Ezekiel 20:17
in Ezekiel 20Yet I looked on them with pity and did not destroy them or bring them to an end in the wilderness.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Nevertheless mine eye spared them, and I destroyed them not, neither did I make a full end of them in the wilderness.
KJV
Nevertheless mine eye spared them from destroying them, neither did I make an end of them in the wilderness.
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This verse in Ezekiel 20
Commentary
5 notes on this verseWhen he looked upon them he had compassion on them, and did not make an end of them, but reprieved them till a new generation was reared. Note, It is owing purely to the mercy of God that he has not long ago made an end of us. This new generation is well educated.
This site's exposition
I lifted up my hand unto them in the wilderness
on Ezekiel 20:15-17
The Lord swears with the same lifted hand that this generation would not enter the land, the oath fulfilled in the wilderness deaths Numbers records. Their idolatry is named plainly, for their heart went after their idols, the verdict behind the exclusion rather than the wandering alone.
This site's exposition
I looked on them with pity
Henry reads the pity as a reprieve until a new generation was reared. The fathers died in the wilderness over forty years, and their children entered the land. Numbers 14:31 promised the land to those children.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Nevertheless, mine eye spared them from destroying them,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
Nevertheless--How marvellous that God should spare such sinners! His everlasting covenant explains it, His long-suffering standing out in striking contrast to their rebellions (Ps 78:38;
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
The words behind it
9 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַתָּ֧חָס | vatachos | and it looked with compassion | H2347 → | 24 times |
| עֵינִ֛י | ʾeini | eye my | H5869 → | 887 times |
| עֲלֵיהֶ֖ם | ʾaleihem | on them | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| מִֽשַּׁחֲתָ֑ם | mishachatam | from destroying them | H7843 → | 146 times |
| וְלֹֽא־ | velo'- | and not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| עָשִׂ֧יתִי | ʾasiti | I made | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| אוֹתָ֛ם | ʾotam | <obj.> them | H853 → | 10935 times |
| כָּלָ֖ה | kalah | complete destruction | H3617 → | 21 times |
| בַּמִּדְבָּֽר׃ | bamidbar | in the wilderness | H4057 → | 270 times |
וַתָּ֧חָסand it looked with compassion
vatachosH2347 →24 times
עֵינִ֛יeye my
ʾeiniH5869 →887 times
עֲלֵיהֶ֖םon them
ʾaleihemH5921 →5755 times
מִֽשַּׁחֲתָ֑םfrom destroying them
mishachatamH7843 →146 times
וְלֹֽא־and not
velo'-H3808 →5168 times
עָשִׂ֧יתִיI made
ʾasitiH6213 →2628 times
אוֹתָ֛ם<obj.> them
ʾotamH853 →10935 times
כָּלָ֖הcomplete destruction
kalahH3617 →21 times
בַּמִּדְבָּֽר׃in the wilderness
bamidbarH4057 →270 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Jeremiah 4:27For this is what the LORD says: “The whole land will be desolate, but I will not finish its destruction.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 5:10
Go up through her vineyards and ravage them, but do not finish them off. Strip off her branches, for they do not belong to the LORD.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Jeremiah 5:18
“Yet even in those days,” declares the LORD, “I will not make a full end of you.
- Jeremiah 5:10
Through
Ezekiel 11:13Now as I was prophesying, Pelatiah son of Benaiah died. Then I fell facedown and cried out in a loud voice, “Oh, Lord GOD, will You bring the remnant of Israel to a complete…
it leads to
- Ezekiel 9:8
While they were killing, I was left alone. And I fell facedown and cried out, “Oh, Lord GOD, when You pour out Your wrath on Jerusalem, will You destroy the entire remnant of Israel?”
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Ezekiel 11:1
Then the Spirit lifted me up and brought me to the gate of the house of the LORD that faces east. And there at the entrance of the gate were twenty-five men. Among them…
- Ezekiel 9:8
Through
Nehemiah 9:19You in Your great compassion did not forsake them in the wilderness. By day the pillar of cloud never turned away from guiding them on their path; and by the night the pillar of…
it leads to
- Psalms 106:45
And He remembered His covenant with them, and relented by the abundance of His loving devotion.
- Nehemiah 9:27
So You delivered them into the hands of enemies who oppressed them, and in their time of distress they cried out to You. From heaven You heard them, and in Your great compassion You…
- Nehemiah 9:12
You led them with a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night, to light for them the way in which they should travel.
- Malachi 3:6
“Because I, the LORD, do not change, you descendants of Jacob have not been destroyed.
- Psalms 106:45
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies2
About Ezekiel
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.