But I acted for the sake of my name, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations among whom they dwelt: The reason that God did not punish the people in Egypt was not because he had mercy on them or because they repented of their sin. Rather, he decided not to punish them so that he would not be shamed in the presence of the people among whom the Israelites were living. I acted for the sake of my name means God protected his reputation. The Hebrew verb rendered profaned means to treat with contempt or disdain something that is sacred or holy, in this case God himself. If he had punished his people as they deserved, God would have been shamed. His action would have brought dishonor to his own reputation. The nations among whom they dwelt refers to the Egyptians with whom the Israelites were living at the time.

In whose sight I made myself known to them in bringing them out of the land of Egypt: God would have been shamed because he had promised the Israelites in the presence of the Egyptians that he would lead them out of Egypt. In whose sight refers to the Egyptians. I made myself known may be rendered “I had announced” (Good News Translation) or “I had already promised” (Contemporary English Version). Both occurrences of the pronoun them refer to the Israelites. This is a complicated verse and translators need to make clear to whom these pronouns refer.

A model for this verse is:

• But I did not punish them like that. If I had [punished them], I would have been shamed in front of the Egyptians. The Israelites lived among the Egyptians and I promised the Israelites that I would bring them out of Egypt. So if I had broken that promise at that time, I would have been shamed in front of the Egyptians.

In this verse is the first example of an important theme in the book of Ezekiel. This is the theme that God acts to protect his own reputation, his “honor.” Even though it is difficult to imagine God being shamed, Ezekiel says that sometimes God does something, or does not do something, so that he will not be shamed. The theme usually focuses on the way he treated the people of Israel much better than they deserved.

Quoted with permission from Gross, Carl & Stine, Philip C. A Handbook on Ezekiel. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2016. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .