4 Then he said to me, "Prophesy to these bones and say to them, 'Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord!
4 Again he said unto me, Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the Lord.
4 Then he said to me, "Prophesy over these bones, and say to them, O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord.
4 He said to me, "Prophesy over these bones: 'Dry bones, listen to the Message of God!'"
4 Again He said to me, "Prophesy to these bones, and say to them, 'O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord!
4 Then he said to me, "Speak a prophetic message to these bones and say, 'Dry bones, listen to the word of the Lord !
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Ezekiel 37:4
Commentary on Ezekiel 37:1-14
(Read Ezekiel 37:1-14)
No created power could restore human bones to life. God alone could cause them to live. Skin and flesh covered them, and the wind was then told to blow upon these bodies; and they were restored to life. The wind was an emblem of the Spirit of God, and represented his quickening powers. The vision was to encourage the desponding Jews; to predict both their restoration after the captivity, and also their recovery from their present and long-continued dispersion. It was also a clear intimation of the resurrection of the dead; and it represents the power and grace of God, in the conversion of the most hopeless sinners to himself. Let us look to Him who will at last open our graves, and bring us forth to judgment, that He may now deliver us from sin, and put his Spirit within us, and keep us by his power, through faith, unto salvation.