A vision of the resurrection of dry bones, foreshewing the deliverance of the people from their captivity. Juda and Israel shall be all one kingdom under Christ. God’s everlasting covenant with the church.
By dead bones rising to life (which also signifieth the general resurrection) 11. is prophecied the reduction of the Iewes from captiuitie: 15. the kingdoms of Iuda, and Israel shalbe reduced into one kingdom: 23. in figure that al Nations shal be vnited in Christ.
1The hand of the Lord was upon me, and brought me forth in the spirit of the Lord: and set me down in the midst of a plain that was full of bones.La mano del Signore fu sopra di me, e mi menò fuora in ispirito del Signore, e mi posò in mezzo di un campo, che era pieno di ossa:THE hand of our Lord was made vpon me, and brought me forth in the spirite of our Lord: and left me in the middes of a filde, that was ful of bones.Facta est super me manus Domini, et eduxit me in spiritu Domini, et dimisit me in medio campi qui erat plenus ossibus. 2And he led me about through them on every side: now they were very many upon the face of the plain, and they were exceeding dry.E mi fece girare intorno ad esse: or elle erano in gran quantità sulla faccia del campo, e secche grandemente.And he led me about through them on euerie side: & there were verie manie vpon the face of the filde, and exceeding drie.Et circumduxit me per ea in gyro: erant autem multa valde super faciem campi, siccaque vehementer. 3And he said to me: Son of man, dost thou think these bones shall live? And I answered: O Lord God, thou knowest.E (il Signore) disse a me: Figliuolo dell'uomo, pensi tu, che queste ossa siano per riavere la vita? Ed io dissi: Signore Dio tu lo sai.And he sayd to me: Sonne of man, thinkest thou these bones shal liue? And I sayd,: Lord God, thou knowest.Et dixit ad me: Fili hominis, putasne vivent ossa ista ? Et dixi: Domine Deus, tu nosti. 4And he said to me: Prophesy concerning these bones; and say to them: Ye dry bones, hear the word of the Lord.Ed ei disse a me: Profetizza sopra queste ossa, e dirai loro: Ossa aride, udite la parola del Signore.And he sayd to me: Prophecie of these bones: and thou shalt say to them: Drie bones heare ye the word of our Lord.Et dixit ad me: Vaticinare de ossibus istis, et dices eis: Ossa arida, audite verbum Domini. 5Thus saith the Lord God to these bones: Behold, I will send spirit into you, and you shall live.Queste cose dice il Signore Dio a queste ossa: Ecco, che io infonderò in a voi lo spirito, e avrete vita.Thus saith our Lord God to these bones: Behold I wil put spirite into you, and you shal liue.Hæc dicit Dominus Deus ossibus his: Ecce ego intromittam in vos spiritum, et vivetis. 6And I will lay sinews upon you, and will cause flesh to grow over you, and will cover you with skin: and I will give you spirit and you shall live, and you shall know that I am the Lord.E sopra di voi farò nascere i nervi, e sopra di voi farò crescer le carni, e sopra di voi stenderò la pelle, e darò a voi lo spirito, e viverete, e conoscerete, ch'io sono il Signore.And I wil geue sinowes vpon you, and wil make flesh to grow vp ouer you, and wil strech a skine on you: and I wil geue you spirite, and you shal liue, & you shal know that I am the Lord.Et dabo super vos nervos, et succrescere faciam super vos carnes, et superextendam in vobis cutem, et dabo vobis spiritum, et vivetis: et scietis quia ego Dominus.
7And I prophesied as he had commanded me: and as I prophesied there was a noise, and behold a commotion: and the bones came together, each one, its joint.E profetai com'ei mi avea ordinato; e nel mentre, ch'io profetava, udissi uno strepito, ed ecco un movimento, e si accostarono ossa ad ossa, ciascuno alla propria giuntura.And I prophecied as he had commanded me: and there was made a sound when I prophecied, and behold a commotion: and bones came to bones, euerie one to his iuncture.Et prophetavi sicut præceperat mihi: factus est autem sonitus, prophetante me, et ecce commotio: et accesserunt ossa ad ossa, unumquodque ad juncturam suam. 8And I saw, and behold the sinews, and the flesh came up upon them: and the skin was stretched out over them, but there was no spirit in them.E mirai, ed ecco sopra di esse venner i nervi, e le carni, e si stese sopra di esse la pelle, ma non avevano spirito.And I saw, and behold vpon them sinowes, and flesh was growen vp: and a skinne was strerched out in them aboue, and they had noe spirite.Et vidi, et ecce super ea nervi et carnes ascenderunt, et extenta est in eis cutis desuper: et spiritum non habebant. 9And he said to me: Prophesy to the spirit, prophesy, O son of man, and say to the spirit: Thus saith the Lord God: Come, spirit, from the four winds, and blow upon these slain, and let them live again.Ed ei disse a me: Profetizza allo spirito, profetizza, figliuolo dell'uomo, e dirai allo spirito: Queste cose dice il Signore Dio: Dai quattro venti vieni, o spirito, e soffia sopra questi morti, ed ei risuscitino.And he sayd to me: Prophecie to the spirite, prophecie sonne of man, & thou shalt say to the spirite: Thus saith our Lord God: Come spirite from the foure windes, and blow vpon these slaine, and let them be reuiued.Et dixit ad me: Vaticinare ad spiritum: vaticinare, fili hominis, et dices ad spiritum: Hæc dicit Dominus Deus: A quatuor ventis veni, spiritus, et insuffla super interfectos istos, et reviviscant. 10And I prophesied as he had commanded me: and the spirit came into them, and they lived: and they stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army.E profetai com'egli m'avea comandato, ed entrò in quegli lo spirito, e riebbero vita, e si stetter su' piedi loro, esercito grande formisura.And I prophecied as he had commanded me: & spirit entered into them, & they liued: & they stood vpon their feete, an armie passing great.Et prophetavi sicut præceperat mihi: et ingressus est in ea spiritus, et vixerunt: steteruntque super pedes suos, exercitus grandis nimis valde. 11And he said to me: Son of man: All these bones are the house of Israel: they say: Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost, and we are cut off.Ed ei disse a me: Figliuolo dell'uomo, tutte queste ossa sono la famiglia d'Israele: essi dicono: Le ossa nostre son aride, ed è perita la nostra speranza, e noi siam (rami) troncati.And he sayd to me: Sonne of man: Al these bones, are the house of Israel: They say: our bones are withered, our hope is perished, and we are cut of.Et dixit ad me: Fili hominis, ossa hæc universa, domus Israël est. Ipsi dicunt: Aruerunt ossa nostra, et periit spes nostra, et abscissi sumus.
