Actual Resurrection or Allegory? The Valley of Dry Bones in Ezekiel 37 in the Talmud (Sanhedrin 92b)
Ezekiel’s Dry Bones and the Talmudic Imagination
This Talmudic sugya unpacks one of the most iconic prophetic visions in the Hebrew Bible: Ezekiel’s vision of the Valley of Dry Bones (Ezekiel 37).
See the summary in Wikipedia, “Vision of the Valley of Dry Bones“:
The Vision of the Valley of Dry Bones […] is a prophecy in chapter 37 of the Book of Ezekiel.
The chapter details a vision revealed to the prophet Ezekiel, conveying a dream-like realistic-naturalistic depiction.
In his vision, the prophet sees himself standing in a valley full of dry human bones.
He is commanded to carry a prophecy.
Before him, the bones connect into human figures; then the bones become covered with tendons, flesh, and skin.
Then God reveals the bones to the prophet as the people of Israel in exile and commands the prophet to carry another prophecy in order to revitalize these human figures, to resurrect them, and to bring them to the Land of Israel.
The core question of the sugya is simple but loaded: was this a literal resurrection, a prophetic metaphor, or something in between? What emerges is a layered set of rabbinic interpretations that reflect competing theological, eschatological, and historical sensibilities.
A number of early- to mid-2nd century CE tannaim discuss this. The opening tradition, attributed to R' Eliezer, treats the resurrection as real but fleeting—the bones stood, sang a verse (1 Samuel 2:6), and died again.
R' Yehuda, by contrast, calls it a 'parable that is true,' prompting debate about the coherence of combining metaphor with factual reality.
R' Eliezer ben Yosei pushes in the opposite direction: he claims the resurrected returned to Israel, married, and had descendants—one of whom, R' Yehuda ben Beteira, claims direct lineage.1
Beyond this is a more symbolic turn: the amoraim speculate on the identity of these 'dead' figures, mapping them to lost or condemned populations in Israel’s past:
Rav sees them as premature rebels from the tribe of Ephraim who miscalculated the “end” (קץ - i.e. the Exodus) and left Egypt too early.
Shmuel identifies them as resurrection-deniers, quoting Ezekiel 37:11.
R' Yirmeya sees them as those bereft of mitzvah merit.
R' Yitzḥak Nappaḥa says they were idolaters who defiled the Temple.
R' Yoḥanan, with a morally grotesque tale, claims they were beautiful youths murdered by Nebuchadnezzar (early 6th century BCE) to quell the lust of Babylonian women (after Nebuchadnezzar’s destruction of the First Temple).
Outline
Intro
The Passage
Literal Resurrection, or Allegory?
R' Eliezer - they stood, sang praise, and died again
Their song - 1 Samuel 2:6
R' Yehuda - a parable/allegory
R' Eliezer ben Yosei - the revived moved to Eretz Yisrael, married, and had children
Identifying the Dead in Ezekiel’s Vision
Rav: descendants of Ephraim who miscalculated the Exodus and were killed (1 Chronicles 7:20-22)
Shmuel: those who denied resurrection (Ezekiel 37:11)
R' Yirmeya bar Abba: people devoid of mitzva merit (Ezekiel 37:4)
R' Yitzḥak Nappaḥa: idolaters who desecrated the Temple (Ezekiel 8:10)
R' Yoḥanan: the beautiful youths of the Dura Valley killed due to the lust of Babylonian women
The Passage
Literal Resurrection, or Allegory?
R' Eliezer - they stood, sang praise, and died again
R' Eliezer says the dead that Ezekiel revived stood, sang praise, and died again.
תניא,
רבי אליעזר אומר:
מתים שהחיה יחזקאל
עמדו על רגליהם
ואמרו שירה
ומתו.
This is as it is taught in a baraita, that
R' Eliezer says:
The dead that Ezekiel revived
stood on their feet
and recited song to God
and died.
Their song - 1 Samuel 2:6
מה שירה אמרו?
״ה׳ ממית בצדק
ומחיה ברחמים״.
רבי יהושע אומר:
שירה זו אמרו:
״ה׳ ממית ומחיה
מוריד שאול ויעל״.
And what song did they recite?
