CINXE.COM

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "//www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="//www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width; initial-scale=1.0;"/><title>Malachi 3 Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers</title><link rel="canonical" href="https://biblehub.com/commentaries/expositors/malachi/3.htm" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="/5001com.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="../spec.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 4800px), only screen and (max-device-width: 4800px)" href="/4801.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 1550px), only screen and (max-device-width: 1550px)" href="/1551.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 1250px), only screen and (max-device-width: 1250px)" href="/1251.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 1050px), only screen and (max-device-width: 1050px)" href="/1051.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 900px), only screen and (max-device-width: 900px)" href="/901.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 800px), only screen and (max-device-width: 800px)" href="/801.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 575px), only screen and (max-device-width: 575px)" href="/501.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-height: 450px), only screen and (max-device-height: 450px)" href="/h451.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="/print.css" type="text/css" media="Print" /><script type="application/javascript" src="https://scripts.webcontentassessor.com/scripts/8a2459b64f9cac8122fc7f2eac4409c8555fac9383016db59c4c26e3d5b8b157"></script><script src='https://qd.admetricspro.com/js/biblehub/biblehub-layout-loader-revcatch.js'></script><script id='HyDgbd_1s' src='https://prebidads.revcatch.com/ads.js' type='text/javascript' async></script><script>(function(w,d,b,s,i){var cts=d.createElement(s);cts.async=true;cts.id='catchscript'; cts.dataset.appid=i;cts.src='https://app.protectsubrev.com/catch_rp.js?cb='+Math.random(); document.head.appendChild(cts); }) (window,document,'head','script','rc-anksrH');</script></head><body><div id="fx"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx2"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="30" scrolling="no" src="../cmenus/malachi/3.htm" align="left" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div><div id="blnk"></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable"><tr><td><div id="fx5"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx6"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="245" scrolling="no" src="//biblehu.com/bmcom/malachi/3-1.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable3"><tr><td><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center" id="announce"><tr><td><div id="l1"><div id="breadcrumbs"><a href="//biblehub.com">Bible</a> > <a href="/commentaries/">Commentary</a> > <a href="../">Ellicott</a> > <a href="../malachi/">Malachi</a></div><div id="anc"><iframe src="/anc.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></div><div id="anc2"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><iframe src="/anc2.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></div></td></tr></table><div id="movebox2"><table border="0" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td><div id="topheading"><a href="../malachi/2.htm" title="Malachi 2">◄</a> Malachi 3 <a href="../malachi/4.htm" title="Malachi 4">►</a></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center" class="maintable2"><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><div id="leftbox"><div class="padleft"><div class="vheading">Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers</div><div class="chap"> <div class="versenum"><a href="/malachi/3-1.htm">Malachi 3:1</a></div><div class="verse">Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the LORD of hosts.</div>III.</span><p>(1) <span class= "bld">I will send</span>.—Or, <span class= "ital">I send.</span> It is the participle used as the prophetic present. (Comp. Note on <a href="/malachi/1-11.htm" title="For from the rising of the sun even to the going down of the same my name shall be great among the Gentiles; and in every place incense shall be offered to my name, and a pure offering: for my name shall be great among the heathen, said the LORD of hosts.">Malachi 1:11</a>.)<p><span class= "bld">My messenger.</span>—Heb., <span class= "ital">Malachi, my angel,</span> or <span class= "ital">my messenger,</span> with a play on the name of the prophet. In <a href="/malachi/2-7.htm" title="For the priest's lips should keep knowledge, and they should seek the law at his mouth: for he is the messenger of the LORD of hosts.">Malachi 2:7</a>, he calls the priest the <span class= "ital">angel</span> or <span class= "ital">messenger</span> of the LORD. There can be little doubt that he is influenced in his choice of the term by his own personal name (see <span class= "ital">Introd.