12Therefore prophesy, and say to them: Thus saith the Lord God: Behold I will open your graves, and will bring you out of your sepulchres, O my people: and will bring you into the land of Israel.Per questo tu profetizza, e dirai loro: Queste cose dice il Signore Dio: Ecco, che io aprirò i vostri sepolcri, e da' sepolcri vostri vi trarrò fuora, popolo mio, e vi condurrò nella terra d'Israele.Therfore prophecie, and thou shalt say to them: Thus sayth our Lord God: Behold I wil open your graues, and wil bring you out of your sepulchers ô my people: and wil bring you into the land of Israel.Propterea vaticinare, et dices ad eos: Hæc dicit Dominus Deus: Ecce ego aperiam tumulos vestros, et educam vos de sepulchris vestris, populus meus, et inducam vos in terram Israël. 13And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I shall have opened your sepulchres, and shall have brought you out of your graves, O my people:E conoscerete, ch'io sono il Signore, quando avrò aperti i vostri sepolcri, e da' sepolcri vostri vi avrò tratti, popolo mio,And you shal know that I am the Lord, when I shal haue opened your sepulchres, and shal haue brought you out of your graues ô my people:Et scietis quia ego Dominus, cum aparuero sepulchra vestra, et eduxero vos de tumulis vestris, popule meus, 14And shall have put my spirit in you, and you shall live, and I shall make you rest upon your own land: and you shall know that I the Lord have spoken, and done it, saith the Lord God:Ed avrò infuso in voi il mio spirito, e viverete, e nella terra vostra vi avrò dato riposo: e conoscerete, che io il Signore ho parlato, ed ho fatto, dice il Signore Dio.and shal haue geuen my spirite in you, and you shal liue, and I shal make you rest vpon your ground: & you shal know that I the Lord haue spoken, and done it, saith our Lord God:et dedero spiritum meum in vobis, et vixeritis: et requiescere vos faciam super humum vestram, et scietis quia ego Dominus locutus sum, et feci, ait Dominus Deus. 15And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:Ed il Signore parlommi, dicendo:And the word of our Lord was made to me, saying:Et factus est sermo Domini ad me, dicens: 16And thou son of man, take thee a stick: and write upon it: Of Juda, and of the children of Israel his associates: and take another stick and write upon it: For Joseph the stick of Ephraim, and for all the house of Israel, and of his associates.E tu, figliuolo dell'uomo, prenditi un legno, e scrivi sopra di esso: A Giuda, ed a' figliuoli d'Israele, che sono con lui: e prendi un altro legno, e scrivi sopra di esso: A Giuseppe verga di Ephraim, e a tutta la casa a Israele, e da que', che sono con lei.And thou sonne of man, take thee one peece of wood: and write vpon it: Of Iuda, and of the children of Israel his felowes: and take an other peece of wood, and write vpon it: Of Ioseph the wood of Ephraim, and of al the house of Israel, and of his selowes.Et tu, fili hominis, sume tibi lignum unum, et scribe super illud: Judæ, et filiorum Israël sociorum ejus: et tolle lignum alterum, et scribe super illud: Joseph, ligno Ephraim, et cunctæ domui Israël sociorumque ejus.
17And join them one to the other into one stick, and they shall become one in thy hand.E accosta l'uno all'altro per fartene un solo legno, ed ei nella mano tua si congiungeranno.And ioyne them, one to the other for thee into one peece of wood, and they shal be into an vnion in thy hand.Et adjunge illa unum ad alterum tibi in lignum unum: et erunt in unionem in manu tua. 18And when the children of thy people shall speak to thee, saying: Wilt thou not tell us what thou meanest by this?E allora quando i figliuoli del popol tuo parleranno a te, e diranno: Non ci dirai tu quel, che tu voglia significare con questo;And when the children of thy people shal say to thee speaking: Doest thou not declare vnto vs what thou meanest by these?Cum autem dixerint ad te filii populi tui, loquentes: Nonne indicas nobis quid in his tibi velis ? 19Say to them: Thus saith the Lord God: Behold, I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel that are associated with him, and I will put them together with the stick of Juda, and will make them one stick: and they shall be one in his hand.Tu dirai loro: Queste cose dice il Signore Dio: Ecco, che io prenderò il legno di Giuseppe, che è nella mano di Ephraim, e le tribù d'Israele, che a lui sono unite, e le congiungerò insieme col legno di Giuda, e ne farò un legno solo, e saranno un solo nella mia mano.Thou shalt speake to them: Thus saith our Lord God: Behold I wil take the peece of wood of Ioseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel, that are adioyned to him: and I wil geue them together with the peece of wood of Iuda, and wil make them into one peece of wood: and they shal be one in his hand.loqueris ad eos: Hæc dicit Dominus Deus: Ecce ego assumam lignum Joseph, quod est in manu Ephraim, et tribus Israël, quæ sunt ei adjunctæ, et dabo eas pariter cum ligno Juda, et faciam eas in lignum unum: et erunt unum in manu ejus. 20And the sticks whereon thou hast written, shall be in thy hand, before their eyes.Ed avrai dinanzi a loro nella tua mano i legni, sopra de' quali tu hai scritto,And the peeces of wood wherupon thou shalt write, in thy hand, shal be before their eyes.Erunt autem ligna super quæ scripseris in manu tua in oculis eorum. 21And thou shalt say to them: Thus saith the Lord God: Behold, I will take the children of Israel from the midst of the nations whither they are gone: and I will gather them on every side, and will bring them to their own land.E dirai loro: Queste cose dice il Signore Dio: Ecco, che io prenderò i figliuoli d'Israele di mezzo alle nazioni, tralle quai se n'andarono, e li raunerò da ogni parte, e ricondurrolli alla loro terra.And thou shalt say to them: Thus saith our Lord God: Behold I wil take the children of Israel out of the middes of the nations, to which they are gone: and I wil gather them together on euerie side, and wil bring them to their ground.Et dices ad eos: Hæc dicit Dominus Deus: Ecce ego assumam filios Israël de medio nationum ad quas abierunt: et congregabo eos undique, et adducam eos ad humum suam.
22And I will make them one nation in the land on the mountains of Israel, and one king shall be king over them all: and they shall no more be two nations, neither shall they be divided any more into two kingdoms.E faronne una sola nazione nella lor terra sui monti d'Israele, e un solo sarà il re, che a tutti comanderà, e non saran più due nazioni, né saran più divise in due regni.And I wil make them into one nation in the land on the mountaines of Israel, & there shal be one king ruling ouer them al: and they shal no more be two nations, neither shal they be diuided any more into two kingdoms.Et faciam eos in gentem unam in terra in montibus Israël, et rex unus erit omnibus imperans: et non erunt ultra duæ gentes, nec dividentur amplius in duo regna, 23Nor shall they be defiled any more with their idols, nor with their abominations, nor with all their iniquities: and I will save them out of all the places in which they have sinned, and I will cleanse them: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God.E non si contamineranno più cogl'idoli loro, e colle loro abbominazioni, e colle loro iniquità; e li trarrò salvi da tutti i luoghi, dov'ei peccarono, e li monderò, e saranno mio popolo, ed io sarò loro Dio.Neither shal they be polluted any more in their idols, & their abominations, and al their iniquities: and I wil saue them out of al the seates, in which they haue sinned, & I wil clense them: and they shal be my people, and I wil be their God.neque polluentur ultra in idolis suis, et abominationibus suis, et cunctis iniquitatibus suis: et salvos eos faciam de universis sedibus in quibus peccaverunt, et emundabo eos: et erunt mihi populus, et ego ero eis Deus. 24And my servant David shall be king over them, and they shall have one shepherd: they shall walk in my judgments, and shall keep my commandments, and shall do them.E il mio servo Davidde sarà il loro re, e un solo sarà di loro tutti il pastore, e osserveran le mie leggi, e custodiranno i miei comandamenti, e li metteranno in opera.And my seruant Dauid king ouer them, and there shal be one pastour of them al, they shal walke in my iudgements, and shal keepe my commandments, and shal doe them.Et servus meus David rex super eos, et pastor unus erit omnium eorum. In judiciis meis ambulabunt, et mandata mea custodient, et facient ea: 25And they shall dwell in the land which I gave to my servant Jacob, wherein your fathers dwelt, and they shall dwell in it, they and their children, and their children’s children, for ever: and David my servant shall be their prince for ever.Ed abiteranno la terra, ch'io diedi al mio servo Giacobbe, nella quale abitarono i padri vostri, ed in essa abiteranno eglino, e i loro figliuoli, e i figliuoli de' figliuoli fino in sempiterno; e Davidde mio servo sarà il loro principe in perpetuo.And they shal dwel vpon the land, which I gaue to my seruant Iacob, wherin your fathers dwelt, and they shal dwel vpon it, themselues, and their children, and their childrens children, euen for euer: and Dauid my seruant their prince for euer,et habitabunt super terram quam dedi servo meo Jacob, in qua habitaverunt patres vestri: et habitabunt super eam ipsi, et filii eorum, et filii filiorum eorum, usque in sempiternum: et David servus meus princeps eorum in perpetuum.
