Topical Encyclopedia
In the Bible, bones are often mentioned both literally and metaphorically, symbolizing strength, structure, and the essence of life. The Hebrew word for bone is "עֶצֶם" (etsem), and the Greek equivalent is "ὀστέον" (osteon). Bones are integral to the human body, providing support and protection for vital organs, and they are frequently used in Scripture to convey deeper spiritual truths.
Creation and Life:The creation of woman from Adam's rib is a foundational narrative involving bones. In
Genesis 2:21-23 , God causes Adam to fall into a deep sleep, takes one of his ribs, and forms Eve. Adam acknowledges this divine act by declaring, "This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called 'woman,' for out of man she was taken." This passage highlights the intimate connection between man and woman and underscores the significance of bones in the creation account.
Symbol of Strength and Vitality:Bones are often associated with strength and vitality. In
Proverbs 3:7-8 , the text advises, "Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD and turn away from evil. This will bring healing to your body and refreshment to your bones." Here, bones symbolize the health and well-being that come from living a life in reverence to God.
Metaphorical Use:Bones are used metaphorically to express deep emotions and spiritual conditions. In
Psalm 32:3 , David reflects on the burden of unconfessed sin, saying, "When I kept silent, my bones became brittle from my groaning all day long." This imagery conveys the physical and spiritual toll of sin and the relief that comes with confession and forgiveness.
Resurrection and Restoration:The vision of the Valley of Dry Bones in
Ezekiel 37 is a powerful depiction of resurrection and restoration. God commands Ezekiel to prophesy over the dry bones, and they miraculously come to life, symbolizing the restoration of Israel.
Ezekiel 37:5-6 states, "This is what the Lord GOD says to these bones: 'I will cause breath to enter you, and you will come to life. I will attach tendons to you and make flesh grow upon you and cover you with skin. I will put breath in you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the LORD.'" This passage emphasizes God's power to restore life and hope to His people.
Judgment and Consequences:Bones also appear in contexts of judgment and consequence. In
2 Kings 23:16 , King Josiah defiles the altar at Bethel by burning human bones on it, fulfilling a prophecy and demonstrating God's judgment against idolatry. This act signifies the desecration of false worship and the seriousness of turning away from God.
New Testament References:In the New Testament, bones are mentioned in the context of Jesus' crucifixion.
John 19:36 notes, "Now these things happened so that the Scripture would be fulfilled: 'Not one of His bones will be broken.'" This fulfillment of prophecy underscores the perfection and completeness of Christ's sacrificial death, as foretold in the Old Testament (
Psalm 34:20).
Conclusion:Throughout Scripture, bones serve as a profound symbol of life, strength, and divine intervention. They remind believers of the importance of spiritual health, the reality of God's judgment, and the hope of resurrection and restoration through God's power.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary
1. (
n.) The hard, calcified tissue of the skeleton of vertebrate animals, consisting very largely of calcic carbonate, calcic phosphate, and gelatine; as, blood and bone.
2. (n.) One of the pieces or parts of an animal skeleton; as, a rib or a thigh bone; a bone of the arm or leg; also, any fragment of bony substance. (pl.) The frame or skeleton of the body.
3. (n.) Anything made of bone, as a bobbin for weaving bone lace.
4. (n.) Two or four pieces of bone held between the fingers and struck together to make a kind of music.
5. (n.) Dice.
6. (n.) Whalebone; hence, a piece of whalebone or of steel for a corset.
7. (n.) Fig.: The framework of anything.
8. (v. t.) To withdraw bones from the flesh of, as in cookery.
9. (v. t.) To put whalebone into; as, to bone stays.
10. (v. t.) To fertilize with bone.
11. (v. t.) To steal; to take possession of.
12. (v. t.) To sight along an object or set of objects, to see if it or they be level or in line, as in carpentry, masonry, and surveying.