</span>)<span class= "ital">.</span> This “messenger,” by the distinct reference to <a href="/isaiah/40-3.htm" title="The voice of him that cries in the wilderness, Prepare you the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.">Isaiah 40:3</a>, contained in the words, “and he shall prepare,” &c., is evidently the same as he whom [the deutero-] Isaiah prophetically heard crying, “In the wilderness, prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.” Moreover, from the nature of his mission, he is proved to be identical with the “Elijah” of <a href="/malachi/4-3.htm" title="And you shall tread down the wicked; for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I shall do this, said the LORD of hosts.">Malachi 4:3</a>. These words had their first, if not their perfect fulfilment in John the Baptist (<a href="/matthew/17-12.htm" title="But I say to you, That Elias is come already, and they knew him not, but have done to him whatever they listed. Likewise shall also the Son of man suffer of them.">Matthew 17:12</a>).<p><span class= "bld">The Lord.</span>—This word “Lord” occurs eight times with the definite article, but always, except here, with the name of God following it: viz., <a href="/exodus/23-17.htm" title="Three items in the year all your males shall appear before the LORD God.">Exodus 23:17</a>, followed by “Jehovah;” <a href="/exodus/34-23.htm" title="Thrice in the year shall all your male children appear before the LORD God, the God of Israel.">Exodus 34:23</a>, by “Jehovah, the God of Israel;” in <a href="/isaiah/1-24.htm" title="Therefore said the LORD, the LORD of hosts, the mighty One of Israel, Ah, I will ease me of my adversaries, and avenge me of my enemies:">Isaiah 1:24</a>; <a href="/isaiah/3-1.htm" title="For, behold, the Lord, the LORD of hosts, does take away from Jerusalem and from Judah the stay and the staff, the whole stay of bread, and the whole stay of water.">Isaiah 3:1</a>; <a href="/isaiah/10-33.htm" title="Behold, the Lord, the LORD of hosts, shall lop the bough with terror: and the high ones of stature shall be hewn down, and the haughty shall be humbled.">Isaiah 10:33</a>; <a href="/isaiah/19-4.htm" title="And the Egyptians will I give over into the hand of a cruel lord; and a fierce king shall rule over them, said the Lord, the LORD of hosts.">Isaiah 19:4</a>, by “Jehovah Zebaoth;” and in <a href="/isaiah/10-16.htm" title="Therefore shall the Lord, the Lord of hosts, send among his fat ones leanness; and under his glory he shall kindle a burning like the burning of a fire.">Isaiah 10:16</a>, by “the Lord of Zebaoth.” And here, as elsewhere, it must mean God Himself, because He is said to come “to <span class= "ital">his</span> temple,” and because He is said to be He “whom ye seek:” <span class= "ital">i.e.</span>, “the God of judgment” (<a href="/malachi/2-17.htm" title="You have wearied the LORD with your words. Yet you say, Wherein have we wearied him? When you say, Every one that does evil is good in the sight of the LORD, and he delights in them; or, Where is the God of judgment?">Malachi 2:17</a>).<p><span class= "bld">Even</span>—<span class= "ital">i.e.</span>, “namely,” for so the Hebrew conjunction “and” is frequently used: <span class= "ital">e.g.,</span> <a href="/exodus/25-12.htm" title="And you shall cast four rings of gold for it, and put them in the four corners thereof; and two rings shall be in the one side of it, and two rings in the other side of it.">Exodus 25:12</a>; <a href="/1_samuel/28-3.htm" title="Now Samuel was dead, and all Israel had lamented him, and buried him in Ramah, even in his own city. And Saul had put away those that had familiar spirits, and the wizards, out of the land.">1Samuel 28:3</a>.<p><span class= "bld">The messenger</span> (or angel)<span class= "bld"> of the covenant.</span>—This expression occurs only in this passage. Identified as He is here with “the Lord,” He can be no other than the Son of God, who was manifested in the flesh as the Messiah. In the word “covenant” there is, perhaps, some reference to the “new covenant” (<a href="/jeremiah/31-31.htm" title="Behold, the days come, said the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah:">Jeremiah 31:31</a>), but the meaning of the word must not be limited to this.<p><span class= "bld">Delight in.</span>—Rather, <span class= "ital">desire.</span><p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/malachi/3-2.htm">Malachi 3:2</a></div><div class="verse">But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he <i>is</i> like a refiner's fire, and like fullers' soap:</div>(2) This coming of the Lord to His temple acts as a crucial test (comp. <a href="/luke/2-35.htm" title="(Yes, a sword shall pierce through your own soul also,) that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.">Luke 2:35</a>); the people ought, therefore, seriously to have considered how far they were prepared for that advent before they desired it so eagerly and impatiently.