Ezekiel 37:2Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

He guided me around them, and I observed an abundance of those spread across the ground, and indeed, there were many. Then He continued: "And they came together, bone to bone, bone to bone, each to its own structure" (Ezekiel 37:7). In this vision, portrayed through the imagery of those who were long deceased, their flesh now fully covering their bones, the Spirit reveals to the prophet the liberation of the Israelites from their bondage and their return to the Promised Land. In this context, He illustrates how the bones connect and unite, forming the complete human body, which is infused with life, raised up, as the vast multitude of the living rises to their feet.

and did not permit him to rest, but compelled him to traverse all the bones that lay exposed in the field. There were not just a few, but a multitude, and due to the passage of time, they had become desiccated and lacked any moisture whatsoever.

The hand of the Lord rested upon me. The prophet refers to God's hand as His divine action. This hand was upon me, placing me in the center of a valley. This experience represents a spiritual vision; the prophet did not perceive with his physical sight what was revealed to him, but instead received insight through the all-holy Spirit. The valley was filled with the bones of people, and I was encircled by them, with many scattered across the ground. The revelations given to the prophet adapt to the context. The exiles from Judea, burdened by their disbelief, had lost their hope.

Reflect on the prophecy of Ezekiel regarding the valley filled with dry bones. Recall how, as he proclaimed, the bones came together bone by bone, followed by the covering of sinews, flesh, and skin, yet the breath was not yet present within them. The Lord instructed the Prophet, "Prophesy to the breath," and he declared that life entered into them. This valley of dry bones symbolizes humanity in its fallen state, existing in separation from God, lacking life within themselves, and devoid of the Spirit, as articulated by the Apostle.

The bones remained exposed on the ground of the battlefield, unburied, as if following a defeat so significant that the sheer number of the fallen made it nearly impossible to collect the bodies.