King James Version
Malachi 3
18 verses with commentary
The Messenger of the Covenant
Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the LORD of hosts.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the LORD of hosts.</strong><br><br>This verse stands as one of the most explicit Messianic prophecies in the Old Testament, foretelling both the forerunner and the coming...
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III.
(1) **I will send**.—Or, *I send.* It is the participle used as the prophetic present. (Comp. Note on Malachi 1:11.)
**My messenger.**—Heb., *Malachi, my angel,* or *my messenger,* with a play on the name of the prophet. In Malachi 2:7, he calls the priest the *angel* or *messenger* of the LORD. There can be little doubt that he is influenced in his choice of the term by his own personal name...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
12. Even though they should rear their children, yet will I bereave them (the Ephraimites) of them (Job 27:14).
**woe ... to them when I depart--**Yet the ungodly in their madness desire God to depart from them (Job 21:14; 22:17; Mt 8:34). At last they know to their cost how awful it is when God has departed (De 31:17; 1Sa 28:15, 16; compare Ho 9:11; 1Sa 4:21).
But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he is like a refiner's fire, and like fullers' soap:
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he is like a refiner's fire, and like fullers' sope.</strong> This verse follows Malachi 3:1's promise that the Lord will suddenly come to His temple. But the question "who may abide" (mi-mekhalkel) and "who shall stand" (mi-ha'omed) reveals the coming will bring judgment, not mere blessing. The Hebrew sugg...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(2) This coming of the Lord to His temple acts as a crucial test (comp. Luke 2:35); the people ought, therefore, seriously to have considered how far they were prepared for that advent before they desired it so eagerly and impatiently.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**13. Ephraim, as I saw Tyrus ... in a pleasant place--**that is, in looking towards Tyrus (on whose borders Ephraim lay) I saw Ephraim beautiful in situation like her (Eze 26:1-28:26).
**is planted--**as a fruitful tree; image suggested by the meaning of "Ephraim" (Ho 9:11).
**bring forth his children to the murderer--**(Ho 9:16; Ho 13:16). With all his fruitfulness, his children shall only b...
Read full commentary →And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the LORD an offering in righteousness.
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KJV Study Commentary
"And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the LORD an offering in righteousness." The image of sitting emphasizes patience and careful attention—refiners sat to watch the process closely. "Sons of Levi" (priests/Levites) receive focused purification because they lead worship. "Purge" (ziq...
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(3) **Sons of Levi.**—Meaning especially the priests, the sons of Aaron, son of Amram, son of Kohath, son of Levi (Exodus 6:16-20); for judgment must begin at the house of God. (Comp. Jeremiah 25:29; Ezekiel 9:6; 1Peter 4:17.)
**In righteousness** refers rather to the moral character of the offerer than to the nature of the sacrifices, as being such as were prescribed by the Law. This and the foll...
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**14. what wilt thou give?--**As if overwhelmed by feeling, he deliberates with God what is most desirable.
**give ... a miscarrying womb--**Of two evils he chooses the least. So great will be the calamity, that barrenness will be a blessing, though usually counted a great misfortune (Job 3:3; Jr 20:14; Lu 23:29).
Then shall the offering of Judah and Jerusalem be pleasant unto the LORD, as in the days of old, and as in former years. former: or, ancient
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Then shall the offering of Judah and Jerusalem be pleasant unto the LORD, as in the days of old, and as in former years.</strong> This verse depicts the result of God's refining work on the priesthood (v. 3). The Hebrew עָרְבָה (<em>arevah</em>, "be pleasant") means to be pleasing, sweet, or acceptable—worship that delights God's heart. The <strong>offering of Judah and Jerusalem</strong> ...
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(4) **Days of old . . . former years.**—Perhaps, if we must define the period, from the time of Moses to the first year of the reign of Solomon. But we cannot be certain on this point. It seems to be one of the characteristics of Malachi to be somewhat of a *laudator temporis acti.* (Comp. Malachi 2:5-7.)
