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Malachi 1

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The Lord's Love Questioned 1–5

1
The burden of the word of Jehovah to Israel by Malachi. ​
2
I have loved you, saith Jehovah. Yet ye say, Wherein hast thou loved us? Was not Esau Jacob’s brother? saith Jehovah: yet I loved Jacob; ​
3
but Esau I hated, and made his mountains a desolation, and gave his heritage to the jackals of the wilderness. ​
4
Whereas Edom saith, We are beaten down, but we will return and build the waste places; thus saith Jehovah of hosts, They shall build, but I will throw down; and men shall call them The border of wickedness, and The people against whom Jehovah hath indignation for ever. ​
5
And your eyes shall see, and ye shall say, Jehovah be magnified beyond the border of Israel.

God Condemns Defective Offerings 6–10

6
A son honoreth his father, and a servant his master: if then I am a father, where is mine honor? and if I am a master, where is my fear? saith Jehovah of hosts unto you, O priests, that despise my name. And ye say, Wherein have we despised thy name? ​
7
Ye offer polluted bread upon mine altar. And ye say, Wherein have we polluted thee? In that ye say, The table of Jehovah is contemptible. ​
8
And when ye offer the blind for sacrifice, it is no evil! and when ye offer the lame and sick, it is no evil! Present it now unto thy governor; will he be pleased with thee? or will he accept thy person? saith Jehovah of hosts. ​
9
And now, I pray you, entreat the favor of God, that he may be gracious unto us: this hath been by your means: will he accept any of your persons? saith Jehovah of hosts. ​
10
Oh that there were one among you that would shut the doors, that ye might not kindle fire on mine altar in vain! I have no pleasure in you, saith Jehovah of hosts, neither will I accept an offering at your hand. ​

The Promise of Universal Worship 11–14

11
For from the rising of the sun even unto the going down of the same my name shall be great among the Gentiles; and in every place incense shall be offered unto my name, and a pure offering: for my name shall be great among the Gentiles, saith Jehovah of hosts. ​
12
But ye profane it, in that ye say, The table of Jehovah is polluted, and the fruit thereof, even its food, is contemptible.
13
Ye say also, Behold, what a weariness is it! and ye have snuffed at it, saith Jehovah of hosts; and ye have brought that which was taken by violence, and the lame, and the sick; thus ye bring the offering: should I accept this at your hand? saith Jehovah. ​
14
But cursed be the deceiver, who hath in his flock a male, and voweth, and sacrificeth unto the Lord a blemished thing; for I am a great King, saith Jehovah of hosts, and my name is terrible among the Gentiles. ​

Bible text: American Standard Version (1901) · Public domain

Study Notes for Malachi 1

Verse 1

The burden of the word of the LORD — Massa' comes from the verb 'to lift': a load the prophet carries and delivers. The same opening heads Zech 9:1 and 12:1, and 'to Israel' answers Zech 12:1, 'for Israel'. 'By Malachi' is literally 'by the hand of' Malachi (yad), a name meaning 'my messenger'.

Verse 2

Wherein hast thou loved us? — The first of the people's questions, each beginning 'Wherein…?' (1:6–7; 2:17; 3:7–8). The LORD answers with two brothers: 'Was not Esau Jacob's brother?' They were the two nations of Gen 25:23, 'the elder shall serve the younger', and Paul sets this verse beside that promise (Rom 9:13).

Verse 3

I hated Esau — Sane, the verb of Rom 9:13, 'Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated'. Esau is Edom (Gen 36:8), and his 'mountains' are Mount Seir where he dwelt. Their ruin is the one Obadiah foretells (Obad 1:18). 'Dragons' is tannah, a word found only here, probably the feminine of tan, the jackal.

Verse 4

They shall build, but I will throw down — Edom's two plans, 'return' (shub) and 'build', are met by one verb of the LORD, 'throw down' (haras), the opposite of 'build'. The names given to Edom's land, 'The border of wickedness', agree with Ezek 35:9, 'I will make thee perpetual desolations, and thy cities shall not return'.

Verse 6

if then I be a father, where is mine honour? — The LORD is called Israel's father in Deut 32:6, 'is not he thy father that hath bought thee?', and the commandment is Ex 20:12, 'Honour thy father'. The charge is made to 'priests, that despise my name'; to Eli's house the same had been said: 'they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed' (1 Sam 2:30).

Verse 7

polluted bread — 'Polluted' is ga'al, defiled, and 'bread' (lechem) is the offering itself: priests 'offer… the bread of their God' (Lev 21:6). 'The table of the LORD' is the altar, the place priests 'come near to my table' (Ezek 44:16); Paul uses the same words, 'the Lord's table' (1 Cor 10:21).

Verse 8

the blind… the lame and sick — The law's rule was exact: 'whatsoever hath a blemish, that shall ye not offer' (Lev 22:20); 'lame, or blind' are named in Deut 15:21. 'Governor' (pechah) is the title of Zerubbabel (Hag 1:1) and Nehemiah (Neh 5:14). 'Accept thy person' is literally 'lift up thy face', the idiom of favour.

Verse 9

beseech God — Literally 'soften the face of God' (chalah panim), the idiom of Moses' prayer in Ex 32:11, 'besought the LORD his God'. The verb 'regard' (nasa) and 'persons' (panim) are the words of 'accept thy person' in v.8, so their prayer is weighed by the same standard as their gifts.

Verse 10

shut the doors for nought — Chinnam, 'for nought', is without payment or without result. The altar's fire was to be kept burning continually: 'it shall never go out' (Lev 6:13). The LORD says he has 'no pleasure' (chephets) in them and will not accept the minchah, the offering of grain, from their hand.

Verse 11

my name shall be great among the Gentiles — The sun's whole course is given as the range, as in Ps 113:3. 'Pure' (tahor) answers the 'polluted' bread of v.7. The offering of the Gentiles is also named in Isa 66:19–20 and Rom 15:16, and 'in every place' is the worship Christ describes, neither 'in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem' (John 4:21–23).

Verse 13

what a weariness is it! — Mattelah, found only here, is the word 'weariness'; the people 'snuffed' (naphach, to puff out the breath) at the service. 'Torn' is gazal, to seize by force. With 'the lame, and the sick' it echoes the list of v.8, and the law's rule is plain: no blemished animal may be offered (Lev 22:20–22).

Verse 14

cursed be the deceiver — Nakal is to defraud or deal craftily, the verb used of Joseph's brothers who 'conspired against him' (Gen 37:18). The man has 'a male' in his flock, as the vow-offering required (Lev 22:19–21), and gives a 'corrupt' one instead. 'The Lord' here is Adonai; 'a great King' is Ps 47:2, and 'dreadful among the heathen' returns to v.11.