ris3n's Apologetics Codex
Malachi 2.6
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Passage

Malachi 2.6

Book: Malachi · ASV / WEB / KJV / YLT

Immediate context (±2 verses)

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ASV

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.

  1. 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. 8. 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. (Malachi 2:4-8, ASV)
WEB

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.

  1. 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. 8. 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. (Malachi 2:4-8, WEB)
KJV

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.

  1. 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. 8. 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 (Malachi 2:4-8, KJV)
YLT

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.

  1. 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]. 8. 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. (Malachi 2:4-8, YLT)

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Setting

  • Speaker: YHWH, whose word comes "by Malachi" (1:1, literally "by the hand of Malachi"), describing Levi, the ancestor of the priestly tribe, in the third person.
  • 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

A portrait of the faithful priest. The verse describes Levi under three heads. What he said: "the law of truth was in his mouth, and unrighteousness was not found in his lips." How he lived: "he walked with me in peace and uprightness." What it produced: he "turned many away from iniquity."

The portrait is a rebuke. It is set against the priests of Malachi's day. Where Levi turned many from iniquity, they "have caused many to stumble in the law" (2:8). Where Levi walked "with me," they "are turned aside out of the way." The ideal is drawn so that the failure can be measured against it.

Teaching as the heart of the office. "The law of truth" in the priest's mouth anticipates 2:7, where the people are to "seek the law at his mouth." The blessing of Levi in Deuteronomy 33:10 gives the same task: "They shall teach Jacob thine ordinances, and Israel thy law."

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.