26And I will make a covenant of peace with them, it shall be an everlasting covenant with them: and I will establish them, and will multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in the midst of them for ever.È farò con essi alleanza di pace, che sarà un patto sempiterno per essi; e darò loro stabilità, e li moltiplicherò, e porrò in mezzo ad essi il mio santuario per sempre.And I wil make a league of peace to them an euerlasting couenat shal be to them: and I wil found them, and wil multiplie them, and wil geue my sanctification in the middes of them for euer.Et percutiam illis fœdus pacis: pactum sempiternum erit eis. Et fundabo eos, et multiplicabo, et dabo sanctificationem meam in medio eorum in perpetuum. 27And my tabernacle shall be with them: and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.E presso di loro sarà il mio tabernacolo, e sarò loro Dio, ed ei saranno mio popolo.And my tabernacle shal be in them: and I wil be their God, and they shal be my people.Et erit tabernaculum meum in eis: et ero eis Deus, et ipsi erunt mihi populus. 28And the nations shall know that I am the Lord the sanctifier of Israel, when my sanctuary shall be in the midst of them for ever.E conosceranno le genti, ch'io sono il Signore, il santificatore d'Israele, quando il santuario mio sarà in mezzo ad essi in perpetuo.And the Gentils shal know that I am the Lord the sanctifier of Israel, when my sanctification shal be in the middes of them for euer.Et scient gentes quia ego Dominus sanctificator Israël, cum fuerit sanctificatio mea in medio eorum in perpetuum.
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St. Jerome
Bones. "This passage is very famous." (St. Jerome)
Worthington
It insinuates the liberation of the captives and of the Gentiles, as well as the mystery of the resurrection. (Worthington)
St. Jerome
If this were not to take place, it would not be adduced as a figure. (Tertullian) (St. Jerome)
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Challoner
Spirit. That is, life, soul, and breath. (Challoner)
At the resurrection, the same souls shall return to their respective bodies.
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Noise of the bones moving, which denotes the wars of Cyrus and the hurry of the nations to which he restored liberty.
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Haydock
Spirit; wind or soul. The latter animates the body, as the grace (Calmet) of the Holy Spirit does the soul. (Haydock)
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Off, like branches. Notwithstanding these desponding thoughts, God will restore his people, (Worthington) by means of Cyrus. The grave is often put for punishment and grievous calamities, Osee 6:3.
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Associates. When Jeroboam caused the division, some of Israel adhered to Juda. The prophet glued the pieces of wood together, or engrafted them one into the other, to shew that all the people should be united, and the Jews and Gentiles concur to form one church. (Calmet) (Romans 11:17.)
Worthington
Before the latter event took place God united the two kingdoms, to teach us that when we labour for the conversion of heretics, as in England, Catholics must first agree among themselves, that so all may more easily become one fold under one shepherd. (Worthington)
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King. The Jews were long without kings, after the captivity; then they were not of the tribe of Juda, and all did not return. Christ fulfils the prediction.
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Calmet
Idols. The Jews, even many of the priests, worshipped them, under Antiochus. (Calmet)
Haydock
But the Church is never defiled. (Haydock)
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This cannot refer to Zorobabel, who was never king, nor perhaps even governor; as Sasabasar, who seems to have been a Persian, was appointed by Cyrus, 1 Esdras 1:8.
Calmet
Shepherd. David have been one. (Calmet)
St. Jerome
This title is more modest than that of king. (St. Jerome)
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Ever. Let the Jews shew how this has been accomplished. We know that Christ preserves and rule his Church unto the end.
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Calmet
Peace. Can this regard the synagogue? Not a century passed without some flagrant misconduct, or chastisement. But our Saviour is the mediator of peace, Philippians 4:7. (Calmet)
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Spirit.... That is, soul, life, and breath.
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A duble prophecie of two great benefits, the reduction of the Iewes from captiuitie; and of the Gentiles from idolatrie to Christ, wherein also is included the mysterie of resurrection.
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One cause of distrust that the people of Israel should not be restored from captiuitie, was because they were like to drie bones.
Secondly they had al generally lost their hope of restitution.
Thirdly they semed like to trees or plantes cut of at the very root.
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Yet God by his powre and goodnes restored them.
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Before Christ ioyned the Gentils to his Church he first vnited the two kingdoms of Iuda & Israel: signifying that Catholiques which labour for conuersion of heretikes (as now in England) must first agree amongst themselues, & then shal their endeuoures be more effectual. For so al shal sooner be made one fold vnder one shepheard.
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Fulfilled by Christ the good Pastor, who bringeth al nations into one folde vnder one pastor. Ioan. 10. v. 16.
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St Irenaeus of Lyons † AD 202 Against Heresies 5.15.1
… And He said unto me, Prophesy to the breath, son of man, and say to the breath, These things saith the Lord , Come from the four winds ( spiritibus ), and breathe upon these dead, that they may live. So I prophesied as the Lord had commanded me, and the breath entered into them; and they did live, and stood upon their feet, an exceeding great gathering.”
Tertullian † AD 220 On the Resurrection of the Flesh 29
… and ye shall know how that I the Lord opened your sepulchres, and brought you, O my people, out of your sepulchres; and I will give my Spirit unto you, and ye shall live, and shall rest in your own land: and ye shall know how that I the Lord have spoken and done these things, saith the Lord.”
Origen † AD 254 Origen's Commentary on the Gospel of John 10.20
… But to most of us the mystery of the resurrection is a great one, and difficult of contemplation; it is spoken of in many other passages of Scripture, and is specially announced in the following passage of Ezekiel:
Aphrahat † AD 346 Aphrahat: Select Demonstrations 8.12
12. And also through the Prophet Ezekiel, the Resurrection of the dead was manifestly shown, when God brought him forth to the valley and showed him many bones, and made him pass by them round about them, and said to him:— Son of Man, will these bones live? And Ezekiel said to Him:
St Cyril of Jerusalem † AD 386 The Catechetical Lectures of S. Cyril 16.30
… And other texts thou heardest before, in what was said about Baptism; Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you , and the rest; a new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you ; and then immediately, And I will put My Spirit within you . And again, The hand of the Lord was upon me, and carried me out in the Spirit of the Lord
St Gregory of Nyssa † AD 395 On the Soul and the Resurrection 1
… For instance, Ezekiel leaps in the spirit of prophecy over all the intervening time, with its vast duration; he stands, by his powers of foresight, in the actual moment of the Resurrection, and, as if he had really gazed on what is still to come, brings it in his description before our eyes. He saw a mighty plain
St Ambrose of Milan † AD 397 On the Decease of His Brother Satyrus 2.71
… Behold I bring upon you the Spirit of life, and I will lay sinews upon you, and will bring up flesh upon you, and will stretch skin over you, and will put My Spirit into you, and ye shall live, and know that I am the Lord. And I prophesied as He commanded me. And it came to pass when I was prophesying all these things, lo, there was a great earthquake.”
