Ezekiel 37:15-28

15 And the word of Yahweh {came} to me, {saying},

16 "And you, son of man, take for yourself {a piece of wood}, and write on it, 'For Judah and for the {Israelites} his associates,' and take another [piece of] wood, and write on it, 'For Joseph, [the piece of] wood of Ephraim and all of the house of Israel his associates.'

17 And join them one to [the] other with respect to you [as] one [piece of] wood, so that they may become one in your hand.

18 {When} {your people} say to you, {saying}, 'Will you not inform us [as to] what these [actions] mean for you?'

19 [Then] speak to them, 'Thus says the Lord Yahweh: "Look! I [am] taking [the piece of] wood for Joseph that [is] in the hand of Ephraim and the tribes of Israel its associates, and I will put them on it, [the piece of] wood of Judah, and I will make them into one [piece of] wood, so that they be one in my hand.'"

20 And the [pieces of] wood [on] which you wrote will be in your hand before their eyes.

21 And speak to them, 'Thus says the Lord Yahweh: "Look! I [am] taking the {Israelites} from among {the nations to which they went}, and I will gather them from {everywhere}, and I will bring them to their [own] soil.

22 And I will make them into one nation in the land on the mountains of Israel, and {they will all have one king as their king}, and they will not again be two nations and will not again divide into two kingdoms again.

23 And they will not defile themselves again with their idols and with vile idols and with all of their transgressions, and I will save them from all of their apostasy {by which they sinned}, and I will cleanse them and they will be for me as a people and I, I will be for them as God.

24 " '"And my servant David [will be] king over them, and one shepherd will be for all of them, and in my regulations they will go, and my statutes they will observe, and they will do them.

25 And they will dwell on the land that I gave to my servant, to Jacob, {in which your ancestors dwelled}, and they will dwell on it, they and their children and the children of their children {forever}, and my servant David [will be] a leader for them {forever}.

26 And I will make with them a covenant of peace; {an everlasting covenant} it will be with them. And I will establish them, and I will cause them to increase, and I will put my sanctuary in the midst of them {forever}.

27 And my tabernacle will be with them, and I will be for them as God, and they will be to me as a nation.

28 And the nations will know that I, Yahweh, [am] consecrating Israel when my sanctuary [is] in the midst of them {forever}." '"

Ezekiel 37:15-28 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO EZEKIEL 37

This chapter contains a prophecy of the Jews' return from captivity to their own land; of the union of the each tribes with one another; and of the glorious kingdom of Christ among them. Their restoration is represented by a vision of dry bones made alive; the place in which they were; the condition they were in; and the manner in which they were made to live, are described, Eze 37:1-10, the explication and application of this vision to the Jews, Eze 37:11-14, their union is signified by a sign or emblem of two sticks, which became one in the hand of the prophet, Eze 37:15-17, the meaning of this is shown, Eze 37:18-20, then follow promises of their return to their own land, in express words; of their being one kingdom, under one King, Christ, the antitype of David, of their sanctification; of their covenant interest in God, made manifest to them; and of his presence, and dwelling among them, Eze 37:21-28.

Footnotes

• [a]. Literally "was"
• [b]. Literally "to say"
• [c]. Or "mortal," or "son of humankind"
• [d]. Literally "[a piece of] wood one"
• [e]. Literally "sons/children of Israel"
• [f]. Or "for"
• [g]. Literally "as that"
• [h]. Literally "the children of your people"
• [i]. Literally "to say"
• [j]. Literally "sons/children of Israel"
• [k]. Literally "which they went there"
• [l]. Literally "all around"
• [m]. Literally "and king one he will be for all of them to king"
• [n]. According to the reading tradition (Qere)
• [o]. Or "which they sinned by them"
• [p]. Literally "which they dwelt in it your fathers"
• [q]. Literally "until eternity" or "until unlimited time"
• [r]. Literally "to eternity" or "to endless ages"
• [s]. Literally "a covenant of eternity"
• [t]. Literally "to eternity" or "to unlimited ages"
• [u]. Literally "to eternity" or "to unlimited ages"