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
BONE; BONESbon (`etsem, `otsem; Aramaic gerem, by extension used for "bony frame," "body," "strength,"Psalm 35:10; "the whole man";Luke 24:39, "flesh and bones" = the solid and tangible framework of the body; figuratively the substance, the idea of a thing, the thing, per se): Figurative: Very often we find the use of these words in metaphorical phrases, in which a disease or a discomfort of the body denotes certain emotions or mental attitudes. Thus the expression "rottenness of the bones" (Proverbs 12:4;Proverbs 14:30) signifies the feelings of a man whose wife causes him shame and confusion, or is equivalent to "envy," "jealousy." The translation of the Septuagint in these passages by skolex, "worm," and ses, "maggot," "moth," is incorrect. The same phrase is used inHabakkuk 3:16 for utter dejectedness through the anticipation of approaching evil. Similarly the "shaking of the bones" (Job 4:14) is expressive of fear, and denotes dejection and sadness inJeremiah 23:9. The "burning of the bones" is found as a symptom of J ob's disease (Job 30:30), and stands for grief, depression of spirits inPsalm 102:3 andLamentations 1:13, and also for the feeling of Jeremiah, when he attempted to hold back the Divine message (Jeremiah 20:9), while "dryness of bones" (Proverbs 17:22) is the opposite of "good health." Other similar expressions of mental distress are the "piercing of the bones" (Job 30:17), the bones are "troubled" (Psalm 6:2), "out of joint" (Psalm 22:14), "consumed" (Psalm 31:10 the King James Version), "wasted away" or "waxed old" (Psalm 32:3), "broken" (Psalm 51:8Lamentations 3:4), "ill at rest" (Psalm 38:3), "bone of my bones," etc. (Genesis 2:23), having the same nature, and the nearest relation (2 Samuel 5:1) and affection (Ephesians 5:30). In the last-mentioned passage, the Revised Version (British and American) omits "of his flesh, and of his bones" as an interpolation fromGenesis 2:23. The figs. inMicah 3:2, 3 are expressive of the most cruel oppression and murder.
H. L. E. Luering
Greek
3747. osteon -- abone... osteon. 3748 . a
bone. Part of Speech: Noun, Neuter Transliteration: osteon Phonetic
Spelling: (os-teh'-on) Short Definition: a
bone Definition: a
bone.
...4974. sphudron -- the ankle
... the ankle. Part of Speech: Noun, Neuter Transliteration: sphudron Phonetic Spelling:
(sfoo-ron') Short Definition: the anklebone Definition: the anklebone....
4600. siagon -- a jawbone, by impl. cheek
... cheek. Of uncertain derivation; the jaw-bone, ie (by implication) the cheek or side
of the face -- cheek. (siagona) -- 2 Occurrences. 4599, 4600....
Strong's Hebrew
6106. etsem --bone, substance, self... 6105c, 6106. etsem. 6107 .
bone, substance, self. Transliteration: etsem
Phonetic Spelling: (eh'tsem) Short Definition: bones. Word
...1634. gerem -- abone, strength
... 1633b, 1634. gerem. 1635 . abone, strength. Transliteration: gerem Phonetic
Spelling: (gheh'-rem) Short Definition: bare....bone, strong....
1635. geram -- abone
... geram. 1636 . abone. Transliteration: geram Phonetic Spelling: (gheh'-rem) Short
Definition: bones....bone. (Aramaic) corresponding to gerem; abone --bone....
6107. Etsem -- "bone," a place in the Negev of Judah
... 6106, 6107. Etsem. 6108 . "bone," a place in the Negev of Judah. Transliteration:
Etsem Phonetic Spelling: (eh'-tsem) Short Definition: Ezem....
3895. lechi -- jaw, cheek
... cheekbone, jawbone. From an unused root meaning to be soft; the cheek (from its
fleshiness); hence, the jaw-bone -- cheek (bone), jaw (bone). 3894, 3895....
675. Etsbon -- two Israelites
... 674, 675. Etsbon. 676 . two Israelites. Transliteration: Etsbon Phonetic
Spelling: (ets-bone') Short Definition: Ezbon. Word Origin...
7070. qaneh -- a stalk, reed
... cane (2). balance,bone, branch, cane, reed, spearman, stalk. From qanah;
a reed (as erect); by resemblance a rod (especially for...
1633. garam -- to cut off, reserve
... A primitive root; to be spare or skeleton-like; used only as a denominative from
gerem; (causative) tobone, ie Denude (by extensive, craunch) the bones...
7459. reabon -- hunger, lack of food, famine
... 7458, 7459. reabon. 7460 . hunger, lack of food, famine. Transliteration: reabon
Phonetic Spelling: (reh-aw-bone') Short Definition: famine....
