Ezekiel 37:11

The whole house of Israel viz. Judah and Ephraim.

our hope is lost Those who speak are the living members of the nation, and it is of the nationality that they speak. The destruction and dissolution of the nation appeared to them final. It could no more be revived than the dry bones could be made to live. This feeling often appears in exile writings, e.g. Isaiah 40-56 (Isaiah 49:14 &c.) cf. the singular struggling against the idea, Lamentations 3:20 seq.

for our parts A rendering of the ethical dat., which merely gives vividness to the words "we are cut off," or expresses the feeling of those who speak by reflecting the action back upon the subject. The term "cut off" (otherwise uncommon) is used also of the servant of the Lord, Isaiah 53:8.