Malachi 2:5

5 “My covenant was with him, a covenant of life and peace, and I gave them to him; this called for reverence and he revered me and stood in awe of my name.

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Malachi 2:5 in Other Translations

KJV

5 My covenant was with him of life and peace; and I gave them to him for the fear wherewith he feared me, and was afraid before my name.

ESV

5 My covenant with him was one of life and peace, and I gave them to him. It was a covenant of fear, and he feared me. He stood in awe of my name.

NLT

5 “The purpose of my covenant with the Levites was to bring life and peace, and that is what I gave them. This required reverence from them, and they greatly revered me and stood in awe of my name.

MSG

5 My covenant with Levi was to give life and peace. I kept my covenant with him, and he honored me. He stood in reverent awe before me.

CSB

5 "My covenant with him was one of life and peace, and I gave these to him; it called for reverence, and he revered Me and stood in awe of My name.

Malachi 2:5 Meaning and Commentary

Malachi 2:5

My covenant was with him of life and peace
Not with Aaron, nor with Phinehas; nor is it to be understood of a covenant, promising temporal life and outward prosperity to either of them; Aaron living a hundred and twenty three years, ( Numbers 33:39 ) and Phinehas, according to some Jewish writers, above three hundred years, which they gather from ( Judges 20:28 ) but of the covenant made with Christ from everlasting, called "a covenant of life", because it was made with Christ the Word of life, who was with the Father from all eternity, and in time was made manifest in the flesh; and was made in behalf of persons ordained to eternal life, and in which that was promised and given to them in him; and in which it was agreed that he should become man, and lay down his life as such, that they might enjoy it: and it is called a "covenant of peace", because the scheme of peace and reconciliation was drawn in it, and agreed unto; Christ was appointed in it to be the Peacemaker; and in consequence of which he was sent to procure peace, and he has made it by the blood of his cross: and this covenant may be said to have been and to be "with him"; because it was made with him from all eternity, as the head and representative of his people, and he had all the blessings and promises of it put into his hands; and it stands fast with him, and will do so for evermore. And I gave them to him;
namely, the blessings of life and peace; eternal life is the gift of God; and not only the promise of it, but that itself, was given to Christ in covenant for his people, and a power to give it to as many as the Father gave to him, ( Psalms 21:4 ) ( 2 Timothy 1:1 ) ( 1 John 5:12 ) ( John 17:2 ) he gave him also peace to make, put this work of peacemaking into his hand; and he allows it to be made by him, and that it is rightly effected; and from his blood and righteousness peace springs to his people; and they enjoy peace in him and through him, yea, all prosperity and happiness: [for] the fear wherewith he feared me;
because of his obedience to the precept and penalty of the law; because of his righteousness, and sufferings, and death, by means of which life and peace came to his people, and in which he showed great fear and reverence of God, ( Hebrews 5:7 ) the word "for" is not in the original text, and may be left out in a version, or supplied with "and"; and the sense be, besides the blessings of life and peace, I also gave him the fear with which he feared me; which must be understood of the grace of fear bestowed on him as man: so the Septuagint version, "I gave unto him in fear to fear me"; and the Vulgate Latin version, "and I gave him fear, and he feared me": and the Arabic version, "I gave him fear, that he might fear me": the Targum is,

``I gave him the perfect doctrine of the law, or the doctrine of the perfect law (see ( James 1:25 ) ) that he might fear before me.''

And was afraid before my name;
frightened, and put into consternation, as he was when in the garden, and he began to be heavy and sore amazed, ( Mark 14:33 ) or he was broken and bruised, as Kimchi interprets the word here used, because of the name of the Lord, to satisfy his justice, fulfil his law, and glorify all his perfections.

Taken from John Gill's Exposition of the Bible

Malachi 2:5 In-Context

3 “Because of you I will rebuke your descendants ; I will smear on your faces the dung from your festival sacrifices, and you will be carried off with it.

4 And you will know that I have sent you this warning so that my covenant with Levi may continue,” says the LORD Almighty.

5 “My covenant was with him, a covenant of life and peace, and I gave them to him; this called for reverence and he revered me and stood in awe of my name.

6 True instruction was in his mouth and nothing false was found on his lips. He walked with me in peace and uprightness, and turned many from sin.

7 “For the lips of a priest ought to preserve knowledge, because he is the messenger of the LORD Almighty and people seek instruction from his mouth.

Cross References 3

1. Deuteronomy 33:9; Psalms 25:10; Psalms 103:18; S Matthew 26:28; S Luke 22:20; Hebrews 7:22
2. S Numbers 25:12
3. S Deuteronomy 14:23; S Deuteronomy 28:58; Psalms 119:161; Hebrews 12:28