© koninklijke brill nv, leiden, ���7 | doi �0.��63/�5685330-� �34�3�5 Vetus Testamentum 68 (�0 �8) 337-345 brill.com/vt Vetus Testamentum Short Note ⸪ A Near Eastern Treaty Parallel to Ezekiel’s Dry Bones Andrew R. Davis Boston College School of Theology and Ministry davisax@bc.edu Abstract An unnoticed parallel between Ezekiel 37:7 and a line from Esarhaddon’s Succession Treaty bolsters the claim that Ezekiel’s vision of dry bones was drawn from the Near Eastern treaty curse tradition. Keywords dry bones – Ezekiel – Esarhaddon – treaty – curse The vision of dry bones in Ezekiel 37:1-14 remains one of the book’s most mem- orable and intriguing passages. Among the various interpretations of the pas- sage is the opinion that the vision originated with the prophet himself. A good example of this position is Frank Hossfeld’s statement that “Erwartungsgemäß gibt es für eine so exzeptionelle Vision wie die von den Totengebeinen kein di- rektes Vorbild, das der Autor auf seine Weise abgewandelt hätte. Insofern müs- sen wir von der originalen, eigenständigen Gestaltungskraft des Propheten sprechen.”1 Similarly, Michael V. Fox argues that the vision’s strangeness and 1  Hossfeld, Untersuchungen zu Komposition und Theologie des Ezechielbuches (FB 20; Würzburg: Echter Verlag 1977), 391.