ris3n's Apologetics Codex
Malachi 2.4-7
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Passage

Malachi 2.4-7

Book: Malachi · ASV / WEB / KJV / YLT

Immediate context (±2 verses)

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ASV

2. If ye will not hear, and if ye will not lay it to heart, to give glory unto my name, saith Jehovah of hosts, then will I send the curse upon you, and I will curse your blessings; yea, I have cursed them already, because ye do not lay it to heart. 3. Behold, I will rebuke your seed, and will spread dung upon your faces, even the dung of your feasts; and ye shall be taken away with it.

4. And ye shall know that I have sent this commandment unto you, that my covenant may be with Levi, saith Jehovah of hosts. 5. My covenant was with him of life and peace; and I gave them to him that he might fear; and he feared me, and stood in awe of my name. 6. The law of truth was in his mouth, and unrighteousness was not found in his lips: he walked with me in peace and uprightness, and turned many away from iniquity. 7. For the priest's lips should keep knowledge, and they should seek the law at his mouth; for he is the messenger of Jehovah of hosts.

  1. But ye are turned aside out of the way; ye have caused many to stumble in the law; ye have corrupted the covenant of Levi, saith Jehovah of hosts. 9. Therefore have I also made you contemptible and base before all the people, according as ye have not kept my ways, but have had respect of persons in the law. (Malachi 2:2-9, ASV)
WEB

2. If you will not listen, and if you will not lay it to heart, to give glory to my name,” says Yahweh of Armies, “then will I send the curse on you, and I will curse your blessings. Indeed, I have cursed them already, because you do not lay it to heart. 3. Behold, I will rebuke your offspring, and will spread dung on your faces, even the dung of your feasts; and you will be taken away with it.

4. You will know that I have sent this commandment to you, that my covenant may be with Levi,” says Yahweh of Armies. 5. “My covenant was with him of life and peace; and I gave them to him that he might be reverent toward me; and he was reverent toward me, and stood in awe of my name. 6. The law of truth was in his mouth, and unrighteousness was not found in his lips. He walked with me in peace and uprightness, and turned many away from iniquity. 7. For the priest’s lips should keep knowledge, and they should seek the law at his mouth; for he is the messenger of Yahweh of Armies.

  1. But you have turned aside out of the way. You have caused many to stumble in the law. You have corrupted the covenant of Levi,” says Yahweh of Armies. 9. “Therefore I have also made you contemptible and base before all the people, according to the way you have not kept my ways, but have had respect for persons in the law. (Malachi 2:2-9, WEB)
KJV

2. If ye will not hear, and if ye will not lay it to heart, to give glory unto my name, saith the LORD of hosts, I will even send a curse upon you, and I will curse your blessings: yea, I have cursed them already, because ye do not lay it to heart. 3. Behold, I will corrupt your seed, and spread dung upon your faces, even the dung of your solemn feasts; and one shall take you away with it. corrupt: or, reprove spread: Heb. scatter one: or, it shall take you away to it

4. And ye shall know that I have sent this commandment unto you, that my covenant might be with Levi, saith the LORD of hosts. 5. My covenant was with him of life and peace; and I gave them to him for the fear wherewith he feared me, and was afraid before my name. 6. The law of truth was in his mouth, and iniquity was not found in his lips: he walked with me in peace and equity, and did turn many away from iniquity. 7. 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.

  1. But ye are departed out of the way; ye have caused many to stumble at the law; ye have corrupted the covenant of Levi, saith the LORD of hosts. stumble at: or, fall in 9. Therefore have I also made you contemptible and base before all the people, according as ye have not kept my ways, but have been partial in the law. have been: or, lifted up the face against: Heb. accepted faces (Malachi 2:2-9, KJV)
YLT

2. If ye hearken not, and if ye lay [it] not to heart, To give honour to My name, said Jehovah of Hosts, I have sent against you the curse, And I have cursed your blessings, Yea, I have also cursed it, Because ye are not laying [it] to heart. 3. Lo, I am pushing away before you the seed, And have scattered dung before your faces, Dung of your festivals, And it hath taken you away with it.

4. And ye have known that I have sent unto you this charge, For My covenant being with Levi, Said Jehovah of Hosts. 5. My covenant hath been with him of life and of peace, And I make them to him a fear, and he doth fear Me, And because of My name he hath been affrighted. 6. The law of truth hath been in his mouth, And perverseness hath not been found in his lips, In peace and in uprightness he walked with Me, And many he brought back from iniquity. 7. For the lips of a priest preserve knowledge, And law they do seek from his mouth, For a messenger of Jehovah of Hosts he [is].

  1. And ye, ye have turned from the way, Ye have caused many to stumble in the law, Ye have corrupted the covenant of Levi, Said Jehovah of Hosts. 9. And I also, I have made you despised and low before all the people, Because ye are not keeping My ways, And are accepting persons in the law. (Malachi 2:2-9, YLT)

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Setting

  • Speaker: YHWH, whose word comes "by Malachi" (1:1, literally "by the hand of Malachi"). Levi, the ancestor of the priestly tribe, is described in the third person as the model the present priests have abandoned.
  • 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).
  • 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

The covenant with Levi. The warning of 2:1-3 has a purpose: "that my covenant may be with Levi." The terms recall the blessing of Levi in Deuteronomy 33:8-11 ("They shall teach Jacob thine ordinances, and Israel thy law," Deuteronomy 33:10) and the "covenant of peace" given to Phinehas, the covenant "of an everlasting priesthood" (Numbers 25:12-13).

Life and peace, answered by fear. The covenant was "of life and peace," and it was given "that he might fear; and he feared me, and stood in awe of my name." The contrast with 1:6 is exact: those priests "despise my name." Reverence was the condition on Levi's side.

Speech, walk, and effect. Verse 6 describes the faithful priest by what he said ("the law of truth was in his mouth"), how he lived ("he walked with me in peace and uprightness"), and what came of it ("turned many away from iniquity"). Verse 7 grounds this in the office itself: the priest's lips "should keep knowledge," and the people "should seek the law at his mouth," because he is "the messenger of Jehovah of hosts." Teaching was part of the priesthood from the start (Leviticus 10:11).

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

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.