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/malachi/3-3.htm">Malachi 3:3</a></div><div class="verse">And he shall sit <i>as</i> a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the LORD an offering in righteousness.</div>(3) <span class= "bld">Sons of Levi.</span>—Meaning especially the priests, the sons of Aaron, son of Amram, son of Kohath, son of Levi (<a href="/context/exodus/6-16.htm" title="And these are the names of the sons of Levi according to their generations; Gershon, and Kohath, and Merari: and the years of the life of Levi were an hundred thirty and seven years.">Exodus 6:16-20</a>); for judgment must begin at the house of God. (Comp. <a href="/jeremiah/25-29.htm" title="For, see, I begin to bring evil on the city which is called by my name, and should you be utterly unpunished? You shall not be unpunished: for I will call for a sword on all the inhabitants of the earth, said the LORD of hosts.">Jeremiah 25:29</a>; <a href="/ezekiel/9-6.htm" title="Slay utterly old and young, both maids, and little children, and women: but come not near any man on whom is the mark; and begin at my sanctuary. Then they began at the ancient men which were before the house.">Ezekiel 9:6</a>; <a href="/1_peter/4-17.htm" title="For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?">1Peter 4:17</a>.)<p><span class= "bld">In righteousness</span> refers rather to the moral character of the offerer than to the nature of the sacrifices, as being such as were prescribed by the Law. This and the following verse do not, of course, imply that there are to be material sacrifices in Messianic times. The prophet speaks in such language as was suitable to the age in which he lived. (See Note on <a href="/malachi/1-11.htm" title="For from the rising of the sun even to the going down of the same my name shall be great among the Gentiles; and in every place incense shall be offered to my name, and a pure offering: for my name shall be great among the heathen, said the LORD of hosts.">Malachi 1:11</a>.)<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/malachi/3-4.htm">Malachi 3:4</a></div><div class="verse">Then shall the offering of Judah and Jerusalem be pleasant unto the LORD, as in the days of old, and as in former years.</div>(4) <span class= "bld">Days of old . . . former years.</span>—Perhaps, if we must define the period, from the time of Moses to the first year of the reign of Solomon. But we cannot be certain on this point. It seems to be one of the characteristics of Malachi to be somewhat of a <span class= "ital">laudator temporis acti.</span> (Comp. <a href="/context/malachi/2-5.htm" title="My covenant was with him of life and peace; and I gave them to him for the fear with which he feared me, and was afraid before my name.">Malachi 2:5-7</a>.)<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/malachi/3-5.htm">Malachi 3:5</a></div><div class="verse">And I will come near to you to judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against false swearers, and against those that oppress the hireling in <i>his</i> wages, the widow, and the fatherless, and that turn aside the stranger <i>from his right</i>, and fear not me, saith the LORD of hosts.</div>(5) All these crimes were explicitly forbidden by the Law. Sorcery (<a href="/exodus/22-18.htm" title="You shall not suffer a witch to live.">Exodus 22:18</a>), adultery (<a href="/exodus/20-14.htm" title="You shall not commit adultery.">Exodus 20:14</a>; <a href="/leviticus/20-10.htm" title="And the man that commits adultery with another man's wife, even he that commits adultery with his neighbor's wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death.">Leviticus 20:10</a>; <a href="/deuteronomy/22-22.htm" title="If a man be found lying with a woman married to an husband, then they shall both of them die, both the man that lay with the woman, and the woman: so shall you put away evil from Israel.">Deuteronomy 22:22</a>), false-swearing (<a href="/leviticus/19-12.htm" title="And you shall not swear by my name falsely, neither shall you profane the name of your God: I am the LORD.">Leviticus 19:12</a>), defrauding, or withholding of wages (<a href="/leviticus/19-13.htm" title="You shall not defraud your neighbor, neither rob him: the wages of him that is hired shall not abide with you all night until the morning.">Leviticus 19:13</a>; <a href="/context/deuteronomy/24-14.htm" title="You shall not oppress an hired servant that is poor and needy, whether he be of your brothers, or of your strangers that are in your land within