Malachi 2:17-3:5 Rebuke 4: The people are doubting the Lord is Just

Malachi 2:17 Fourth verbal exchange

The fourth section is a rebuke for the people’s lack of trust in the Lord. It begins with the fourth verbal exchange. The Lord’s statement against them is that they are causing him to become weary with their words. They object, by asking how that is so. They have wearied the Lord by saying “all doing evil are good in the eyes of the Lord and he delights in them”, or “where is the Lord of judgment?” Both these statements are going to be dealt with. First the second, with the coming of the Lord, and then with what really happens to the ones doing evil.

Malachi 3:1-2 The Lord’s Messenger, the Lord and the messenger of the Covenant

In response to the second statement, the Lord says that he is sending his messenger[1] and he will prepare (וּפִנָּה)^[2] the way before him. Suddenly, the lord (הָאָדוֹן)[3] who the people are seeking will enter into his temple. The messenger of the covenant, in whom the people are delighting, will enter. Normally instead of הָאָדוֹן we have had יְהוָה. We have good reasons to believe that it refers to the same person. First because the Septuagint translates it κύριος and secondly, because the individual entering his temple (הֵיכָלוֹ) which can only be appropriate if it referred to the Lord himself.  

So far we have three people mentioned: the messenger who prepares the way, the Lord entering his temple, and the messenger of the covenant. The first two are definitely distinct, but who is the messenger of the covenant?

This messenger of the covenant is placed in parallel to the Lord. To connect these two we can look to Jeremiah 31 where the messenger of the covenant can be something in the future connected with Jesus’ prophetic ministry. It would seem from the following verse that only talks about the coming of one person, so the Lord and the messenger of the covenant are the same person.

The beginning of Malachi 3 connects well with other parts of the Bible. In Matthew 11, John the Baptist is seen as the one preparing the way for the Lord, “the Elijah who was to come (Mat 11:14). John the Baptist has a significant role in all the gospels he is doing the preparatory work. After him, the people are then waiting for the Lord. In Exodus 23:20 the Lord send his angel ahead of the people to bring them to a place he had prepared for them. In this case, the angel prepare the way for a new era, also talked about in Jeremiah 31, the prophetic era is coming to an end.

Malachi 3:3-5 Purifying and Cleansing

With the entering of the Lord, and the coming of the messenger of the covenant who are the same person, comes purifying and cleansing judgment. These are the same things John the Baptist says about Jesus in Matthew 3:11.The positive aspect of the refining is given in Malachi 3:3-4, and the negative aspect in verse 5.

The purifier will sit (וְיָשַׁב) and cleansing silver and he will cleanse the sons of Levi and he will purify them as gold and silver, and then will bringing an offering to the Lord in righteousness. The offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the Lord as they were before. A cleansing of the priests produces a trickle affect which then falls upon all of Judah and Jerusalem. 

In verse 5 we have the negative side of judgment. This verse shows what really happens to those doing evil. The Lord will draw closer to them and he will bear witness against sinners: sorcerers, adulterers, those who lie, those who extort the wages of their hired worker, those who oppress widows and orphans, and deal badly with the sojourner. The Lord is coming to judge, and they, they will not fear him.

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[1] מַלְאָכִי « my messenger » has been translated as a name « Malachi » in Malachi 1:1, but here it is exactly the same and remains “my messenger”. In Malachi 2:7 the priests are called messengers of the Lord, and so we can see that there seems to be a connection between prophets, priests and messengers of the Lord. We see this also when we see that Jeremiah was a priest (Jer 1:1) and so was Ezekiel (Ezekiel 1:3). 

^[2] In the piel means to make clear, free from obstacles, Brown, Driver, Briggs, The Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew and English Lexicon, 815.

[3] This is the first time this form appears in this writing.

Malachi 2:10-16 Rebuke 3: The people are acting treacherously

The second and third rebukes are connected through the theme of covenants. Men are dealing treacherously with one other which also pollutes the covenant of the fathers. The first problem is that Judah has defiled the holiness of God by marrying foreign women, and then we find out that this is after these men divorced the wives of their youth.

First issue: Judah marries a women of a foreign god

The prophet begins with a series of three rhetorical questions. These are to motivate the hearers to change their conduct.[1] It makes no sense given the brotherhood between the people that they would deal treacherously with one another defiling the covenant of their fathers (Malachi 2:10).

What is he referring to? Judah acted treacherously, an abomination was made, he married the daughter of a foreign god (Malachi 2:11). Three verbs are connected to Judah בָּגְדָה (3fs) חִלֵּל (3ms) and וּבָעַל (3ms). These verbs change from feminine to masculine as the Lord goes from talking about Judah, the nation to the person.^[2] Judah, the person, did marry the daughter of a Foreign God (Genesis 38:2), and then slept with his daughter in law as she was a temple prostitute. Malachi is using the Torah to explain what is happening to the people now.

 The prophet then exclaims that whoever (עֵר וְעֹנֶה)^[3] did this and is continually bringing (וּמַגִּישׁ)^[4] offerings to the Lord should be cut off (יַכְרֵת, Hiphil jussive) from the community of Israel. (מֵ‍אָהֳלֵי יַעֲקֹב)^[5]

Second issue: Divorcing the wife of their youth.

