science

Vision of the Valley of Dry Bones

Vision of the Valley of Dry Bones is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Vision of the Valley of Dry Bones rather than just read about it. In short: The Vision of the Valley of Dry Bones (or The Valley of Dry Bones or The Vision 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.

Key takeaways

Vision of the Valley of Dry Bones belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Vision of the Valley of Dry Bones to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Vision of the Valley of Dry Bones from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The Vision of the Valley of Dry Bones (or The Valley of Dry Bones or The Vision 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.

Literary references Herman Melville, early in his novella “Benito Cereno”, provides much description of the strange behavior and appearance of another ship, the San Dominick. As the captain and some crew of another ship get closer to it, Melville writes this paragraph:

As the whale-boat drew more and more nigh, the cause of the peculiar pipe-clayed aspect of the stranger was seen in the slovenly neglect pervading her. The spars, ropes, and great part of the bulwarks looked woolly from long unacquaintance with the scraper, tar, and the brush. Her keel seemed laid, her ribs put together, and she launched, from Ezekiel’s Valley of Dry Bones. The novelist Anthony Powell named The Valley of Bones, the seventh novel in the sequence A Dance to the Music of Time, for this part of Ezekiel 37. The novel is about the opening days of World War II. The entirety of the relevant part of Ezekiel 37 is read from the pulpit at the end of Chapter 1 by a Church of England padre to a motley group of mostly Welsh miners and bankers as well as some officers from England's upper classes as they begin to form a company. The padre suggests that not just they, but all of the British army as it prepares for war, should take this image as a way of thinking about how they need to come together. Unlike in Ezekiel, though, as the novel unfolds,

The hand and spirit of God are absent; instead, there are men – never very strong, often ineffective, seldom secure, always troubled....Powell's narrative pictures the partial breakdown of an infantry company: the personal ossification of some men, the cracking of the mold in others, the failure (and even death) of still others. Poet Glauco Ortolano wrote a poem entitled Valley of the Dry Bones based on Ezekiel 37:

In popular culture James Weldon Johnson and J. Rosamond Johnson's spiritual "Dem Bones", also known as "Dry Bones", was inspired by Ezekiel's vision of the Valley of Dry Bones. It was first recorded by The Famous Myers Jubilee Singers in 1928. In the movie True Grit the lead character Mattie Ross describes her night sleeping in a mortuary reminding her of the Valley of Dry Bones. The 2020 song "Rattle!" by Elevation Worship is based on the story of the dry bones. In the 2020 song "Persona Non Grata" by American indie band Bright Eyes, the lyrics state "Where the stained glass of crimson meets Ezekiel's visions. Saw a valley of bones where no man shall be saved." The Super Mario franchise features a recurring enemy known in English releases as Dry Bones. The enemy is an animated Koopa Troopa skeleton which falls apart when stomped on, only to reform itself moments later, often while making a rattling sound.

References

Literature

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Vision of the Valley of Dry Bones

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Vision of the Valley of Dry Bones claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Vision of the Valley of Dry Bones before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Vision of the Valley of Dry Bones ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Vision of the Valley of Dry Bones

In research: Vision of the Valley of Dry Bones appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Vision of the Valley of Dry Bones in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Vision of the Valley of Dry Bones is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Biblical dreams and visions, Bones, Book of Ezekiel, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Vision of the Valley of Dry Bones outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Vision of the Valley of Dry Bones in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Vision of the Valley of Dry Bones means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Vision of the Valley of Dry Bones out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Vision of the Valley of Dry Bones in simple terms?

Why does Vision of the Valley of Dry Bones matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Vision of the Valley of Dry Bones?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Vision of the Valley of Dry Bones.