your gates:">Deuteronomy 24:14-15</a>), oppressing the widow and orphan (<a href="/context/exodus/22-22.htm" title="You shall not afflict any widow, or fatherless child.">Exodus 22:22-24</a>), doing injustice to a stranger (<a href="/deuteronomy/24-17.htm" title="You shall not pervert the judgment of the stranger, nor of the fatherless; nor take a widow's raiment to pledge:">Deuteronomy 24:17</a>; <a href="/deuteronomy/27-19.htm" title="Cursed be he that perverts the judgment of the stranger, fatherless, and widow. And all the people shall say, Amen.">Deuteronomy 27:19</a>). (Comp. also <a href="/context/zechariah/7-9.htm" title="Thus speaks the LORD of hosts, saying, Execute true judgment, and show mercy and compassions every man to his brother:">Zechariah 7:9-10</a>; <a href="/context/zechariah/8-16.htm" title="These are the things that you shall do; Speak you every man the truth to his neighbor; execute the judgment of truth and peace in your gates:">Zechariah 8:16-17</a>.)<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/malachi/3-6.htm">Malachi 3:6</a></div><div class="verse">For I <i>am</i> the LORD, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.</div>(6) <span class= "bld">For I am the Lord, I change not.</span>—Better, <span class= "ital">For I Jehovah change not.</span> Because it is the Eternal’s unchangeable will that the sons of Jacob, His chosen people, should not perish as a nation, He will purify them by the eradication of the wicked among them, that the remnant (the superior part; see Note on <a href="/malachi/2-15.htm" title="And did not he make one? Yet had he the residue of the spirit. And why one? That he might seek a godly seed. Therefore take heed to your spirit, and let none deal treacherously against the wife of his youth.">Malachi 2:15</a>) may return to their allegiance. (Comp. Romans 11) Ewald renders the words: <span class= "ital">For I, the LORD, have not changed: hut ye sons of Jacob, have ye not altered</span>? But the last verb does not mean “to alter;” and, moreover, the former translation is exactly in accordance with the wording of the prayer in <a href="/context/ezra/9-14.htm" title="Should we again break your commandments, and join in affinity with the people of these abominations? would not you be angry with us till you had consumed us, so that there should be no remnant nor escaping?">Ezra 9:14-15</a>.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/malachi/3-7.htm">Malachi 3:7</a></div><div class="verse">Even from the days of your fathers ye are gone away from mine ordinances, and have not kept <i>them</i>. Return unto me, and I will return unto you, saith the LORD of hosts. But ye said, Wherein shall we return?</div>(7) <span class= "bld">Even from . . . fathers.</span>—Throughout the whole course of their history they had been a people (<a href="/exodus/32-9.htm" title="And the LORD said to Moses, I have seen this people, and, behold, it is a stiff necked people:">Exodus 32:9</a>, &c.); and now, when exhorted to repent, they ask in feigned innocence:—<p><span class= "bld">Wherein shall we return? . . . Return unto me . . . unto you.</span>—Comp. <a href="/zechariah/1-3.htm" title="Therefore say you to them, Thus said the LORD of hosts; Turn you to me, said the LORD of hosts, and I will turn to you, said the LORD of hosts.">Zechariah 1:3</a>.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/malachi/3-8.htm">Malachi 3:8</a></div><div class="verse">Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings.</div>(8) <span class= "bld">Robbed me.</span>—Because the tithes are said to be offered to Jehovah, and then He gives them to the Levites in place of an inheritance (<a href="/numbers/18-24.htm" title="But the tithes of the children of Israel, which they offer as an heave offering to the LORD, I have given to the Levites to inherit: therefore I have said to them, Among the children of Israel they shall have no inheritance.">Numbers 18:24</a>).<p><span class= "bld">In tithes and offerings.</span>—See Notes on <a href="/exodus/23-19.htm" title="The first of the first fruits of your land you shall bring into the house of the LORD your God. You shall not seethe a kid in his mother's milk.">Exodus 23:19</a>; <a href="/context/leviticus/27-30.htm" title="And all the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land, or of the fruit of the tree, is the LORD's: it is holy to the LORD.">Leviticus 27:30-33</a>; <a href="/numbers/18-12.htm" title="All the best of the oil, and all the best of the wine, and of the wheat, the first fruits of them which they shall offer to the LORD, them have I given you.">Numbers 18:12</a>; <a href="/context/numbers/18-21.htm" title="And, behold, I have given the children of Levi all the tenth in Israel for an inheritance, for their service which they serve, even the service of the tabernacle of the