St Jerome † AD 420 To Pammachius against John of Jerusalem 29
… Listen to the Saviour saying: “And my flesh rests in hope.” And elsewhere, “His flesh saw not corruption.” And again, “All flesh shall see the salvation of God.” And must you be for ever making the body a twofold thing? Rather quote the vision of
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 On the Holy Trinity 3.6
And who is it that restored to the corpses their proper souls when the dead rose again,
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St Gregory of Nazianzus † AD 389 Select Orations of Saint Gregory Nazianzen 7.21
… And, as it shared, through their close union, in its hardships, so also it bestows upon it a portion of its joys, gathering it up entirely into itself, and becoming with it one in spirit and in mind and in God, the mortal and mutable being swallowed up of life. Hear at least how the inspired Ezekiel discourses of the knitting together of bones and sinews,
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St Methodius † AD 311 From the Discourse on the Resurrection, Part I 1
… when our tabernacles are put together in the perfect order of immortality and harmony, and raised up from the dust in incorruption; when the dry bones,
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St Justin Martyr † AD 165 The First Apology 52
… And that these things also have been foretold as yet to be, we will prove. By Ezekiel the prophet it was said: “Joint shall be joined to joint, and bone to bone, and flesh shall grow again; and every knee shall bow to the Lord, and every tongue shall confess Him.”
Eusebius of Caesarea † AD 339 The Church History of Eusebius 10.3.2
2. Then was fulfilled the prophetic utterance which mystically foretold what was to take place: “Bone to bone and joint to joint,”
St Gregory of Nazianzus † AD 389 Select Orations of Saint Gregory Nazianzen 42.6
… For it was much more improbable that, from that condition, it should reach its present development, than that, as it now is, it should attain to the height of renown. For ever since it began to be gathered together, by Him Who quickeneth the dead, bone to its bone, joint to joint, and the Spirit of life and regeneration was given to it in their dryness,
Theodoret of Cyrus † AD 458 Dialogues. The “Eranistes” or “Polymorphus” of the Blessed Theodoretus, Bishop of Cyrus 3
Orth. —This is more distinctly taught by the divine Ezekiel,
St John of Damascus † AD 749 An Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith 4.27
And again, the blessed Ezekiel says: And it was as I prophesied, and behold a shaking and the bones came together, bone to his bone, each to its own joint: and when I beheld, lo, the sinews came up upon them and the flesh grew and rose up on them and the skin covered them above
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St Ambrose of Milan † AD 397 On the Holy Spirit 3.19
… “Come, O Spirit, and breathe upon these dead, and they shall live. And I prophesied as He commanded me, and the Spirit of life entered into them, and they lived, and stood up on their feet an exceeding great company.”
St Ambrose of Milan † AD 397 On the Decease of His Brother Satyrus 2.75
… I have spoken, and I will perform it, saith the Lord.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 60.2
… “Mortify your members which are upon earth.” But when he had smitten Edom, he smote “twelve thousand in the valley of salt-pits.” Twelve thousand is a perfect number, to which perfect number also the number of the twelve Apostles is ascribed: for not to no purpose is it, but because through the whole world was to be sent the Word. But the Word
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Origen † AD 254 Origen's Commentary on the Gospel of John 10.20
… For the third day will rise on the new heaven and the new earth, when these bones, the whole house of Israel,
St Cyprian of Carthage † AD 258 Three Books of Testimonies Against the Jews 3.59
… Therefore prophesy, and say, Thus saith the Lord, Behold, I open your monuments, and I will bring you forth from your monuments, and I will bring you into the land of Israel; and I will put my Spirit upon you, and ye shall live; and I will place you into your land: and ye shall know that I the Lord have spoken, and will do it, saith the Lord.”
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St Irenaeus of Lyons † AD 202 Against Heresies 5.15.1
… and ye shall know that I am the Lord , when I shall open your sepulchres, that I may bring my people again out of the sepulchres: and I will put my Spirit into you, and ye shall live; and I will place you in your land, and ye shall know that I am the Lord . I have said, and I will do, saith the Lord .”
St Irenaeus of Lyons † AD 202 Against Heresies 5.34.1
… For the dew from Thee is health to them.” And this again Ezekiel also says: “Behold, I will open your tombs, and will bring you forth out of your graves; when I will draw my people from the sepulchres, and I will put breath in you, and ye shall live; and I will place you on your own land, and ye shall know that I am the Lord .”
St Cyril of Jerusalem † AD 386 The Catechetical Lectures of S. Cyril 18.15
… and again elsewhere, Who shall raise up on the earth my skin, which endures these things . And Esaias the Prophet says, The dead men shall rise again, and they that are in the tombs shall awake . And the Prophet Ezekiel now before us, says most plainly, Behold I will open your graves, and bring you up out of your graves
Rufinus of Aquileia † AD 411 A Commentary on the Apostles' Creed 44
44. But that you may not suppose this to be a novel doctrine peculiar to Paul, I will adduce also what the Prophet Ezekiel foretold by the Holy Ghost. “Behold,” saith he, “I will open your graves and bring you forth out of your graves.”
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St Ambrose of Milan † AD 397 On the Holy Spirit 3.19
… And I prophesied as He commanded me, and the Spirit of life entered into them, and they lived, and stood up on their feet an exceeding great company.” And farther on God says: “Ye shall know that I am the Lord, when I shall open your graves, that I may bring My people out of their graves, and I will give you My Spirit, and ye shall live.”
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St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 City of God 18.34
… And I will save them out of all their dwelling-places wherein they have sinned, and will cleanse them; and they shall be my people, and I will be their God. And my servant David shall be king over them, and there shall be one Shepherd for them all.”
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St Melito of Sardis † AD 180 Melito, the Philosopher 9
The walking of the Lord —the delight of the Deity in the walks of His elect. In the prophet: “I will walk in them, and will be their Lord.”
37:3
3. Son of man, thinkest thou that these bones shall live? — Literally he calls the Jews captive in Babylon dry bones, worn out by squalor, and as it were dry and dead; because they had no hope of return to their homeland, as is evident from verse 11. Consequently he calls their resurrection and life the liberation from captivity, which was to them like death. It is a metaphor, or rather a parable, or an enigma taken from the bones of dead men, who shall rise again on the day of judgment. Again, by these dry bones, namely by the Jews in Babylon as it were dead, he understands sinners, who through sin have lost the life of the soul, that is the grace of God. Whence he says to them: "Hear the word of the Lord;" because these through the preaching of the word of God are converted, and rise again from sin, as I shall now explain more fully.
And he brought me out in the spirit of the Lord, — that is to say, not bodily, but rapt in mind and spirit by the Lord I went forth into the field. That is, not in reality, but through a prophetic vision I went into the field. Secondly, "in the spirit," that is, by the virtue and impulse of "the Lord."
