Malachi 1

1 The burden of the word of the Lord to Israel, in the hand of Malachi, the prophet. (The charge, or the heavy burden, of the word of the Lord to Israel, by the prophet Malachi.)

2 I loved you, saith the Lord, and ye said, In what thing lovedest thou us? Whether Esau was not the brother of Jacob, saith the Lord, and I loved Jacob, (I loved you, saith the Lord, and ye said, How hast thou loved us?/How hast thou shown that thou hast loved us? Was not Esau Jacob's brother, saith the Lord, and I loved Jacob,)

3 but I hated Esau? And I have put Seir, the hills of him, into wilderness, and his heritage into dragons of desert. (but I hated Esau? And I have made Seir, his hill country, into a wilderness, and his inheritance into a wilderness fit only for jackals, or for wild animals.)

4 That if Idumea saith, We be destroyed, but we shall turn again, and build those things that be destroyed; the Lord of hosts saith these things, These men shall build, and I shall destroy; and they shall be called the terms of wickedness, and a people to whom the Lord is wroth, till into without end. (And when Edom saith, We be destroyed, but we shall return, and rebuild those things that be destroyed; the Lord of hosts saith these things, These people can rebuild, but then I shall destroy it again; and they shall be called the land of wickedness, and a people with whom the Lord is angry forevermore.)

5 And your eyes shall see, and ye shall say, The Lord be magnified on the term(s) of Israel. (And your eyes shall see, and ye shall say, The Lord is great even beyond the borders of Israel.)

6 The son honoureth the father, and the servant shall dread his lord; therefore if I am (a) father, where is mine honour? and if I am (a) lord, where is my dread? saith the Lord of hosts. A! ye priests, to you that despise my name; and ye say, Wherein have we despised thy name? (The son honoureth the father, and the servant shall fear his lord; so if I am a father, where is my honour? and if I am a lord, where is your fear of me? saith the Lord of hosts./The son honoureth the father, and the servant shall revere, or shall respect, his lord; so if I am a father, where is my honour? and if I am a lord, where is your reverence, or your respect, for me? saith the Lord of hosts. O! ye priests, to you who despise my name; and ye say, How have we despised thy name?)

7 Ye offer on mine altar defouled, either unclean, bread, and ye say, Wherein have we defouled thee? In that thing that ye say, The board of the Lord is despised. (Ye offer on my altar defiled, or unclean, food, and ye say, How have we defiled thee? Because ye say, The table of the Lord can be despised/The Lord's altar is contemptible, or is worthy to be despised.)

8 If ye offer a blind beast to be sacrificed, whether it is not evil? And if ye offer a crooked and sick beast, whether it is not evil? Offer thou it to thy duke, if it shall please him, either if he shall receive thy face, saith the Lord of hosts. (If ye offer a blind beast to be sacrificed, is that not evil? And if ye offer a lame, or a sick, beast, is that not evil? Offer thou it to thy ruler, and see if it shall please him, or if he shall even receive thee, saith the Lord of hosts.)

9 And now beseech ye the cheer of the Lord, that he have mercy on you; for of your hand this thing is done, if in any manner he receive your faces, saith the Lord of hosts. (And now, beseech ye before the Lord's face, that he should have mercy upon you, for this thing is done by your hand, and also if there is any way that he shall receive you, saith the Lord of hosts.)

10 Who is in you that closeth doors, and burneth (on) mine altar of his own will, either freely? Will is not to me in you, saith the Lord of hosts; and I shall not receive a gift of your hand. (Who is there among you who shall close the Temple doors, and so not allow anything to be burned upon my altar? I take no pleasure in you, saith the Lord of hosts; and I shall not receive any gift from your hands.)

11 For from the rising of the sun till to the going down, my name is great among heathen men; and in each place a clean offering is sacrificed, and offered to my name; for my name is great among heathen men, saith the Lord of hosts. (For from the rising of the sun unto the going down of the same, my name is great among the heathen; and in each place a clean, or a pure, offering is sacrificed, and offered in my name; for my name is great among the heathen, saith the Lord of hosts.)

12 And ye have defouled it in that that ye say, The board of the Lord is defouled, and that that is put above is contemptible, or worthy for to be despised, with [the] fire that devoureth it. (But ye have defiled it because ye say, The table of the Lord, or the Lord's altar, can be defiled, and that the food that is put upon it is contemptible, or is worthy to be despised, by the fire that devoureth it.)

13 And ye said, Lo! of travail; and ye have blown it away, saith the Lord of hosts. And ye brought in of ravens a crooked thing, and sick, and brought in (as) a gift; whether I shall receive it of your hand? saith the Lord. (And ye said, Lo! so much trouble!/how wearisome! and ye have blown it all away, saith the Lord of hosts. And then ye have brought in from your robberies a lame thing, or a sick thing, and brought it in as a gift; shall I receive it from your hand? saith the Lord. No!)

