1Prohlášení: Jehovovo1 slovo o Izraeli prostřednictvím Malachiáše: (12P 1:21) 2Zamiloval jsem si vás,1 řekl Jehova. A řekli jste: Jak sis nás zamiloval?2 Nebyl Esau Jákobův bratr?3 je Jehovův výrok. Ale Jákoba jsem miloval4 (1Dt 7:6 Dt 10:15 Iz 41:8 Ř 11:28 2Iz 49:14 3Gn 25:25 4Ř 9:13) 3a Esaua1 jsem nenáviděl; a nakonec jsem jeho hory učinil opuštěným úhorem2 a jeho dědictví pro šakaly z pustiny.3 (1Gn 25:34 Gn 27:41 Žd 12:16 2Iz 34:10 Jr 49:20 Ez 25:13 Ez 35:3 Jl 3:19 Abd 1:10 3Iz 34:13) 4Protože Edom stále říká: Byli jsme roztříštěni, ale vrátíme se a vystavíme zpustošená místa, tak řekl Jehova vojsk: Oni, oni budou stavět, ale já, já budu strhávat.1 A lidé je jistě nazvou území ničemnosti a lid, který Jehova na neurčitý čas otevřeně odsoudil2. (1Jb 12:14 Ž 127:1 2Ž 137:7 Iz 34:5 Abd 1:18) 5A vaše vlastní oči to uvidí a vy řeknete: Kéž je Jehova veleben nad územím Izraele.1 (1Ž 35:27) 6Syn, ten ctí otce;1 a sluha svého vznešeného pána.2 Jestliže jsem tedy otcem,3 kde je úcta ke mně?4 A jestliže jsem vznešeným pánem, kde je bázeň5 přede mnou? řekl Jehova vojsk vám, kněží, kteří opovrhujete mým jménem.6 A řekli jste: Jak jsme opovrhli tvým jménem? (1Ex 20:12 Mt 15:4 Mk 10:19 Ef 6:2 21Tm 6:1 Tit 2:9 3Ex 4:22 4Iz 1:2 Mt 6:9 5Př 8:13 1P 2:17 6Jr 5:31 Jr 23:11 Ez 22:26 Oz 4:6) 7Tím, že na mém oltáři předkládáte znečištěný chléb.1 A řekli jste: Jak jsme tě znečistili? Tím, že jste řekli: Jehovův stůl2 je něco opovrženíhodného.3 (1Lv 21:6 2Ez 41:22 1K 10:21 31S 2:17) 8A když předkládáte k obětování slepé zvíře: Není to nic špatného. A když předkládáte chromé nebo nemocné zvíře: Není to nic špatného.1 Přines to, prosím, ke svému místodržiteli. Najde v tobě zalíbení nebo přijme tě laskavě? řekl Jehova vojsk. (1Lv 22:20 Dt 15:21) 9A nyní, prosím, obměkčujte obličej1 Boha, aby nám projevil přízeň.2 Stalo se to z vaší ruky. Přijme kohokoli z vás laskavě? řekl Jehova vojsk. (1Ex 32:11 Jr 26:19 Jl 1:13 Jl 1:14 2Jl 2:17) 10Kdo z vás také zavře dveře?1 A nezapálíte můj oltář - za nic.2 Nemám ve vás potěšení, řekl Jehova vojsk, a v obětním daru z vaší ruky nemám zalíbení.3 (12Pa 23:4 2Jr 6:13 Mi 3:11 3Iz 1:11 Jr 6:20 Jr 14:12 Am 5:21) 11Od východu slunce až po jeho západ bude totiž mé jméno veliké mezi národy1 a na každém místě se bude přinášet obětní dým,2 bude se činit předložení mému jménu, dokonce čistého daru;3 protože mé jméno bude veliké mezi národy,4 řekl Jehova vojsk. (1Ž 113:3 Iz 45:6 Iz 59:19 Za 14:16 2Ž 66:15 Ř 12:1 Žd 13:15 3Iz 66:20 J 4:23 4Ž 22:27 Sf 3:9 Mt 28:19 Zj 15:4) 12Ale znesvěcujete1 mě tím, že říkáte: Jehovův stůl je něco znečištěného a jeho ovoce je něco opovrženíhodného, jeho jídlo.2 (1Ez 22:26 2Mal 1:7) 13A řekli jste: Pohleď, jaká únava!,1 a způsobili jste, že se nad tím ohrnuje nos, řekl Jehova vojsk. A přinesli jste něco odtrženého, a to chromé a nemocné;2 ano, přinesli jste to jako dar. Mohu v tom mít zalíbení z vaší ruky?3 řekl Jehova. (1Iz 43:22 Mi 6:3 2Dt 15:21 Dt 17:1 3Lv 22:20 Iz 1:13 Mal 2:13) 14A prokletý je ten, kdo jedná vychytrale, když v jeho stádu existuje samec nějakého zvířete, a on činí slavnostní slib a obětuje Jehovovi zkažené zvíře.1 Vždyť jsem veliký Král,2 řekl Jehova vojsk, a mé jméno bude vzbuzovat bázeň mezi národy.3 (1Sk 5:3 2Ž 47:2 Jr 10:10 Da 9:4 3Ž 76:12 Zj 15:4)
