The hand of the Lord came upon me and carried me out in the spirit of the Lord, etc. Every “the hand of the Lord” in a prophecy is an expression of compulsion, meaning that the spirit would compel him to go as a madman to a place that the spirit desired.

and that was full of bones Our Rabbis said (Sanh. 92b) that they were of the tribe of Ephraim, who left Egypt before the end [of the exile], and the people of Gath who were born in the land slew them, as is stated in (I) Chronicles (7: 20ff.)

And He made me pass by them round about the valley. But He did not bring him into its midst because he was a priest.

can...become alive Do you think that they can come to life?

And I will lay sinews upon you, etc. But in the Book of Job it says (10:11): “You clothe me with skin and flesh” first, and afterwards, “and You cover me with bones and sinews.” But to what were these similar? To a man who undresses and then dresses [himself] again, in which case, what he took off last he puts on first, whereas at the beginning of the creation of the fetus, skin and flesh come first and afterwards bones and sinews.

and cover you [Heb. וְקָרַמְתִי,] from the word for skin (קְרוּם) ecro(s) ter in Old French, and I shall encrust (with skin).

and there arose a noise and behold the commotion of the bones, which were knocking one against the other.

bone to its bone The bones of each one, wherever they were scattered, were jumping and coming together, each one beside the place of its connection.

from four sides Wherever their souls went to roam, to the four sides of the world, from there they will gather and come.

and breathe [Heb. וּפְחִי,] like (Isa. 54:16): “who blows (נֹפֵחַ) on a charcoal fire.”

these bones are all the house of Israel They are an intimation and an example of the entire house of Israel in their exile, for they say, “Our bones have become dried up from the troubles; our hope is lost, and what further hope can we have for salvation? Another explanation: All of these were of Israel, and because you revived them now, they say, “Our hope is lost, and we shall not come to life once again when the dead are resurrected.”

Therefore, prophesy that I am destined to resurrect you a second time.

And you, son of man, take for yourself one stick and write upon it, ‘For Judah and for the children of Israel his companions’ These four words write upon it, to say that this stick is Judah’s and the tribe of Benjamin’s, who joined him.

and take one stick and write upon it This is for Joseph: the stick of Ephraim and the remaining nine tribes, which followed Jeroboam, who was of the tribe of Ephraim.

and they shall be one I shall join the two sticks, so that they will be one stick in your hand.

Behold I will take the stick, etc. that they shall no longer be two kingdoms.

to My servant, to Jacob As I gave it to Jacob, without boundaries.