congregation.">Numbers 18:21-24</a>; <a href="/deuteronomy/18-4.htm" title="The first fruit also of your corn, of your wine, and of your oil, and the first of the fleece of your sheep, shall you give him.">Deuteronomy 18:4</a>; <a href="/context/leviticus/3-1.htm" title="And if his oblation be a sacrifice of peace offering, if he offer it of the herd; whether it be a male or female, he shall offer it without blemish before the LORD.">Leviticus 3:1-17</a>; <a href="/context/leviticus/7-11.htm" title="And this is the law of the sacrifice of peace offerings, which he shall offer to the LORD.">Leviticus 7:11-21</a>; <a href="/context/leviticus/7-28.htm" title="And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,">Leviticus 7:28-36</a>.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/malachi/3-9.htm">Malachi 3:9</a></div><div class="verse">Ye <i>are</i> cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, <i>even</i> this whole nation.</div>(9) Comp. <a href="/malachi/2-2.htm" title="If you will not hear, and if you will not lay it to heart, to give glory to my name, said the LORD of hosts, I will even send a curse on you, and I will curse your blessings: yes, I have cursed them already, because you do not lay it to heart.">Malachi 2:2</a>; <a href="/malachi/3-11.htm" title="And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, said the LORD of hosts.">Malachi 3:11</a>.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/malachi/3-10.htm">Malachi 3:10</a></div><div class="verse">Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that <i>there shall</i> not <i>be room</i> enough <i>to receive it</i>.</div>(10) The emphasis is on the word “all.”<p><span class= "bld">Storehouse.</span>—From the time of Hezekiah (<a href="/2_chronicles/31-11.htm" title="Then Hezekiah commanded to prepare chambers in the house of the LORD; and they prepared them,">2Chronicles 31:11</a>) there were at the Sanctuary special storehouses built for this purpose; so, too, in the second Temple (<a href="/context/nehemiah/10-38.htm" title="And the priest the son of Aaron shall be with the Levites, when the Levites take tithes: and the Levites shall bring up the tithe of the tithes to the house of our God, to the chambers, into the treasure house.">Nehemiah 10:38-39</a>; <a href="/nehemiah/12-44.htm" title="And at that time were some appointed over the chambers for the treasures, for the offerings, for the first fruits, and for the tithes, to gather into them out of the fields of the cities the portions of the law for the priests and Levites: for Judah rejoiced for the priests and for the Levites that waited.">Nehemiah 12:44</a>; <a href="/context/nehemiah/13-12.htm" title="Then brought all Judah the tithe of the corn and the new wine and the oil to the treasuries.">Nehemiah 13:12-13</a>).<p><span class= "bld">Meat</span>—<span class= "ital">i.e.,</span> food for the priests and Levites.<p><span class= "bld">Open you</span> . . .—According to the promise of <a href="/context/deuteronomy/11-13.htm" title="And it shall come to pass, if you shall listen diligently to my commandments which I command you this day, to love the LORD your God, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul,">Deuteronomy 11:13-15</a>, &c. For a practical commentary on this verse, see <a href="/2_chronicles/31-10.htm" title="And Azariah the chief priest of the house of Zadok answered him, and said, Since the people began to bring the offerings into the house of the LORD, we have had enough to eat, and have left plenty: for the LORD has blessed his people; and that which is left is this great store.">2Chronicles 31:10</a>. “And Azariah, the chief priest of the house of Zadok, answered Hezekiah and said, Since the people began to bring the offerings into the house of the Lord, we have had enough to eat, and have left plenty; <span class= "ital">for the Lord hath blessed his</span> <span class= "ital">people</span>; and that which is left is this great store.”<p><span class= "bld">That.</span>—Better, <span class= "ital">until.</span><p><span class= "bld">There shall not be room enough</span> . . .—This rendering gives the correct meaning of the words (Compare an expression of similar import in <a href="/zechariah/10-10.htm" title="I will bring them again also out of the land of Egypt, and gather them out of Assyria; and I will bring them into the land of Gilead and Lebanon; and place shall not be found for them.">Zechariah 10:10</a>.) We cannot agree with the rendering of Gesenius, “until my abundance be exhausted,” as equivalent to “for ever.”<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/malachi/3-11.htm">Malachi 3:11</a></div><div class="verse">And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, saith the LORD of hosts.</div>(11) <span class= "bld">For your sakes.