Ezekiel and The Bone Song (‘Dem Bones Dem Bones’)

Dry Bones, the video above by Dan DiFelice, is something that showed up in my Vimeo inbox the other day and caught my eye.

This short film is based on the Old Testament Book of Ezekiel, chapter 37, verses 1-10. In the passage, the prophet is carried away by the spirit of God to the Valley of Dry Bones. There, God urges Ezekiel to prophesy to the bones, to tell them that He is going to reassemble and reanimate them, restore their sinews and flesh, and revive these dead bodies with the breath of life.

A couple of years ago, we went to that Body Worlds exhibit when it was in Milwaukee, and it was not a wonderful experience.

Ezekiel 37 is interpreted as a prophecy of the restoration of Israel, whose people were exiles in Babylon at the time of this vision. In a broader sense, the vision is also seen as a foreshadowing of the idea of individual resurrection of the dead.

It also reminds me that last Friday, I had a long conversation with one of the Jehovah’s Witnesses who came to my door. He left me with a Bible verse to look up and ponder on my own — John 5:28:

Do not be surprised at this,
For the hour is coming
when the dead will leave their graves
at the sound of his voice:

It’s certainly a compelling concept, this reversal of death, especially in these days leading up to Halloween, when so much outdoor life is winding down and falling away. It might be nice to rewind back to August.

Dem Bones Dem Bones

Of course, the Ezekiel passage also served as the basis for a traditional spiritual song, “Dem Bones, Dry Bones” or “Dem Dry Bones,” which, according to Wikipedia, was “used to teach basic anatomy to children.” I do remember it from my early childhood.

Here’s a clip of The Delta Rhythm Boys performing “Dem Dry Bones” (buy the song at Amazon.com or via iTunes), with the camera oddly panning them from the feet up as they progress through the verse and their half-step modulations, circa 1947:

Well the toe bone connected to your foot bone
The foot bone connected to your heel bone
The heel bone connected to your ankle bone
The ankle bone connected to your leg bone
The leg bone connected the your knee bone
The knee bone connected to your thigh bone
The thigh bone connected to your hip bone
The hip bone connected to your backbone
The back bone connected to your shoulder bone
The shoulder bone connected to your neck bone
The neck bone connected to your head bone
Now hear the word of the Lord

Modena, Italy: Couple holding hands

Finishing out my orthopedic meditation today is a news story that the Croatian Times titles “Boneo And Juliet.”

It concerns a pair of skeletons unearthed in Modena, Italy by workers renovating a palace. The couple, buried together in a joint tomb some 1,500 years ago, have been holding hands ever since (see the photo and click it for an enlargement).