Ezekiel’s vision of the dry bones did not assume personal resurrection, a belief that entered Judaism in a later period. In its original context, the imagery of bones rearticulating and coming back to life draws upon the ancient burial practices of Judahite family tombs, offering a message of hope to the exiles in Babylon that YHWH will return them to their land.I have discussed this topic before. I think that this essay is correct in what it asserts—that the bones of Ezekiel 37 are a metaphor for the exiles and the resurrection of the bones symbolizes the restoration of the exiles in the Land of Israel.
But I am also inclined to think that the essay is incorrect in what it denies—that the vision of the dry bones did not assume personal resurrection. As I asked earlier, "Would anyone have used this image unless some ideas about physical resurrection were not already part of the cultural narrative?"
I have discussed the question at length in my 2018 post, Resurrection in the Book of Ezekiel (and in Ugaritic). I think the idea that the gods could resurrect the dead is a lot older than usually acknowledged. It alreary appears in Ugartic epic. And Ezekiel is at least playing with the idea that personal resurrection could be collective. Full details there.
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