Malachi 3:8

3:8 Can a person rob ¹  God? You indeed are robbing me, but you say, ‘How are we robbing you?’ In tithes and contributions! ² 

Malachi 2:12

2:12 May the Lord cut off from the community ³  of Jacob every last person who does this, ⁴  as well as the person who presents improper offerings to the Lord who rules over all!

Malachi 3:17-18

3:17 “They will belong to me,” says the Lord who rules over all, “in the day when I prepare my own special property. ⁵  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 ⁶  the righteous and the wicked, between the one who serves God and the one who does not.

Malachi 2:10

The Rebellion of the People

2:10 Do we not all have one father? ⁷  Did not one God create us? Why do we betray one another, in this way making light of the covenant of our ancestors?

Malachi 2:16

2:16 “I hate divorce,” ⁸  says the Lord God of Israel, “and the one who is guilty of violence,” ⁹  says the Lord who rules over all. “Pay attention to your conscience, and do not be unfaithful.”

Malachi 1:14

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,” ¹⁰  says the Lord who rules over all, “and my name is awesome among the nations.”

Malachi 3:5

3:5 “I ¹¹  will come to you in judgment. I will be quick to testify against those who practice divination, those who commit adultery, those who break promises, ¹²  and those who exploit workers, widows, and orphans, ¹³  who refuse to help ¹⁴  the immigrant ¹⁵  and in this way show they do not fear me,” says the Lord who rules over all.

¹ tc The LXX presupposes an underlying Hebrew text of עָקַב (’aqav, “deceive”), a metathesis of קָבַע (qava’, “rob”), in all four uses of the verb here (vv. 8-9). The intent probably is to soften the impact of “robbing” God, but the language of the passage is intentionally bold and there is no reason to go against the reading of the MT (which is followed here by most English versions).

² sn The tithes and contributions mentioned here are probably those used to sustain the Levites (see Num 18:8, 11, 19, 21-24).

³ tn Heb “tents,” used figuratively for the community here (cf. NCV, TEV); NLT “the nation of Israel.”

⁴ tc Heb “every man who does this, him who is awake and him who answers.” For “answers” the LXX suggests an underlying Hebrew text of עָנָה (’anah, “to be humbled”), and then the whole phrase is modified slightly: “until he is humbled.” This requires also that the MT עֵר (’er, “awake”) be read as עֵד (’ed, “until”; here the LXX reads ἕως, Jews). The reading of the LXX is most likely an alteration to correct what is arguably a difficult text.

⁵ 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.

⁷ tn Heb “you will see between.” Cf. NRSV, TEV, NLT “see the difference.”

⁹ sn The rhetorical question Do we not all have one father? by no means teaches the “universal fatherhood of God,” that is, that all people equally are children of God. The reference to the covenant in v. 10 as well as to Israel and Judah (v. 11) makes it clear that the referent of “we” is God’s elect people.

¹¹ tc The verb שָׂנֵא (sane’) appears to be a third person form, “he hates,” which makes little sense in the context, unless one emends the following word to a third person verb as well. Then one might translate, “he [who] hates [his wife] [and] divorces her…is guilty of violence.” A similar translation is advocated by M. A. Shields, “Syncretism and Divorce in Malachi 2,10-16,” ZAW 111 (1999): 81-85. However, it is possible that the first person pronoun אָנֹכִי (’anokhi, “I”) has accidentally dropped from the text after כִּי (ki). If one restores the pronoun, the form שָׂנֵא can be taken as a participle and the text translated, “for I hate” (so NAB, NASB, NRSV, NLT).

¹² tn Heb “him who covers his garment with violence” (similar ASV, NRSV). Here “garment” is a metaphor for appearance and “violence” a metonymy of effect for cause. God views divorce as an act of violence against the victim.

¹³ 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.

¹⁵ tn The first person pronoun (a reference to the Lord) indicates that the Lord himself now speaks (see also v. 1). The prophet speaks in vv. 2-4 (see also 2:17).

¹⁶ tn Heb “those who swear [oaths] falsely.” Cf. NIV “perjurers”; TEV “those who give false testimony”; NLT “liars.”

¹⁷ tn Heb “and against the oppressors of the worker for a wage, [the] widow and orphan.”

¹⁸ tn Heb “those who turn aside.”

¹⁹ tn Or “resident foreigner”; NIV “aliens”; NRSV “the alien.”