And he set me down in the midst of the plain, — in the plain of Sennaar, or Babylon: for there were dry bones, that is, Jews in captivity almost dried up and dead, as I shall soon explain more fully. Hence symbolically D. Soto, and from him our John Salas, I II, Question V, article 4, tract. II, disp. 14, sect. vii, hold that all men shall rise again in the same place and plain, namely in the valley of Josaphat, where judgment shall be made: therefore the bones of each one from the whole world are to be transferred by angels, so that there all may commonly rise again. But no less probably Richard in IV, dist. xlviii, art. 1, Question VII, and Francis Suarez vol. II, part III, disp. L, sect. vii, hold that each one shall rise again in that place where his body and bones, or the greater part of them, shall have been: for there the other parts are to be brought by angels; and from there each one already resuscitated is to be transferred to the valley of Josaphat, to the tribunal of Christ. And Ezekiel hints at this here, verse 12, saying: "Behold I will open your graves, and will cause you to come up out of your sepulchres, O my people, and I will bring you into the land of Israel." This plain therefore was literally all of Babylon, which symbolically signified the whole world. For through the appearance of this plain, presented to the mind of the Prophet elevated through vision, there was as it were a small plain similar to this: just as St. Benedict, elevated in mind, saw in God the whole world in the form of a globe. The same thing Christ signifies, John v, 28: "All that are in the graves shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that have done good things shall come forth unto the resurrection of life; but they that have done evil things, unto the resurrection of judgment."
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5. I will put my spirit into you — a life-giving spirit. "Through the parable of the resurrection concerning the restoration of Israel he prophesies," says St. Jerome. Therefore grammatically, as it were in the shell of the letter it signifies the resurrection of the dead, and under this as it were parable it signifies the liberation of the Jews from captivity, in which as it were dry bones without spirit and life, that is lacking all consolation and vigor, without any hope of escaping from it they lay. For those who live their life in captivity and miseries are said to dwell in sepulchres, as in Psalm 67:7: "Who bringeth out them that are bound in strength, in like manner them that provoke, that dwell in sepulchres." Truly indeed the Poet says: "It is not to live, but to be strong, that is life." In civil law also servitude is reckoned to be civil death, just as liberty is reckoned to be civil life. Secondly, under the type of liberation from Babylonian captivity, which he touches upon and as it were presupposes, he properly understands to the letter sinners, who, as it were dry bones without spirit and grace, which is the life of the soul, are held captive in sin, so that by no natural force can they rise from it, the resurrection through the breath of the spirit and grace of Christ. There is therefore here as it were a twofold parable, that is a twofold literal sense of it (for in it he involves at once the type with the antitype); but one subordinated to the other, and as it were subaltern, as I have explained in Canon V. Therefore from this place and from this parable we rightly prove that there will be a resurrection of bodies, as Tertullian teaches in the book On the Resurrection of the Flesh, chapter 29: "For indeed," he says, "a figure (parable) could not be composed from bones, if the same thing were not going to happen to bones." So also St. Ambrose, in the book On the Faith of the Resurrection, Theodoret, Justin, Apology II for Christians; Cyprian, book III to Quirinus chapter 69; Cyril of Jerusalem, Catechesis 18; St. Augustine, book III On Christian Doctrine, chapter 34, Irenaeus, book V, chapter 15, and St. Jerome who proves the same thing thus: "For never would a likeness of the resurrection be set forth to signify the restoration of the Israelite people, unless the resurrection itself stood firm and was believed to be going to happen, because no one confirms uncertain things about things not existing." Hence St. Ambrose, in the book On the Faith of the Resurrection, calls the bones of men lying in sepulchres seeds of eternity, because they survive after the flesh is consumed, just as seeds survive after the fruit, from which God will raise up man, as it were a new tree, who will live forever: therefore bones coming to life again, as it were seeds sprouting forth, will bring forth to the Saints the flower of immortality: for the flower of resurrection is immortality, says St. Ambrose. Hence St. Hilary in Psalm 52:6: "Hope," he says, "of eternity is wont to be signified in bones: from which it was said: This now bone of my bones, which the Blessed Apostle, because it is a great mystery, refers to Christ and the Church, which from Adam in its eternity borrows the substance of eternity, which in the wounded body of the Lord and even pierced is not broken: His bone, he says, shall not be broken: because, when the force of the passion was in the flesh, yet in the eternal and impassible nature of divinity nothing was permitted to the passion. But that a whole and incorrupt hope of eternity is signified in bones, we also remember there, where it is said: The Lord keepeth all the bones of them, not one of them shall be broken; because according to the resurrection demonstrated to Ezekiel, its sacrament was revealed under the signification of bones." In bones therefore there is as it were a seminal force of resurrection, not natural and physical, but moral and obediential: because they are destined and reserved by God for resurrection. Thus Francis Suarez, III part. disp. 50, sect. 4. Again, these bones joined together with one another, and suitably fitted were as it were musical instruments, into which God breathed to render the harmony of life. Thus the body of Adam was as it were a lyre, the members as it were pipes, into which God breathed the breath of life, so that they might offer a melody befitting the Lord, says St. Chrysostom. Hence among all the symbols of resurrection which are true (for the phoenix is a fable), none is more similar and more significant than quicksilver, or mercury. For this, if you draw it out by hand (as I have myself experienced in fact) into the tiniest grains of sand, and as it were atoms, so that it seems to vanish into dust; soon as you gather them together again by hand and join them, flowing back into the former form of mercury they return, and as it were come to life again. Gabriel Fallopius, physician of Modena, noted this in mercury, and many centuries before him St. Gregory of Nyssa, in the book On the Creation of Man, chapter 28. Another symbol of resurrection is seed, which cast into the earth dies, but in spring sprouts forth, and produces a new grain and seed, which the Apostle brings forward in I Corinthians 15:37. But the same seed does not rise numerically the same, but the same in species: in mercury however the same numerically as it were rises, just as in the resurrection the same body numerically which lived will rise again. Moreover there is here a hysterologia, or inverted order of narration: for first he narrates what was done in the last place. For first the bones were joined together, then covered with sinews and flesh, finally they received the spirit, as is evident from verses 8 and 9. Thus Maldonatus.
37:7
7. There was made a sound, — that is, a noise of bones, which were being moved and transferred, and coming together with others were striking against each other, and producing a sound. This sound signifies, first, the sound of the Jews, and the jubilation of those exulting in their liberation and return, comparing themselves to the same, and gathering their own. Second, under this type it signifies sinners being moved in assembly to the detestation of their crimes, and bewailing them. For a great commotion is made in the heart of the sinner, and a noise of affections struggling against each other, while he is converted. Commotion signifies attrition, or contrition for sins in the process of becoming, or in inchoate act. For then man does not yet live, that is, is not justified: but when justifying grace is infused into him as it were in the state of being accomplished. Grammatically it signifies the motion by which bones will be united to each other by angels in the resurrection. For then there will be a great commotion both of the earth and of the sepulchres, and of the bones coming forth from them, and approaching each other. Symbolically it signifies the motion of the Jews in Babylon, whereby each one was moved to his junction, that is, to his tribe and family, so that he might adhere to it and return with it to Judea. Therefore he teaches, says Tertullian in the place cited, that the people of the Jews "being dead, dried up, and scattered in the field of the world, are to be gathered together again, and bone to be joined to bone, that is, tribe to tribe, and people to people, and to be re-embodied with the flesh of faculties, and the sinews of kingdom: and thus from the sepulchres, that is, from the most sad and foul dwellings of captivity, to be led forth, and to breathe in the name of refreshment, and to live thence in their own land Judea." But under this as it were type again he understands the compunction and commotion of the sinner, while he is converted, as I have said.
37:9
9. From the four winds, — because the dead and captives are scattered in all directions. Hence come from every side, O Spirit of God both essential and notional, that is, O Holy Spirit! and breathe upon them the spirit of life, to the dead, so that they may rise; to the captives the spirit, that is, strength, courage and boldness of returning; to sinners give the spirit of grace, so that they may be justified. Fittingly he compares the soul to the wind: because by wind, that is, by the breathing and expiration, which the soul causes, we live. Moreover, souls are said to come to the body from the four winds, both because they left their bodies there, when men died: for the soul seems to be there, where it remained, when it abandoned its body; and because some will come from heaven, some from purgatory, some from any region of the world, namely the souls of those who will die on the day of judgment in any part of the earth. For these will suddenly be recalled thence to their body, when they rise.