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**15. All their wickedness--**that is, their chief guilt.
**Gilgal--**(see on Ho 4:15). This was the scene of their first contumacy in rejecting God and choosing a king (1Sa 11:14, 15; compare 1Sa 8:7), and of their subsequent idolatry.
**there I hated them--**not with the human passion, but holy hatred of their sin, which required punishment to be inflicted on themselves (compare Mal 1:3).
...
Read full commentary →And I will come near to you to judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against false swearers, and against those that oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow, and the fatherless, and that turn aside the stranger from his right, and fear not me, saith the LORD of hosts. oppress: or, defraud
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And I will come near to you to judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against false swearers, and against those that oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow, and the fatherless, and that turn aside the stranger from his right, and fear not me, saith the LORD of hosts.</strong><br><br>After promising purified worship (v. 4), God a...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(5) All these crimes were explicitly forbidden by the Law. Sorcery (Exodus 22:18), adultery (Exodus 20:14; Leviticus 20:10; Deuteronomy 22:22), false-swearing (Leviticus 19:12), defrauding, or withholding of wages (Leviticus 19:13; Deuteronomy 24:14-15), oppressing the widow and orphan (Exodus 22:22-24), doing injustice to a stranger (Deuteronomy 24:17; Deuteronomy 27:19). (Comp. also Zechariah 7:...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
16. The figures "root," "fruit," are suggested by the word "Ephraim," that is, fruitful (see on Ho 9:11, 12). "Smitten," namely, with a blight (Psa 102:4).
Robbing God
For I am the LORD, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>For I am the LORD, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.</strong> This verse stands as one of the most profound declarations of divine immutability in all of Scripture. The Hebrew phrase אֲנִי יְהוָה לֹא שָׁנִיתִי (<em>ani Yahweh lo shaniti</em>, "I am the LORD, I change not") expresses God's absolute constancy in His being, character, purposes, and covenant faithfulne...
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(6) **For I am the Lord, I change not.**—Better, *For I Jehovah change not.* Because it is the Eternal’s unchangeable will that the sons of Jacob, His chosen people, should not perish as a nation, He will purify them by the eradication of the wicked among them, that the remnant (the superior part; see Note on Malachi 2:15) may return to their allegiance. (Comp. Romans 11) Ewald renders the words: ...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**17. My God--**"My," in contrast to "them," that is, the people, whose God Jehovah no longer is. Also Hosea appeals to God as supporting his authority against the whole people.
**wanderers among ... nations--**(2Ki 15:29; 1Ch 5:26).
Even from the days of your fathers ye are gone away from mine ordinances, and have not kept them. Return unto me, and I will return unto you, saith the LORD of hosts. But ye said, Wherein shall we return?
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Even from the days of your fathers ye are gone away from mine ordinances, and have not kept them. Return unto me, and I will return unto you, saith the LORD of hosts. But ye said, Wherein shall we return?</strong><br><br>God traces Israel's apostasy to ancestral roots. <strong>From the days of your fathers</strong> (מִימֵי אֲבֹתֵיכֶם, <em>mimei avoteikhem</em>) indicates generational rebel...
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(7) **Even from . . . fathers.**—Throughout the whole course of their history they had been a people (Exodus 32:9, &c.); and now, when exhorted to repent, they ask in feigned innocence:—
**Wherein shall we return? . . . Return unto me . . . unto you.**—Comp. Zechariah 1:3.
Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings.</strong><br><br>This verse poses one of Scripture's most shocking questions: <strong>Will a man rob God?</strong> (הֲיִקְבַּע אָדָם אֱלֹהִים, <em>ha-yiqba' adam elohim</em>). The verb קָבַע (<em>qava'</em>) means to rob, defraud, or cheat—deliberate theft, not mere negligence. The r...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(8) **Robbed me.**—Because the tithes are said to be offered to Jehovah, and then He gives them to the Levites in place of an inheritance (Numbers 18:24).
