The rabbis of the Talmud believed in God’s ability to resurrect the dead and asserted that only those who share this belief will merit the World to Come. Yesterday, we saw a logical argument in support of resurrection made by Geviha ben Pesisa. But the rabbis prefer textual proof over logic.
This is a tall order. The Hebrew Bible has no passages that clearly articulate the idea that the dead will be resurrected. In fact, it seems to have little idea of an afterlife. Over the last few pages of Sanhedrin, the rabbis have combed the text of the Torah for references that support the doctrine of resurrection, but largely come up short. The Torah is silent on the matter and the verses that the rabbis propose are far from conclusive. On today’s daf, the rabbis turn from the Torah to the Books of the Prophets in their quest for textual support. They land on one of the prophet Ezekial’s most famous visions.
Ezekiel 37 reports the prophet’s strange vision of a valley filled with dry bones. After bringing him to this mysterious place, God commands Ezekiel to prophesy over the bones which immediately reassemble, grow flesh and ultimately begin to breathe, becoming living people once again. Then God tells Ezekiel: “These bones are the whole House of Israel. They say, ‘Our bones are dried up, our hope is gone; we are doomed.’ Prophesy, therefore, and say to them: Thus said God: ‘I am going to open your graves and lift you out of the graves, O My people, and bring you to the land of Israel.’” (Ezekiel 37:11–12)
In context, the prophet’s message is clear: Just as the bones in the valley were brought back to life, so too will Israel be revived from destruction and restored to its land. It’s a message of political rehabilitation. The rabbis, however, were divided about whether this also refers to individual resurrection in the World to Come, as we learn in a beraita:
Rabbi Eliezer says: The dead that Ezekiel revived stood on their feet, sang to God and died.
Rabbi Yehuda says: Ezekiel’s depiction of the dry bones that came to life was truth and it was a parable.
Rabbi Nehemya said to Rabbi 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.
Rabbi Eliezer son of Rabbi Yosei HaGelili, says: Not only was it not a parable, the dead that Ezekiel revived ascended to the land of Israel and married wives and fathered sons and daughters.
Rabbi 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.
Rabbi Yehuda states that Ezekiel’s vision was both truth and a parable, implying that the events described by the prophet literally occurred and also served as a message of hope to the downcast people of Israel. When challenged by Rabbi Nehemya, it becomes clear that he means that the vision was meant to serve as a parable alone and that the events it described did not actually happen.
Rabbi Eliezer says that what Ezekiel saw was not merely a vision, it was reality: The deceased came back to life, although only for a short time. Rabbi Eliezer son of Rabbi Yosei HaGelili (a different Rabbi Eliezer) agrees that the bones came back to life, but suggests that their resurrection was much longer lasting, enabling them to settle in Israel, get married and raise families. Rabbi Yehuda ben Beteira rises to support this view based on his family’s tradition that they descended from those resurrected people — and he brings a family heirloom to support his claim.
The Talmud does not explicitly choose from amongst the three different readings of Ezekiel 37, although it moves on to try to identify the dead whom Ezekiel revived — a nod, perhaps, to the more literal readings.
The prophetic books are full of metaphors and parables. Ezekiel’s message to the people of Israel is focused on their collective destiny and not on the possibility that individuals can be brought back to life after their lives have ended. Yet, as we have seen time and again, the original context of a biblical passage informs but does not serve to limit the rabbis’ interpretation. As a result, this passage was and continues to be a touchstone for those who seek to find biblical support for the doctrine of the resurrection of the dead.
Read all of Sanhedrin 92 on Sefaria.
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This piece originally appeared in a My Jewish Learning Daf Yomi email newsletter sent on March 19, 2025. If you are interested in receiving the newsletter, sign up here.
