Maleakhi 2:4-5

2:4 Then you will know that I sent this commandment to you so that my covenant ¹  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.

Maleakhi 2:10

The Rebellion of the People

2:10 Do we not all have one father? ²  Did not one God create us? Why do we betray one another, in this way making light of the covenant of our ancestors?

Maleakhi 4:4

Restoration through the Lord

4:4 “Remember the law of my servant Moses, to whom at Horeb ³  I gave rules and regulations for all Israel to obey. ⁴ 

[2:4]  ¹ 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.

[2:10]  ² 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.

[4:4]  ³ sn Horeb is another name for Mount Sinai (cf. Exod 3:1).

[4:4]  ⁴ tn Heb “which I commanded him in Horeb concerning all Israel, statutes and ordinances.”