ris3n's Apologetics Codex

Passage

Malachi 1.8-14

Book: Malachi · ASV / WEB / KJV / YLT

Immediate context (±2 verses)

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ASV

6. A son honoreth his father, and a servant his master: if then I am a father, where is mine honor? and if I am a master, where is my fear? saith Jehovah of hosts unto you, O priests, that despise my name. And ye say, Wherein have we despised thy name? 7. Ye offer polluted bread upon mine altar. And ye say, Wherein have we polluted thee? In that ye say, The table of Jehovah is contemptible.

8. And when ye offer the blind for sacrifice, it is no evil! and when ye offer the lame and sick, it is no evil! Present it now unto thy governor; will he be pleased with thee? or will he accept thy person? saith Jehovah of hosts. 9. And now, I pray you, entreat the favor of God, that he may be gracious unto us: this hath been by your means: will he accept any of your persons? saith Jehovah of hosts. 10. Oh that there were one among you that would shut the doors, that ye might not kindle fire on mine altar in vain! I have no pleasure in you, saith Jehovah of hosts, neither will I accept an offering at your hand. 11. For from the rising of the sun even unto the going down of the same my name shall be great among the Gentiles; and in every place incense shall be offered unto my name, and a pure offering: for my name shall be great among the Gentiles, saith Jehovah of hosts. 12. But ye profane it, in that ye say, The table of Jehovah is polluted, and the fruit thereof, even its food, is contemptible. 13. Ye say also, Behold, what a weariness is it! and ye have snuffed at it, saith Jehovah of hosts; and ye have brought that which was taken by violence, and the lame, and the sick; thus ye bring the offering: should I accept this at your hand? saith Jehovah. 14. But cursed be the deceiver, who hath in his flock a male, and voweth, and sacrificeth unto the Lord a blemished thing; for I am a great King, saith Jehovah of hosts, and my name is terrible among the Gentiles. (Malachi 1:6-14, ASV)

WEB

6. “A son honors his father, and a servant his master. If I am a father, then where is my honor? And if I am a master, where is the respect due me? Says Yahweh of Armies to you, priests, who despise my name. You say, ‘How have we despised your name?’ 7. You offer polluted bread on my altar. You say, ‘How have we polluted you?’ In that you say, ‘Yahweh’s table is contemptible.’

8. When you offer the blind for sacrifice, isn’t that evil? And when you offer the lame and sick, isn’t that evil? Present it now to your governor! Will he be pleased with you? Or will he accept your person?” says Yahweh of Armies. 9. “Now, please entreat the favor of God, that he may be gracious to us. With this, will he accept any of you?” says Yahweh of Armies. 10. “Oh that there were one among you who would shut the doors, that you might not kindle fire on my altar in vain! I have no pleasure in you,” says Yahweh of Armies, “neither will I accept an offering at your hand. 11. For from the rising of the sun even to the going down of the same, my name is great among the nations, and in every place incense will be offered to my name, and a pure offering: for my name is great among the nations,” says Yahweh of Armies. 12. “But you profane it, in that you say, ‘Yahweh’s table is polluted, and its fruit, even its food, is contemptible.’ 13. You say also, ‘Behold, what a weariness it is!’ and you have sniffed at it”, says Yahweh of Armies; “and you have brought that which was taken by violence, the lame, and the sick; thus you bring the offering. Should I accept this at your hand?” says Yahweh. 14. “But the deceiver is cursed, who has in his flock a male, and vows, and sacrifices to the Lord a defective thing; for I am a great King,” says Yahweh of Armies, “and my name is awesome among the nations.” (Malachi 1:6-14, WEB)

KJV

6. A son honoureth his father, and a servant his master: if then I be a father, where is mine honour? and if I be a master, where is my fear? saith the LORD of hosts unto you, O priests, that despise my name. And ye say, Wherein have we despised thy name? 7. Ye offer polluted bread upon mine altar; and ye say, Wherein have we polluted thee? In that ye say, The table of the LORD is contemptible. offer: or, bring unto, etc

8. And if ye offer the blind for sacrifice, is it not evil? and if ye offer the lame and sick, is it not evil? offer it now unto thy governor; will he be pleased with thee, or accept thy person? saith the LORD of hosts. for: Heb. to 9. And now, I pray you, beseech God that he will be gracious unto us: this hath been by your means: will he regard your persons? saith the LORD of hosts. God: Heb. the face of God by: Heb. from your hand 10. Who is there even among you that would shut the doors for nought? neither do ye kindle fire on mine altar for nought. I have no pleasure in you, saith the LORD of hosts, neither will I accept an offering at your hand. 11. For from the rising of the sun even unto the going down of the same my name shall be great among the Gentiles; and in every place incense shall be offered unto my name, and a pure offering: for my name shall be great among the heathen, saith the LORD of hosts. 12. But ye have profaned it, in that ye say, The table of the LORD is polluted; and the fruit thereof, even his meat, is contemptible. 13. Ye said also, Behold, what a weariness is it! and ye have snuffed at it, saith the LORD of hosts; and ye brought that which was torn, and the lame, and the sick; thus ye brought an offering: should I accept this of your hand? saith the LORD. and ye have: or, whereas ye might have blown it away 14. But cursed be the deceiver, which hath in his flock a male, and voweth, and sacrificeth unto the Lord a corrupt thing: for I am a great King, saith the LORD of hosts, and my name is dreadful among the heathen. which: Heb. in whose flock is (Malachi 1:6-14, KJV)

