Leviticus 21:6

21:6 “‘They must be holy to their God, and they must not profane ¹  the name of their God, because they are the ones who present the Lord’s gifts, ²  the food of their God. Therefore they must be holy. ³ 

Leviticus 21:8

21:8 You must sanctify him because he presents the food of your God. He must be holy to you because I, the Lord who sanctifies you all, ⁴  am holy.

Leviticus 21:21-22

21:21 No man from the descendants of Aaron the priest who has a physical flaw may step forward ⁵  to present the Lord’s gifts; he has a physical flaw, so he must not step forward to present the food of his God. 21:22 He may eat both the most holy and the holy food of his God,

Malachi 1:7-8

1:7 You are offering improper sacrifices on my altar, yet you ask, ‘How have we offended you?’ By treating the table ⁶  of the Lord as if it is of no importance! 1:8 For when you offer blind animals as a sacrifice, is that not wrong? And when you offer the lame and sick, ⁷  is that not wrong as well? Indeed, try offering them ⁸  to your governor! Will he be pleased with you ⁹  or show you favor?” asks the Lord who rules over all.

Malachi 1:12-14

1:12 “But you are profaning it by saying that the table of the Lord is common and its offerings ¹⁰  despicable. 1:13 You also say, ‘How tiresome it is.’ You turn up your nose at it,” says the Lord who rules over all, “and instead bring what is stolen, lame, or sick. You bring these things for an offering! Should I accept this from you?” ¹¹  asks the Lord. 1:14 “There will be harsh condemnation for the hypocrite who has a valuable male animal in his flock but vows and sacrifices something inferior to the Lord. For I am a great king,” ¹²  says the Lord who rules over all, “and my name is awesome among the nations.”

¹ sn Regarding “profane,” see the note on Lev 10:10 above.

² sn Regarding the Hebrew term for “gifts,” see the note on Lev 1:9 above (cf. also 3:11 and 16 in combination with the word for “food” that follows in the next phrase here).

³ tc Smr and all early versions have the plural adjective “holy” rather than the MT singular noun “holiness.”

⁴ tn The three previous second person references in this verse are all singular, but this reference is plural. By adding “all” this grammatical distinction is preserved in the translation.

⁵ tn Or “shall approach” (see HALOT 670 s.v. נגשׁ).

⁶ sn The word table, here a synonym for “altar,” has overtones of covenant imagery in which a feast shared by the covenant partners was an important element (see Exod 24:11). It also draws attention to the analogy of sitting down at a common meal with the governor (v. 8).

⁷ sn Offerings of animals that were lame or sick were strictly forbidden by the Mosaic law (see Deut 15:21).

⁸ tn Heb “it” (so NAB, NASB). Contemporary English more naturally uses a plural pronoun to agree with “the lame and sick” in the previous question (cf. NIV, NCV).

⁹ tc The LXX and Vulgate read “with it” (which in Hebrew would be הֲיִרְצֵהוּ, hayirtsehu, a reading followed by NAB) rather than “with you” of the MT (הֲיִרְצְךָ, hayirtsÿkha). The MT (followed here by most English versions) is to be preferred because of the parallel with the following phrase פָנֶיךָ (fanekha, “receive you,” which the present translation renders as “show you favor”).

¹⁰ tn Heb “fruit.” The following word “food” in the Hebrew text (אָכְלוֹ, ’okhlo) appears to be an explanatory gloss to clarify the meaning of the rare word נִיב (niv, “fruit”; see Isa 57:19 Qere; נוֹב, nov, “fruit,” in Kethib). Cf. ASV “the fruit thereof, even its food.” In this cultic context the reference is to the offerings on the altar.

¹¹ tn Heb “from your hand,” a metonymy of part (the hand) for whole (the person).

¹² sn The epithet great king was used to describe the Hittite rulers on their covenant documents and so, in the covenant ideology of Malachi, is an apt description of the Lord.