**In tithes and offerings.**—See Notes on Exodus 23:19; Leviticus 27:30-33; Numbers 18:12; Numbers 18:21-24; Deuteronomy 18:4; Leviticus 3:1-17; Leviticus 7:11-21; Leviticus 7:28-36.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
CHAPTER 10 Ho 10:1-15. Israel's Idolatry, the Source of Perjuries and Unlawful Leagues, Soon Destined to Be the Ruin of the State, Their King and Their Images Being About to Be Carried Off; a Just Chastisement, the Reaping Corresponding to the Sowing.
The prophecy was uttered between Shalmaneser's first and second invasions of Israel. Compare Ho 10:14; also Ho 10:6, referring to Hoshea's calling...
Read full commentary →Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation.</strong> This verse pronounces covenant curse upon Israel for robbing God through withheld tithes (v. 8). The Hebrew emphasizes severity: <strong>cursed with a curse</strong> (בַּמְּאֵרָה אַתֶּם נֵאָרִים, <em>bam-me'erah atem ne'arim</em>)—literally "with the curse you are cursed," using repetition for intensity. Th...
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(9) Comp. Malachi 2:2; Malachi 3:11.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**2. heart ... divided--**(1Ki 18:21; Mt 6:24; Jas 4:8).
**now--**that is, soon.
**he--**Jehovah.
**break down--**"cut off," namely the heads of the victims. Those altars, which were the scene of cutting off the victims' heads, shall be themselves cut off.
Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it. pour: Heb. empty out
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KJV Study Commentary
God's challenge to Israel regarding tithes represents one of Scripture's boldest invitations to test His faithfulness. The command "Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse" (havi'u et-kol-hama'aser el-beyt ha'otsar, הָבִיאוּ אֶת־כָּל־הַמַּעֲשֵׂר אֶל־בֵּית הָאוֹצָר) addresses Israel's robbery of God (v. 8) by withholding tithes and offerings. The "storehouse" (beyt ha'otsar, בֵּית הָאוֹצָר) ref...
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(10) The emphasis is on the word “all.”
**Storehouse.**—From the time of Hezekiah (2Chronicles 31:11) there were at the Sanctuary special storehouses built for this purpose; so, too, in the second Temple (Nehemiah 10:38-39; Nehemiah 12:44; Nehemiah 13:12-13).
**Meat**—*i.e.,* food for the priests and Levites.
**Open you** . . .—According to the promise of Deuteronomy 11:13-15, &c. For a practical ...
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**3. now, &c.--**Soon they, deprived of their king, shall be reduced to say, We have no king (Ho 10:7, 15), for Jehovah deprived us of him, because of our not fearing God. What then (seeing God is against us) should a king be able to do for us, if we had one? As they rejected the heavenly King, they were deprived of their earthly king.
And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, saith the LORD of hosts. destroy: Heb. corrupt
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, saith the LORD of hosts.</strong> Following the promise of abundant blessing (v. 10), God specifies protection from agricultural disaster. <strong>I will rebuke the devourer</strong> (וְגָעַרְתִּי לָכֶם בָּאֹכֵל, <em>vega'ar...
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(11) **For your sakes.**—The same word as in Malachi 2:3 : here in a good sense, there in a bad.
**The devourer**—*i.e.,* the locust, &c.
**Rebuke.**—Better, *corrupt.* The same word is used as in Malachi 2:3, but in a different construction. (With this verse comp. Haggai 1:6-11.)
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**4. words--**mere empty words.
**swearing falsely in making a covenant--**breaking their engagement to Shalmaneser (2Ki 17:4), and making a covenant with So, though covenants with foreigners were forbidden.
**judgment ... as hemlock--**that is, divine judgment shall spring up as rank, and as deadly, as hemlock in the furrows (De 29:18; Am 5:7; 6:12). Gesenius translates, "poppy." Grotius, "da...
