And I will lay sinews upon you …: God will bring the bones back to life in four steps. First, he will attach sinews to the bones. The Hebrew word for sinews (“tendons” in New International Reader’s Version) refers to the tough white strips of tissue that connect muscles to bones, but many translations extend the meaning to include the “muscles” (Contemporary English Version, New Living Translation, New Century Version) to which they are attached, probably because muscles are better known than sinews. Translators who do this would not be straying too far from the text. The Hebrew pronoun for you is plural throughout this verse because it refers to the bones.

And will cause flesh to come upon you: Second, God will put flesh on the bones. The Hebrew word for flesh refers to the meaty part of a body. Good News Translation says “muscles,” which is actually quite accurate, because most of the meaty parts of the body are muscle. But this may be a little too technical for many languages, most of which are likely to have a general term for the meat of a body. Translators may render the first two clauses of this verse as “I will allow sinews and flesh to grow on you” (Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch).

And cover you with skin is the third step for reviving the bones. The Hebrew clause here may also be rendered “and form skin over” (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh), since it does not refer to hiding the bones with skin as someone might cover a bowl with a blanket, but to forming the outer layer of the body which holds all the internal organs of the body inside. This clause may be translated “and I will make skin grow to cover you.”

And put breath in you: See the comments on the previous verse concerning this final step for reviving the bones.

And you shall live: See the previous verse.

And you shall know that I am the LORD: When the bones are fully reconstituted into new bodies, these bodies will be people again, and they will be able to recognize and respond to God’s activity. F

Quoted with permission from Gross, Carl & Stine, Philip C. A Handbook on Ezekiel. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2016. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .