Charles Ellicott Commentary Ezekiel 20:9

"But I wrought for my name`s sake, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations, among which they were, in whose sight I made myself known unto them, in bringing them forth out of the land of Egypt." — Ezekiel 20:9 (ASV)

For my name’s sake. —This is the express ground of Moses’ pleading for the people in the passage just referred to, and again in Exodus 32:12; Deuteronomy 9:28; and it is repeatedly given, as in Deuteronomy 32:27-28, as the ground on which the Lord spared His rebellious people. If they had been treated according to what they deserved, and destroyed for their sins, the nations would have said that God was unable to deliver them.