Fifth Sunday in Lent, 26th March 2023

Ezekiel 37: 1-14

ΚΑΙ ἐγένετο ἐπ’ ἐμὲ χεὶρ Κυρίου, καὶ ἐξήγαγέ με ἐν πνεύματι Κύριος καὶ ἔθηκέ με ἐν μέσῳ τοῦ πεδίου καὶ τοῦτο ἦν μεστὸν ὀστέων ἀνθρωπίνων· 2 καὶ περιήγαγέ με ἐπ’ αὐτὰ κυκλόθεν κύκλῳ, καὶ ἰδοὺ πολλὰ σφόδρα ἐπὶ προσώπου τοῦ πεδίου, ξηρὰ σφόδρα. 3 καὶ εἶπε πρός με· υἱὲ ἀνθρώπου, εἰ ζήσεται τὰ ὀστέα ταῦτα; καὶ εἶπα· Κύριε Κύριε, σὺ ἐπίστῃ ταῦτα. 4 καὶ εἶπε πρός με· προφήτευσον ἐπὶ τὰ ὀστᾶ ταῦτα καὶ ἐρεῖς αὐτοῖς· τὰ ὀστᾶ τὰ ξηρά, ἀκούσατε λόγον Κυρίου. 5 τάδε λέγει Κύριος τοῖς ὀστέοις τούτοις· ἰδοὺ ἐγὼ φέρω ἐφ’ ὑμᾶς πνεῦμα ζωῆς 6 καὶ δώσω ἐφ’ ὑμᾶς νεῦρα καὶ ἀνάξω ἐφ’ ὑμᾶς σάρκας, καὶ ἐκτενῶ ἐφ’ ὑμᾶς δέρμα καὶ δώσω πνεῦμά μου εἰς ὑμᾶς, καὶ ζήσεσθε· καὶ γνώσεσθε ὅτι ἐγώ εἰμι Κύριος. 7 καὶ ἐπροφήτευσα καθὼς ἐνετείλατό μοι. καὶ ἐγένετο ἐν τῷ ἐμὲ προφητεῦσαι καὶ ἰδοὺ σεισμός, καὶ προσήγαγε τὰ ὀστᾶ ἑκάτερον πρὸς τὴν ἁρμονίαν αὐτοῦ. 8 καὶ εἶδον καὶ ἰδοὺ ἐπ’ αὐτὰ νεῦρα καὶ σάρκες ἐφύοντο, καὶ ἀνέβαινεν ἐπ’ αὐτὰ δέρμα ἐπάνω, καὶ πνεῦμα οὐκ ἦν ἐπ’ αὐτοῖς. 9 καὶ εἶπε πρός με· προφήτευσον ἐπὶ τὸ πνεῦμα, προφήτευσον, υἱὲ ἀνθρώπου, καὶ εἰπὸν τῷ πνεύματι· τάδε λέγει Κύριος· ἐκ τῶν τεσσάρων πνευμάτων ἐλθὲ καὶ ἐμφύσησον εἰς τοὺς νεκροὺς τούτους, καὶ ζησάτωσαν. 10 καὶ ἐπροφήτευσα καθότι ἐνετείλατό μοι· καὶ εἰσῆλθεν εἰς αὐτοὺς τὸ πνεῦμα, καὶ ἔζησαν καὶ ἔστησαν ἐπὶ τῶν ποδῶν αὐτῶν, συναγωγὴ πολλὴ σφόδρα. 11 καὶ ἐλάλησε Κύριος πρός με λέγων· υἱὲ ἀνθρώπου, τὰ ὀστᾶ ταῦτα πᾶς οἶκος ᾿Ισραήλ ἐστι, καὶ αὐτοὶ λέγουσι· ξηρὰ γέγονε τὰ ὀστᾶ ἡμῶν, ἀπόλωλεν ἡ ἐλπὶς ἡμῶν, διαπεφωνήκαμεν. 12 διὰ τοῦτο προφήτευσον καὶ εἰπὸν πρὸς αὐτούς· τάδε λέγει Κύριος· ἰδοὺ ἐγὼ ἀνοίγω τὰ μνήματα ὑμῶν καὶ ἀνάξω ὑμᾶς ἐκ τῶν μνημάτων ὑμῶν καὶ εἰσάξω ὑμᾶς εἰς τὴν γῆν τοῦ ᾿Ισραήλ, 13 καὶγνώσεσθε ὅτι ἐγώ εἰμι Κύριος ἐν τῷ ἀνοῖξαί με τοὺς τάφους ὑμῶν τοῦ ἀναγαγεῖν με ἐκ τῶν τάφων τὸν λαόν μου. 14 καὶ δώσω πνεῦμά μου εἰς ὑμᾶς, καὶ ζήσεσθε, καὶ θήσομαι ὑμᾶς ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν ὑμῶν, καὶ γνώσεσθε ὅτι ἐγὼ Κύριος· λελάληκα καὶ ποιήσω, λέγει Κύριος.

