrew words

וַיֹּאמֶר֮va/i.yo.Merand/ he said אֵלַי֒'e.La/ito/ me בֶּן־ben-O son of אָדָ֕ם'a.Damhumankind הָעֲצָמ֣וֹתha./'a.tza.Motthe/ bones הָאֵ֔לֶּהha./'E.leh<the>/ these כָּל־kol-[are] all בֵּ֥יתbeit[the] house of יִשְׂרָאֵ֖לYis.ra.'ElIsrael הֵ֑מָּהHe.mahthey הִנֵּ֣הhi.Nehthere!אֹמְרִ֗ים'o.me.Rim[they are] saying יָבְשׁ֧וּya.ve.Shuthey have dried up עַצְמוֹתֵ֛ינוּatz.mo.Tei./nubones/ our וְאָבְדָ֥הve./'a.ve.Dahand/ it has been lost תִקְוָתֵ֖נוּtik.va.Te./nuhope/ our נִגְזַ֥רְנוּnig.Zar.nuwe have been cut offלָֽנוּ׃La./nu<for>/ ourselves

King James Version

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.

Cross-references

Ephesians 2:1 And you were dead in your trespasses and sins,
Psalms 77:7 “Will the Lord spurn us forever and never show His favor again?
Ezekiel 39:25 Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: Now I will restore Jacob from captivity and will have compassion on the whole house of Israel, and I will be jealous for My holy name.
Jeremiah 31:1 “At that time,” declares the LORD, “I will be the God of all the families of Israel, and they will be My people.”
Ezekiel 36:10 I will multiply the people upon you—the house of Israel in its entirety. The cities will be inhabited and the ruins rebuilt.
Isaiah 49:14 But Zion said, “The LORD has forsaken me; the Lord has forgotten me!”
Ezekiel 37:1 The hand of the LORD was upon me, and He brought me out by His Spirit and set me down in the middle of the valley, and it was full of bones.
Numbers 17:12 Then the Israelites declared to Moses, “Look, we are perishing! We are lost; we are all lost!
Psalms 141:7 As when one plows and breaks up the soil, so our bones have been scattered at the mouth of Sheol.
Jeremiah 2:25 You should have kept your feet from going bare and your throat from being thirsty. But you said, ‘It is hopeless! For I love foreign gods, and I must go after them.’