</span>—The same word as in <a href="/malachi/2-3.htm" title="Behold, I will corrupt your seed, and spread dung on your faces, even the dung of your solemn feasts; and one shall take you away with it.">Malachi 2:3</a> : here in a good sense, there in a bad.<p><span class= "bld">The devourer</span>—<span class= "ital">i.e.,</span> the locust, &c.<p><span class= "bld">Rebuke.</span>—Better, <span class= "ital">corrupt.</span> The same word is used as in <a href="/malachi/2-3.htm" title="Behold, I will corrupt your seed, and spread dung on your faces, even the dung of your solemn feasts; and one shall take you away with it.">Malachi 2:3</a>, but in a different construction. (With this verse comp. <a href="/context/haggai/1-6.htm" title="You have sown much, and bring in little; you eat, but you have not enough; you drink, but you are not filled with drink; you clothe you, but there is none warm; and he that earns wages earns wages to put it into a bag with holes.">Haggai 1:6-11</a>.)<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/malachi/3-12.htm">Malachi 3:12</a></div><div class="verse">And all nations shall call you blessed: for ye shall be a delightsome land, saith the LORD of hosts.</div>(12) Comp. <a href="/zechariah/7-14.htm" title="But I scattered them with a whirlwind among all the nations whom they knew not. Thus the land was desolate after them, that no man passed through nor returned: for they laid the pleasant land desolate.">Zechariah 7:14</a>; <a href="/context/zechariah/8-13.htm" title="And it shall come to pass, that as you were a curse among the heathen, O house of Judah, and house of Israel; so will I save you, and you shall be a blessing: fear not, but let your hands be strong.">Zechariah 8:13-23</a>; also <a href="/isaiah/62-4.htm" title="You shall no more be termed Forsaken; neither shall your land any more be termed Desolate: but you shall be called Hephzibah, and your land Beulah: for the LORD delights in you, and your land shall be married.">Isaiah 62:4</a>; <a href="/daniel/11-16.htm" title="But he that comes against him shall do according to his own will, and none shall stand before him: and he shall stand in the glorious land, which by his hand shall be consumed.">Daniel 11:16</a>.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/malachi/3-13.htm">Malachi 3:13</a></div><div class="verse">Your words have been stout against me, saith the LORD. Yet ye say, What have we spoken <i>so much</i> against thee?</div>(13) <span class= "bld">Your words</span> . . . <span class= "bld">against me.</span>—Better, <span class= "ital">your words put a constraint on me</span>: viz., to prove myself to you to be “the God of judgment.”<p><span class= "bld">Spoken.</span>—Or rather, <span class= "ital">conversed together.</span> (Comp. <a href="/malachi/3-16.htm" title="Then they that feared the LORD spoke often one to another: and the LORD listened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the LORD, and that thought on his name.">Malachi 3:16</a>.) They seem to have been in the habit of conversing together, and comparing the promises of God towards them with the then state of affairs. God had promised that they should be a proverb among the nations for blessedness; but, say they, seeing that things are as they are, “we [feel more inclined to] call the proud happy [or blessed].” (See further in Note on <a href="/malachi/3-15.htm" title="And now we call the proud happy; yes, they that work wickedness are set up; yes, they that tempt God are even delivered.">Malachi 3:15</a>.)<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/malachi/3-14.htm">Malachi 3:14</a></div><div class="verse">Ye have said, It <i>is</i> vain to serve God: and what profit <i>is it</i> that we have kept his ordinance, and that we have walked mournfully before the LORD of hosts?</div>(14) <span class= "bld">Mournfully</span>—<span class= "ital">i.e.,</span> with all outward signs of fasting. (Comp. <a href="/matthew/6-16.htm" title="Moreover when you fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear to men to fast. Truly I say to you, They have their reward.">Matthew 6:16</a>.) The fasting referred to is not that of the Day of Atonement, but of voluntary fasts. We see here, in already a somewhat developed form, that disposition to attribute merit to observances of outward forms of religion for their own sake, without regard to the secret attitude of the heart, which reached such a pitch among the majority of the Jews in the time of our Lord, and especially among the Pharisees.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/malachi/3-15.htm">Malachi 3:15</a></div><div class="verse">And now we call the proud happy; yea, they that work wickedness are set up; yea, <i>they that</i> tempt God are even delivered.</div>(15) And now means <span class= "ital">and so, consequently.