Read full commentary →And all nations shall call you blessed: for ye shall be a delightsome land, saith the LORD of hosts.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And all nations shall call you blessed: for ye shall be a delightsome land, saith the LORD of hosts.</strong> The culmination of God's promised blessing (vv. 10-11) is international recognition of Israel's favored status. <strong>All nations shall call you blessed</strong> (וְאִשְּׁרוּ אֶתְכֶם כָּל־הַגּוֹיִם, <em>ve'isheru etkhem kol-hagoyim</em>) fulfills God's promise to Abraham: "in the...
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(12) Comp. Zechariah 7:14; Zechariah 8:13-23; also Isaiah 62:4; Daniel 11:16.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**5. fear because of the calves--**that is, shall fear for them.
**Beth-aven--**substituted for Beth-el in contempt (Ho 4:15).
**it--**singular, the one in Beth-el; after the pattern of which the other "calves" (plural) were made. "Calves" in the Hebrew is feminine, to express contempt.
**priests--**The Hebrew is only used of idolatrous priests (2Ki 23:5; Zep 1:4), from a root meaning either...
Read full commentary →The Book of Remembrance
Your words have been stout against me, saith the LORD. Yet ye say, What have we spoken so much against thee?
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Your words have been stout against me, saith the LORD. Yet ye say, What have we spoken so much against thee?</strong> After promising blessing for obedience (vv. 10-12), God confronts Israel's cynical speech. <strong>Stout</strong> (חָזְקוּ, <em>ḥazqu</em>) means strong, harsh, or severe—from the verb חָזַק (<em>ḥazaq</em>) meaning to be strong or hard. Their words were harsh, defiant, eve...
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(13) **Your words** . . . **against me.**—Better, *your words put a constraint on me*: viz., to prove myself to you to be “the God of judgment.”
**Spoken.**—Or rather, *conversed together.* (Comp. Malachi 3:16.) They seem to have been in the habit of conversing together, and comparing the promises of God towards them with the then state of affairs. God had promised that they should be a proverb am...
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**6. It ... also--**The calf, so far from saving its worshippers from deportation, itself shall be carried off; hence "Israel shall be ashamed" of it.
**Jareb--**(See on Ho 5:13). "A present to the king (whom they looked to as) their defender," or else avenger, whose wrath they wished to appease, namely, Shalmaneser. The minor states applied this title to the Great King, as the avenging Protecto...
Read full commentary →Ye have said, It is vain to serve God: and what profit is it that we have kept his ordinance, and that we have walked mournfully before the LORD of hosts? ordinance: Heb. observation mournfully: Heb. in black
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Ye have said, It is vain to serve God: and what profit is it that we have kept his ordinance, and that we have walked mournfully before the LORD of hosts?</strong> This verse specifies the harsh words mentioned in verse 13. The accusation <strong>It is vain to serve God</strong> (שָׁוְא עֲבֹד אֱלֹהִים, <em>shav avod elohim</em>) uses the word שָׁוְא (<em>shav</em>)—vanity, emptiness, futil...
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(14) **Mournfully**—*i.e.,* with all outward signs of fasting. (Comp. Matthew 6:16.) The fasting referred to is not that of the Day of Atonement, but of voluntary fasts. We see here, in already a somewhat developed form, that disposition to attribute merit to observances of outward forms of religion for their own sake, without regard to the secret attitude of the heart, which reached such a pitch ...
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7. (Ho 10:3, 15).
**foam--**denoting short-lived existence and speedy dissolution. As the foam, though seeming to be eminent raised on the top of the water, yet has no solidity, such is the throne of Samaria. Maurer translates, "a chip" or broken branch that cannot resist the current.
And now we call the proud happy; yea, they that work wickedness are set up; yea, they that tempt God are even delivered. are set up: Heb. are built
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And now we call the proud happy; yea, they that work wickedness are set up; yea, they that tempt God are even delivered.</strong> Continuing their complaint (v. 14), Israel points to apparent injustice: the wicked prosper while the righteous suffer. <strong>We call the proud happy</strong> (מְאַשְּׁרִים זֵדִים, <em>me'asherim zedim</em>) means they consider the arrogant blessed or fortunat...
