Malachi 2:13

13 And this you do {as well}: [you] cover the altar of Yahweh [with] tears, [with] weeping and [with] groaning, because he {no longer regards the offering} or accepts [it] [with] favor from your hand.

Malachi 2:13 Meaning and Commentary

Malachi 2:13

And this have ye done again
Or "in the second" ^F2 place; to their rejection and ill treatment of Christ they added their hypocritical prayers and tears, as follows: covering the altar of the Lord with tears and weeping, and with
crying out;
for the Messiah they vainly expect, pretending great humiliation for their sins: though some, as Kimchi and Aben Ezra, make the first evil to be their offering illegal sacrifices on the altar, complained of in the former chapter ( Malachi 1:1-14 ) ; and this second, their marrying strange wives, on account of which their lawful wives came into the house of God, and wept over the altar before the Lord, complaining of the injury that was done them: insomuch that he regardeth not the offering any more, or receiveth
it with good will at your hand;
which expresses an utter rejection and abrogation of legal sacrifices; and which some make to be the reason of their covering the altar with tears and weeping: or the altar is represented as weeping, because sacrifice is no more offered upon it; see ( Daniel 9:27 ) ( Hosea 3:4 ) .

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FOOTNOTES:

F2 (tynv) "secundo", Pagninus, Vatablus, Calvin, Cocceius, Burkius.

Malachi 2:13 In-Context

11 Judah has been faithless, and a detestable thing has been done in Israel and in Jerusalem. Judah has profaned the sanctuary of Yahweh which he loves, and has married the daughter of a foreign god.

12 May Yahweh cut off from the tents of Jacob the man who does this, [the] one who is awake and [who] answers, and [the one who] brings an offering to Yahweh of hosts!

13 And this you do {as well}: [you] cover the altar of Yahweh [with] tears, [with] weeping and [with] groaning, because he {no longer regards the offering} or accepts [it] [with] favor from your hand.

14 But you ask, "{For what reason}?" Because Yahweh stands as a witness between you and the wife of your youth, against whom you have been unfaithful, even though she [is] your marriage partner and {your wife by covenant}.

15 {Did not one God make them?} But a remnant of [the] spirit is his. And what does the one [God] desire? An offspring of God. {You must be attentive to} your spirit, and you must not be unfaithful to the wife of your youth.

Footnotes

• [a]. Literally "a second time"
• [b]. Yahweh
• [c]. Literally "there is no longer turning to the offering"