“YHWH kills with justice
and gives life with mercy”
R' Yehoshua says that
it was this song that they recited:
“YHWH kills, and gives life;
He lowers to the grave and elevates” (I Samuel 2:6).
R' Yehuda - a parable
R' Yehuda calls it a parable (משל - “mashal, metaphor'“), prompting R' Neḥemya’s objection: if it was true, why call it a parable, and vice versa?
רבי יהודה אומר: אמת משל היה.
אמר לו רבי נחמיה:
אם אמת, למה משל?
ואם משל, למה אמת?
אלא:
באמת משל היה.
R' Yehuda says: Ezekiel’s depiction of the dry bones that came to life was truth and it was a parable.
R' Neḥemya said to R' Yehuda:
If it was truth, why do you refer to it as a parable?
and if it was a parable, why do you refer to it as truth?
Rather, it means:
In truth, it was a parable.
R' Eliezer ben Yosei - the revived moved to Eretz Yisrael, married, and had children
R' Eliezer ben Yosei insists the resurrection was literal and historical—the revived moved to Eretz Yisrael (from Babylonia), married, and had children.
R' Yehuda ben Beteira even claims to be their descendant and says he possesses tefillin passed down from them as a family heirloom.
רבי אליעזר בנו של רבי יוסי הגלילי אומר:
מתים שהחיה יחזקאל
עלו לארץ ישראל,
ונשאו נשים
והולידו בנים ובנות.
עמד רבי יהודה בן בתירא על רגליו ואמר:
אני מבני בניהם,
והללו תפילין שהניח לי אבי אבא מהם.
R' Eliezer, son of R' Yosei HaGelili, says:
Not only was it not a parable, the dead that Ezekiel revived
ascended to Eretz Yisrael
and married wives
and fathered sons and daughters.
R' Yehuda ben Beteira stood on his feet and said:
I am a descendant of their sons,
and these are tefillin that my father’s father left me from them.
Identifying the Dead in Ezekiel’s Vision
Multiple amora’im offer views on who the dry bones represent:
ומאן נינהו מתים שהחיה יחזקאל?
The Talmud asks: And who are the dead that Ezekiel revived?
Rav: descendants of Ephraim who miscalculated the Exodus and were killed (1 Chronicles 7:20-22)
אמר רב:
אלו בני אפרים
שמנו לקץ,
וטעו,
שנאמר:
״ובני אפרים
שותלח
וברד בנו
ותחת בנו
ואלעדה בנו
ותחת בנו
וזבד בנו
ושותלח בנו
ועזר
ואלעד
והרגום אנשי גת הנולדים בארץ וגו׳״,
וכתיב:
״ויתאבל אפרים אביהם ימים רבים
ויבאו אחיו לנחמו״.
Rav says:
These were the descendants of Ephraim
who calculated (מנו) the time of the end (קץ) of the enslavement and the redemption from Egypt
and erred in their calculation.
They left before the appointed time and were killed, as it is stated:
“And the sons of Ephraim;
Shuthelah,
and Bered his son,
and Tahath his son,
and Eleadah his son,
and Tahath his son.
And Zabad his son,
and Shuthelah his son,
and Ezer
and Elead
whom the men of Gath that were born in the land slew, because they came down to take their cattle” (I Chronicles 7:20–21),
and it is written:
“And Ephraim their father mourned many days,
and his brothers came to comfort him” (I Chronicles 7:22).
Shmuel: those who denied resurrection (Ezekiel 37:11)
ושמואל אמר:
אלו בני אדם שכפרו בתחיית המתים,
שנאמר:
״ויאמר אלי:
בן אדם!
העצמות האלה --
כל בית ישראל המה
הנה אמרים:
יבשו עצמותינו
ואבדה תקותנו
נגזרנו לנו״.
And Shmuel says:
These dead that Ezekiel revived were people who denied the resurrection of the dead,
as it is stated:
“Then He said to me:
Son of man!
these bones --
are the whole house of Israel;
behold, they say:
Our bones are dried
and our hope is lost;
we are cut off” (Ezekiel 37:11).
God tells Ezekiel that these were people who had lost hope for resurrection.