Comments

The scattered bones in a plain— KJV rends πεδίον as ‘valley’-will be re-joined in a neat act of carpentry into a living multitude or army. In Odyssey 12. 45 ff. the two Sirens sit plump in the middle of a meadow surrounded by ‘a great heap of bones of mouldering men, and round the bones the skin is shrivelling’ (Loeb tr.). Decomposition has set in, and there is no prospect of resurrection in Homer.

[1] ἐν μέσῳ τοῦ πεδίου: πεδίον, τὸ = ‘plain’, field’ (already in Homer).

μεστὸν ὀστέων: μεστός,ή, όν (adj.) + gen. = ‘full of’ (cl. Gr.). ὀστέων = gen. pl.<  ὀστέoν, ὀστοῦν (contracted form) = ‘bone’; in LXX often combined with ‘flesh’ (σάρξ) ‘as an essential component of the human body’ (Muraoka, p. 510, s.v. ὀστέoν).

[2] καὶ περιήγαγέ με ἐπ’ αὐτὰ κυκλόθεν κύκλῳ, καὶ ἰδοὺ πολλὰ σφόδρα: περιήγαγέ, 2^nd pers. sg., 2^nd aor. < περιάγω, a cmpd vb = ‘to lead round and round’.

κυκλόθεν κύκλῳ: κυκλόθεν = adv., ‘from all around’ (cl. Gr.).

κύκλῳ, sg. dat.  < κύκλος, ὁ ‘circle’. The dat. here = ‘in a circle’.

περιήγαγέ by itself denotes circular movement, and κυκλόθεν κύκλῳ intensify this.

πολλὰ σφόδρα: σφόδρα, adv. = ‘very much, exceedingly’; in cl. Gr., as here, it follows the adj. (πολλά, sc. ὀστέα), which  it modifies. Cf. ξηρὰ σφόδρα, ‘dry exceedingly’ (i.e. bones) in the same verse.

[3] καὶ εἶπε πρός με· υἱὲ ἀνθρώπου, εἰ ζήσεται τὰ ὀστέα ταῦτα;:  εἰ ζήσεται: lit., ‘whether (these bones) will live’. ζήσεται, 3^rd pers., sg., mid. fut.,  ζῶ (ζήω), ‘I live’. The future here may be taken as potential in meaning: ‘will they be able to live’, ‘can they live’.

[4] καὶ εἶπε πρός με· προφήτευσον ἐπὶ τὰ ὀστᾶ ταῦτα: προφήτευσον, 2^nd pers. sg., aor. imperative < προφητεύω = ‘I prophesy’ (in LXX); + ἐπὶ τινα, addressing someone (Muraoka, p. 603, s.v. προφητεύω). So here = ‘prophesy to these bones !’ In ancient Greek a προφήτης (< προ + φημί) is literally a ‘spokesperson for a god’.

[6] καὶ δώσω ἐφ’ ὑμᾶς νεῦρα καὶ ἀνάξω ἐφ’ ὑμᾶς σάρκας, καὶ ἐκτενῶ ἐφ’ ὑμᾶς δέρμα καὶ δώσω πνεῦμά μου εἰς ὑμᾶς, καὶ ζήσεσθε· καὶ γνώσεσθε ὅτι ἐγώ εἰμι Κύριος: a series of six indepenedent sentences, each with a vb in the future.

ἀνάξω, 1^st pers. sg., future < ἀνάγω, ‘I bring up’, ‘send up’, ‘cause to rise’ (LXX; see Muraoka, s.v.). σάρκας, pl. acc. of σάρξ, ‘flesh’. The pl. is used when ‘flesh’ does not refer to a specific part of the body (Muraoka, s.v. σάρξ).

δέρμα = ‘skin of a live human being or animal’ (cl. Gr. & LXX).

[7] καὶ ἰδοὺ σεισμός, καὶ προσήγαγε τὰ ὀστᾶ ἑκάτερον πρὸς τὴν ἁρμονίαν αὐτοῦ: σεισμός, ὁ = ‘shaking’, ‘shock’ (already cl. Gr.). Cf. Engl. seismic.

προσήγαγε, 2^nd pers. sg., 2^nd aor. προσάγω, cmpd vb (προς + ἄγω) = ‘draw near, come up to’, abs. (Muraoka, p. 591, s.v. προσάγω).

τὰ ὀστᾶ ἑκάτερον: ἑκάτερον, indef. pron. (with distributive sense) = ‘each of two’, ‘each individually’. Thus ‘each bone at a time’.

πρὸς τὴν ἁρμονίαν: ἁρμονία, ἡ = ‘counterpart which fits something and holds it fast’ (Muraoka, p. 91,  s.v.). Cf. Engl. harmony. ἁρμονία, originally a carpentry term, means lit. ‘peg’, ‘joint’, e.g. of wood structure.

[10] συναγωγὴ πολλὴ σφόδρα: the phrase is a hyperbole, lit. ‘an exceedingly great multitude’. συναγωγὴ = ‘assemblage or collection of a large size’, e.g. of people, of troops, etc. (Muraoka, p. 651, s.v. συναγωγὴ).