YLT

6. A son honoureth a father, and a servant his master. And if I [am] a father, where [is] Mine honour? And if I [am] a master, where [is] My fear? Said Jehovah of Hosts to you, O priests, despising My name! And ye have said: 'In what have we despised Thy name?' 7. Ye are bringing nigh on Mine altar polluted bread, And ye have said: 'In what have we polluted Thee?' In your saying: 'The table of Jehovah, it [is] despicable,'

8. And when ye bring nigh the blind for sacrifice, 'There is no evil,' And when ye bring nigh the lame and sick, 'There is no evil;' Bring it near, I pray thee, to thy governor, Doth he accept thee? or doth he lift up thy face? Said Jehovah of Hosts. 9. And now, appease, I pray thee, the face of God, And He doth favour us; From your own hand hath this been, Doth He accept of you appearances? Said Jehovah of Hosts. 10. Who [is] even among you, And he shutteth the two-leaved doors? Yea, ye do not kindle Mine altar for nought, I have no pleasure in you, said Jehovah of Hosts, And a present I do not accept of your hand. 11. For, from the rising of the sun to its going in, Great [is] My name among nations, And in every place perfume is brought nigh to My name, and a pure present, For great [is] My name among nations, Said Jehovah of Hosts. 12. And ye are polluting it in your saying, 'The table of Jehovah, it is polluted, As to its fruit, despicable is its food.' 13. And ye have said, 'Lo, what a weariness,' And ye have puffed at it, said Jehovah of Hosts, And ye have brought in plunder, And the lame and the sick, And ye have brought in the present! Do I accept it from your hand? said Jehovah. 14. And cursed [is] a deceiver, who hath in his drove a male, And is vowing, and is sacrificing a marred thing to the Lord, For a great king [am] I, said Jehovah of Hosts, And My name [is] revered among nations! (Malachi 1:6-14, YLT)

Setting

  • Speaker: YHWH, whose word comes "by Malachi" (1:1, literally "by the hand of Malachi"). The priests' own words are quoted within the speech: "The table of Jehovah is polluted" (v. 12) and "Behold, what a weariness is it!" (v. 13).
  • Audience: The priests of the Jerusalem temple, addressed directly from 1:6 ("O priests, that despise my name") through 2:9 ("And now, O ye priests, this commandment is for you," 2:1). Verse 14 widens the curse to any worshipper who vows a sound animal and brings a blemished one.
  • Location: Jerusalem and its temple, in Yehud (Judah), a province of the Persian Empire. The "governor" of 1:8 bears the Persian-era title also given to Zerubbabel (Haggai 1:1) and to Nehemiah (Nehemiah 5:14).
  • Time period: The Persian period, commonly dated to the mid-fifth century BC (c. 460-430 BC). The book carries no dated heading, but the temple is standing and its sacrifices are running, so it follows the rebuilding completed in the sixth year of Darius (Ezra 6:15, c. 516 BC). The abuses it confronts, a careless priesthood, withheld tithes, and marriages to worshippers of foreign gods, are the ones Nehemiah deals with (Nehemiah 13:10-12, 23-29).

Theological reading

Blemished offerings. The law required that a sacrifice be "without blemish" and named the blind and maimed as unacceptable (Leviticus 22:19-22). The priests are accepting the blind, the lame, the sick, and animals "taken by violence." The test proposed is a plain one: "Present it now unto thy governor; will he be pleased with thee?" They would not offer the Persian governor what they offer God.

Better no worship than this. "Oh that there were one among you that would shut the doors." YHWH would rather the temple fall silent than keep receiving contemptuous sacrifice. The problem is not a missing ritual but a missing reverence, which the priests themselves voice when they call the service "a weariness."

The nations as a foil. Verse 11 sets a pure offering to YHWH's name "in every place" among the Gentiles against the polluted table in Jerusalem. The passage ends with the same point: "I am a great King... and my name is terrible among the Gentiles." Verse 14 extends the curse beyond the priests to the worshipper who "hath in his flock a male, and voweth," then brings something blemished. The law was explicit that a vow offering "shall be perfect to be accepted" (Leviticus 22:21).

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word; see Lexicon Roadmap.

Quoted in

Arguments and defeaters:

Lexicon:


Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

  • ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
  • WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
  • KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
  • YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.