📖 Biblical Definition
The hard internal structure of the body; in Scripture, the kinship-marker of marriage (this is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh), the figure of structural strength, the seat of deep emotion (Ps 6:2), and the object of resurrection in Ezekiel's valley of dry bones (Ezek 37). The Lord watches over the bones of the righteous so that not one of them is broken.
📜 Webster 1828 Definition
BONE, n.
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1. A hard substance constituting the framework or skeleton of an animal body. 2. In scripture, used metaphorically for that which is strongest or innermost.
📖 Key Scripture
Genesis 2:23 — "This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman."
Ezekiel 37:5 — "I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live."
Psalm 34:20 — "He keepeth all his bones: not one of them is broken."
John 19:36 — "These things were done, that the scripture should be fulfilled, A bone of him shall not be broken."
⚠️ Modern Corruption
Crucified victims were standardly leg-broken to hasten death; Christ's bones were unbroken because Psalm 34 had to stand.
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Roman crucifixion standardly involved crurifragium — breaking the legs of the dying victim to hasten suffocation. The two thieves crucified beside Christ had their legs broken; Christ was already dead, and the soldiers, finding it so, did not break His legs. John 19:36 cites the prophetic reason: a bone of him shall not be broken. The Passover lamb of Exodus 12 had to be roasted whole, with no bone broken; Psalm 34:20 promised it of the righteous; both prophecies landed together at the cross.
Ezekiel 37 lifts the bone-theology higher. The valley of dry bones is the future resurrection of national Israel and, by extension, of every saint. The Lord asks: can these bones live? Ezekiel answers: O Lord God, thou knowest. The same Lord who knit our bones in the womb (Ps 139) will reassemble them on resurrection morning. Bones are not the end. The Breath that walked through Eden walks back through the valley.
🔗 Greek & Hebrew Roots
Hebrew etsem (H6106); Greek osteon (G3747).
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H6106 — etsem — bone; substance; very thing
G3747 — osteon — bone
H7307 — ruach — breath, spirit (Ezek 37)
Usage
"A bone of Him shall not be broken — Psalm 34 had to stand at the cross."
"The valley of dry bones is the saint's resurrection address; the Breath is on its way back."
"Bone of my bones — the deepest kinship in Scripture is between Adam and Eve, and behind it Christ and the Church."