Malachi 1
Berean Standard Bible · Compare translations · 460 BC – 430 BC · Return & rebuilding · Tap a verse to copy, share or highlight ·
14 verses · 478 words · ~2 min read · ~3 min listen
The LORDʼs Love for Israel
1This is the burden of the word of the Lord to Israel through Malachi:
2“I have loved you,” says the Lord.
But you ask, “How have You loved us?”
“Was not Esau Jacobʼs brother?” declares the Lord. “Yet Jacob I have loved, 3but Esau I have hated, and I have made his mountains a wasteland and left his inheritance to the desert jackals.”
4Though Edom may say, “We have been devastated, but we will rebuild the ruins,” this is what the Lord of Hosts says: “They may build, but I will demolish. They will be called the Land of Wickedness, and a people with whom the Lord is indignant forever. 5You will see this with your own eyes, and you yourselves will say, ‘The Lord is great—even beyond the borders of Israel.’”
The Polluted Offerings
6“A son honors his father, and a servant his master. But if I am a father, where is My honor? And if I am a master, where is your fear of Me?” says the Lord of Hosts to you priests who despise My name.
“But you ask, ‘How have we despised Your name?’
7By presenting defiled food on My altar.
But you ask, ‘How have we defiled You?’
By saying that the table of the Lord is contemptible.
8When you offer blind animals for sacrifice, is it not wrong? And when you present the lame and sick ones, is it not wrong? Try offering them to your governor! Would he be pleased with you or show you favor?” asks the Lord of Hosts.
9“But ask now for Godʼs favor. Will He be gracious? Since this has come from your hands, will He show you favor?” asks the Lord of Hosts.
10“Oh, that one of you would shut the temple doors, so that you would no longer kindle useless fires on My altar! I take no pleasure in you,” says the Lord of Hosts, “and I will accept no offering from your hands.
11For My name will be great among the nations, from where the sun rises to where it sets. In every place, incense and pure offerings will be presented in My name, because My name will be great among the nations,” says the Lord of Hosts. 12“But you profane it when you say, ‘The table of the Lord is defiled, and as for its fruit, its food is contemptible.’
13You also say: ‘Oh, what a nuisance!’ And you turn up your nose at it,” says the Lord of Hosts.
“You bring offerings that are stolen, lame, or sick! Should I accept these from your hands?” asks the Lord.
14“But cursed is the deceiver who has an acceptable male in his flock and vows to give it, but sacrifices a defective animal to the Lord. For I am a great King,” says the Lord of Hosts, “and My name is to be feared among the nations.
Footnotes (4)
- a v1 Malachi means My messenger.
- b v3 Cited in Romans 9:13
- c v3 Or to the serpents of the wilderness or to the dragons of the wilderness
- d v7 LXX defiled it
Study notes on this chapter · 3
Two nations in your womb
Before Jacob and Esau are born, God tells Rebekah that two nations are in her womb and the older will serve the younger. Israel and Edom are the later nations, and David's conquest of Edom is usually seen as a first fulfillment. Malachi and Paul use the pair to speak of God's freedom in choosing; how Paul's argument is best read is disputed among traditions.
When: Genesis (traditionally c. 1900 BC); David's conquest of Edom, c. 1000 BC; Romans, c. AD 57.
Ways people read this (3)
- Paul uses Jacob and Esau to argue for God's sovereign election of individuals (Reformed and related traditions).
- Paul is speaking of God's choice of peoples and their roles in his purposes, not the final destiny of individuals (many Arminian, Orthodox and Catholic readers).
- Malachi's 'love' and 'hate' describe covenant preference in Semitic idiom, not emotion.
Editorial note by BibleWay. Interpretations vary; dates are approximate scholarly estimates.
Edom's ruins will not be rebuilt
Malachi says that Edom may say 'We are shattered, but we will rebuild the ruins', yet the LORD says they may build but he will tear down. This places the fall of Edom's heartland before Malachi's time, c. 450 BC, consistent with the Nabataean movement into Edom in the sixth to fifth centuries BC.
When: Malachi, c. 450–430 BC.
Editorial note by BibleWay. Interpretations vary; dates are approximate scholarly estimates.
A pure offering in every place
Malachi says that from the rising of the sun to its setting the LORD's name will be great among the nations, and in every place incense and a pure offering will be presented to him. Readers disagree on whether this describes the worship of Gentiles in Malachi's day, the Eucharist, or a future time.
When: Malachi, c. 450–430 BC.
Ways people read this (4)
- Early Christian writers (the Didache, Justin, Irenaeus) read the 'pure offering' as the Eucharist, a reading that remains important in Catholic and Orthodox tradition.
- A reference to the worship offered in every place by the faithful, including Gentiles, whether in Malachi's time or in the Messianic age.
- A reference to the spread of the gospel and to spiritual sacrifices of prayer and praise (Protestant readings citing Romans 12:1 and Hebrews 13:15).
- A hyperbole contrasting God's greatness with the priests' contemptible offerings.
Editorial note by BibleWay. Interpretations vary; dates are approximate scholarly estimates.