Malachi 1 Footnotes

1:2-5 Malachi begins with a reference to the long-standing tension between Israel and Edom, the descendants of Jacob’s brother Esau who despised his birthright and held the promises of God in contempt (Gn 25:29-34). Moses admonished the Israelites, “Do not despise an Edomite” (Dt 23:7) because Esau was the brother of Jacob. But the Edomites continued to believe the Israelites had taken the land of Canaan by deception. They cooperated with the Assyrian invasion of Judah, and when the Judeans were taken into exile, they claimed the land for themselves. For these reasons, they came under the Lord’s judgment (see notes on Ezk 35:1-15; 36:1-15). When the Judean exiles returned to the region of Jerusalem the Edomites further opposed them. In this situation Malachi heard the Lord saying, “I loved Jacob, but I hated Esau” (vv. 2-3).

The word “hate” in the Bible does not always carry the same sense of antipathy and disgust associated with the English expression; it can mean simply to favor someone else with special privilege or devotion. In that sense, the Lord’s “hatred” of Esau was only the other side of his loyalty to his covenant with Israel. Paul quoted vv. 2-3 with that meaning in Rm 9:13 as an illustration of the Lord’s mercy and compassion on whomever he chooses to bestow them (Rm 9:15). Nevertheless, in the circumstances of the Jews’ return from exile, the hostility of the Edomites seems to have reached another level, provoking Malachi to call them “the people the LORD has cursed forever” (1:4).