In Malachi 2:1-9 we are still dealing with the Priests
despising the Lord. In the second half of this rebuke, the priests will be
warned about how they will be cursed unless they change (Malachi 2:1-3). This
is followed by a reminder of the standards for priests and their role (Malachi 2:4-7).
The section ends with a final rebuke of the priests because they have failed to
live up to their calling (Malachi 2:8-9).
A warning (Malachi 2:1-3)
The priest were those who received the command (Malachi 2:1)
but if they do not listen or honor the Lord he will sent a curse among them (Malachi
2:2). The promise of a curse for disobedience echoes Deuteronomy 28:15. The
Lord says he will curse their blessings, or prosperity[1] (וְאָרוֹתִי אֶת־בִּרְכוֹתֵיכֶם). It turns out in Malachi 2:3 that they are not honoring God,
so the Lord is indeed rebuking them by scattering fecal matter upon their
faces, fecal matter from their sacrifices. At the end, for despising the Lord,
the priests themselves are being made unclean.[2] In this verse we have a change
from the first person: “I will be scattering” (וְזֵרִיתִי, first person) to the third
person: “he will lift you to it” (וְנָשָׂא third
person). It looks like Malachi was first reporting direct speech from the Lord,
and the commenting in the third person, to complete the statement.
Standards for the priests (Malachi 2:4-7)
In Malachi 2:4-7, the priests are reminded of their role as
ministers of God’s word. The commandment was sent to be a covenant with Levi (Malachi
2:4). This covenant was with him (the priest) to be life and peace, he was
given fear and he feared (וַיִּירָאֵנִי Qal 3ms + 1cs) the Lord, and he was dismayed (וַיִּירָאֵנִי Ni 3ms) before his name (Malachi 2:5). Both the wayyiqtol and
qatal show the fear and dismay are actions that are completed in the past. They
no longer fear him.
We can wonder in verse 2:3 if a rebuke was all that the
priests were getting for the sake of the Lord’s covenant with Levi mentioned in
Malachi 2:4-5. If it was not for this covenant the priests could have been
alienated. This idea is repeated in Malachi 3:6, where it is clear that the
reason the children of Jacob remain is that the Lord remains the same, faithful
to his promises in Malachi 3:6.
The priests were to keep the instruction of truth, walk in
peace and uprightness with the Lord and help turn many from iniquity (Malachi 2:6).
The first two clauses in Malachi 2:6 are parallel. They place in contrast what
was to be in the mouth of the priest and what was not to be found. The words of
truth were to be in his mouth, but no injustice. Priests keep knowledge and
instruction is sought from them as they are messengers from the Lord (Malachi 2:7).
When we think about the identity of Malachi, we see that his name means “My
messenger”, and priests in this verse are also called messengers of the Lord. It
is probable that Malachi was a priest, and this fits with Targum Jonathan
identifying Malachi as Ezra. On top of this, Ezra is dealing with similar
issues found in Malachi.[3]
Malachi 2:8-9 Final rebuke and humiliation
This second section of Malachi ends with a final rebuked. The
standards for the priests have just been presented, and now we see how the
current priests compare to such standards. Instead of turning people from their
iniquity, these priests are turning people from the way of the Lord. They cause
many to stumble in the instruction of the Lord and they are ruining the
covenant of Levi (Malachi 2:8).
The Lord humiliated them, made them[4] despised and low to all the
people, as (כְּפִי אֲשֶׁר) they are not keeping the ways of the
Lord,[5] and
showing partiality ( וְנֹשְׂאִים פָּנִים )[6] in the instruction.
[1]
Brown, Driver, Briggs, The Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew and English
Lexicon, 139.
[2]
Walvoord, Zuck, The Bible Knowledge Commentary, 1579.
[3] Similar themes founds in both Malachi and Ezra/Nehemiah are the
perversion of the sacrificial system (Mal 1:6-14, Neh 13:4-9, 30),
intermarriage with foreigners (Mal 2:11-15, Ezra 9-10), Cheapening of the tithe
(Mal 3:8-10, Nehemiah 10:32-39, 13:10-14, social exploitation (Mal 3:8 and Neh
5:1-12). David W. Baker, Joel, Obadiah,
Malachi NIV Application,(Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2006), 208
[4]נָתַתִּי from נָתַן which as well as “to give” can also mean to make, Brown, Driver, Briggs, The Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew and English
Lexicon, 678.
[5] כְּפִיis
an idiom meaning I”in proportion” but here it is followed by אֲשֶׁר so
together כְּפִי
אֲשֶׁר can
just be translated “as”, Brown, Driver, Briggs, The Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew
and English Lexicon, 805.
[6]
literally : lifting face, Brown,
Driver, Briggs, The Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew and English
Lexicon, 670.
No comments:
Post a Comment