Yet will I leave a remnant,.... Not in Judea, but in Babylon, and in the countries where they should be dispersed, as follows:

that ye may have some that shall escape the sword among the nations; which was threatened to be drawn, and sent after them, Ezekiel 5:2; but all should not perish by if; some should escape; for this was not the time to make a full end of them:

when ye shall be scattered through the countries; that is, of Egypt, Ammon, Moab, and Assyria; for this respects their dispersion at the time of the Babylonish captivity, and not their present dispersion.

The survivors shall go away into banishment amongst the heathen, and shall remember the word of the Lord that will have been fulfilled. - Ezekiel 6:8. But I shall preserve a remnant, in that there shall be to you some who have escaped the sword among the nations, when he shall be dispersed among the lands. Ezekiel 6:9. And those of you who have escaped, will make mention of me among the nations whither they are led captive, when I have broken to me their whorish heart, which had departed from me, and their eyes, which went a whoring after their idols: and they shall loathe themselves because of the evil which they have done in reference to all their abominations. Ezekiel 6:10. And ye shall know that I am Jehovah. Not in vain have I spoken this evil to you. - הותיר, superstites facere, "to make or preserve survivors." The connection with 'בּהיות וגו is analogous to the construction of הותיר, in the sense of "giving a superabundance," with בּ rei, Deuteronomy 28:11 and Deuteronomy 30:9, and is not to be rejected, with Ewald and Hitzig, as inadmissible. For בּהיות is supported by the old versions, and the change of והותרתּי into ודבּרתּי, which would have to be referred to Ezekiel 6:7, is in opposition to the twofold repetition of the וידאתּם כּי אן (וידעוּ), Ezekiel 6:10 and Ezekiel 6:14, as this repetition shows that the thought in Ezekiel 6:7 is different from that in 17, 21, not "they shall know that Jehovah has spoken," but "they shall know that He who has done this is Jehovah, the God of Israel." The preservation of a remnant will be shown in this, that they shall have some who have escaped the sword. הזּרותיכם is infin. Niph. with a plural form of the suffix, as occurs elsewhere only with the plural ending ות of nouns, while Ezekiel has extended it to the ות of the infinitive of ה''ל verbs; cf. Ezekiel 16:31, and Ewald, 259b. The remembrance of Jehovah (Ezekiel 6:9) is the commencement of conversion to Him. אשׁר before נשׁבּרתּי is not to be connected as relative pronoun with לבּם, but is a conjunction, though not used conditionally, "if," as in Leviticus 4:22; Deuteronomy 11:27, and elsewhere, but of time, ὅτε, "when," as Deuteronomy 11:6 and 2 Chronicles 35:20, and נשׁבּרתּי in the signification of the futur. exact. The Niphal נשׁבּר here is not to be taken as passive, but middle, sibi frangere, i.e., לבּם, poenitenti conterere animum eorum ut ad ipsum (Deum) redeant (Maurer, Hvernick). Besides the heart, the eyes also are mentioned, which God is to smite, as the external senses which allure the heart to whoredom. ונקטוּ corresponds to וזכרוּ at the beginning of the verse. קוּט, "the later form for קוּץ, "to feel a loathing," Hiphil, "to be filled with loathing;" cf. Job 10:1 with ב object., "in (on) their פנים, faces," i.e., their persons or themselves: so also in Ezekiel 20:43; Ezekiel 36:31. אל הרעות, in allusion to the evil things; 'לכל־תועב, in reference to all their abominations. This fruit, which is produced by chastisement, namely, that he idolaters are inspired with loathing for themselves, and led to the knowledge of Jehovah, will furnish the proof that God has not spoken in vain.

Yet will I leave a remnant, {d} that ye may have some that shall escape the sword among the nations, when ye shall be scattered through the countries.

(d) He shows that in all dangers God will preserve a few, which will be as the seed of his Church and call on his Name.

6:8 Remnant - It is the Lord that preserves a remnant, the enemies rage would destroy all.

Margin remnant

See Scofield Note: "Jer 15:21".

8. Mitigation of the extreme severity of their punishment; still their life shall be a wretched one, and linked with exile (Eze 5:2, 12; 12:16; 14:22; Jer 44:28).

6:8-10 A remnant of Israel should be left; at length they should remember the Lord, their obligations to him, and rebellion against him. True penitents see sin to be that abominable thing which the Lord hates. Those who truly loathe sin, loathe themselves because of sin. They give glory to God by their repentance. Whatever brings men to remember Him, and their sins against him, should be regarded as a blessing.