Ezekiel 20:22

22 But I withheld My hand and acted because of My name, so that it would not be profaned in the eyes of the nations in whose sight I brought them out.

Ezekiel 20:22 Meaning and Commentary

Ezekiel 20:22

Nevertheless I withdrew mine hand
When it was stretched out against them, as in the above instance, and did not utterly consume them. The Targum is,

``and I turned away the stroke of my might:''

and wrought for my name's sake, that it should not be polluted in the
sight of the heathen, in whose sight I brought them forth.
(See Gill on Ezekiel 20:9) and (See Gill on Ezekiel 20:14).

Ezekiel 20:22 In-Context

20 Keep My Sabbaths holy, and they will be a sign between Me and you, so you may know that I am the Lord your God.

21 "But the children rebelled against Me. They did not follow My statutes or carefully keep My ordinances-the person who does them will live by them. They also profaned My Sabbaths. So I considered pouring out My wrath on them and exhausting My anger against them in the wilderness.

22 But I withheld My hand and acted because of My name, so that it would not be profaned in the eyes of the nations in whose sight I brought them out.

23 However, I swore to them in the wilderness that I would disperse them among the nations and scatter them among the countries.

24 For they did not practice My ordinances but rejected My statutes and profaned My Sabbaths, and their eyes were fixed on their fathers' idols.