Ezekiel 36:20

20 And they entered to heathen men, to which they entered, and defouled mine holy name, when it was said to them, This is the people of the Lord, and they went out of the land of him. (And when they entered to the heathen, to whomever they entered, they defiled my holy name, for it was said of them, This is the people of the Lord, and they have gone out of his land.)

Ezekiel 36:20 Meaning and Commentary

Ezekiel 36:20

And when they entered unto the Heathen, whither they went,
&c.] When the Jews went into the Heathen countries, whither they were carried captive, either by the Chaldeans, or by the Romans: they profaned my holy name;
by their irreligion and immorality; by their violation of both tables of the law; by their wicked lives and conversations, whereby they gave the enemy an occasion to reproach them, their religion, and their God, ( Romans 2:24 ) : when they said to them, these are the people of the Lord, and are gone
forth out of his land;
these are the men that boast they are the people of the Lord, whom he has chosen above all people, and see what a wicked people they are; for their sins they are driven out of the land, and become our captives: or though they were the Lord's people, as they pretend, and were under his care and protection; yet he was not able to keep them in their own land, and deliver them out of our hands, but they are carried captive by us; and thus the name of God, his being and perfections, were blasphemed, and his word, worship, and worshippers, were ridiculed by them. The Targum is,

``if these are the people of the Lord, how is it that they are gone out of the land of the house of his majesty?''

Ezekiel 36:20 In-Context

18 And I shedded out mine indignation on them, for [the] blood which they shedded on the land, and in their idols they defouled it. (And I poured out my indignation upon them, for the blood which they poured out upon the land, and for their idols with which they defiled it.)

19 And I scattered them among heathen men, and they were winnowed into lands; I deemed them by the ways and findings of them. (And I scattered them among the heathen, and they were winnowed into other lands; I judged them for their ways and their deeds.)

20 And they entered to heathen men, to which they entered, and defouled mine holy name, when it was said to them, This is the people of the Lord, and they went out of the land of him. (And when they entered to the heathen, to whomever they entered, they defiled my holy name, for it was said of them, This is the people of the Lord, and they have gone out of his land.)

21 And I spared (them for the sake of) mine holy name, which the house of Israel had defouled among heathen men, to which they entered. (And I spared them for the sake of my holy name, which the house of Israel had defiled among the heathen, to whom they had entered.)

22 Therefore thou shalt say to the house of Israel, The Lord God saith these things, O! ye house of Israel, not for you I shall do, but for mine holy name, which ye defouled among heathen men, to which ye entered. (And so thou shalt say to the house of Israel, The Lord God saith these things, O! ye house of Israel, I shall not do this for you, but for the sake of my holy name, which ye defiled among the heathen, to whom ye had entered.)