Yet My eye spared them rather than destroying them, and I did not bring about their annihilation 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.
- BSB Yet I looked on them with pity and did not destroy them or bring them to an end in the wilderness.
- NKJV Nevertheless My eye spared them from destruction. I did not make an end of them 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 11:13When I prophesied, Pelatiah the son of Benaiah died. Then fell I down on my face, and cried with a loud voice, and said, “Ah Lord Yahweh! will you make a full end of the remnant of Israel?”
- Jer 4:27For Yahweh says, “The whole land shall be a desolation; yet will I not make a full end.
- Jer 5:18“But even in those days,” says Yahweh, “I will not make a full end with you.
- Ezek 8:18Therefore will I also deal in wrath. My eye won’t spare, neither will I have pity. Though they cry in my ears with a loud voice, yet I will not hear them.”
- 1 Sam 24:10Behold, today your eyes have seen how Yahweh had delivered you today into my hand in the cave. Some urged me to kill you; but I spared you; and I said, I will not stretch out my hand against my lord; for he is Yahweh’s anointed.
- Neh 9:19yet you in your manifold mercies didn’t forsake them in the wilderness. The pillar of cloud didn’t depart from over them by day, to lead them in the way; neither did the pillar of fire by night, to show them light, and the way in which they should go.
- Ps 78:37–38For their heart was not right with him, neither were they faithful in his covenant.
- Ezek 7:2“You, son of man, thus says the Lord Yahweh to the land of Israel, ‘An end! The end has come on the four corners of the land.
- Nah 1:8–9But with an overflowing flood, he will make a full end of her place, and will pursue his enemies into darkness.
- Ezek 9:10As for me also, my eye won’t spare, neither will I have pity, but I will bring their way on their head.”
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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.