Jamieson Fausset Brown Bible Commentary 1 GOD'S LOVE: ISRAEL'S INGRATITUDE: THE PRIESTS' MERCENARY SPIRIT: A GENTILE SPIRITUAL PRIESTHOOD SHALL SUPERSEDE THEM. (
Mal 1:1-
Mal 1:14)
burden--heavy sentence.
to Israel--represented now by the two tribes of Judah and Benjamin, with individuals of the ten tribes who had returned with the Jews from Babylon. So "Israel" is used,
Ezra 7:10. Compare
2Chr 21:2, "Jehoshaphat king of Israel," where Judah, rather than the ten tribes, is regarded as the truest representative of Israel (compare
2Chr 12:6;
2Chr 28:19).
Malachi--see Introduction. God sent no prophet after him till John the Baptist, the forerunner of Christ, in order to enflame His people with the more ardent desire for Him, the great antitype and fulfiller of prophecy.
2 I have loved you--above other men; nay, even above the other descendants of Abraham and Isaac. Such gratuitous love on My part called for love on yours. But the return ye make is sin and dishonor to Me. This which is to be supplied is left unexpressed, sorrow as it were breaking off the sentence [MENOCHIUS], (
Deut 7:8;
Hos 11:1).
Wherein hast thou loved us?--In painful contrast to the tearful tenderness of God's love stands their insolent challenge. The root of their sin was insensibility to God's love, and to their own wickedness. Having had prosperity taken from them, they imply they have no tokens of God's love; they look at what God had taken, not at what God had left. God's love is often least acknowledged where it is most manifested. We must not infer God does not love us because He afflicts us. Men, instead of referring their sufferings to their proper cause, their own sin, impiously accuse God of indifference to their welfare [MOORE]. Thus
Mal 1:1-
Mal 1:4 form a fit introduction to the whole prophecy.
Was not Esau Jacob's brother?--and so, as far as dignity went, as much entitled to God's favor as Jacob. My adoption of Jacob, therefore, was altogether by gratuitous favor (
Rom 9:13). So God has passed by our elder brethren, the angels who kept not their first estate, and yet He has provided salvation for man. The perpetual rejection of the fallen angels, like the perpetual desolations of Edom, attests God's severity to the lost, and goodness to those gratuitously saved. The sovereign eternal purpose of God is the only ground on which He bestows on one favors withheld from another. There are difficulties in referring salvation to the election of God, there are greater in referring it to the election of man [MOORE]. Jehovah illustrates His condescension and patience in arguing the case with them.
3 hated--not positively, but relatively; that is, did not choose him out to be the object of gratuitous favor, as I did Jacob (compare
Luke 14:26, with
Matt 10:37;
Gen 29:30-
Gen 29:31;
Deut 21:15-
Deut 21:16).
laid his mountains . . . waste--that is, his territory which was generally mountainous. Israel was, it is true, punished by the Chaldeans, but Edom has been utterly destroyed; namely, either by Nebuchadnezzar [ROSENMULLER], or by the neighboring peoples, Egypt, Ammon, and Moab [JOSEPHUS, Antiquities, 10.9,7; MAURER], (
Jer 49:18).
dragons--jackals [MOORE] (compare
Isa 34:13). MAURER translates, "Abodes of the wilderness," from an Arabic root "to stop," or "to abide." English Version is better.
