Malachi 1

Malachi 1
The whole Book of Malachi in Latin as a part of Codex Gigas, made around 13th century.
Book Book of Malachi
Bible part Old Testament
Order in the Bible part 39
Category Nevi'im

Malachi 1 is the first chapter of the Book of Malachi in the Hebrew Bible or the Old Testament of the Christian Bible.[1][2] This book contains the prophecies spoken by the prophet Malachi, and is a part of the Book of the Twelve Minor Prophets.[3][4]

Text

Textual versions

Some most ancient manuscripts containing this chapter in Hebrew language:

Ancient translations in Koine Greek:

Structure

NKJV groups this chapter into:

Verse 1

The burden of the word of the Lord to Israel by Malachi.[5]
  • "By Malachi": literally, by the hand of Malachi (comp. Jeremiah 37:2). Malachi is the proper name of the prophet, and not a mere official designation.[6] The LXX. renders, ἐν χειρὶ ἀγγέλου αὐτοῦ, "by the hand of his angel," or" messenger," and some curious theories have been founded on this translation; e.g. that an angel was the real author of the book, or came and explained it to the people. A similar legend once obtained concerning Haggai, called" The Lord's Messenger" (Haggai 1:13). At the end of the verse the LXX. adds, "fix it in your hearts," which Jerome supposes to have been imported hither from Haggai 2:15.[6]

Verse 2

I have loved you, saith the Lord. Yet ye say, Wherein hast thou loved us? Was not Esau Jacob's brother? saith the Lord: yet I loved Jacob,[7]
  • "I have loved you": above other men, even above the other descendants of Abraham and Isaac. This which is to be supplied is left unexpressed, sorrow as it were breaking off the sentence [Menochius], (Deuteronomy 7:8; Hosea 11:1).[8]

Verse 3

And I hated Esau, and laid his mountains and his heritage waste for the dragons of the wilderness.[9]
  • "I hated Esau": St. Paul quotes these words (Romans 9:13) in order to illustrate his position, "that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth." Even before his birth Jacob was the chosen one, and Esau, the elder, was to serve the younger. But Malachi is not speaking of the predestination of the one brother and the reprobation of the other; he is contrasting the histories of the two peoples represented by them. Both nations sinned; both are punished; but Israel by God's free mercy was forgiven and restored, while Edom was left in the misery which it had brought upon itself by its own iniquity. Thus is proved God's love for the Israelites (Knabenbauer). That it is of the two nations that the prophet speaks, rather than of the two brothers, is seen by what follows.[6]
  • "Laid his mountains": According to Grotius, it was done by Nebuchadnezzar five years after the captivity of the Jews, in fulfilment of the prophecy of Jeremiah, Jeremiah 49:7 but this was done by the Nabatheans.[10] Mount Seir was the famous mountain that Esau dwelt in, Genesis 36:8 there might be more in his country; or this might have many tops, and therefore called "mountains"; and to this account of the waste and desolate state of this country agrees what is at present related of it, by a late traveller in those parts.[11][12]
  • "His heritage waste": Malachi attests the first stage of fulfillment of Joel's prophecy (Joel 3:19, vol. i. pp. 214, 215), "Edom shall be a desolate wilderness." In temporal things, Esau's blessing was identical with Jacob's; "the fatness of the earth and of the dew of heaven from above;" and the rich soil on the terraces of its mountain-sides, though yielding nothing now except a wild beautiful vegetation, and its deep glens, attest what they once must have been, when artificially watered and cultivated. The first desolation must have been through Nebuchadnezzar, in his expedition against Egypt, when he subdued Moab and Ammon; and Edom lay in his way, as Jeremiah had foretold Jeremiah 25:9, Jeremiah 25:21.[13]
  • "Dragons": rather, jackals (Micah 1:8); compare Isaiah 34:13.[8] Septuagint, εἰς δώματα ἐρήμου, "for habitations of the desert;" Vulgate, dracones deserti, whence the Authorized Version.[6]

See also

Notes and references

  1. ↑ Collins 2014.
  2. ↑ Hayes 2015.
  3. ↑ Metzger, Bruce M., et al. The Oxford Companion to the Bible. New York: Oxford University Press, 1993.
  4. ↑ Keck, Leander E. 1996. The New Interpreter's Bible: Volume: VII. Nashville: Abingdon.
  5. ↑ Malachi 1:1
  6. 1 2 3 4 Joseph S. Exell; Henry Donald Maurice Spence-Jones (Editors). The Pulpit Commentary. 23 volumes. First publication: 1890. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  7. ↑ Malachi 1:2
  8. 1 2 Robert Jamieson, Andrew Robert Fausset; David Brown. Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown's Commentary On the Whole Bible. 1871. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  9. ↑ Malachi 1:3
  10. ↑ See Prideaux's Connexion, par. 2. B. 3. p. 199.
  11. ↑ Dr. Shaw's Travels, p. 438. Ed. 2.
  12. ↑ John Gill. John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible. Exposition of the Old and New Testament. Published in 1746-1763. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  13. ↑ Barnes, Albert. Notes on the Old Testament. London, Blackie & Son, 1884. Reprint, Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1998. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.

Bibliography

  • Collins, John J. (2014). Introduction to the Hebrew Scriptures. Fortress Press. ISBN 9781451469233.
  • Hayes, Christine (2015). Introduction to the Bible. Yale University Press. ISBN 0300188277.

Jewish

Christian

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