14 Cursed is the guileful, that hath in his flock a male beast, and he making a vow, offereth a feeble beast to the Lord; for I am a great king, saith the Lord of hosts, and my name is dreadful among folks. (Cursed is the deceiver, who hath in his flock a male beast, yet when making a vow, he offereth a sick, or a weak, beast to the Lord; for I am a great King, saith the Lord of hosts, and my name is feared among the heathen.)

Malachi 1 Commentary

Chapter 1

Malachi was the last of the prophets, and is supposed to have prophesied B.C. 420. He reproves the priests and the people for the evil practices into which they had fallen, and invites them to repentance and reformation, with promises of the blessings to be bestowed at the coming of the Messiah. And now that prophecy was to cease, he speaks clearly of the Messiah, as nigh at hand, and directs the people of God to keep in rememberance the law of Moses, while they were in expectation of the gospel of Christ.

The ingratitude of Israel. (1-5) They are careless in God's institutions. (6-14)

Verses 1-5 All advantages, either as to outward circumstances, or spiritual privileges, come from the free love of God, who makes one to differ from another. All the evils sinners feel and fear, are the just recompence of their crimes, while all their hopes and comforts are from the unmerited mercy of the Lord. He chose his people that they might be holy. If we love him, it is because he has first loved us; yet we all are prone to undervalue the mercies of God, and to excuse our own offences.

Verses 6-14 We may each charge upon ourselves what is here charged upon the priests. Our relation to God, as our Father and Master, strongly obliges us to fear and honour him. But they were so scornful that they derided reproof. Sinners ruin themselves by trying to baffle their convictions. Those who live in careless neglect of holy ordinances, who attend on them without reverence, and go from them under no concern, in effect say, The table of the Lord is contemptible. They despised God's name in what they did. It is evident that these understood not the meaning of the sacrifices, as shadowing forth the unblemished Lamb of God; they grudged the expense, thinking all thrown away which did not turn to their profit. If we worship God ignorantly, and without understanding, we bring the blind for sacrifice; if we do it carelessly, if we are cold, dull, and dead in it, we bring the sick; if we rest in the bodily exercise, and do not make heart-work of it, we bring the lame; and if we suffer vain thoughts and distractions to lodge within us, we bring the torn. And is not this evil? Is it not a great affront to God, and a great wrong and injury to our own souls? In order to the acceptance of our actions with God, it is not enough to do that which, for the matter of it, is good; but we must do it from a right principle, in a right manner, and for a right end. Our constant mercies from God, make worse our slothfulness and niggardliness, in our returns of duty to God. A spiritual worship shall be established. Incense shall be offered to God's name, which signifies prayer and praise. And it shall be a pure offering. When the hour came, in which the true worshippers worshipped the Father in Spirit and in truth, then this incense was offered, even this pure offering. We may rely on God's mercy for pardon as to the past, but not for indulgence to sin in future. If there be a willing mind, it will be accepted, though defective; but if any be a deceiver, devoting his best to Satan and to his lusts, he is under a curse. Men now, though in a different way, profane the name of the Lord, pollute his table, and show contempt for his worship.