</span> In this verse the prophet gives the words of the murmurers. (See Note on <a href="/malachi/3-13.htm" title="Your words have been stout against me, said the LORD. Yet you say, What have we spoken so much against you?">Malachi 3:13</a>.) The statements of <a href="/malachi/3-13.htm" title="Your words have been stout against me, said the LORD. Yet you say, What have we spoken so much against you?">Malachi 3:13</a> show that they were of a very different character from such faithful servants of Jehovah as were at times sorely tempted against their will to waver in their faith. We may observe here the seeds of sceptical Sadduceism, as in <a href="/malachi/3-14.htm" title="You have said, It is vain to serve God: and what profit is it that we have kept his ordinance, and that we have walked mournfully before the LORD of hosts?">Malachi 3:14</a> of hypocritical Phariseism. (Comp. Psalms 37, 73, and the Books of Job and Eccl.)<p><span class= "bld">Proud . . . they that work wickedness</span>—<span class= "ital">i.e.</span>, the heathen, who do not profess to serve Jehovah. (Comp. <a href="/isaiah/13-11.htm" title="And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogance of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible.">Isaiah 13:11</a>.)<p><span class= "bld">Proud</span> is a common Biblical expression for <span class= "ital">presumptuous sinners;</span> the same word is also used for ‘<span class= "ital">presumptuous sins</span> (<a href="/psalms/19-13.htm" title="Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me: then shall I be upright, and I shall be innocent from the great transgression.">Psalm 19:13</a>).<p><span class= "bld">Tempt.</span>—The same word is used which in <a href="/malachi/3-10.htm" title="Bring you all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in my house, and prove me now herewith, said the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.">Malachi 3:10</a> is translated “prove.” The difference in the two cases consists in the different nature of the actions. In <a href="/malachi/3-10.htm" title="Bring you all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in my house, and prove me now herewith, said the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.">Malachi 3:10</a> the Jews are exhorted to obey the Law faithfully, and prove whether God would not (<span class= "ital">i.e.,</span> experience that God certainly would) perform His part in the covenant. In <a href="/malachi/3-15.htm" title="And now we call the proud happy; yes, they that work wickedness are set up; yes, they that tempt God are even delivered.">Malachi 3:15</a> the heathen, by their pride and wickedness, tempt God to judgment.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/malachi/3-16.htm">Malachi 3:16</a></div><div class="verse">Then they that feared the LORD spake often one to another: and the LORD hearkened, and heard <i>it</i>, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the LORD, and that thought upon his name.</div>(16) <span class= "bld">Then.</span>—As a consequence of the unbelieving conversation of the wicked. What “they that feared the Lord” said is not recorded; but it is implied, by His approval of them, that they strengthened one another in their faith and reliance on the goodness and faithfulness of the Lord, in spite of the present appearance of things. As the godless in Israel conversed together, so did the godly; but the converse of the one was the very reverse of the converse of the other. In <a href="/ezra/9-4.htm" title="Then were assembled to me every one that trembled at the words of the God of Israel, because of the transgression of those that had been carried away; and I sat astonished until the evening sacrifice.">Ezra 9:4</a> we read of such a consultation among those “that trembled at the word of the God of Israel.” (Comp. the expression in <a href="/malachi/2-5.htm" title="My covenant was with him of life and peace; and I gave them to him for the fear with which he feared me, and was afraid before my name.">Malachi 2:5</a>.)<p><span class= "bld">Book of remembrance.</span>—In which men’s actions are said figuratively to be recorded (<a href="/psalms/56-8.htm" title="You tell my wanderings: put you my tears into your bottle: are they not in your book?">Psalm 56:8</a>; <a href="/daniel/7-10.htm" title="A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him: thousand thousands ministered to him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him: the judgment was set, and the books were opened.">Daniel 7:10</a>, &c.). Compare the custom of the Persian kings (<a href="/esther/6-1.htm" title="On that night could not the king sleep, and he commanded to bring the book of records of the chronicles; and they were read before the king.">Esther 6:1</a>).<p><span class= "bld">For them</span>—<span class= "ital">i.e., for their future reward.</span><p><span class= "bld">Thought upon</span>—<span class= "ital">i.e.