R' Yirmeya bar Abba: people devoid of mitzva merit (Ezekiel 37:4)
רבי ירמיה בר אבא אמר:
אלו בני אדם שאין בהן לחלוחית של מצוה,
שנאמר:
״העצמות היבשות
שמעו דבר ה׳״.
R' Yirmeya bar Abba says:
These were people in whom there was not even the moist (לחלוחית) residue of a mitzva,
as it is stated:
“The dry bones,
hear the word of YHWH” (Ezekiel 37:4).
Even during their lifetime they were comparable to dry bones.
R' Yitzḥak Nappaḥa: idolaters who desecrated the Temple (Ezekiel 8:10)
רבי יצחק נפחא אמר:
אלו בני אדם שחיפו את ההיכל כולו שקצים ורמשים,
שנאמר:
״ואבוא
ואראה
והנה:
כל תבנית רמש ובהמה שקץ
וכל גלולי בית ישראל
מחקה על הקיר סביב וגו׳״,
וכתיב התם: ״והעבירני עליהם סביב סביב״.
R' Yitzḥak Nappaḥa says:
These are the people who covered (חיפו) the Sanctuary (היכל) with repugnant creatures and creeping animals (שקצים ורמשים),
as it is stated:
“So I entered
and saw
and behold:
every form of creeping animal and repugnant animal,
and all the idols of the house of Israel,
etched upon the wall around” (Ezekiel 8:10),
and it is written there with regard to the prophecy of the dry bones: “And he passed me over them around and around” (Ezekiel 37:2).
By means of a verbal analogy between: “Around” (סביב) in one verse and the identical term in the other it is derived that the two verses are referring to the same people.
R' Yoḥanan: the beautiful youths of the Dura Valley killed due to the lust of Babylonian women
R' Yoḥanan identifies them with “the dead of the Dura Valley”.2
R' Yoḥanan elaborates on these dead, telling a dramatic story:
Among those exiled en masse by Nebuchadnezzar after the First Temple's destruction were a number of exceptionally good-looking Israelite young men (בחורים).
These Israelite young men were so good-looking that they “shamed3 the sun” with their beauty (יופיין).
Their beauty caused Chaldean women (כשדיות) to become aroused to the point of zavah discharge.4
When the Nebuchadnezzar was told about this, he had the youths executed.
But the problem persisted even after death, so their corpses were trampled.5
רבי יוחנן אמר: אלו מתים שבבקעת דורא.
ואמר רבי יוחנן:
מנהר אשל עד רבת בקעת דורא,
שבשעה שהגלה נבוכדנצר הרשע את ישראל
היו בהן בחורים שהיו מגנין את החמה ביופיין,
והיו כשדיות רואות אותן
ושופעות זבות.
אמרו לבעליהן,
ובעליהן למלך.
צוה המלך --
והרגום,
ועדיין היו שופעות זבות.
צוה המלך --
ורמסום.
R' Yoḥanan says: These are the dead from the Dura Valley (see Daniel, chapter 3).
And R' Yoḥanan says:
These corpses filled the area from the Eshel River (נהר אשל) to Rabat, which constitutes the Dura Valley (רבת בקעת דורא).
As, at the time that Nebuchadnezzar the wicked exiled the Jewish people to Babylonia,
there were among them youths (בחורים) who ‘overshadowed the sun’ (מגנין את החמה) with their beauty,
and the Chaldean women (כשדיות) would see them,
and desire them, and discharge the flow of a zava (שופעות זבות).
These women told their husbands,
and their husbands told the king.
The king ordered the youths executed --
and his servants executed them.
And their execution did not resolve the problem, as the women were still discharging the flow of a zava. Even after death, the youths’ beauty remained intact.
The king ordered that their corpses be taken to the valley, --
and his servants trampled them (רמסום) so that their form would no longer be visible.
It's worth pointing out that R' Yehuda ben Beteira lived more than 600 years after the figures he claims descent from. Ezekiel lived in the early 6th century BCE, while R' Yehuda ben Beteira was active in the early to mid-2nd century CE.
For other similar claims of descent over a similar time period, see my “The Eight Second Temple Clans in the Schedule of the Wood Offering, Purported Descendants of Families mentioned in Late Biblical Books (Mishnah, Ta'anit 4:5)“.
And more specifically: “from the Eshel River (נהר אשל) to Rabat Dura Valley (רבת בקעת דורא)“.
