Yet I looked on them with pity and did not destroy them or bring them to an end in the wilderness.
Parallel translations
- WEB Nevertheless my eye spared them, and I didn’t destroy them, 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.
- NKJV Nevertheless My eye spared them from destruction. I did not make an end of them in the wilderness.
- NASB Yet My eye spared them rather than destroying them, and I did not bring about their annihilation in the wilderness.
- NLT Nevertheless, I took pity on them and held back from destroying them in the wilderness.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Yet God's eye spared them, and He did not utterly destroy them in the wilderness. His mercy preserved a people despite their rebellion.
Overview
Even under just sentence, God tempered judgment with compassion, refusing to make a complete end of Israel. This restraint preserved the covenant line and kept His promises moving forward. It displays the steadfast love of God who, though He chastens, does not abandon His people, ultimately securing them in Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- Ezek 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 end?”
- Jer 4:27For this is what the LORD says: “The whole land will be desolate, but I will not finish its destruction.
- Jer 5:18“Yet even in those days,” declares the LORD, “I will not make a full end of you.
- Ezek 8:18Therefore I will respond with wrath. I will not look on them with pity, nor will I spare them. Although they shout loudly in My ears, I will not listen to them.”
- 1 Sam 24:10Behold, this day you have seen with your own eyes that the LORD delivered you into my hand in the cave. I was told to kill you, but I spared you and said, ‘I will not lift my hand against my lord, since he is the LORD’s anointed.’
- Neh 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 fire illuminated the way they should go.
- Ps 78:37–38Their hearts were disloyal to Him, and they were unfaithful to His covenant.
- Ezek 7:2“O son of man, this is what the Lord GOD says to the land of Israel: ‘The end! The end has come upon the four corners of the land.
- Nah 1:8–9But with an overwhelming flood He will make an end of Nineveh and pursue His enemies into darkness.
- Ezek 9:10But as for Me, I will not look on them with pity, nor will I spare them. I will bring their deeds down upon their own heads.”
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Christ at the center
The promise of one Shepherd-King David, a new heart and new Spirit, and the river of life flowing from the temple all stream toward Christ, the good Shepherd who gives the Spirit.
How Ezekiel 20:17 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.