Ezekiel 36:21

But I had pity for mine holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the heathen, whither they went.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(21) Pity for mine holy name.—The meaning of this has been already explained in the Note on the previous verse; and in the following verses it is emphasised that God would restore His people, not for their sakes, but for His own.

Benson Commentary

Ezekiel 36:21-23. But I had pity for my holy name — That is, as it is expressed Ezekiel 20:9, I wrought for my name’s sake, that it should not be polluted, or brought into disgrace, among the heathen: I preserved, reformed, brought back my people from captivity, and re-established them in their own land, for the honour of my mercy, truth, and power. Say, I do not do this for your sakes, &c. — The promises I make in your favour are not owing to any desert of yours, but purely to vindicate my own honour. And I will sanctify my great name, &c. — I will give illustrious proofs of my power and goodness, and vindicate my honour from the reproaches with which it hath been blasphemed among the heathen, upon the occasion of your evil doings and your sufferings. And the heathen shall know that I am the Lord — The return of the Jews from the Babylonish captivity was taken notice of by the heathen as a signal instance of God’s providence toward them, as appears from Psalm 126:2. And their general conversion, and future restoration to their own land, will be a much more remarkable proof of God’s fulfilling the promises made to their fathers; so that the heathen themselves will be compelled to observe and acknowledge it: see Ezekiel 37:28. When I shall be sanctified in you before your eyes — When, by means of the wonderful power and goodness which I shall manifest in your restoration, they shall be convinced that I am indeed the living and true God.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

36:16-24 The restoration of that people, being typical of our redemption by Christ, shows that the end aimed at in our salvation is the glory of God. The sin of a people defiles their land; renders it abominable to God, and uncomfortable to themselves. God's holy name is his great name; his holiness is his greatness, nor does any thing else make a man truly great.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

I had pity for mine holy name - Render it: I "had" a pitiful regard to "Mine Holy Name."

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

21. I had pity for mine holy name—that is, I felt pity for it; God's own name, so dishonored, was the primary object of His pitying concern; then His people, secondarily, through His concern for it [Fairbairn].

Matthew Poole's Commentary

I had pity; I spared them, who in captivity continued to sin greatly against me, and for which sins I had just cause to cut them off; but I had pity.

For mine holy name; for my own sake, and for the glory of my name: had I destroyed them, the heathen would have concluded against my omnipotence and my truth. I preserved, I reduced, I re-established them for the honour of my mercy, truth, and power.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

But I had pity for my holy name,.... Had pity on the Jews for his name's sake, and not theirs; or he had a tender concern for his own honour and glory:

which the house of Israel had profaned among the Heathen, whither they went; and therefore was resolved to take a method for the glorifying of it, and that in a way of special grace and mercy to his people; See Gill on Ezekiel 36:20.

Geneva Study Bible

But I had pity for my holy {l} name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the nations, to which they went.

(l) And therefore would not permit my Name to be had in contempt, as the heathen would have reproached me, if I had allowed my Church to perish.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

21. Cf. Ezekiel 20:9; Ezekiel 20:14.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 21. - I had pity for mille holy Name. Havernick, after the LXX., wrongly renders, "I spared (them, i.e. Israel) for my holy Name s sake; but the preposition for or "upon" following the verb usually marks the object upon which the action of the verb terminates (see Ezekiel 16:5). Gesenius translates, "I will be sparing of my holy Name;" i.e. I will care for its honor. Ezekiel 36:21

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

The Salvation of Israel Founded upon Its Sanctification

Because Israel has defiled its land by its sins, God has scattered the people among the heathen; but because they also profaned His name among the heathen, He will exercise forbearance for the sake of His holy name (Ezekiel 36:16-21), will gather Israel out of the lands, cleanse it from its sins, and sanctify it by the communication of His Spirit, so that it will walk in His ways (Ezekiel 36:22-28), and will so bless and multiply it, that both the nations around and Israel itself will know that He is the Lord (Ezekiel 36:29-38). - This promise is shown by the introductory formula in Ezekiel 36:16 and by the contents to be an independent word of God; but it is substantially connected in the closest manner with the preceding word of God, showing, on the one hand, the motive which prompted God to restore and bless His people;, and, on the other hand, the means by which He would permanently establish the salvation predicted in Ezekiel 34 and Ezekiel 36:1-15. - The kernel of this promise is formed by Ezekiel 36:25-28, for which the way is prepared in Ezekiel 36:17-24, whilst the further extension is contained in Ezekiel 36:29-38.