“Dura Valley” appears in Daniel 3:1, as the location of Nebuchadnezzar’s giant statue (as elaborated on in the next sugya).
See Michlol, “בקעת דורא”, my translation:
Valley of Dura – This is a valley in Babylonia, where, according to the Book of Daniel (3:1), Nebuchadnezzar set up the golden statue (פסל הזהב).
According to the Talmudic rabbis, it is also the place where the “Generation of the Dispersion” ( דור הפלגה) built the Tower of Babel, and where Ezekiel revived the dead.
In the Book of Daniel, it is told that Nebuchadnezzar built a golden statue in the Valley of Dura, sixty cubits high and six cubits wide [...]
In the Talmud (=our sugya) it is stated that Ezekiel's Vision of the Valley of Dry Bones occurred in the Valley of Dura. He revived them after Nebuchadnezzar had set up his statue there and cast Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah into the fiery furnace for refusing to bow to it.
On the word “Dura”, see Wikipedia, “Dura-Europos“, section “History“, that Dura means "fortress" in Aramaic.
And see Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible, entry “DURA, PLAIN OF”:
The precise locality is uncertain, but it must have been in the vicinity of Babylon.
Perhaps the name is derived from the Babylonian duru = ‘wall,’ which is frequently used as a town name.
Oppert […] found a small river so named, falling into the Euphrates 6 or 7 miles S.E. of Babylon, the neighbouring mounds being also named Tolul Dura.
“Eshel River” is not mentioned anywhere else in classical sources.
מגנין.
See Jastrow (modernized):
גני, גנה
(compare גנן)
“to cover, be covered”
Piel -
גינה, גנה
“to overshadow, to obscure, to put to shame, to censure”
Sanhedrin 92b:
היו מגנין את החמה וכ׳ - “obscured the sun with their beauty”
Gittin 58a:
היו מג׳ את הפז וכ׳ - “they outshone the finest gold with their beauty”
Sanhedrin see above:
ביקש לגנות וכ׳ - “he would have attempted to excel all the praises etc.”
Shabbat 33b:
שגי׳ - “who criticised (the Roman government)”
and frequently.
passive participle:
מגונה -
“deserving to be covered up, reprehensible, indecent”
ugly.
Pesahim 3a:
דבר מג׳ - “an ugly expression”
for example טמא in place of - לא טהור
Berakhot 33b:
הרי זה מג׳ - “he is to be reprehended”
ibid. 45b, opposed to: משובח
and frequently.
Jastrow evidently sees the semantic evolution as follows:
“to cover” → “to overshadow, to obscure” → “to put to shame, to censure”.
However, it’s more likely that “to put to shame, to censure, to criticize” is the root meaning. In our context, the phrase means “put the sun to shame”.
See Hebrew Wiktionary, “גִּנָּה ב“, and compare also these cognate words, all with negative connotations, relating to “shame, disgrace”:
שופעות זבות - literally: “flowing zavah“.
Women discharging due to lust is a common trope in the Talmudic literature.
רמסום - “trampled them, crushed them”.
I.e., in order to destroy their handsome appearance.
Compare the usage of this same unusual Hebrew verb in my piece “Three Charges, Many Miracles: The Trial of R’ Elazar ben Perata (Avodah Zarah 17b)“, section ““Why didn’t you come to the house of Abidan?“, where it’s used to refer to being inadvertently crushed or trampled by a crowd:
א"ל: ומ"ט לא אתית לבי אבידן?
אמר להו: זקן הייתי, ומתיירא אני, שמא תרמסוני ברגליכם
[אמרו]: ועד האידנא, כמה סבי איתרמוס?!
אתרחיש ניסא, ההוא יומא אירמס חד סבא
The Romans said to him [=R’ Elazar ben Perata]: And what is the reason that you did not come to the house of Abidan? This was a gathering place where debates on wisdom and faith were conducted.
R' Elazar ben Perata said to them: I was old and feared that perhaps I would be trampled under your feet, due to the huge crowds.
The Romans said: And until now, how many elders have been trampled there, that you would be worried about such a possibility?!
The Gemara comments: A miracle occurred, and on that day, one old man was trampled.
And see my note there.