Ezekiel 39:7

Eze 39:7 So will I make my holy name known in the midst of my people Israel; and I will not [let them] pollute my holy name any more: and the heathen shall know that I [am] the LORD, the Holy One in Israel.

Ver. 7. I will not let them pollute my holy name.] As if I were less able to deliver my people, or less mindful of my promises.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

39:7-8 God’s judgment on Gog would make known his holy name. Just as he once judged his own people for their sins for the sake of his reputation (36:16-20), now he would defend his restored people and judge their enemies.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

not let them pollute my holy name--by their sins bringing down judgments which made the heathen think that I was unable or unwilling to save My people.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 7. In the midst of my people Israel] This defeat of Gog is to be in Israel: and it was there according to this prophecy, that the immense army of Antiochus was so completely defeated.

And I will not let them pollute my holy name any more] See on 1Macc 1:11, c., how Antiochus had profaned the temple, insulted Jehovah and his worship, &c. God permitted that as a scourge to his disobedient people but now the scourger shall be scourged, and he shall pollute the sanctuary no more.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

7. will not let them pollute] will not let my holy name be profaned, lit. I will not profane. Jehovah’s holy or divine name was profaned,—his majesty and power were detracted from—when Israel his people were subjected by the heathen and dispersed abroad from their own land (Eze_36:20). Israel’s sins constrained Jehovah to cast them out of his land, and thus to profane his holy name. Now they are another people, a new heart has been given them, and his signal protection of them in their defenceless condition (Eze_38:11) from so extreme a danger (Eze_38:4-6) will reveal both to Israel and the nations what Jehovah is, and what are the principles on which he rules his people (Eze_39:23). Thus shall his name be sanctified—he shall be known to be God alone, all powerful and righteous.—While Isaiah says “Holy One of Israel,” Ezek. says in Israel, a usage which shews that the element “of Israel” forms no part of the conception of “holiness.”

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

So will I make my holy name known in the midst of my people Israel,.... That is, his perfections; his holiness and justice in punishing their enemies; his truth and faithfulness in fulfilling his promises to them; his power in inflicting judgments on Gog and his army; and his goodness in their preservation and protection:

and I will not let them pollute my holy name any more: either the Heathens round about who before blasphemed it, saying that God was not able to deliver his people from such a potent enemy; but now their mouth will be stopped, and they will not dare to speak any more after this manner: or else the Israelites, who shall be so influenced by the grace and goodness of God unto them, as to fear the Lord and his goodness, and not dare to commit the sins they formerly did, whereby his name was polluted and blasphemed among the Heathens:

and the Heathen shall know that I am the Lord, the Holy One in Israel; they shall know, by these judgments and providences, that he is the true God, and they shall acknowledge and confess it; and that he is a holy and just God, and dwells in Israel, and grants his gracious as well as powerful presence to his people; nor shall they dare to molest them any more.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

In Eze 39:6, the judgments executed on Gog make God known in the midst of the heathen, here they make him known among his own people; in both glorious.

My holy name; the destruction threatened against the wicked for their enmity against holiness, being executed, manifest that God is holy, and the protection of such. Or, holy name, for that he does in his oath swear by his holiness.

So his faithfulness is here commended and illustrated. I will not let them pollute my holy name any more; will give them that new spirit, that due sense of my mercy; they shall not, as formerly, profane my name among the heathen, Eze 20:9. See Eze 38:23.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

HOMILIES BY J.R. THOMSON Ver. 7. The Lord"s care for His own Name.

In several passages of his prophecies, Ezekiel lays stress upon the honor shown to the Name of Jehovah. He does this especially in connection with the predictions of Israel"s deliverance, and of the defeat and humiliation of the foes of Israel and of God. The idiom is a Hebrew one, and deserves attention; while the broad moral lessons conveyed are of a nature to strengthen our faith in the providential government of God.

I WHAT IS GOD"S NAME? An examination of the passages in Old Testament Scripture in which the expression occurs will convince the student that by the Name we are to understand the attributes and the character of God. It is generally held that the name Jehovah signifies the self-existing Being; and it might be argued that all Divine perfections are involved in and may be developed from the very definition. But it will be found that when "the Name" of God is used, as in this passage, it calls attention to these two attributes of Deity.

1. He is righteous in his judgments.

2. He is faithful to his promises.

II AMONG WHOM WOULD GOD MAKE HIS NAME KNOWN? To whom would he have his attributes and the characteristics of his moral government revealed with clearness and unmistakable power? The text gives an explicit answer to this question.

1. Among the Hebrews: "In the midst of my people Israel." These, his people, had been prone to forget or to misunderstand his Name, and needed that their attention should be recalled to the revelation which Jehovah had given of himself.

2. Among the heathen: "The heathen shall know that I am the Lord, the Holy One in Israel." In this case it was not a revival of knowledge that had lapsed or grown dim; it was a fresh communication. Those who had trusted in their false gods should have their foolish confidence shaken; those who had thought lightly of Jehovah should learn to revere his power, and (better still) should learn to contemplate the moral attributes of the Supreme Power, and thus receive a special illumination, which might be for their spiritual good.

III HOW WOULD GOD EFFECT THIS END, AND MAKE HIS NAME KNOWN?

1. By delivering his people. The dangers threatening Israel were great, and their foes were formidable. All the more marvelous was the interposition wrought upon their behalf. The Name of God, as the great Deliverer, was manifested and glorified by the experience of the rescued and saved.

2. By destroying the enemies of his people. In this manner the fame of the Most High, the God of hosts, was spread abroad, so that distant nations were impressed by the revelation of his power, by the proof of his universal sway.

APPLICATION. The preacher and teacher of religion should never lose sight of the fact that his one great aim is the honor and exaltation of the Name of God. This is often utterly misrepresented, either through the childishness or the malice of the enemies of religion, and it is affirmed to involve an unworthy conception of the Deity, as though in vanity God delighted in the adulations of men. This is anthropomorphism indeed. The Name of God is truth, righteousness, holiness, and love. To manifest and extol his Name is to display the supremacy of his glorious attributes. And than this man can have no higher object at which to aim. If man"s chief end is to glorify God, if human life does not find its law and its aim in itself, then it is evident that the exaltation of the Divine Name is a worthy and most noble end for the Christian man, and for the Christian minister, to set before him. T.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Connecting Statement:

Yahweh continues giving Ezekiel his message to Gog.

I will make my holy name known in the midst of my people Israel

Here the metonym "my holy name" refers to Yahweh's character. This can be stated in active form. AT: "I will make my people, Israel, know that I am holy" (See: Metonymy and Active or Passive)

Behold!

This tells the reader to pay special attention to what follows. AT: "Look!" or "Listen!" or "Pay attention to what I am about to tell you!"

is coming ... will take place

These two phrases have similar meaning and emphasize the fact that this will really happen. AT: "is surely going to happen" (See: Doublet)

translationWords

holy

name

people of God

profane

nation

Holy One

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

and I will no longer cause My Holy Name to be profaned For Israel’s degradation is a profanation of His Name, “inasmuch as it is said of them, ‘these are the people of the Lord’” (above 36:20), and He is unable to save them.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.