Maleakhi 1:9
Konteks1:9 But now plead for God’s favor 1 that he might be gracious to us. 2 “With this kind of offering in your hands, how can he be pleased with you?” asks the Lord who rules over all.
Maleakhi 4:6
Konteks4:6 He will encourage fathers and their children to return to me, 3 so that I will not come and strike the earth with judgment.” 4
[1:9] 1 tn Heb “seek the face of God.”
[1:9] 2 tn After the imperative, the prefixed verbal form with vav conjunction indicates purpose (cf. NASB, NRSV).
[4:6] 3 tn Heb “he will turn the heart[s] of [the] fathers to [the] sons, and the heart[s] of [the] sons to their fathers.” This may mean that the messenger will encourage reconciliation of conflicts within Jewish families in the postexilic community (see Mal 2:10; this interpretation is followed by most English versions). Another option is to translate, “he will turn the hearts of the fathers together with those of the children [to me], and the hearts of the children together with those of their fathers [to me].” In this case the prophet encourages both the younger and older generations of sinful society to repent and return to the
[4:6] 4 tn Heb “[the] ban” (חֵרֶם, kherem). God’s prophetic messenger seeks to bring about salvation and restoration, thus avoiding the imposition of the covenant curse, that is, the divine ban that the hopelessly unrepentant must expect (see Deut 7:2; 20:17; Judg 1:21; Zech 14:11). If the wicked repent, the purifying judgment threatened in 4:1-3 will be unnecessary.