37:11
11. These bones all, the house of Israel, — as if to say, These bones signify the house of Israel, which was in Babylon captive, as if it had been dead in a sepulchre. Here he applies the parable to the Jews captive in Babylon, who thought the matter of themselves and their return was settled; and there was no more hope that they would be restored to liberty and their native land, than that those bones would come to life again. God therefore shows that he is able to effect both this and that. Our bones are dried up, — as if to say, We have long been dead, we have lost all vigor, spirit and strength. Mystically St. Clement, book V of the Constitutions of the Apostles, chapter vi, thinks the Jews said this, because they did not believe in the future resurrection, to whom God accordingly responds, and promises the resurrection, saying: "Behold I will open your sepulchres, and bring you forth out of them," etc.
Our Hope Has Perished Our hope has perished — of returning to our native land. We are cut off. — As a branch torn from the root has no hope of life, so as to be joined to the root again: so we, torn from our native land, do not hope for return, so as to be joined to it. Thus the sinner does not hope for pardon, indeed often despairs, unless hope is breathed into him by the Spirit of God. These dry bones therefore are a symbol of extreme calamity, in which all things appear to man measuring by the forces of nature to be desperate; but then God, when invoked, is wont to be present and to help most, even above nature. Thus God permitted the Jews in Babylon to be worn down and consumed as it were to the bones, so that he might teach them to hope in desperate things, and to invoke God, and when invoked to be gloriously liberated by him, and as it were raised from death. This is what Isaiah says at xxvi, 19: "My dead shall live, my slain shall rise again:" "my," that is, subject to my command, nod and power, so that I may raise them from death; hence Isaiah adds: "Awake, and give praise, you that dwell in dust; for your dew is a dew of light," as if to say, How easily does dew by watering revive dry herbs, and as it were vivify them: so easily do I, God, by my grace and power, recall you dry and dead to life. Wherefore then the blessed will say that word of Psalm LIV, 20: "All my bones shall say: O Lord, who is like to thee?"
37:12
12. I will open the tombs. — He calls the tombs and sepulchres the prisons of Chaldea, and under these the prisons of sin: for captivity is called civil death, as if to say, I will free you from Babylonian servitude, and likewise will snatch the world from the captivity of sin.
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14. Your own land, — namely Judea, and under this is understood the Church.
37:16
16. Take thee one stick. — The Chaldean: a board; the Septuagint: one rod: he has hitherto described the resurrection and return from Babylon through a parable of dry bones coming to life again: now he describes the same thing through another, but similar parable of dry branches, or pieces of wood dried in the hand of Ezekiel united together, and as it were coming to life again, so that they become as one tree. That was taken from animals; this from plants, which have a similar soul and life: for they have their veins, fibres, marrow, sap, branches as it were limbs, roots as it were heart and stomach, leaves as it were hair, fruit as it were offspring, like animals. Whence man is called an inverted tree. Again, a seed dying in the earth and soon growing green again, and a tree dying as it were in winter, coming to life again in spring, is a symbol of resurrection, as I have taught from the Apostle and St. Augustine at I Cor. xv, 36. Moreover this tree formed from two pieces of wood, as it were branches coming to life again, aptly signifies the Church, which is formed from various men and nations, formerly wicked, and dead through sins, now coming to life again through grace, and coalescing in Christ. See Origen, homily 7 on chapter x of Leviticus. The Prophet is therefore commanded here by God to take two pieces of wood, that is sceptres, namely one of Judah, to which Israel adheres, that is the tribes of Benjamin and Levi; the other of Joseph, or Ephraim, that is the ten tribes: and to join these two into one, so that there may be one sceptre, namely one kingdom, and one commonwealth. Note: Under the two pieces of wood he signifies two kingdoms, namely, one of Judah, the other of the ten tribes, which he calls Samaria, Joseph and Ephraim: because from the tribe of Joseph, or Ephraim (for Ephraim was the son of Joseph, and from his grandfather Jacob, preferred to his elder brother Manasseh, was made the firstborn, Genesis xlviii, 20; wherefore the tribe of Joseph was called the tribe of Ephraim, Numbers I, 10) was born Jeroboam, the first king of Israel, or of the ten tribes, the author of rebellion against Judah and the house of David. Secondly, these two pieces of wood are joined together: because from the ten tribes many joined themselves to Judah, when under Zerubbabel, Ezra and Nehemiah all returned from Babylon to Judea, and coalesced into one commonwealth. Thirdly, under these he signifies the union of Jews and Gentiles in the Church of Christ. For Christ "made both one," Ephesians II, 14, so that "in him there is neither Jew nor Greek, but all are one," Colossians III, 11. Whence he adds: "And they shall be in union in thy hand," that is, thou shalt so join them, and holding them joined in thy hand, as if it were one piece of wood.
Joseph, The Stick Of Ephraim Joseph the stick of Ephraim, — that is, as the Chaldean, as it were fugitives, or captives, and there they imbibed the idols and sins of other nations. For, as the Psalmist says, Psalm cv, 35: "They were mingled among the nations, and learned their works." Joseph which is the tribe or kingdom of Ephraim. Hence the twelve or thirteen tribes were named, as it were twelve rods coming forth from the same trunk, namely from the father Jacob. For the name שבט schebet signifies a rod and sceptre, and from it signifies a tribe: and each tribe had its own rod, as appears from Numbers xvii, 2.
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19. I will take the stick of Joseph (that is the tribe and kingdom of Joseph, or of the ten tribes), which is in the hand of Ephraim, — because the first king of Israel Jeroboam, and almost all the following ones were from the tribe of Ephraim. Whence the Chaldean translates, which is the tribe of Ephraim. In his hand. — Thus the Roman; "his," namely of God; in Hebrew, in my hand, namely of God: for I God speak here; the Septuagint, in the hand of Judah, as if to say: By the malice and rivalry of men, when there was one kingdom of the Jews, under Rehoboam and Jeroboam it was divided into two: but by my power, when there are two, or rather none, they shall again become one: just as thou hast so joined two pieces of wood in thy hand, that they appear to be one. But God did this not so much through Zerubbabel, as through Christ. For he removed the rivalry and contention between Jews and Samaritans, and joined both in his Church to God and to himself, as he himself says, John IV, 21.
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22. I will make them into one nation, — into one faithful and Christian people. In the mountains of Israel, — in the Catholic Church: for this is the true Sion, and Israel. See what is said to Isaiah chapter II, 22.
And one king shall rule over all, — namely, one king Christ. "For one body of empire seems to be governed by one mind," says Tacitus, book I of the Annals, just as one ship by one helmsman. If thou givest more, thou bringest confusion, not otherwise than "if two suns should wish to be, there is danger lest all things perish in fire," says Servius. Here we read, nay we ourselves have seen, "that often the only remedy for a discordant nation has been that it be ruled by one," says Tacitus book I. For, as Plato says in the Politics: ὁ βασιλεύς ὡς Θεός ἐξ ἀνθρώπων: a king is a kind of god among men. And Callimachus: Kings are from Jupiter. Whence also Homer calls them διοτρεφέας βασιλῆας, kings educated by Jupiter. And Livy, book XXVI: "Monarchy," he says, "is the most beautiful thing among gods and men." Finally Homer, Iliad. β: Let there be one ruler, One king. Let there be a single master, A single prince.
