4:1 (3:19) 1 “For indeed the day 2 is coming, burning like a furnace, and all the arrogant evildoers will be chaff. The coming day will burn them up,” says the Lord who rules over all. “It 3 will not leave even a root or branch.
He then sent for his friends to join him, 4 along with his wife Zeresh.
10:3 Yes, 5 the wicked man 6 boasts because he gets what he wants; 7
the one who robs others 8 curses 9 and 10 rejects the Lord. 11
49:18 He pronounces this blessing on himself while he is alive:
“May men praise you, for you have done well!”
73:12 Take a good look! This is what the wicked are like, 12
those who always have it so easy and get richer and richer. 13
5:22 “But you, his son 21 Belshazzar, have not humbled yourself, 22 although you knew all this. 5:23 Instead, you have exalted yourself against the Lord of heaven. You brought before you the vessels from his temple, and you and your nobles, together with your wives and concubines, drank wine from them. You praised the gods of silver, gold, bronze, iron, wood, and stone – gods 23 that cannot see or hear or comprehend! But you have not glorified the God who has in his control 24 your very breath and all your ways! 5:24 Therefore the palm of a hand was sent from him, and this writing was inscribed.
5:25 “This is the writing that was inscribed: MENE, MENE, 25 TEQEL, and PHARSIN. 26 5:26 This is the interpretation of the words: 27 As for mene 28 – God has numbered your kingdom’s days and brought it to an end. 5:27 As for teqel – you are weighed on the balances and found to be lacking. 5:28 As for peres 29 – your kingdom is divided and given over to the Medes and Persians.”
12:1 About that time King Herod 34 laid hands on 35 some from the church to harm them. 36
5:5 When Ananias heard these words he collapsed and died, and great fear gripped 37 all who heard about it.
1 sn Beginning with 4:1, the verse numbers through 4:6 in the English Bible differ from the verse numbers in the Hebrew text (BHS), with 4:1 ET = 3:19 HT, 4:2 ET = 3:20 HT, etc., through 4:6 ET = 3:24 HT. Thus the book of Malachi in the Hebrew Bible has only three chapters, with 24 verses in ch. 3.
2 sn This day is the well-known “day of the
3 tn Heb “so that it” (so NASB, NRSV). For stylistic reasons a new sentence was begun here in the translation.
4 tn Heb “sent and brought.” The expression is probably a hendiadys (a figure of speech in which a single idea is expressed through two words or phrases), in which case the two verbs could be translated simply as “summoned” (so NAB) or “sent for” (NASB).
5 tn The translation assumes כִּי (ki) is asseverative: “indeed, certainly.” Another option is to translate “for,” understanding v. 3 as giving the reason why the wicked so arrogantly seek to destroy the helpless (so NASB, NRSV).
6 tn The representative or typical evildoer is described in vv. 3-11, 13, 15. Since the singular form predominates in these verses, it has been retained in the translation.
7 tn Heb “the wicked [one] boasts on account of the desire of his appetite.” The translation assumes that the preposition עַל (’al) introduces the reason why the wicked boasts (cf. this use of עַל with הָלַל (halal) in Ps 119:164 and Ezra 3:11). In this case, the “desire of his appetite” refers by metonymy to the object desired and acquired.
8 tn The translation assumes the active participle is substantival, referring to the wicked man mentioned in the preceding line. The substantival participle is then understood as the subject of the following verbs. For other examples of the participle of בָּצַע (batsar) used of those who desire and/or acquire wealth through dishonest and/or violent means, see Prov 1:19; 15:27; Jer 6:13; 8:10; Hab 2:9.
9 tn The verb בָּרַךְ (barakh) normally means “to bless,” but in a few cases it exhibits the polarized meaning “to curse” (1 Kgs 21:10, 13; Job 1:5-11; 2:5-9). (Some regard this use of בָּרַךְ as a mere euphemism.) The verb refers to the act of pronouncing or calling down a formal curse upon the object of one’s anger.
10 tn The conjunction “and” is supplied in the translation; it does not appear in the Hebrew text.
11 tn Another option is to translate, “he blesses one who robs others, [but] he curses the
12 tn Heb “Look, these [are] the wicked.”
13 tn Heb “the ones who are always at ease [who] increase wealth.”
14 tn Aram “house.”
15 tn Aram “by the might of my strength.”
16 tn Aram “walk.”
17 tn Aram “heart.”
18 sn The point of describing Nebuchadnezzar as arrogant is that he had usurped divine prerogatives, and because of his immense arrogance God had dealt decisively with him.
19 tn Aram “heart.”
20 tn Aram “his dwelling.”
21 tn Or “descendant”; or “successor.”
22 tn Aram “your heart.”
23 tn Aram “which.”
24 tn Aram “in whose hand [are].”
25 tc The Greek version of Theodotion lacks the repetition of מְנֵא (mÿne’, cf. NAB).
26 tc The Aramaic word is plural. Theodotion has the singular (cf. NAB “
27 tn Or “word” or “event.” See HALOT 1915 s.v. מִלָּה.
28 tn The Aramaic term מְנֵא (mÿne’) is a noun referring to a measure of weight. The linkage here to the verb “to number” (Aram. מְנָה, mÿnah) is a case of paronomasia rather than strict etymology. So also with תְּקֵל (tÿqel) and פַרְסִין (farsin). In the latter case there is an obvious wordplay with the name “Persian.”
29 sn Peres (פְּרֵס) is the singular form of פַרְסִין (pharsin) in v. 25.
30 tn Grk “he”; the referent (Herod) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
31 tn Or “apparel.” On Herod’s robes see Josephus, Ant. 19.8.2 (19.344), summarized in the note at the end of v. 23.
32 tn Although BDAG 175 s.v. βῆμα 3 gives the meaning “speaker’s platform” for this verse, and a number of modern translations use similar terms (“rostrum,” NASB; “platform,” NRSV), since the bema was a standard feature in Greco-Roman cities of the time, there is no need for an alternative translation here.
33 tn Or “delivered a public address.”
34 sn King Herod was Herod Agrippa I, the grandson of Herod I (Herod the Great). His mediocre career is summarized in Josephus, Ant. 18-19. This event took place in
35 tn Or “King Herod had some from the church arrested.”
36 tn Or “to cause them injury.”
37 tn Or “fear came on,” “fear seized”; Grk “fear happened to.”