Mal 2:1 “And now, you priests, this warning is for you.
Mal 2:2 If you do not listen, and if you do not resolve to honor my name,” says the LORD Almighty, “I will send a curse on you, and I will curse your blessings. Yes, I have already cursed them, because you have not resolved to honor me.
Mal 2:3 “Because of you I will rebuke your descendants; I will smear on your faces the dung from your festival sacrifices, and you will be carried off with it.
Mal 2:4 And you will know that I have sent you this warning so that my covenant with Levi may continue,” says the LORD Almighty.
Mal 2:5 “My covenant was with him, a covenant of life and peace, and I gave them to him; this called for reverence and he revered me and stood in awe of my name.
Mal 2:6 True instruction was in his mouth and nothing false was found on his lips. He walked with me in peace and uprightness, and turned many from sin.
Mal 2:7 “For the lips of a priest ought to preserve knowledge, because he is the messenger of the LORD Almighty and people seek instruction from his mouth.
Mal 2:8 But you have turned from the way and by your teaching have caused many to stumble; you have violated the covenant with Levi,” says the LORD Almighty.
Mal 2:9 “So I have caused you to be despised and humiliated before all the people, because you have not followed my ways but have shown partiality in matters of the law.”
Judah Profaned the Covenant
Mal 2:10 Do we not all have one Father? Did not one God create us? Why do we profane the covenant of our ancestors by being unfaithful to one another?
Mal 2:11 Judah has been unfaithful. A detestable thing has been committed in Israel and in Jerusalem: Judah has desecrated the sanctuary the LORD loves by marrying women who worship a foreign god.
Mal 2:12 As for the man who does this, whoever he may be, may the LORD remove him from the tents of Jacob—even though he brings an offering to the LORD Almighty.
Mal 2:13 Another thing you do: You flood the LORD’s altar with tears. You weep and wail because he no longer looks with favor on your offerings or accepts them with pleasure from your hands.
Mal 2:14 You ask, “Why?” It is because the LORD is the witness between you and the wife of your youth. You have been unfaithful to her, though she is your partner, the wife of your marriage covenant.
Mal 2:15 Has not the one God made you? You belong to him in body and spirit. And what does the one God seek? Godly offspring. So be on your guard, and do not be unfaithful to the wife of your youth.
Mal 2:16 “The man who hates and divorces his wife,” says the LORD, the God of Israel, “does violence to the one he should protect,” says the LORD Almighty. So be on your guard, and do not be unfaithful.
The Messenger of the Lord
Mal 2:17 You have wearied the LORD with your words. “How have we wearied him?” you ask. By saying, “All who do evil are good in the eyes of the LORD, and he is pleased with them” or “Where is the God of justice?”
1 He sharply reproves the priests for neglecting their covenant,
11 and the people for idolatry,
4 for adultery,
17 and for infidelity.
1 He sharply reproves the priests for neglecting their covenant,
Mal 2:1 “And now, you priests, this warning is for you.
Those who should have been true spiritual leaders and teachers (see on 2 Chron. 15:3) are here denounced by the prophet (Mal. 2:1–3).
Mal 2:2 If you do not listen, and if you do not resolve to honor my name,” says the LORD Almighty, “I will send a curse on you, and I will curse your blessings. Yes, I have already cursed them, because you have not resolved to honor me.
2. Curse your blessings. Possibly a reference to the blessings the priests were accustomed to pronounce upon the people (see Lev. 9:22, 23; Num. 6:23–26), but more likely a reference to the blessings God Himself had bestowed upon them (see pp. 27, 28), such as promised by the prophet Haggai a century earlier (Haggai 2:15–19).
Already. The “curse” must even then have been apparent to these priests, and to the people as well.
Mal 2:2 If you do not listen, and if you do not resolve to honor my name,” says the LORD Almighty, “I will send a curse on you, and I will curse your blessings. Yes, I have already cursed them, because you have not resolved to honor me.
