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 2:8

2:8 You, however, have turned from the way. You have caused many to violate the law; ²  you have corrupted the covenant with Levi,” ³  says the Lord who rules over all.

Maleakhi 2:10

The Rebellion of the People

2:10 Do we not all have one father? ⁴  Did not one God create us? Why do we betray one another, in this way making light of the covenant of our ancestors?

[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.

[2:8]  ² tn The definite article embedded within בַּתּוֹרָה (battorah) may suggest that the Torah is in mind and not just “ordinary” priestly instruction, though it might refer to the instruction previously mentioned (v. 7).

[2:8]  ³ tn Or “the Levitical covenant.”

[2:10]  ⁴ 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.