Malachi 1:1

Introduction and God’s Election of Israel

1:1 What follows is divine revelation. ¹  The word of the Lord came to Israel through Malachi: ² 

Malachi 1:10-11

1:10 “I wish that one of you would close the temple doors, ³  so that you no longer would light useless fires on my altar. I am not pleased with you,” says the Lord who rules over all, “and I will no longer accept an offering from you. 1:11 For from the east to the west my name will be great among the nations. Incense and pure offerings will be offered in my name everywhere, for my name will be great among the nations,” ⁴  says the Lord who rules over all.

Malachi 2:5-6

2:5 “My covenant with him was designed to bring life and peace. I gave its statutes to him to fill him with awe, and he indeed revered me and stood in awe before me. 2:6 He taught what was true; ⁵  sinful words were not found on his lips. He walked with me in peace and integrity, and he turned many people away from sin.

Malachi 2:11

2:11 Judah has become disloyal, and unspeakable sins have been committed in Israel and Jerusalem. ⁶  For Judah has profaned ⁷  the holy things that the Lord loves and has turned to a foreign god! ⁸ 

Malachi 2:14

2:14 Yet you ask, “Why?” The Lord is testifying against you on behalf of the wife you married when you were young, ⁹  to whom you have become unfaithful even though she is your companion and wife by law. ¹⁰ 

Malachi 2:17

Resistance to the Lord through Self-deceit

2:17 You have wearied the Lord with your words. But you say, “How have we wearied him?” Because you say, “Everyone who does evil is good in the Lord’s opinion, ¹¹  and he delights in them,” or “Where is the God of justice?”

Malachi 3:5

3:5 “I ¹²  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, ¹³  and those who exploit workers, widows, and orphans, ¹⁴  who refuse to help ¹⁵  the immigrant ¹⁶  and in this way show they do not fear me,” says the Lord who rules over all.

Malachi 3:13-16

Resistance to the Lord through Self-sufficiency

3:13 “You have criticized me sharply,” ¹⁷  says the Lord, “but you ask, ‘How have we criticized you?’ 3:14 You have said, ‘It is useless to serve God. How have we been helped ¹⁸  by keeping his requirements and going about like mourners before the Lord who rules over all? ¹⁹  3:15 So now we consider the arrogant to be happy; indeed, those who practice evil are successful. ²⁰  In fact, those who challenge ²¹  God escape!’”

3:16 Then those who respected ²²  the Lord spoke to one another, and the Lord took notice. ²³  A scroll ²⁴  was prepared before him in which were recorded the names of those who respected the Lord and honored his name.

Malachi 4:2-3

4:2 But for you who respect my name, the sun of vindication ²⁵  will rise with healing wings, ²⁶  and you will skip about ²⁷  like calves released from the stall. 4:3 You will trample on the wicked, for they will be like ashes under the soles of your feet on the day which I am preparing,” says the Lord who rules over all.

[1:1]  ¹ tn Heb “The burden.” The Hebrew term III מַשָּׂא (massa’), usually translated “oracle” or “utterance” (BDB 672 s.v. מַשָּׂא), is a technical term in prophetic literature introducing a message from the Lord (see Zech 9:1; 12:1). Since it derives from a verb meaning “to carry,” its original nuance was that of a burdensome message, that is, one with ominous content. The grammatical structure here suggests that the term stands alone (so NAB, NRSV) and is not to be joined with what follows, “the burden [or “revelation”] of” (so KJV, NASB, ESV).

[1:1]  ² tn Heb “The word of the Lord to Israel by the hand of Malachi.” There is some question as to whether מַלְאָכִי (mal’akhi) should be understood as a personal name (so almost all English versions) or as simply “my messenger” (the literal meaning of the Hebrew). Despite the fact that the word should be understood in the latter sense in 3:1 (where, however, it refers to a different person), to understand it that way here would result in the book being of anonymous authorship, a situation anomalous among all the prophetic literature of the OT.

[1:10]  ³ sn The rhetorical language suggests that as long as the priesthood and people remain disobedient, the temple doors may as well be closed because God is not “at home” to receive them or their worship there.

[1:11]  ⁵ sn My name will be great among the nations. In what is clearly a strongly ironic shift of thought, the Lord contrasts the unbelief and virtual paganism of the postexilic community with the conversion and obedience of the nations that will one day worship the God of Israel.

[2:6]  ⁷ tn Heb “True teaching was in his mouth”; cf. NASB, NRSV “True instruction (doctrine NAB) was in his mouth.”

[2:11]  ⁹ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[2:11]  ¹⁰ tn Or perhaps “secularized”; cf. NIV “desecrated”; TEV, NLT “defiled”; CEV “disgraced.”

[2:11]  ¹¹ tn Heb “has married the daughter of a foreign god.” Marriage is used here as a metaphor to describe Judah’s idolatry, that is, her unfaithfulness to the Lord and “remarriage” to pagan gods. But spiritual intermarriage found expression in literal, physical marriage as well, as vv. 14-16 indicate.

[2:14]  ¹¹ tn Heb “the Lord is a witness between you and [between] the wife of your youth.”

[2:14]  ¹² sn Though there is no explicit reference to marriage vows in the OT (but see Job 7:13; Prov 2:17; Ezek 16:8), the term law (Heb “covenant”) here asserts that such vows or agreements must have existed. References to divorce documents (e.g., Deut 24:1-3; Jer 3:8) also presuppose the existence of marriage documents.

[2:17]  ¹³ tn Heb “in the eyes of the Lord.”

[3:5]  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).

[3:5]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “those who swear [oaths] falsely.” Cf. NIV “perjurers”; TEV “those who give false testimony”; NLT “liars.”

[3:5]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “and against the oppressors of the worker for a wage, [the] widow and orphan.”

[3:5]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “those who turn aside.”

[3:5]  ¹⁹ tn Or “resident foreigner”; NIV “aliens”; NRSV “the alien.”

[3:13]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “your words are hard [or “strong”] against me”; cf. NIV “said harsh things against me”; TEV, NLT “said terrible things about me.”

[3:14]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “What [is the] profit”; NIV “What did we gain.”

[3:14]  ²⁰ sn The people’s public display of self-effacing piety has gone unrewarded by the Lord. The reason, of course, is that it was blatantly hypocritical.

[3:15]  ²¹ tn Heb “built up” (so NASB); NIV, NRSV “prosper”; NLT “get rich.”

[3:15]  ²² tn Or “test”; NRSV, CEV “put God to the test.”

[3:16]  ²³ tn Or “fear” (so NAB); NRSV “revered”; NCV “honored.”

[3:16]  ²⁴ tn Heb “heard and listened”; NAB “listened attentively.”

[3:16]  ²⁵ 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).

[4:2]  ²⁵ tn Here the Hebrew word צְדָקָה (tsÿdaqah), usually translated “righteousness” (so KJV, NIV, NRSV, NLT; cf. NAB “justice”), has been rendered as “vindication” because it is the vindication of God’s people that is in view in the context. Cf. BDB 842 s.v. צְדָקָה 6; “righteousness as vindicated, justification, salvation, etc.”

[4:2]  ²⁶ sn The point of the metaphor of healing wings is unclear. The sun seems to be compared to a bird. Perhaps the sun’s “wings” are its warm rays. “Healing” may refer to a reversal of the injury done by evildoers (see Mal 3:5).

[4:2]  ²⁷ tn Heb “you will go out and skip about.”