2. Curse your blessings. Possibly a reference to the blessings the priests were accustomed to pronounce upon the people (see Lev. 9:22, 23; Num. 6:23–26), but more likely a reference to the blessings God Himself had bestowed upon them (see pp. 27, 28), such as promised by the prophet Haggai a century earlier (Haggai 2:15–19).
Mal 2:3 “Because of you I will rebuke your descendants; I will smear on your faces the dung from your festival sacrifices, and you will be carried off with it.
Spread dung. A supreme evidence of contempt.
Your solemn feasts. God does not claim as His these feasts observed in His honor, for in their observance of these feasts the priests expressed nought but their own self-will and pleasure.
Mal 2:4 And you will know that I have sent you this warning so that my covenant with Levi may continue,” says the LORD Almighty.
The people will assuredly find by experience that these divine threats are not in vain.
The covenant of “an everlasting priesthood” (Num. 25:13) was given to Phinehas, a grandson of Aaron, for his part in eliminating the worship of Baal-peor from the camp of Israel (see Num. 25:3–13).
With Levi. The tribe of Levi was chosen by God for His service because of the faithfulness of its members in a time of crisis (see on Ex. 32:29).
Lord of hosts. See on Jer. 7:3.
Mal 2:5 “My covenant was with him, a covenant of life and peace, and I gave them to him; this called for reverence and he revered me and stood in awe of my name.
Life and peace. The “covenant of life and peace” given to Phinehas (Num. 25:12) is explained as “the covenant of an everlasting priesthood” (Num. 25:13). “Life and peace” comprised God’s part of this agreement. These blessings would be bestowed on all the faithful priests after Phinehas.
Reverance. God gave His blessings to Phinehas because of “the fear wherewith he feared me.” So the priests’ part of the covenant was to give to God reverence and obedience. Now, the Lord through His prophet is endeavoring to renew His glorious covenant with the priests of Malachi’s day, those who, because of their wickedness, had become “contemptible and base before all the people” (v. 9).
Mal 2:6 True instruction was in his mouth and nothing false was found on his lips. He walked with me in peace and uprightness, and turned many from sin.
Heb. torah, the whole body of divine teaching or instruction (see on Deut. 31:9; Prov. 3:1). This verse shows that God intended that the priests should be spiritual leaders by both precept and example.
Mal 2:7 “For the lips of a priest ought to preserve knowledge, because he is the messenger of the LORD Almighty and people seek instruction from his mouth.
Preserve knowledge. That is, they should preserve or safeguard knowledge. They were the religious leaders of the nation, yet their example provided the people with a pattern of disobedience.
Seek the law. The people had a right to expect proper instruction from the priests in reference to spiritual matters (see on 2 Chron. 15:3).
Messenger. The priest who rightly carried on his appointed work was as truly a “messenger” of God as was the prophet (see on Haggai 1:13). Some have seen significance in the fact that “Malachi” means “messenger of Yahweh”.
Mal 2:8 But you have turned from the way and by your teaching have caused many to stumble; you have violated the covenant with Levi,” says the LORD Almighty.
By both precept and example (see on v. 6) these priests had led many astray. Thus they had “corrupted” the covenant of Levi.
Covenant of Levi. See on v. 4.
Mal 2:9 “So I have caused you to be despised and humiliated before all the people, because you have not followed my ways but have shown partiality in matters of the law.”
Dispised. It was only natural that the people should despise the priests for their attitude, which brought dishonor and disgrace to divine worship (see 1 Sam. 2:30). Hypocrisy is one of the most contemptible of sins.
Mal 2:9 “So I have caused you to be despised and humiliated before all the people, because you have not followed my ways but have shown partiality in matters of the law.”
Dispised. It was only natural that the people should despise the priests for their attitude, which brought dishonor and disgrace to divine worship (see 1 Sam. 2:30). Hypocrisy is one of the most contemptible of sins.
Mal 2:10 Do we not all have one Father? Did not one God create us? Why do we profane the covenant of our ancestors by being unfaithful to one another?
One father. Malachi himself is speaking. In view of the context it is probable that he is referring to God Himself as their Father (see on ch. 1:6) rather than to Abraham or some other human being.
