King James Version
Malachi 4
6 verses with commentary
The Day of the Lord
For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the LORD of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the LORD of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.</strong><br><br>This verse answers Israel's complaint about the proud and wicked prospering (3:15). God promises <strong>the day</strong> (הַיּוֹם, ...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
IV.
(1) The day already foretold in Malachi 3:2 shall be as a fire burning fiercely as a furnace, and “the wicked”—not only the heathen, but the murmurers themselves, so far from being accounted happy (Malachi 3:15)—shall be as “stubble.” (Comp. Isaiah 5:24; Zephaniah 1:18; Obadiah 1:18, &c.)
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
12. Continuation of the image in Ho 10:11 (Pr 11:18). Act righteously and ye shall reap the reward; a reward not of debt, but of grace.
**in mercy--**according to the measure of the divine "mercy," which over and above repays the goodness or "mercy" which we show to our fellow man (Lu 6:38).
**break ... fallow ground--**Remove your superstitions and vices, and be renewed.
**seek ... Lord, fi...
Read full commentary →But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall.
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KJV Study Commentary
This verse contains one of the Old Testament's most beautiful Messianic prophecies, depicting Christ as the "Sun of righteousness" who brings healing and liberation. The phrase "But unto you that fear my name" (velakhem yire'ei shemi) specifies the recipients of this blessing—not the wicked mentioned in verse 1 who face judgment, but those who reverently honor God's name. The contrast is stark: fo...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(2) As the rising sun diffuses light and heat, so that all that is healthy in nature revives and lifts up its head, while plants that have no depth of root are scorched up and wither away, so the advent of the reign of righteousness, which will reward the good and the wicked, each according to his deserts, will dissipate all darkness of doubt, and heal all the wounds which the apparent injustice o...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**13. reaped iniquity--**that is, the fruit of iniquity; as "righteousness" (Ho 10:12) is "the fruit of righteousness" (Job 4:8; Pr 22:8; Ga 6:7, 8).
**lies--**false and spurious worship.
**trust in thy way--**thy perverse way (Is 57:10; Jr 2:23), thy worship of false gods. This was their internal safeguard, as their external was "the multitude of their mighty men."
And ye shall tread down the wicked; for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I shall do this, saith the LORD of hosts.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And ye shall tread down the wicked; for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I shall do this, saith the LORD of hosts.</strong> Following the promise that the Sun of righteousness will arise with healing for the righteous (v. 2), God describes their vindication over the wicked. <strong>Ye shall tread down</strong> (וְעַסּוֹתֶם, <em>ve'assote</em>) means to tramp...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(3) **Tread down.**—Comp. Isaiah 26:5-6.
**That I shall do this.**—Better, *which I am about to make.* (Comp. Malachi 3:17.)
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**14. tumult--**a tumultuous war.
**among thy people--**literally, "peoples": the war shall extend to the whole people of Israel, through all the tribes, and the peoples allied to her.
**Shalman spoiled Beth-arbel--**that is, Shalmaneser, a compound name, in which the part common to it and the names of three other Assyrian kings, is omitted; Tiglath-pileser, Esar-haddon, Shar-ezer. So Jeconiah...
Read full commentary →Remember the Law of Moses
Remember ye the law of Moses my servant, which I commanded unto him in Horeb for all Israel, with the statutes and judgments.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Remember ye the law of Moses my servant, which I commanded unto him in Horeb for all Israel, with the statutes and judgments.</strong> As the Old Testament's prophetic voice concludes, God calls Israel back to foundational covenant obedience. <strong>Remember</strong> (זִכְרוּ, <em>zikhru</em>) is imperative—this isn't optional nostalgia but commanded covenant fidelity. <strong>The law of ...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
CONCLUDING ADMONITION.
(4-6) As the prophetical books began (Joshua 1:2; Joshua 1:8) with “*Moses my servant* is dead . . . this book of the *Law* shall not be removed from thy mouth, &c.,” so they close with the admonition, “Remember ye the *Law of Moses my servant.*” (Comp. Deuteronomy 4:1; Deuteronomy 8:14.) The path of duty is the path of safety and of light. (Comp. John 7:17.) “Mysteries belo...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**15. So shall Beth-el do unto you--**that is, Your idolatrous calf at Beth-el shall be the cause of a like calamity befalling you.
**your great wickedness--**literally, "the wickedness of your wickedness."
**in a morning--**that is, speedily, as quickly as the dawn is put to flight by the rising sun (Ho 6:4; 13:3; Psa 30:5).
**king--**Hoshea.
Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD:
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KJV Study Commentary
God's final Old Testament prophetic word promises: 'Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD.' This prophecy links Malachi's conclusion to his opening promise of a forerunner messenger (Malachi 3:1). The name 'Elijah' (אֵלִיָּה, Eliyahu—'My God is Yahweh') identifies the messenger with the famous 9th-century BC prophet who confronted Ah...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(5) **Elijah.**—There is no more reason to suppose that this refers actually to “Elijah” the prophet, and that he is to appear upon earth, than to imagine from Hosea 3:5; Ezekiel 24:23; Ezekiel 37:24; Jeremiah 30:9; that David himself is to come again in the flesh. When John the Baptist answered the question of the deputies of the Sanhedrim, “Art thou Elias?” by “I am not,” he simply gave a negati...
Read full commentary →And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.</strong> This is the Old Testament's final verse—a sobering warning and gracious promise. The promised Elijah (v. 5, fulfilled in John the Baptist per Matthew 11:14) will accomplish family/covenant restoration. "Turn the heart" (heshiv le...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(6) **And he shall turn . . . to their fathers.**—This does not refer to the settlement of family disputes, such as might have arisen from marriage with foreign wives. “The fathers are rather the ancestors of the Israelitish nation, the patriarchs, and generally the pious forefathers . . . The sons, or children, are the degenerate descendants of Malachi’s own time and the succeeding ages.”—*Keil.*...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
CHAPTER 11 Ho 11:1-12. God's Former Benefits, and Israel's Ingratitude Resulting in Punishment, Yet Jehovah Promises Restoration at Last.
Ho 11:5 shows this prophecy was uttered after the league made with Egypt (2Ki 17:4).
**1. Israel ... called my son out of Egypt--**Bengel translates, "From the time that he (Israel) was in Egypt, I called him My son," which the parallelism proves. So Ho 12:9...
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