Maleakhi 2:2-3
Konteks2:2 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.
Maleakhi 2:12
Konteks2:12 May the Lord cut off from the community 6 of Jacob every last person who does this, 7 as well as the person who presents improper offerings to the Lord who rules over all!
Maleakhi 3:1-5
Konteks3:1 “I am about to send my messenger, 8 who will clear the way before me. Indeed, the Lord 9 you are seeking will suddenly come to his temple, and the messenger 10 of the covenant, whom you long for, is certainly coming,” says the Lord who rules over all.
3:2 Who can endure the day of his coming? Who can keep standing when he appears? For he will be like a refiner’s fire, 11 like a launderer’s soap. 3:3 He will act like a refiner and purifier of silver and will cleanse the Levites and refine them like gold and silver. Then they will offer the Lord a proper offering. 3:4 The offerings 12 of Judah and Jerusalem 13 will be pleasing to the Lord as in former times and years past.
3:5 “I 14 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, 15 and those who exploit workers, widows, and orphans, 16 who refuse to help 17 the immigrant 18 and in this way show they do not fear me,” says the Lord who rules over all.
Maleakhi 4:1
Konteks4:1 (3:19) 19 “For indeed the day 20 is coming, burning like a furnace, and all the arrogant evildoers will be chaff. The coming day will burn them up,” says the Lord who rules over all. “It 21 will not leave even a root or branch.
[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.
[2:12] 6 tn Heb “tents,” used figuratively for the community here (cf. NCV, TEV); NLT “the nation of Israel.”
[2:12] 7 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.
[2:12] tn Heb “every man who does this, him who is awake and him who answers.” The idea seems to be a merism expressing totality, that is, everybody from the awakener to the awakened, thus “every last person who does this” (NLT similar); NIV “whoever he may be.”
[3:1] 8 tn In Hebrew the phrase “my messenger” is מַלְאָכִי (mal’akhi), the same form as the prophet’s name (see note on the name “Malachi” in 1:1). However, here the messenger appears to be an eschatological figure who is about to appear, as the following context suggests. According to 4:5, this messenger is “Elijah the prophet,” whom the NT identifies as John the Baptist (Matt 11:10; Mark 1:2) because he came in the “spirit and power” of Elijah (Matt 11:14; 17:11-12; Lk 1:17).
[3:1] 9 tn Here the Hebrew term הָאָדוֹן (ha’adon) is used, not יְהוָה (yÿhvah, typically rendered
[3:1] 10 sn This messenger of the covenant may be equated with my messenger (that is, Elijah) mentioned earlier in the verse, or with the Lord himself. In either case the messenger functions as an enforcer of the covenant. Note the following verses, which depict purifying judgment on a people that has violated the Lord’s covenant.
[3:2] 11 sn The refiner’s fire was used to purify metal and refine it by melting it and allowing the dross, which floated to the top, to be scooped off.
[3:4] 13 map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
[3:5] 14 tn The first person pronoun (a reference to the
[3:5] 15 tn Heb “those who swear [oaths] falsely.” Cf. NIV “perjurers”; TEV “those who give false testimony”; NLT “liars.”
[3:5] 16 tn Heb “and against the oppressors of the worker for a wage, [the] widow and orphan.”
[3:5] 17 tn Heb “those who turn aside.”
[3:5] 18 tn Or “resident foreigner”; NIV “aliens”; NRSV “the alien.”
[4:1] 19 sn Beginning with 4:1, the verse numbers through 4:6 in the English Bible differ from the verse numbers in the Hebrew text (BHS), with 4:1 ET = 3:19 HT, 4:2 ET = 3:20 HT, etc., through 4:6 ET = 3:24 HT. Thus the book of Malachi in the Hebrew Bible has only three chapters, with 24 verses in ch. 3.
[4:1] 20 sn This day is the well-known “day of the
[4:1] 21 tn Heb “so that it” (so NASB, NRSV). For stylistic reasons a new sentence was begun here in the translation.
