Ezekiel 20:9

NET Bible® (New English Translation)

I acted for the sake of my reputation, so that I would not be profaned before the nations among whom they lived, before whom I revealed myself by bringing them out of the land of Egypt.

📖 Grammatical Analysis

Original Text

וָאַ֙עַשׂ֙ לְמַ֣עַן שְׁמִ֔י לְבִלְתִּ֥י הֵחֵ֛ל לְעֵינֵ֥י הַגּוֹיִ֖ם אֲשֶׁר־הֵ֣מָּה בְתוֹכָ֑ם אֲשֶׁ֨ר נוֹדַ֤עְתִּי אֲלֵיהֶם֙ לְעֵ֣ינֵיהֶ֔ם לְהוֹצִיאָ֖ם מֵאֶ֥רֶץ מִצְרָֽיִם׃

Transliteration

And-wāʾaʿaś for-sake-of šĕmî lĕbiltî hēḥēl before-eyes-of the-gôyim which-they bĕtôkām, which nôdaʿtî to-them before-ʿênêhem lĕhôṣîʾām from-ʾereṣ miṣrāyim.

Grammar Details

• *wāʾaʿaś*: waw-consecutive with qal imperfect, 1st singular - and I acted
• *šĕmî*: noun, masculine singular with 1st person singular suffix - my name
• *lĕbiltî*: preposition with negative particle - so as not to
• *hēḥēl*: verb, niphal infinitive construct - to be profaned/defiled
• *gôyim*: noun, masculine plural with definite article - nations
• *bĕtôkām*: preposition with noun, masculine singular construct and 3rd masculine plural suffix - in their midst
• *nôdaʿtî*: verb, niphal perfect, 1st singular - I made myself known
• *ʿênêhem*: noun, feminine dual with 3rd masculine plural suffix - their eyes
• *lĕhôṣîʾām*: preposition with hiphil infinitive construct and 3rd masculine plural suffix - to bring them out
• *ʾereṣ*: noun, feminine singular construct - land of
• *miṣrāyim*: proper noun - Egypt

Word Meanings

• *wāʾaʿaś* *lĕmaʿan* *šĕmî*: and I acted for the sake of my name (idiom for protecting reputation)
• *lĕbiltî* *hēḥēl*: so as not to be profaned/so it would not be defiled
• *nôdaʿtî*: I made myself known/I revealed myself

Referenced Verses

• Ezek 20:14 : 14 I acted for the sake of my reputation, so that I would not be profaned before the nations in whose sight I had brought them out.
• Ezek 20:22 : 22 But I refrained from doing so, and acted instead for the sake of my reputation, so that I would not be profaned before the nations in whose sight I had brought them out.
• Ezek 39:7 : 7 “‘I will make my holy name known in the midst of my people Israel; I will not let my holy name be profaned anymore. Then the nations will know that I am the LORD, the Holy One of Israel.
• Ezek 36:21-22 : 21 I was concerned for my holy reputation which the house of Israel profaned among the nations where they went. 22 “Therefore say to the house of Israel,‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: It is not for your sake that I am about to act, O house of Israel, but for the sake of my holy reputation which you profaned among the nations where you went.
• Exod 32:12 : 12 Why should the Egyptians say,‘For evil he led them out to kill them in the mountains and to destroy them from the face of the earth’? Turn from your burning anger, and relent of this evil against your people.
• Num 14:13-25 : 13 Moses said to the LORD,“When the Egyptians hear it– for you brought up this people by your power from among them– 14 then they will tell it to the inhabitants of this land. They have heard that you, LORD, are among this people, that you, LORD, are seen face to face, that your cloud stands over them, and that you go before them by day in a pillar of cloud and in a pillar of fire by night. 15 If you kill this entire people at once, then the nations that have heard of your fame will say, 16 ‘Because the LORD was not able to bring this people into the land that he swore to them, he killed them in the wilderness.’ 17 So now, let the power of my Lord be great, just as you have said, 18 ‘The LORD is slow to anger and abounding in loyal love, forgiving iniquity and transgression, but by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children until the third and fourth generations.’ 19 Please forgive the iniquity of this people according to your great loyal love, just as you have forgiven this people from Egypt even until now.” 20 Then the LORD said,“I have forgiven them as you asked. 21 But truly, as I live, all the earth will be filled with the glory of the LORD. 22 For all the people have seen my glory and my signs that I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and yet have tempted me now these ten times, and have not obeyed me, 23 they will by no means see the land that I swore to their fathers, nor will any of them who despised me see it. 24 Only my servant Caleb, because he had a different spirit and has followed me fully– I will bring him into the land where he had gone, and his descendants will possess it. 25 (Now the Amalekites and the Canaanites were living in the valleys.) Tomorrow, turn and journey into the wilderness by the way of the Red Sea.”
• Deut 9:28 : 28 Otherwise the people of the land from which you brought us will say,“The LORD was unable to bring them to the land he promised them, and because of his hatred for them he has brought them out to kill them in the wilderness.”
• Deut 32:26-27 : 26 The Weakness of Other Gods“I said,‘I want to cut them in pieces. I want to make people forget they ever existed. 27 But I fear the reaction of their enemies, for their adversaries would misunderstand and say,“Our power is great, and the LORD has not done all this!”’
• Josh 2:10 : 10 For we heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red Sea before you when you left Egypt and how you annihilated the two Amorite kings, Sihon and Og, on the other side of the Jordan.
• Josh 7:9 : 9 When the Canaanites and all who live in the land hear about this, they will turn against us and destroy the very memory of us from the earth. What will you do to protect your great reputation?”
• Josh 9:9-9 : 9 They told him,“Your subjects have come from a very distant land because of the reputation of the LORD your God, for we have heard the news about all he did in Egypt 10 and all he did to the two Amorite kings on the other side of the Jordan– King Sihon of Heshbon and King Og of Bashan in Ashtaroth.
• 1 Sam 4:8 : 8 Woe to us! Who can deliver us from the hand of these mighty gods? These are the gods who struck the Egyptians with all sorts of plagues in the desert!
• 1 Sam 12:22 : 22 The LORD will not abandon his people because he wants to uphold his great reputation. The LORD was pleased to make you his own people.