Malachi 3:6-15

An Overflowing Blessing

6 "For I, Yahweh, have not changed, and you, O children of Jacob, have not perished.

7 From the days of your ancestors you have turned aside from my rules, and have not kept [them]! Return to me and I will return to you," says Yahweh of hosts, "but you say, 'How shall we return?'

8 Will a human [dare to] rob God? Yet you [are] robbing me! And you say, 'How have we robbed you?' In the tithes and the contributions!

9 You [are] being cursed with [a] curse, for you [are] robbing me, the whole nation [of you]!

10 Bring the whole tithe to {the storehouse}, so that there will be food in my house, and test me please in this," says Yahweh of hosts, "if I will not open for you the windows of heaven, and pour forth for you {an overflowing blessing}.

11 I will rebuke the devourer for you; it will not destroy the fruit of your soil; your vine in the field will not be unfruitful," says Yahweh of hosts.

12 "And all the nations will call you blessed, because you will be {a land in which one takes joy}," says Yahweh of hosts.

13 "Your words have been harsh against me," says Yahweh. "But you say, 'How have we spoken together against you?'

14 You have said, '[It is] useless to serve God! What [is the] gain if we keep his requirements, and if we walk as mourners {before} Yahweh of hosts?

15 And now we [are] calling [the] arrogant blessed! Not only do those who do wickedness prosper; they also test God and they escape!'"

Malachi 3:6-15 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO MALACHI 3

This chapter begins with a prophecy of John the Baptist, the forerunner of Christ; and of the coming of Christ, and the effects and consequences of it, with respect both to the righteous and the wicked; and it contains accusations and charges of sin against the Jews, intermixed with exhortations to repentance. John the Baptist is promised to be sent, and is described by his office as a messenger, and by his work, to prepare the way of the Lord; and the Messiah is prophesied of, who is described by his characters; with respect to himself, the Lord and Messenger of the covenant; with respect to the truly godly among the Jews, as the object of their desire and delight; whose coming is spoken of as a certain thing, and which would be sudden; and the place is mentioned he should come into, Mal 3:1 and this his coming is represented as terrible to the wicked, and as trying and purifying to the righteous, expressed by the various similes of a refiner's fire, and fuller's soap; and the end answered by it, their offering a righteous offering to the Lord, Mal 3:2-4 but with respect to the wicked, he declares he should be a swift witness against them, whose characters are particularly given, and this assured from his immutability; the consequence of which to the saints is good, being their security from destruction, Mal 3:5,6 and next a charge is commenced against the wicked Jews, as that in general they had for a long time revolted from the Lord, and were guilty of sins of omission and commission, and are therefore exhorted to return to the Lord, with a promise that he will return to them, and yet they refuse, Mal 3:7 and, in particular, that they were guilty of sacrilege, and so accounted, even the whole nation, in withholding tithes and sacrifices, which they are exhorted to bring in; to which they are encouraged with promises of blessings of prosperity and protection, Mal 3:8-12 and that they had spoken impudent and blasphemous words against the Lord; which, though excepted to, is proved by producing their own words, Mal 3:13-15 and by the contrary behaviour of those that feared the Lord, who were taken notice of by him, and were dear unto him, Mal 3:16,17 wherefore it is suggested, that the time would come when there would be a manifest difference made between the one and the other, Mal 3:18.

Footnotes

• [a]. Or "I do not change"
• [b]. Or "are not destroyed"
• [c]. Or "fathers"
• [d]. Or "observed"
• [e]. Hebrew "the house of the treasure"
• [f]. Literally, "a blessing up to not enough"
• [g]. NRSV, JPS interpret this word as "locust"
• [h]. Literally "a land of desire"
• [i]. Hebrew "strong"
• [j]. Or "vain"
• [k]. Or "observe"
• [l]. Literally "from the face of"