Bones are the hard parts that make up the skeleton in humans and animals. They stay in their original shape for a long time after a person or animal dies, even after the soft parts of the body have decayed. Because of this, people often connect bones with death.
The ancient Israelites believed it was very important to treat dead bodies with respect (Genesis 50:25; 1 Samuel 31:11–13; 2 Kings 23:14–18; Ezekiel 39:14–16; Amos 2:1.
In the book of Ezekiel, God showed the prophet a valley filled with old, dry bones. These bones represented the people of Israel who had lost all hope. But God promised to bring his Spirit and give new life to his people, just like bringing life back to dead bones (Ezekiel 37:1–14). Bones are actually living tissue in a living body. Ezekiel wrote about how broken bones could heal (Ezekiel 30:21).
When the Israelites celebrated Passover, they had to sacrifice a perfect lamb. One of the requirements was that none of the lamb's bones could be broken (Exodus 12:46; Numbers 9:11–12). This becomes important in the New Testament. The Roman soldiers usually broke the legs of people who were crucified to make them die faster. But when Jesus died on the cross, they did not break his legs. This fulfilled what the Old Testament had written about Jesus, who is called "the Lamb of God" (Psalm 34:20; John 1:36; John 19:30–37).
In some parts of the Bible, people talk about bones to describe strong feelings (Job 2:5; 19:20; 30:30). The Bible also uses the phrase "flesh and bone" to show that people are closely related to each other. When we say someone is our "flesh and bone," it means they are part of our family, just like when we say "flesh and blood" today (compare Genesis 2:23; 29:14; Judges 9:2).