Then he said unto me, son of man
Here follow the explication and application of the above vision: these bones are the whole house of Israel;
an emblem of them, of their state and condition in the Babylonish captivity, and of them in their present state; and of the whole Israel of God, while in a state of unregeneracy: this phrase takes in the ten tribes, as well as the two tribes of Benjamin and Judah, which returned from Babylon; and shows that respect is had to something more than that restoration barely: behold, they say, our bones are dried;
the house of Israel say we are like dry bones indeed; we have no spirit, nor strength, nor courage, nor life in us: and our hope is lost;
of being delivered from the present captivity; or of the Messiah's coming; or of ever enjoying their own land, and of the promises of those things made unto them: we are cut off for our parts;
from the land of Israel, and have no hope of possessing it again, whatever others have; indeed they are cut off from the olive tree, and are cut down like a tree, both as to their civil and church state. The Targum is,
``and we are perished;''it is all over with us; we are lost and undone; all the expressions show the desperate and despairing condition they were in.