37:23
Εἷς κοίρανος ἔστω Εἷς βασιλεύς
37:24
Herus unicus esto, Unicus et princeps.
37:25
23. Concerning all their dwellings (that is, habitations), — in which they either dwelt, or were scattered about like fugitives, or captives, and there drank in the idols and sins of other nations.
37:26
24. David king over them, — that is, Christ the son of David will be king and shepherd of all the faithful. To this Christ alludes, John x, 16, saying: "And other sheep I have, that are not of this fold: and them also I must bring, and there shall be one fold and one shepherd." Whence concerning them he says: "In my judgments," that is, precepts, "they shall walk upon the earth, which I gave to my servant," that is, in Sion, that is, in the Christian Church. 25. Their prince forever, — because "of his kingdom," namely of Christ, "there shall be no end," Luke I, 33. 26. A covenant of peace, — the new Testament which reconciles us to God, and breathes forth entirely peace, love, concord. See cap. xxxiv, 25. Moreover he says, "I will strike a covenant," that is, I will establish, make peace, conclude: because covenants and pacts are wont to be entered into by stipulation, that is, by mutual striking of hands; and because they were established by striking and slaying of federal victims. Whence the Poet:
I Will Establish Them They stood, and by the slain swine they established covenants.
I Will Set My Sanctuary Hence the phrase, to strike, that is, to strike, a covenant.
37:27
I will establish them — in the Church, as if on firm earth and foundation, nay rather on a rock.
37:28
I will give my sanctification (that is, my holiness) — or the sacrament of the Holy Eucharist, says H. Pintus. But note: in Hebrew it is מקדשי micdaschi, that is, my sanctuary, or my temple, as the Chaldean translator rendered it, as if to say, I will dwell with Christians in the Church, just as I once dwelt with the Jews in the temple. Thus Vatable. Hence Christians are a temple, in which God dwells, as the Apostle says, I Cor. III, 16, and II Cor. vi, 16. See the remarks there. The Septuagint translates it as sancta, in the plural, in the same sense: for thus they call the sanctuary, which was once divided into the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies; although H. Pintus by sancta understands the seven holy Sacraments of the Church. 27. And my tabernacle shall be in them. — Note: He calls the Church a tabernacle, just as a little before he called it a sanctuary, or a temple. For the Church militant here dwells as it were in a tabernacle. 28. Sanctification. — In Hebrew, sanctuary, namely the temple, that is the holy Church, as I said in verse 26. St. John alludes to this, Apoc. xxi, 3, indeed he cites these very words of Ezekiel, and adapts them to the heavenly Jerusalem: for in it they will be fulfilled, since in the earthly, namely in the Church militant, they are begun, and the voice in perpetuity suggests this. Our Turrianus, in the book On the Eucharist, accommodates these things to the Holy Eucharist, in which God, namely Christ, dwells corporally, and through it in the Church as in his tabernacle remains and dwells. This chapter is a didactic place, equally as a moral one, concerning the future resurrection of all men. For God wished by this schema of bones coming to life to sharpen in the Jews, equally as in Christians, faith and hope in the resurrection, which is a keen stimulus to all virtue. For, as Tertullian says: "The hope of Christians is the resurrection of the dead." For this reason God has often represented the same thing to men by clear miracles. First, by preserving the bodies of the Saints incorrupt. For this is a specimen, and as it were a prelude to the resurrection. In the time of the Emperor Theodosius, in the year of Christ 430, when, as many report (although Baronius denies it), there was a great discussion in Constantinople concerning the resurrection of the dead, God settled the matter by a miracle. For he brought to light seven brothers sound and vigorous, who at Ephesus, fleeing persecution under Decius, had hidden and slept in a cave from Decius until Theodosius, that is for 181 years. Whence Theodosius, in order to see them, went to Ephesus: their memory exists as it were of Saints, under the title of the Seven Sleepers, in the Martyrology on 27 July. Metaphrastes testifies in the Life of St. Antonomy, Bishop and martyr, that he saw his relics in the sepulchre whole and vivid two hundred years after his death, so much so that even the hair of his head was unharmed, and the character of his form remained intact, with firm and extended skin, not even the hairs of his upper lip being lost. The figure moreover of his body preserved its structure, without any disjunction of parts from one another. We are above the year 352, says Thomas Bozius, book XIII On the Signs of the Church, chapter III, from which Ubaldus Bishop of Gubbio departed from life, and yet I have twice beheld his limbs vivid and spotless, and have looked more closely and seen them handled by the hands of priests, and turned in all directions, just as if the flesh were living, not subject to corruption. Thus in the year of the Lord 771, the body of Hubert Bishop of Liège, when it was raised in the seventeenth year after his death, was found whole and unharmed with his hair, and wonderfully fragrant, as his Life has it on 3 November. Thus the body of St. Claude Archbishop of Besançon is shown to the present day in the church of St. Eugendus, whole and intact to the admiration of all, shining with innumerable miracles, as his Life has it on 6 June. Thus in the year of the Lord 1170, the body of St. Sigebert king of the Franks was found whole, as if lying asleep there, although it had lain in the sepulchre for 572 years, as Sigebert the monk says in his Life on 1 February. St. Ferreolus the martyr, buried at Vienne in Gaul, after many years was found whole and unharmed, so that he seemed to be sleeping, neither was the colour of his face changed, nor was he disfigured by the loss of hair, nor was he dissolved by any putrefaction, as Gregory of Tours says, On the Miracles of St. Julian, chapter II. Thus also God preserves the virginal body of St. Xavier whole and unharmed even to these times. These are the preludes to the resurrection. Second, Christ demonstrated this future resurrection, showing himself many times after death in a glorious body: likewise Saints appearing after death. Thus St. Acholius Bishop of Thessalonica appeared to St. Ambrose, saying that he rests in heaven, as he himself relates, book III, epistle 22. Thus St. Eugenia appearing to her sorrowful mother in most splendid form, with many virgins: "Do not weep," she said, "but rejoice: for I and your father Philip live in a certain ineffable joy of martyrs, dwelling with Christ and reigning with Him, and He will also call you to this life not many days hence. But to my brothers preserve firm and stable in Christ the seal, and continually exhort them, that they be also my brothers in spirit, so that thus we may offer the whole family as a beautiful gift to the Lord." Thus it is in her Life, chapter 37, in Surius on December 25. Thus St. Agnes appeared to her parents after death, saying: "Do not mourn me as if I were dead; for I live with these virgins with Him in heaven, whom I loved with all my mind on earth," as St. Ambrose relates, sermon 90. Thirdly, through the union of severed members to the body, or their being carried together. St. Gregory writes, in the Third Dialogue, chapter 13, that the head of St. Hercules, Bishop and martyr, which had been cut off by Totila, was found forty days later in the sepulcher so united to the body, as if no iron blade had touched it. St. Wenceslaus, King of Bohemia, slain by his most wicked brother Boleslaus, was found whole, and his severed ear adhered again to his head. Thus Dubravius, book IV of the History of Bohemia. It is memorable, and almost unheard of, what we read in the Life of St. Stanislaus, Bishop of Cracow, which the Poles celebrate in their Saints' Breviary, namely that King