Ezekiel 36:22

Therefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord GOD; I do not this for your sakes, O house of Israel, but for mine holy name's sake, which ye have profaned among the heathen, whither ye went.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(22) Not . . . for your sakes, . . . but for mine holy name’s sake.—Comp. Exod. xxxii; Numbers 14; Deuteronomy 9. This is the constant burden of God’s teaching to His people throughout their history. Hence it is an idle objection to the Scripture narrative that it represents Israel as the favourite of heaven, and is thus just like the human legends of every other ancient nation. In fact, this narrative is unlike any other. It speaks of God as having chosen one nation as the means of accomplishing His purpose for the salvation of the whole world, but continually chastising them for their sins, again and again setting aside the mass of them, and restoring and purifying and blessing a remnant, not for their own sake, but for the accomplishment of His own holy purpose and promise, thus sanctifying His name.

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

22. not … for your sakes—that is, not for any merit in you; for, on the contrary, on your part, there is everything to call down continued severity (compare De 9:5, 6). The sole and sure ground of hope was God's regard to "His own name," as the God of covenant grace (Ps 106:45), which He must vindicate from the dishonor brought on it by the Jews, before the heathen.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

I do not this, which I have done, sparing you and preserving you, and giving you favour in the sight of the heathen; nor do I that I am about to do for you, returning you to Judea, planting you, increasing you, and establishing you, and making you a blessing; I do not this for your sake, you deserve no such kindness from me.

For mine holy name’s sake; my infinite mercy is the spring and fountain; the vindicating my name from all imputation of weakness or unfaithfulness, and the magnifying the glory of my goodness, wisdom, truth, and power, are the reasons on which I do what I do for Israel.

Which ye have profaned; brought under suspicion with the heathen, who think that the only and almighty God should do better for his own and only people!

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

Therefore say unto the house of Israel,.... This is an order to the prophet, the son of man, Ezekiel 36:17,

thus saith the Lord God, I do not this for your sakes, O house of Israel; what he hereafter promises to do for them, both with respect to things temporal and spiritual; which he did, not on account of any deserts or worthiness in them; for they had none, having done nothing to merit his favour, but, on the contrary, everything to provoke the eyes of his glory:

but for my holy name's sake, which ye have profaned among the Heathen, whither ye went; for the honour of his holy name, for the glory of his holy word, holy worship, and holy religion; all which were traduced and reproached among the Heathen, by reason of the ungodly behaviour of the Jews.

Geneva Study Bible

Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord GOD; I do not this for your sakes, O house of Israel, but for my {m} holy name's sake, which ye have profaned among the nations, to which ye went.

(m) This excludes from man all dignity and means to deserve anything by, seeing that God refers the whole to himself and that only for the glory of his holy Name.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

22. do not this for your sakes] Not for what Israel has been or deserved. The ref. is to Israel’s past history; such a meaning as that it is not for any interest which he has in Israel or in order to benefit them that Jehovah delivers them, but only to magnify his own name is entirely extraneous to the passage and a distortion of its sense. Cf. Isaiah 43:22-28; Isaiah 48:9-15. “Name” is not equivalent to person, but is a reflection or expression of the person; hence all that is due to the person or can be said of it, is due to the name and can be employed of it.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 22. - Not for your sakes... but for mine holy Name's sake. Thus Jehovah repudiates the claim of merit on Israel's part (comp. ver. 32); and if Israel had no claim on Jehovah for deliverance from the Babylonish exile any more than she had at first to be put in possession of Canaan (Deuteronomy 9:6), much less has fallen man a claim on God for salvation from the condemnation and dominion of sin (Romans 11:6; Ephesians 2:8-10). As the essential holiness and righteousness of God were the real reason of Israel's exile and dispersion among the nations, so were these qualities in God the ultimate grounds to which Israel's recovery and restoration should be traced. Ezekiel 36:22

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

For His holy name's sake the Lord will bring Israel back from its dispersion into His own land, purify it from its sins, and sanctify it by His Spirit to be His own people. - Ezekiel 36:22. Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, I do it not for your sakes, O house of Israel, but for my holy name's sake, which ye have profaned among the nations whither ye have come. Ezekiel 36:23. I will sanctify my great name, which is profaned among the nations, which ye have profaned in the midst of them, so that the nations shall know that I am Jehovah, is the saying of the Lord Jehovah, when I prove myself holy upon you before their eyes. Ezekiel 36:24. I will take you out of the nations, and gather you out of all lands, and bring you into your land, Ezekiel 36:25. And will sprinkle clean water upon you, that ye may become clean; from all your uncleannesses and from all your idols will I cleanse you, Ezekiel 36:26. And I will give you a new heart, and give a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh, and give you a heart of flesh. Ezekiel 36:27. I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and keep my rights, and do them. Ezekiel 36:28. And ye shall dwell in the land which I have given to your fathers, and shall become my people, and I will be your God. - These verses show in what way the Lord will have compassion upon His holy name, and how He will put an end to the scoffing thereat, and vindicate His honour in the sight of the heathen. "Nor for your sake," i.e., not because you have any claim to deliverance on account of your behaviour (cf. Isaiah 48:11 and Deuteronomy 9:6), but for my holy name's sake, i.e., to manifest as holy the name which has been profaned among the heathen, I do it, namely, what follows from Ezekiel 36:23 onwards. The Lord will sanctify His name, i.e., show it to be holy by proving Himself to be holy upon Israel. קדּשׁ is not equivalent to glorify, although the holiness of God involves the idea of glory. Sanctifying is the removing or expunging of the blots and blemishes which adhere to anything. The giving up of His people was regarded by the heathen as a sign of the weakness of Jehovah. This blot through which His omnipotence and glory were dishonoured, God would remove by gathering Israel out of the heathen, and glorifying it. Instead of לעיניכם, the ancient versions have rendered לעיניהם. This reading is also found in many of the codices and the earliest editions, and is confirmed by the great Masora, and also commended by the parallel passages, Ezekiel 20:41 and Ezekiel 28:25, so that it no doubt deserves the preference, although לעיניכם can also be justified. For inasmuch as Israelites had despaired in the midst of their wretchedness through unbelief, it was necessary that Jehovah should sanctify His great name in their sight as well. The great name of Jehovah is His almighty exaltation above all gods (cf. Malachi 1:11-12). The first thing that Jehovah does for the sanctification of His name is to bring back Israel from its dispersion into its own land (Ezekiel 36:24, compare Ezekiel 11:17 and Ezekiel 20:41-42); and then follows the purifying of Israel from its sins. The figurative expression, "to sprinkle with clean water," is taken from the lustrations prescribed by the law, more particularly the purifying from defilement from the dead by sprinkling with the water prepared from the ashes of a red heifer (Numbers 19:17-19; compare Psalm 51:9). Cleansing from sins, which corresponds to justification, and is not to be confounded with sanctification (Schmieder), is followed by renewal with the Holy Spirit, which takes away the old heart of stone and puts within a new heart of flesh, so that the man can fulfil the commandments of God, and walk in newness of life (Ezekiel 36:26-28; compare Ezekiel 11:18-20, where this promise has already occurred, and the necessary remarks concerning its fulfilment have been made). - With regard to the construction 'עשׂה את אשׁר , to make or effect your walking, compare Ewald, ֗337b.