What Does Ezekiel 37:1 Mean in the King James?
The hand of the LORD was upon me, and carried me out in the spirit of the LORD, and set me down in the midst of the valley which was full of bones,
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The Hebrew word translated “spirit” here is also translated “breath” when it enters the bones: what carries the seer into the valley is also what can bring it to life.
THE MEANING
The LORD’s hand is upon you and brings you into the place where life appears absent. The ruach that carries you there is one word for spirit, wind, and breath; the valley is already within reach of the force that can make bones live.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The belief that a place of death or ruin means the LORD is absent is undone here: the LORD’s hand leads into the valley, and the LORD’s ruach carries the seer there.
THE ROOT
רוּחַ
ruach
GROWS FROM
רוח
ruach
To blow or move as wind; air in motion, breath, or spirit.
English separates “spirit” here from “breath” later in the chapter, but Hebrew uses the same word, רוּחַ (ruach, wind, breath, spirit). The word that carries the seer into the valley is also the word that enters the bones and makes them live.
ALSO GROWS
ruach: Wind: moving air.
רוּחַ
The word names the force that carries Ezekiel into the valley.
ruach: Breath: the movement of air that sustains life.
רוּחַ
The same word describes what enters the bones and brings them to life in verse 5.
ruach: Spirit: the animating presence of the LORD.
רוּחַ
Here, the LORD’s presence moves the seer into the place where life seems absent.
וַיּוֹצִאֵנִי
vayyotsi'eni
GROWS FROM
יצא
yatsa
To go out or come out; in a causative form, to bring someone out.
The verb translated “carried me out” grows from יצא (yatsa, go out, come out). The LORD brings the seer out from where he is and into the valley, so the encounter begins with a change of place that exposes what was hidden.
ALSO GROWS
yatsa: To go out or come out.
יָצָא
This is the basic movement contained in the verb used for bringing the seer out.
yetsi'ah: An exit or departure.
יְצִיאָה
The root’s language of going out makes the seer’s movement into the valley part of the revelation.
הַבִּקְעָה
ha-biq'ah
GROWS FROM
בקע
baqa
To split open, cleave, or break through.
The word for this valley comes from a root meaning to split or open. The bones lie in an opened cleft, and the seer is brought into that exposed place where the condition of the dead can be seen.
ALSO GROWS
baqa: To split, cleave, or break open.
בָּקַע
This verb carries the opening or splitting contained in the valley’s name.
beqi'ah: A splitting or cleft.
בְּקִיעָה
This noun from the same root echoes the valley as an opened place where the bones are exposed.
THE PATTERN
Life takes shape when divine breath reaches what cannot animate itself.
And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.Thus saith the Lord GOD unto these bones; Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live:And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost:THE THREAD
Thus saith the Lord GOD unto these bones; Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live:In this verse, רוּחַ (ruach, spirit) carries Ezekiel into the valley; in verse 5, רוּחַ (ruach, breath) enters the bones. English shifts from “spirit” to “breath,” while Hebrew keeps one word for the presence that brings the seer there and the life that enters the bones.
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