</span>, <span class= "ital">valued, esteemed.</span><p>(16) <span class= "bld">Then shall ye . . . between.</span>—Better, <span class= "ital">Then shall ye again perceive the difference between.</span> For the construction, comp. <a href="/zechariah/4-1.htm" title="And the angel that talked with me came again, and waked me, as a man that is wakened out of his sleep.">Zechariah 4:1</a>. As in former cases God had made this difference manifest, so He would again. Compare, for instance, the difference between the case of the Egyptians and of the Israelites in the matter of the miraculous darkness (<a href="/exodus/10-23.htm" title="They saw not one another, neither rose any from his place for three days: but all the children of Israel had light in their dwellings.">Exodus 10:23</a>).<p><span class= "bld"> <div class="versenum"><a href="/malachi/3-17.htm">Malachi 3:17</a></div><div class="verse">And they shall be mine, saith the LORD of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him.</div>(17) <span class= "bld">And they shall be . . . my jewels.</span>—Better, <span class= "ital">And they shall be to</span> me, <span class= "ital">saith the Lord of hosts, a special possession, on the day that I am about to make.</span> “Special possession” (<a href="/exodus/19-5.htm" title="Now therefore, if you will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then you shall be a peculiar treasure to me above all people: for all the earth is mine:">Exodus 19:5</a>).<p><span class= "bld">Day</span> . . . <span class= "bld">make.</span>—The same expression occurs in <a href="/malachi/4-3.htm" title="And you shall tread down the wicked; for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I shall do this, said the LORD of hosts.">Malachi 4:3</a>. (Comp. <a href="/psalms/118-24.htm" title="This is the day which the LORD has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.">Psalm 118:24</a>.)<p> <div id="botbox"><div class="padbot"><div align="center">Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers<br /><br />Text Courtesy of <a href="//biblesupport.com" target="_top">BibleSupport.com</a>. Used by Permission. <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><a href="/">Bible Hub</a></div></div></div></div></td></tr></table></div><div id="left"><a href="../malachi/2.htm" onmouseover='lft.src="/leftgif.png"' onmouseout='lft.src="/left.png"' title="Malachi 2"><img src="/left.png" name="lft" border="0" alt="Malachi 2" /></a></div><div id="right"><a href="../malachi/4.htm" onmouseover='rght.src="/rightgif.png"' onmouseout='rght.src="/right.png"' title="Malachi 4"><img src="/right.png" name="rght" border="0" alt="Malachi 4" /></a></div><div id="botleft"><a href="#" onmouseover='botleft.src="/botleftgif.png"' onmouseout='botleft.src="/botleft.png"' title="Top of Page"><img src="/botleft.png" name="botleft" border="0" alt="Top of Page" /></a></div><div id="botright"><a href="#" onmouseover='botright.src="/botrightgif.png"' onmouseout='botright.src="/botright.png"' title="Top of Page"><img src="/botright.png" name="botright" border="0" alt="Top of Page" /></a></div><div id="rightbox"><div class="padright"><div id="pic"><iframe width="100%" height="860" scrolling="no" src="//biblescan.com/mpc/malachi/3-1.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></div></div></div><div id="rightbox4"><div class="padright2"><div id="spons1"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"><tr><td class="sp1"><iframe width="122" height="860" scrolling="no" src="/commentaries/ellicott/sidemenu.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></div></div><div id="bot"><br /><br /><div align="center"> <script id="3d27ed63fc4348d5b062c4527ae09445"> (new Image()).src = 'https://capi.connatix.com/tr/si?token=51ce25d5-1a8c-424a-8695-4bd48c750f35&cid=3a9f82d0-4344-4f8d-ac0c-e1a0eb43a405'; </script> <script id="b817b7107f1d4a7997da1b3c33457e03"> (new Image()).src = 'https://capi.connatix.com/tr/si?token=cb0edd8b-b416-47eb-8c6d-3cc96561f7e8&cid=3a9f82d0-4344-4f8d-ac0c-e1a0eb43a405'; </script><br /><br />  <div id='div-gpt-ad-1529103594582-2'> </div><br /><br />  <div id='div-gpt-ad-1529103594582-0' style='max-width: 300px;'> </div><br /><br />  <div id='div-gpt-ad-1529103594582-3'> </div><br /><br />  <div id='div-gpt-ad-1529103594582-1' style='max-width: 300px;'> </div><br /><br />  <div align="center" id='div-gpt-ad-1531425649696-0'> </div><br /><br /> <ins class="adsbygoogle" style="display:inline-block;width:200px;height:200px" data-ad-client="ca-pub-3753401421161123" data-ad-slot="3592799687"></ins> <script> (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); </script> <br /><br /> </div><iframe width="100%" height="1500" scrolling="no" src="/botmenubhchap.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></div></td></tr></table></body></html>