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(15) And now means *and so, consequently.* In this verse the prophet gives the words of the murmurers. (See Note on Malachi 3:13.) The statements of Malachi 3:13 show that they were of a very different character from such faithful servants of Jehovah as were at times sorely tempted against their will to waver in their faith. We may observe here the seeds of sceptical Sadduceism, as in Malachi 3:14...
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**8. Aven--**that is, Beth-aven.
**the sin--**that is, the occasion of sin (De 9:21; 1Ki 12:30).
**they shall say to ... mountains, Cover us--**So terrible shall be the calamity, that men shall prefer death to life (Lu 23:30; Re 6:16; 9:6). Those very hills on which were their idolatrous altars (one source of their confidence, as their "king," Ho 10:7, was the other), so far from helping them,...
Read full commentary →Then they that feared the LORD spake often one to another: and the LORD hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the LORD, and that thought upon his name.
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KJV Study Commentary
"Then they that feared the LORD spake often one to another: and the LORD hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the LORD, and that thought upon his name." Amid widespread apostasy (3:13-15), a faithful remnant emerges. "They that feared the LORD" describes those who revere God despite surrounding skepticism. "Spake often one to another" (nidb...
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(16) **Then.**—As a consequence of the unbelieving conversation of the wicked. What “they that feared the Lord” said is not recorded; but it is implied, by His approval of them, that they strengthened one another in their faith and reliance on the goodness and faithfulness of the Lord, in spite of the present appearance of things. As the godless in Israel conversed together, so did the godly; but ...
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**9. Gibeah--**(Ho 9:9; Jud 19:1-20:48). They are singled out as a specimen of the whole nation.
**there they stood--**The Israelites have, as there and then, so ever since, persisted in their sin [Calvin]. Or, better, "they stood their ground," that is, did not perish then [Maurer].
**the battle ... did not overtake them--**Though God spared you then, He will not do so now; nay, the battle wh...
Read full commentary →And they shall be mine, saith the LORD of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him. jewels: or, special treasure
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KJV Study Commentary
"And they shall be mine, saith the LORD of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him." God declares the faithful remnant His "jewels" (segullah)—treasured possession, special treasure. The phrase "in that day" points to judgment day when God separates wheat from chaff. "When I make up my jewels" (be-yom asher ani oseh segullah...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(17) **And they shall be . . . my jewels.**—Better, *And they shall be to* me, *saith the Lord of hosts, a special possession, on the day that I am about to make.* “Special possession” (Exodus 19:5).
**Day** . . . **make.**—The same expression occurs in Malachi 4:3. (Comp. Psalm 118:24.)
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers
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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**10. my desire ... chastise--**expressing God's strong inclination to vindicate His justice against sin, as being the infinitely holy God (De 28:63).
**the people--**Foreign invaders "shall be gathered against them."
**when they shall bind themselves in their two furrows--**image from two oxen ploughing together side by side, in two contiguous furrows: so the Israelites shall join themselves,...
Read full commentary →Then shall ye return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Then shall ye return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked</strong>—שׁוּב (<em>shuv</em>, return) carries double meaning: geographic return from affliction and spiritual return to proper understanding. The וּרְאִיתֶם (<em>ur'item</em>, you shall see/discern) promises restored moral clarity after the refining fire of 3:2-3. בֵּין (<em>bein</em>, between) indicates sharp distinct...
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**11. taught--**that is, accustomed.
**loveth to tread out ... corn--**a far easier and more self-indulgent work than ploughing. In treading corn, cattle were not bound together under a yoke, but either trod it singly with their feet, or drew a threshing sledge over it (Is 28:27, 28): they were free to eat some of the corn from time to time, as the law required they should be unmuzzled (De 25:4)...
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