6162. erabon -- a pledge
... 6161, 6162. erabon. 6163 . a pledge. Transliteration: erabon Phonetic
Spelling: (ar-aw-bone') Short Definition: pledge. Word Origin...
Library
Fragment Xl. "And He Found the Jaw-Bone of an Ass. ...
... Fragment XL. "And he found the jaw-bone of an ass.? "And [4880] he found
the jaw-bone of an ass." [4881] It is to be observed...
His Military Life --He is Wounded at the Siege of Pampeluna --His...
... As the bones of his leg settled and pressed upon each other, onebone
protruded below the knee. The result was that one leg was...
Christian Unity.
... Throw them abone, and it is a truebone of contention at once. All their affection
is dead, and they are fighting each other for thebone....
Marriage not Abolished by the Commendation of virginity.
... For the casting of seed into the furrows of the matrix is the beginning of the
generation of men, so thatbone taken frombone, and flesh from flesh, by an...
The Sixth Passage of Scripture Quoted by victor.
... us now look at the quotation from Genesis, where the woman was created out of the
side of the man, and was brought to him, and he said: "This is nowbone of my...
The Argument of the Apollinarians to Prove that Christ was Without...
... Whence they, who maintain the propagation of souls might also understand that a
part is put for the whole in the passage, "Bone of mybone, and flesh of my...
"If So be that the Spirit of God Dwell in You. Now if any Man have...
... By taking on our flesh, Christ becamebone of ourbone, and flesh of our flesh;
but the union becometh mutual when we receive the Spirit, we becomebone of his...
The Domestic Relation.
... God from the rib of man made woman and brought her unto him, who said, "This is
nowbone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because...
John Chapter iv. Jan-42
... For it was the weaker sex that was being made, and weakness ought to have been made
of flesh rather than ofbone; for the bones are the stronger parts in the...
Spiritual Meaning of the Passover.
... nor sodden with water, but roast with fire; the head with the feet and the entrails;
ye shall not set any of it apart till the morning, and abone thereof ye...
Thesaurus
Bone (35 Occurrences)... hard, calcified tissue of the skeleton of vertebrate animals, consisting very largely
of calcic carbonate, calcic phosphate, and gelatine; as, blood and
bone.
...Jaw-bone (3 Occurrences)
Jaw-bone. Jawbone, Jaw-bone. Jawbones . Easton's Bible Dictionary Of an...
jaw-bone. Multi-Version Concordance Jaw-bone (3 Occurrences)....
Mouth-bone (3 Occurrences)
Mouth-bone. Mouth-bit, Mouth-bone. Mouths . Multi-Version Concordance
Mouth-bone (3 Occurrences). Judges 15:15 And taking...
Back-bone (1 Occurrence)
Back-bone. Backbone, Back-bone. Background . Multi-Version
Concordance Back-bone (1 Occurrence). Leviticus 3:9 And he...
Rump-bone (1 Occurrence)
Rump-bone. Rump, Rump-bone. Run . Multi-Version Concordance
Rump-bone (1 Occurrence). Leviticus 3:9 And he shall offer...
Jawbone (3 Occurrences)
... place that is in Lehi," etc., Lehi (qv) being the name of the hill where this conflict
was waged, possibly so called because it was in shape like a jaw-bone....
Jaw (6 Occurrences)
... 2. (n.) Hence, also, thebone itself with the teeth and covering. 3. (n.) In the
plural, the mouth.... For you have struck all of my enemies on the cheekbone....
Luz (7 Occurrences)
... Noah Webster's Dictionary. (n.) Abone of the human body which was supposed
by certain Rabbinical writers to be indestructible. Its...
Fracture (2 Occurrences)
... Noah Webster's Dictionary 1. (n.) The act of breaking or snapping; rupture; breach;
as the fracture of abone or a community. 2. (n.) The breaking of abone....
Ramathlehi (1 Occurrence)
... le'-hi (ramath lechi, "the hill" or "height of Lehi"; Anairesis siagonos): So the
place is said to have been called where Samson threw away the jaw-bone of an...
Resources
Why did God use Adam's rib to create Eve? | GotQuestions.orgWhat is wrong with the allegorical interpretation method? | GotQuestions.orgWhy did blood and water come out of Jesus' side when He was pierced? | GotQuestions.orgBone: Dictionary and Thesaurus | Clyx.comBible Concordance •
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