Why does God restore Israel for his own name's sake rather than because they deserve it?
Ezekiel 36:20 explains that Israel's exile caused the nations to conclude YHWH was impotent or unfaithful — the restoration is God's answer to that profanation of his name, not a reward for repentance.
The reason God says "not for your sake, O house of Israel" (Ezekiel 36:22) is not mysterious once you read the verses just before it. Ezekiel 36:20 explains the problem:
"But when they came to the nations, wherever they came, they profaned my holy name, in that people said of them, 'These are the people of YHWH, and yet they had to go out of his land.'" — Ezekiel 36:20 (MT)
Notice what is happening here. Israel is not profaning God's name in exile by committing new sins. They are profaning his name simply by being there — by existing as a displaced people. The nations look at YHWH's people expelled from YHWH's land and draw the obvious conclusion: this god could not protect his own. He either failed or abandoned them. Either way, his name is diminished in the sight of the nations.
The Hebrew word for what happened to the name is chalal (חָלַל, H2490, Piel) — to profane, to treat as ordinary, to pierce through. The same word appears in Leviticus 20:3 for child sacrifice and in Amos 2:7 for sexual exploitation. Profaning the name is a serious category in Torah. And Israel's exile produced it not by any single act but by the spectacle of apparent divine failure.
That is the problem Ezekiel 36:23–28 exists to solve. God declares he will sanctify (qadash, H6942) his name — the direct antonym of chalal — by restoring Israel "before the eyes" of the nations. The nations caused the profanation by watching Israel's expulsion; they will see the sanctification by watching Israel's restoration. Seven specific, divine-first-person actions follow: regathering from all nations, cleansing with clean water, a new heart (lev chadash), removal of the heart of stone, the indwelling Spirit who causes obedience, permanent land-dwelling, and the covenant formula: "You shall be my people, and I will be your God" (36:28).
Israel has not repented in Ezekiel 36. The restoration is not a reward. It is a divine initiative to undo a profanation, grounded entirely in what the honor of YHWH's name requires. For the full canonical trace of this motive from Exodus through the New Testament, see For His Name's Sake.
What does 'for his name's sake' mean in Psalm 23:3?
The phrase lema'an shemo (לְמַעַן שְׁמוֹ, H4616 + H8034) grounds the shepherd's guidance not in David's worthiness but in YHWH's own reputation — if God leads, it is because his name requires it.
What does 'for my name's sake' (lema'an shemi) mean in Ezekiel?
The Hebrew phrase lema'an shemi (לְמַעַן שְׁמִי, H4616 + H8034) states that God's motive for restoring Israel is his own name and reputation, not Israel's merit — the phrase appears three times in Ezekiel 20 alone (vv. 9, 14, 22) and governs the entire restoration program of Ezekiel 36.