The prophet continues in verse 13 with a second part to the rebuke. Talking in general to the people, who are covering the Lord’s altar with tears (דִּמְעָה), weeping (בְּכִי) and groaning (וַאֲנָקָה) because there is no (מֵ‍אֵין)^[6] attention paid to their offering. The tears can be seen as hypocritical.^[7] The people are seeking attention. They want to manipulate the Lord in feeling sorry for them, and accepting their offering. The truth is that the Lord is not going to turn to their offerings, and he will not be fooled. Offerings from their hand are completely worthless. We have the third verbal exchange in Malachi. It takes the smaller form (1.2.1). The people want to know why the Lord would not accept their offering. The prophet answers that the Lord bears witness between a man and the wife of his youth, against whom he has dealt treacherously. His wife is called companion (חֲבֶרְתְּךָ) and the “wife of your covenant” (וְאֵשֶׁת בְּרִיתֶךָ). The reason God does not accept their offering is because they are not treating their wives well, acting treacherously against them.   

Malachi 2:15-16 are hard to translate. Gesenius identifies Malachi 2:15 as abrupt with transition from one person to another, from the second person to the third.^[8]

Understanding Malachi 2:15-16

My paraphrase is that: a man who has not acted treacherously, is a man in the right disposition, he is one seeking godly offspring. So keep yourselves and do not act treacherously with the wife of your youth, because the Lord, the God of Israel says he hates divorce. The one who divorces covers his garment with violence says the Lord of Hosts, keep yourselves in good disposition and do not act treacherously.

Verse 15

I am going to take these verses clause by clause. The first part of verse 15 is in the third person. וְלֹא־אֶחָד עָשָׂה can be translated either taking “one” (אֶחָד) as the subject or as the object: “not one has made” or “he did not make one”. Following verse 14 about the man having acted treacherously against his wife, I take the one to be the subject. וּשְׁאָר רוּחַ לוֹ translates literally : “and a remnant of the spirit to him”. רוּחַ is a disposition of various kinds.^[9] The first two clauses give us: “No one with any good disposition left has done this.”

Still referring to this person (הָאֶחָד), the prophet asks the rhetorical question: “what is he seeking?” The answer is “זֶרַע אֱלֹהִים” which is “offspring of God” or “godly offspring”.

There is then an abrupt change from the third person to the second: “and keep yourselves in your spirit”^[10] and with the wife of your youth, “let him not act treacherously” (אַל־יִבְגֹּד). Gesenius believes we must “undoubtedly” read  יִבְגֹּד as תִּבְגּׄד, to read: “and you shall not act treacherously” to be consistent with the pronouns.^[11]

I understand verse 15 to continue to be a critique of those who have acted treacherously with their wives. They did not have any “spirit” (or right disposition). Those who did not act treacherously against their wives, did have the right disposition and by being faithful to their wives are seeking to have godly children, faithful children. Malachi calls the men to keep themselves in the right disposition and not acting faithlessly with their wives.

Verse 16

 The call against acting treacherously is followed by a reason in verse 16. “Because the Lord, the God of Israel says he hates divorce.” We can also assume for the first time that this is what they are doing. Acting treacherously towards the wives of their youth means, they are sending them way, getting divorced. Verse 16 is really hard to translate, but our translation must make sense in the context of God rebuking those who are acting treacherously towards the wives of their youth. Literally “כִּי־שָׂנֵא שַׁלַּח” is translated: “because he hates divorce”. Gesenius takes שָׂנֵאto be a participle with a missing first person pronominal suffix,^[12] so it would translate “I am hating divorce”.  The Septuagint “ἀλλὰ ἐὰν μισήσας ἐξαποστείλῃς” translates: “if after hating (participle, aorist) you send out (2^nd person second aorist subjective)…. you will cover.” In my translation, I am trying to stay faithful to the first verb “שָׂנֵא” which is a perfect 3 person singular and then “שַׁלַּח” which is an infinitive.

The end of the verse is straight forward. The one who divorces covers his garment with violence says the Lord of Hosts, so he urges people to keep themselves (וְנִשְׁמַרְתֶּם) in a right disposition (Spirit) and to not act treacherously. Both verses 15 and 16 are connected, ending in the same way with a plea to keep themselves and to refrain from dealing treacherously with the wives of their youth.

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[1] Watson, Classical Hebrew Poetry, 342.

^[2]Gesenius, Gesenius’ Hebrew Grammar, 392.

^[3] עֵר וְעֹנֶה literally means “the ones waking and answering” it is difficult to know what this means, but it seems like it good refer to a teacher (one who wakes) and a pupil (one who answers), or in the context of “the tents of Jacob” it could relate to the practice of keeping guard in a camp with a person calling (the one who wakes) and another answering. Whatever this meant, it is generally accepted that the two terms formed a proverbial pair to include everybody. Clark and Hatton, A Handbook on Malachi, 414.

^[4] מַגִּישׁ is an active participle indicating that the person is “conceived as being in the continual uninterrupted exercise of this activity” Gesenius, F. W. (2003). Gesenius, Gesenius’ Hebrew Grammar, 356.

^[5] Literally meaning The tents of Jacob, this expression is also seen in Jeremiah 30:18 to refer back to the nomadic times. In Malachi’s day it meant the community of Israel. Clark and Hatton, A Handbook on Malachi, 414.

^[6] Brown, Driver, Briggs, The Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew and English Lexicon, 35.

^[7]Brown, Driver, Briggs, The Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew and English Lexicon, 199.

^[8]Gesenius, Gesenius’ Hebrew Grammar, 462.

^[9] Brown, Driver, Briggs, The Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew and English Lexicon, 925.

^[10] וְנִשְׁמַרְתֶּם is a niphal, and so translates to “guarding oneself” or “taking heed” Brown, Driver, Briggs, The Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew and English Lexicon, 1037.

^[11]Gesenius, Gesenius’ Hebrew Grammar, 462.

^[12]Gesenius, Gesenius’ Hebrew Grammar, 462.

Malachi - Rebuke 2, Part 2 - Rebuke of the Priests relating to the Law (Malachi 2:1-9)

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.

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^[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.