One God created us. Of all peoples of ancient times the Jews alone honored God pre-eminently and distinctively as the Creator, as indicated in the observance of the seventh-day Sabbath of the fourth commandment of the Decalogue (see Ex. 20:8–11). Thus it behooved them above all others to treat their fellow men as brothers. We may rightly expect today that those who honor God as the Creator should consider all men as brothers.
Mal 2:11 Judah has been unfaithful. A detestable thing has been committed in Israel and in Jerusalem: Judah has desecrated the sanctuary the LORD loves by marrying women who worship a foreign god.
11. Judah. The whole nation was guilty of departure from God.
Holiness. Probably a reference to the Temple. As the place of God’s presence (see Ex. 25:8), it was “profaned” by the people’s sinful conduct.
Married the daughter. The LXX translates the last clause, “and has gone after other gods.”
Mal 2:12 As for the man who does this, whoever he may be, may the LORD remove him from the tents of Jacob—even though he brings an offering to the LORD Almighty.
Though the transgressors of Judah sense the oncoming danger, their lack of repentance makes it certain that they will all be “cut off.”
Mal 2:13 Another thing you do: You flood the LORD’s altar with tears. You weep and wail because he no longer looks with favor on your offerings or accepts them with pleasure from your hands.
The sin of the priests is aggravated by their hypocritical sorrow over God’s refusal to accept their offerings.
While they persisted in their evil ways God could not accept the sacrifices they brought before Him. To do so would be to confirm them in their evil ways.
Mal 2:14 You ask, “Why?” It is because the LORD is the witness between you and the wife of your youth. You have been unfaithful to her, though she is your partner, the wife of your marriage covenant.
This question is evidence of the self-justifying scepticism of the people (see on ch. 1:2), which refuses to admit guilt.
Wife of your marriage. Perhaps an indication that many of these wicked priests had put away their wives and taken other wives, possibly heathen women (see Ezra 9:1, 2; Neh. 13:23–28). It is possible also that spiritual adultery is here alluded to, as in v. 11.
Dealt treacherously. That is, proved faithless. The LXX reads “forsaken.”
Mal 2:15 Has not the one God made you? You belong to him in body and spirit. And what does the one God seek? Godly offspring. So be on your guard, and do not be unfaithful to the wife of your youth.
The Lord strongly condemns the men of Malachi’s day, who by divorcing their lawful wives were violating the fundamental principle of unity in the marriage relationship.
Mal 2:16 “The man who hates and divorces his wife,” says the LORD, the God of Israel, “does violence to the one he should protect,” says the LORD Almighty. So be on your guard, and do not be unfaithful.
Therefore, the man who divorces his lawful wife covers his “garment with violence (RSV)”; that is, he invests himself with iniquity and its consequences, from which he cannot escape. It is evident from our Lord’s statement that unchastity is the only ground for divorce (see on Matt. 5:32).
Mal 2:16 “The man who hates and divorces his wife,” says the LORD, the God of Israel, “does violence to the one he should protect,” says the LORD Almighty. So be on your guard, and do not be unfaithful.
Therefore, the man who divorces his lawful wife covers his “garment with violence (RSV)”; that is, he invests himself with iniquity and its consequences, from which he cannot escape. It is evident from our Lord’s statement that unchastity is the only ground for divorce (see on Matt. 5:32).
Mal 2:17 You have wearied the LORD with your words. “How have we wearied him?” you ask. By saying, “All who do evil are good in the eyes of the LORD, and he is pleased with them” or “Where is the God of justice?”
Divine patience has reached an end. God has long borne with the complaining and discontent of His people. The prosperity and glory they hoped would soon be theirs did not arrive, and so they questioned the justice and holiness of God, and even the certainty of future judgment.
Wherein? See on ch. 1:2.
Evil is good. Sometimes evildoers try to make it appear that they are in reality good, and that they are prospered and blessed by God for their goodness.
Where? See on ch. 1:2.
The God of judgment. Or, “the God of justice” (RSV). The people did not deny the existence of God, but doubted that He was concerned with human conduct. For practical purposes they had become deists. The heathen had a similar concept of their gods.