Malachi 2:1-13

The Sacrilege of the Priestly Message

2:1 “Now, you priests, this commandment is for you. 2:2 If you do not listen and take seriously ¹  the need to honor my name,” says the Lord who rules over all, “I will send judgment ²  on you and turn your blessings into curses – indeed, I have already done so because you are not taking it to heart. 2:3 I am about to discipline your children ³  and will spread offal ⁴  on your faces, ⁵  the very offal produced at your festivals, and you will be carried away along with it. 2:4 Then you will know that I sent this commandment to you so that my covenant ⁶  may continue to be with Levi,” says the Lord who rules over all. 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; ⁷  sinful words were not found on his lips. He walked with me in peace and integrity, and he turned many people away from sin. 2:7 For the lips of a priest should preserve knowledge of sacred things, and people should seek instruction from him ⁸  because he is the messenger of the Lord who rules over all. 2:8 You, however, have turned from the way. You have caused many to violate the law; ⁹  you have corrupted the covenant with Levi,” ¹⁰  says the Lord who rules over all. 2:9 “Therefore, I have caused you to be ignored and belittled before all people to the extent to which you are not following after me and are showing partiality in your ¹¹  instruction.”

The Rebellion of the People

2:10 Do we not all have one father? ¹²  Did not one God create us? Why do we betray one another, in this way making light of the covenant of our ancestors? 2:11 Judah has become disloyal, and unspeakable sins have been committed in Israel and Jerusalem. ¹³  For Judah has profaned ¹⁴  the holy things that the Lord loves and has turned to a foreign god! ¹⁵  2:12 May the Lord cut off from the community ¹⁶  of Jacob every last person who does this, ¹⁷  as well as the person who presents improper offerings to the Lord who rules over all!

2:13 You also do this: You cover the altar of the Lord with tears ¹⁸  as you weep and groan, because he no longer pays any attention to the offering nor accepts it favorably from you.

[2:2]  ¹ tn Heb “and if you do not place upon [the] heart”; KJV, NAB, NRSV “lay it to heart.”

[2:2]  ² tn Heb “the curse” (so NASB, NRSV); NLT “a terrible curse.”

[2:3]  ³ tc The phrase “discipline your children” is disputed. The LXX and Vulgate suppose זְרוֹעַ (zÿroa’, “arm”) for the MT זֶרַע (zera’, “seed”; hence, “children”). Then, for the MT גֹעֵר (go’er, “rebuking”) the same versions suggest גָּרַע (gara’, “take away”). The resulting translation is “I am about to take away your arm” (cf. NAB “deprive you of the shoulder”). However, this reading is unlikely. It is common for a curse (v. 2) to fall on offspring (see, e.g., Deut 28:18, 32, 41, 53, 55, 57), but a curse never takes the form of a broken or amputated arm. It is preferable to retain the reading of the MT here.

[2:3]  ⁴ tn The Hebrew term פֶרֶשׁ (feresh, “offal”) refers to the entrails as ripped out in preparing a sacrificial victim (BDB 831 s.v. פֶּרֶשׁ). This graphic term has been variously translated: “dung” (KJV, RSV, NRSV, NLT); “refuse” (NKJV, NASB); “offal” (NEB, NIV).

[2:3]  ⁵ sn See Zech 3:3-4 for similar coarse imagery which reflects cultic disqualification.

[2:4]  ⁶ sn My covenant refers to the priestly covenant through Aaron and his grandson Phinehas (see Exod 6:16-20; Num 25:10-13; Jer 33:21-22). The point here is to contrast the priestly ideal with the disgraceful manner in which it was being carried out in postexilic times.

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

[2:7]  ⁸ tn Heb “from his mouth” (so NAB, NASB, NRSV).

[2:8]  ⁹ tn The definite article embedded within בַּתּוֹרָה (battorah) may suggest that the Torah is in mind and not just “ordinary” priestly instruction, though it might refer to the instruction previously mentioned (v. 7).

[2:8]  ¹⁰ tn Or “the Levitical covenant.”

[2:9]  ¹¹ tn Heb “in the instruction” (so NASB). The Hebrew article is used here as a possessive pronoun (cf. NRSV, NLT).

[2:10]  ¹² 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.

[2:11]  ¹³ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[2:11]  ¹⁴ tn Or perhaps “secularized”; cf. NIV “desecrated”; TEV, NLT “defiled”; CEV “disgraced.”

[2:11]  ¹⁵ 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.

[2:12]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “tents,” used figuratively for the community here (cf. NCV, TEV); NLT “the nation of Israel.”

[2:12]  ¹⁷ 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.

[2:13]  ¹⁸ sn You cover the altar of the Lord with tears. These tears are the false tears of hypocrisy, not genuine tears of repentance. The people weep because the Lord will not hear them, not because of their sin.