Ezekiel 20:17

17 But I had compassion on them. I didn't destroy them or completely wipe them out in the desert.

Ezekiel 20:17 Meaning and Commentary

Ezekiel 20:17

Nevertheless, mine eye spared them from destroying them
Utterly, so as to leave neither root nor branch; for though the whole generation died excepting two, either by the immediate hand of God in wrath, or else by ordinary deaths; yet there was a generation raised up in their stead, to whom mercy was shown: neither did I make an end of them in the wilderness;
that they should be no more a nation and people; though the carcasses of them that believed not fell in the wilderness, and never saw the good land, yet their posterity was spared to see it, and did.

Ezekiel 20:17 In-Context

15 I also swore an oath to them in the desert. I swore that I would not bring them into the land that I had promised to give them. This land is the most beautiful land, a land flowing with milk and honey.
16 They rejected my rules, and they didn't live by my laws. They dishonored the days to worship me, because their hearts chased disgusting idols.
17 But I had compassion on them. I didn't destroy them or completely wipe them out in the desert.
18 I said to their children in the desert, "Don't live by the laws of your ancestors. Don't obey their rules or dishonor yourselves with their disgusting idols.
19 I am the LORD your God. Live by my laws. Obey my rules and follow them.
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