Ezekiel 36:16-21

The Lord will extend His forbearance, for the sake of His holy name, to the people who have been rejected on account of their sins. - Ezekiel 36:16. And the word of Jehovah came to me, saying, Ezekiel 36:17. Son of man, the house of Israel dwelt in its land, and defiled it with its way and its doings; like the uncleanness of the unclean woman, was its way before me. Ezekiel 36:18. Then I poured out my fury upon them on account of the blood which they had shed in the land, and because they had defiled it through their idols, Ezekiel 36:19. And scattered them among the nations, and they were dispersed in the land; according to their way and their doings I judge them. Ezekiel 36:20. And they came to the nations whither they came, and profaned my holy name, for men said of them, "These are Jehovah's people, and they have come out of His land." Ezekiel 36:21. And so I had pity upon my holy name, which the house of Israel profaned among the nations whither they came. - The address commences with a description of the reasons why God had thrust out His people among the heathen, namely, on account of their sins and idolatrous abominations, by which the Israelites had defiled the land (cf. Leviticus 18:28 and Numbers 35:34). Their conduct resembled the most offensive uncleanness, namely, the uncleanness of a woman in her menstruation (Leviticus 15:19), to which the moral depravity of the people had already been compared in Isaiah 64:5. - In Ezekiel 36:18 the consequence of the defiling of the land by the people is introduced with the impression ואשׁפּך. In Ezekiel 36:17, ויטמּאוּ is the continuation of the participle ישׁבים; and the participle is expressive of the condition in the past, as we may see from the words 'ואשׁפּך וגו. The simile in Ezekiel 36:17 is an explanatory, circumstantial clause. For Ezekiel 36:18, compare Ezekiel 7:8, and for 'על הדּם וגו, Ezekiel 22:3, Ezekiel 22:6. The last clause, "and through their idols they have defiled it," is loosely appended; but it really contains a second reason for the pouring out of the wrath of God upon the people. For Ezekiel 36:19, compare Ezekiel 22:15. ויּבוא in Ezekiel 36:20 refers to בּית־ישׂראל; but there is no necessity to read ויבאוּ on that account. It is perfectly arbitrary to supply the subject proposed by Kliefoth, viz., "the report of what had happened to Israel" came to the heathen, which is quite foreign to the connection; for it was not the report concerning Israel, but Israel itself, which came to the heathen, and profaned the sacred name of God. This is not only plainly expressed in Ezekiel 36:21, but has been already stated in Ezekiel 36:20. The fact that the words of the heathen, by which the name of God was profaned, are quoted here, does not prove that it is the heathen nations who are to be regarded as those who profaned the name of God, as Kliefoth imagines. The words, "these are Jehovah's people, and have come out of His (Jehovah's) land," could only contain a profanation of the holy name of God, if their coming out was regarded as involuntary, i.e., as an exile enforced by the power of the heathen; or, on the other hand, if the Israelites themselves had denied the holiness of the people of God through their behaviour among the heathen. Most of the commentators have decided in favour of the former view. Vatablus, for example, gives this explanation: "if their God whom they preach had been omnipotent, He would not have allowed them to be expelled from His land." And we must decide in favour of this exposition, not only because of the parallel passages, such as Numbers 14:16 and Jeremiah 33:24, which support this view; but chiefly on account of the verses which follow, according to which the sanctification of the name of God among the nations consists in the fact that God gathers Israel out of its dispersion among the nations, and leads them back into His own land (vid., Ezekiel 36:23 and Ezekiel 36:24). Consequently the profanation of His name can only have consisted in the fact that Israel was carried away out of its own land, and scattered in the heathen lands. For, since the heathen acknowledged only national gods, and regarded Jehovah as nothing more than such a national god of Israel, they did not look upon the destruction of the kingdom of Judah and the carrying away of the people as a judgment of the almighty and holy God upon His people, but concluded that that catastrophe was a sign of the inability of Jehovah to defend His land and save His people. The only way in which God could destroy this delusion was by manifesting Himself to the heathen as the almighty God and Lord of the whole world through the redemption and glorification of His people. ואחמל על־שׁם ק: so I had pity, compassion upon my holy name. The preterite is prophetic, inasmuch as the compassion consists in the gathering of Israel out of the nations, which is announced in Ezekiel 36:22. as still in the future. The rendering, "I spared (them) for my holy name's sake" (lxx, Hvernick), is false; for חמל is construed with על, governing the person or the thing toward which the compassion is shown (vid., Ezekiel 16:5 and 2 Chronicles 36:15, 2 Chronicles 36:17).