Chapter Summary

INTRODUCTION TO MALACHI

This book, in the Hebrew copies, is called "Sepher Malachi", the Book of Malachi; in the Vulgate Latin version, "the Prophecy of Malachi"; in the Syriac and Arabic versions, "the Prophecy of the Prophet Malachi"; According to Lactantius {a}, Zechariah was the last of the prophets; but the more commonly received opinion, and the truest, is, that Malachi was the last; hence Aben Ezra calls him Myaybnh Pwo, "the end of the prophets"; and by Kimchi he is said to be, Mbv Nwrxa "the last of them"; and sometimes, by the Rabbins, Myaybnh Mtwx, "the seal of the prophets" {b}; by whom they are all sealed up, concluded, and finished. His name signifies "my angel", as is commonly said; though Hillerus {c} makes it to signify "the angel of the Lord"; hence some have thought that he was not a man, but an angel; and so the Septuagint render ykalm dyb, in the first verse Mal 1:1, "by the hand of his angel"; and others have thought that the book takes its name, not from the author of it, but from the mention that is made of the messenger or angel of the Lord, John the Baptist, in Mal 3:1 but the more prevailing opinion is, that Malachi is the name of a man, the writer of the book, about whom the Jews have been divided. Rab Nachman says Malachi was Mordecai; and that he was so called because he was second to the king. R. Joshua ben Korcha contradicts him, and affirms Malachi is Ezra; and to him agrees the Chaldee paraphrase on Mal 1:1 which says, that Malachi, his name is called Ezra the scribe; but, as Kimchi observes, Ezra is never called a prophet, as Malachi is, only a scribe; wherefore in the Talmud {d}, where this matter is debated, it is concluded thus; but the wise men say, Malachi is his name; that is, it is the proper name of a man; there was a man of this name, that wrote this prophecy; not Mordecai, nor Ezra, nor Zerubbabel, nor Nehemiah, as some have thought; but Malachi: and if the accounts of Epiphanius {e} and Isidore {f} are to be credited, this prophet was born at Sapho, in the tribe of Zebulun; and had his name from his beautiful form, and unblemished life; and that he died very young, and was buried in his own field. The time of his prophesying is not agreed on: the Jews commonly make him contemporary with Haggai and Zechariah; they say {g} that Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi, all of them prophesied in the second year of Darius; and Ganz, their chronologer {h}, places the death of these prophets together in one year; but he seems to be later than they: Haggai prophesied before the building of the temple; Zechariah about the time of it; and Malachi after it, when the temple was rebuilt, and the worship of God restored and settled; and when both priests and people were become very corrupt and degenerate, of which he complains; so that it is possible that he might live a century after the other prophets, and about four centuries before the coming of Christ, during which time prophecy ceased; though some think he lived not long before the times of Christ, which is not probable. Bishop Usher {i} makes him contemporary with Nehemiah, and places him in the year 416 B.C.; and Mr. Whiston {k} in the year 400 B.C.; Mr. Bedford {l} in the year 424 B.C.: however, this book has been always accounted authentic, and a part of the canon of the Scripture; and is confirmed by the passages cited out of it, and the references made unto it, in the New Testament, \Mt 11:10 Mr 1:2 Ro 9:1\ \Mt 17:12 Mr 9:11,12 Lu 1:17\. The general design of it is to reprove the Jews for their ingratitude to the Lord, their neglect and contempt of his worship, and breach of his laws; and to raise in the minds of the truly godly an expectation of the Messiah, and his forerunner, John the Baptist.

{a} De vera Sapientia, l. 4. c. 5. p. 279. {b} Nizzachon, p. 200. apud Hottinger. Thes. Phil. p. 489. {c} Onomastic. Sacr. p. 147, 359, 541. {d} T. Bab. Megillah, fol. 15. 1. {e} De Prophet. Vita & Interitu, c. 22. {f} De Vita & Morte Sanct. c. 51. {g} T. Bab. Megillah, fol. 15. 1. Seder Olam Rabba, c. 20. p. 55. {h} Ganz, Tzemach David, par. 1. fol. 18. 1. {i} Annales Vet. Test. A. M. 3589. {k} Chronological Tables, cent. 12. {l} Scripture Chronology, p. 725.

\\INTRODUCTION TO MALACHI 1\\

In this chapter the Lord declares his love to the people of Israel, and proves it; and complains that the honour due unto him was not given him; which he demonstrates by various instances. The inscription is in Mal 1:1 showing the name and nature of the prophecy; the author of it; the people to whom it was sent; and the name of the person by whom. In Mal 1:2 the Lord affirms his love to the people of Israel, which they called in question; and proves it to be real, special, and distinguishing, by the instance of Jacob and Esau, two brothers; yet one, their ancestor, was loved, and the other hated; which latter is proved by the desolations made in his country, and by the fruitless attempts made to repair and rebuild; which was so clear a proof of the Lord's indignation against him, that the Israelites could not but see it, and would be obliged to confess it, to the glory of God, Mal 1:3-5 hence he passes on to observe the honour and fear that were due to him as a Father and master, which were not shown him; but, instead thereof, he was despised, and even by the priests themselves, with which they are charged, Mal 1:6 and which being objected to by them, is proved by offering polluted bread on his altar; and by polluting him, in saying his table was contemptible; and by sacrificing the blind, the lame, and the sick, unto him; things which would be justly resented, if offered to a temporal prince and governor, Mal 1:7,8 wherefore they are called upon by the prophet to pray to the Lord for grace and mercy for the people, seeing it was by their means (the priests) that these things were done; though it was questionable whether the Lord would have any regard to them, Mal 1:9 their sins being so dreadfully aggravated; and particularly, inasmuch as they did not serve in the temple, not so much as shut a door, or kindle a fire on the altar, for nothing, without being paid for it; hence the Lord declares he had no pleasure in them, nor would he accept their offerings; but would call the Gentiles by his grace, among whom his name would be great from one end of the earth to the other; and incense and pure offerings would be offered by them to him, Mal 1:10,11 and then he renews the charge against them, that they had profaned his name, by saying that his table, and the fruit thereof, were polluted, and his meat contemptible; by expressing a weariness in his worship, and a contempt of it; and by bringing the torn, the lame, and sick, as an offering to him, Mal 1:12,13 upon which such sacrificers are declared deceivers, and pronounced accursed, which they might assure themselves was and would be their case; since he was a great King, and his name dreadful among the Heathen, Mal 1:14.