Text -- Malachi 3:16-18 (NET)

3:16 Then those who respected the Lord spoke to one another, and the Lord took notice. A scroll was prepared before him in which were recorded the names of those who respected the Lord and honored his name. 3:17 “They will belong to me,” says the Lord who rules over all, “in the day when I prepare my own special property. I will spare them as a man spares his son who serves him. 3:18 Then once more you will see that I make a distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between the one who serves God and the one who does not.

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: Mal 3:16

¹ tn Or “fear” (so NAB); NRSV “revered”; NCV “honored.”

² tn Heb “heard and listened”; NAB “listened attentively.”

³ sn The scroll mentioned here is a “memory book” (סֵפֶר זִכָּרוֹן, sefer zikkaron) in which the Lord keeps an ongoing record of the names of all the redeemed (see Exod 32:32; Isa 4:3; Dan 12:1; Rev 20:12-15).

NET Notes: Mal 3:17

¹ sn The Hebrew word סְגֻלָּה (sÿgullah, “special property”) is a technical term referring to all the recipients of God’s redemptive grace, especially Israel (Exod 19:5; Deut 7:6; 14:2; 26:18). The Lord says here that he will not forget even one individual in the day of judgment and reward.

NET Notes: Mal 3:18

¹ tn Heb “you will see between.” Cf. NRSV, TEV, NLT “see the difference.”