The Pulpit Commentary on Ezekiel 37:9

The Pulpit Commentary · Joseph S. Exell and contributors · Public domain

The finishing stage began by the prophet receiving a command to prophesy unto the wind (better, breath, or spirit), and to summon it from the four "breaths," or "winds" (in this case the preferable rendering), that it might breathe upon the slain.

"Four winds" are mentioned, as in Ezekiel 40:20, to indicate the four quarters of heaven (comp. Ezekiel 5:10, Ezekiel 5:12; Ezekiel 12:14; Ezekiel 17:21), and perhaps also to suggest the immense quantity of vitalizing force demanded by the multitude of the dead (Smend), "the fullness and force of the Spirit's operations" (Hengstenberg), or the notion that the Spirit, in resuscitating Israel, would make use of all the varied forces that were then working in the world (Plumptre).

The designation of the dead as slain reveals that the resurrection intended was not that of men in general, but of the nation of Israel.

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