Boleslaus slew St. Stanislaus, and soon the king's ministers in their rage cut the Saint's body into 72 parts, and threw them to dogs and birds to devour: yet eagles flying down from heaven showed themselves as guardians and protectors of the Saint's body. After two days the clergy, recovering their courage, sought out and gathered together the limbs of their Bishop. A marvelous thing: by God's power it came to pass that they immediately grew together so completely, as if they had never been separated. One finger was missing, but God did not allow even this to remain hidden for long. A heavenly light revealed the finger cast into a nearby pond and devoured by a fish, which when they opened, they removed the finger and restored it to its place. This is what Ezekiel saw here, bones to bones, flesh to flesh, members to members being joined together; truly an open symbol and argument of the future resurrection. Namely, the Lord preserves the bones of His Saints, not one of these shall be broken. Wherefore St. Ambrose on the Nativity of St. Nazarius and Celsus: "I honor therefore," he says, "in the flesh of the martyr the scars received for the name of Christ: I honor the living memory in the permanence of virtue: I honor through confession of the Lord the sacred ashes: I honor in the ashes the seeds of eternity: I honor the body which showed me that my Lord is to be loved, which taught me not to fear death for the sake of my Lord. But why should the faithful not honor that body, which even demons revere? which they afflicted in torture, but glorify in the sepulcher. I honor therefore the body, which Christ honored in the sword, which shall reign with Christ in heaven." No less marvelous, and indeed a more evident argument, nay a testimony of the resurrection, is what I add. The same St. Stanislaus, when urged by King Boleslaus to produce documents or witnesses of the sale of a field, which he had bought from a certain Peter three years before his death for the Church, and no one dared to testify for him, all fearing the king's wrath; he himself, seized by the spirit and zeal of God: "Since," he said, "truth has been diminished among the sons of men, let truth arise from the earth, and let justice look down from heaven. In the name of Jesus Christ whom I serve, and whose Church I protect, I undertake from this day forth on the third day to bring the same Peter alive, a witness of truth and equity of my cause, to this tribunal." Then, spending three days in prayer and fasting, he goes to Peter's sepulcher, and calling upon him in the name of God Almighty: "Come forth," he said, "Peter, and you who have been dead, buried from the living, bear witness from the sepulcher to the truth." He comes forth, he who had been dead for three years, whom Stanislaus, seizing by the right hand, brings to the king's tribunal. Then he said: "I am," he said, "Peter, who come hither from the seats of rest to render testimony of the truth. To this man I sold my land for a just price, and confirmed it." He then rebukes the king and his heirs, that they should trouble the holy man without cause. Thus it is in his Life and the Polish Breviary on May 13. Behold here in Peter restored to life not only flesh was joined to flesh, and bones to bones; but also "the spirit entered into them, and they lived," as Ezekiel says, verse 10. St. Dionysius the Areopagite, struck on the head, raised himself up, and carried his severed head for almost two miles, as Hilduinus relates in his Life. Sts. Ursus and Victor, martyrs, together with sixty companions from Thebes, were beheaded under Diocletian and Maximian and cast into a river; they emerged from the river, carrying their heads in their hands, and returned to the place where a church has now been built in their honor. These are wonders, but greater wonders follow. For the holy martyrs, bending their knees to the ground, for the space of about one hour, before they laid down their bodies on the earth, prayed while all watched. After prayer, they laid down their bodies on the earth, as if to say: "This is our rest forever and ever." Thus their Life records it. In the year of the Lord 306, under Dacian, St. Lambert was beheaded by his master for the faith of Christ; he soon, having taken up his head again, proceeded more than four miles to the place where many martyrs lay slain; then he said: "The saints shall rejoice in glory," and they answered him: "And shall be joyful in their beds." Thus Vasaeus.
Machine translation from the Latin, not reviewed.
37:1
… In Is. 26:19 is the oldest explicit attestation of the resurrection (= "going up" from the f.: Job 7:9). The divine promises of redemption and spiritual restoration present themselves as liberation from the f. (Hos. 13:14 = I Cor. 15:55; Is. 25:8; 26:19, etc.; Ez. 37:1 ff.; Job 19:15 ff.; Dan. 12:2) as "resurrection from the dead" (Rom. 11:15); rising again from the abyss-necropolis ("from the dead") is the supreme messianic hope (cf. I Cor. …
37:6
2. When the Old Testament speaks of rūah, it thinks of the life participated to man by a divine breath (Zach. 12, 1; Job 12, 10; cf. Ez. 37, 6 where the vivification of the people is described with terms taken from the life of individuals), residing in him as the principle of vital activities, in the first place of animal …
37:8
… The Old Testament attests clearly (cf. Gen. 27; 6, 3; 7, 22; Lev. 17, 11; Ps. 104 [103], 29 f.; Job 27, 3; 33, 3-4; Ez. 37, 8) that the constitutive parts of man are only those two which in philosophical-Scholastic terminology are called "body" and "soul". …
37:9
… The insufflation upon the disciples (ἐνεφύσασεν) is read only here in the New Testament and certainly alludes to the spiraculum vitae (Gen. 2:7; cf. Ez. 37:9). Πνεύμα ἅγιον seems here to have to be interpreted as a particular gift of the Holy Spirit, that is, not so much a disposition of the mind or heart, but rather a spiritual power, …
37:12
… Isaiah announces the outpouring of the Spirit upon the Messiah (Is. 41:1; 42:1 ff.; principally 11:1-2, a text that became classic for the enumeration of the gifts of the Holy Spirit) and upon all his people (Is. 32:15; 44 ff.), as later expressed in Ez. 37:12 and Joel 2:28-29. The value of these testimonies is assessed in different ways. …
… Israel; this, in due time, will be raised up and absorbed into the kingdom of the M., the end of the whole divine economy (Am. 4, 11; 9, 9; Mic. 4, 6 f.; 7, 19; Is. 1, 9; 7, 3; 10, 20 ff.; 40-66; Jer. 3, 14, 16; 23, 3; 24, 6; 30-31; 33; Ez. 11, 13-20; 34; 37, 12; etc.). …
37:23
Primacy of Saint Peter and of the Roman Pontiff
Jer. 23:3; 31:10; Is. 40:11; 49:9-10; Ez. 34:7-24; 37:23-25; Zach. 11:7-9) and Jesus himself had presented himself as the true shepherd (Mt. 18:12; Lk. 15:4; Jn. 16:11-16). By entrusting his flock ("my lambs, my sheep") to Peter, he equivalently …
37:24
Foretold in the Old Testament by the messianic prophecies (Is. 9, 6; Dan. 11, 44; Jer. 31, 31; Ez. 37, 24), the indefectibility of the Church is affirmed by Jesus Christ himself: «Tu sei Pietro e su questa pietra edificherò la mia Chiesa e le porte dell'inferno (cioè le potenze dell'inferno …
37:25
11, 3 f.); he will be king forever (Ez. 37, 25); cf. Mic. 5, 1, whose terms are so strong as to allow one easily to conclude to the pre-existence of the M., although in themselves they express only a very remote origin; Dan. 7, …
37:40
… Ezekiel foretells in detail the siege and destruction of Jerusalem (Ezek. 4:5-21); and when all seems lost, he predicts the return of the exiles, the constitution of the new Israel (ibid. 37, 40-48) and the victory that it will win over the assault of the gentiles (Antiochus Epiphanes: ibid. 38-39). It is not a matter of meditations or intuitions
Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · Vulgata Clementina · original Douay-Rheims (Douay 1609-10), transcription by EEBO-TCP (CC0) · La Sacra Bibbia, tradotta dalla Volgata da Antonio Martini (1769-1781) (LaParola (laparola.net), Martini OSIS text, Public domain (LaParola's electronic edition marks it 'Dominio pubblico')). Public domain.