4 Whereas--"But if" Edom say [MAURER]. Edom may strive as she may to recover herself, but it shall be in vain, for I doom her to perpetual desolation, whereas I restore Israel. This Jehovah states, to illustrate His gratuitous love to Israel, rather than to Edom.
border of wickedness--a region given over to the curse of reprobation [CALVIN]. For a time Judea seemed as desolate as Idumea; but though the latter was once the highway of Eastern commerce, now the lonely rock-houses of Petra attest the fulfilment of the prophecy. It is still "the border of wickedness," being the resort of the marauding tribes of the desert. Judea's restoration, though delayed, is yet certain.
the Lord hath indignation--"the people of My curse" (
Isa 34:5).
5 from the border of Israel--Ye, restored to your own "borders" in Israel, "from" them shall raise your voices to "magnify the Lord," acknowledging that Jehovah has shown to you a gratuitous favor not shown to Edom, and so ought to be especially "magnified from the borders of Israel."
6 Turning from the people to the priests, Jehovah asks, whereas His love to the people was so great, where was their love towards Him? If the priests, as they profess, regard Him as their Father (
Isa 63:16) and Master, let them show the reality of their profession by love and reverential fear (
Exod 20:12;
Luke 6:46). He addresses the priests because they ought to be leaders in piety to the rest of the people, whereas they are foremost in "despising His name."
Wherein have we despised, &c.--The same captious spirit of self-satisfied insensibility as prompted their question (
Mal 1:2), "Wherein hast Thou loved us?" They are blind alike to God's love and their own guilt.
7 ye offer, &c.--God's answer to their challenge (
Mal 1:6), "Wherein have we despised?"
polluted bread--namely, blemished sacrifices (
Mal 1:8,
Mal 1:13-
Mal 1:14;
Deut 15:21). So "the bread of thy God" is used for "sacrifices to God" (
Lev 21:8).
polluted thee--that is, offered to thee "polluted bread."
table of the Lord--that is, the altar (
Ezek 41:22) (not the table of showbread). Just as the sacrificial flesh is called "bread."
contemptible-- (
Mal 1:12-
Mal 1:13). Ye sanction the niggardly and blemished offerings of the people on the altar, to gain favor with them. Darius, and probably his successors, had liberally supplied them with victims for sacrifice, yet they presented none but the worst. A cheap religion, costing little, is rejected by God, and so is worth nothing. It costs more than it is worth, for it is worth nothing, and so proves really dear. God despises not the widow's mite, but he does despise the miser's mite [MOORE].
8 Your earthly ruler would feel insulted, if offered by you the offering with which ye put off God (see
Lev 22:22,
Lev 22:24).
is it not evil?--MAURER translates, "There is no evil," in your opinion, in such an offering; it is quite good enough for such a purpose.
9 now . . . beseech God that he will be gracious--Ironical. Think you that God will be persuaded by such polluted gifts to be gracious to you? Far from it.
this hath been by your means--literally, "hand." These contemptible offerings are your doing, as being the priests mediating between God and the people; and think you, will God pay any regard to you (compare
Mal 1:8,
Mal 1:10)? "Accept thy person" ("face"),
Mal 1:8, answers to "regard your persons," in this verse.
10 Who . . . for naught--Not one even of the least priestly functions (as shutting the doors, or kindling a fire on the altar) would ye exercise without pay, therefore ye ought to fulfil them faithfully (
1Cor 9:13). DRUSIUS and MAURER translate, "Would that there were absolutely some one of you who would shut the doors of the temple (that is, of the inner court, in which was the altar of burnt offerings), and that ye would not kindle fire on My altar in vain!" Better no sacrifices than vain ones (
Isa 1:11-
Isa 1:15). It was the duty of some of the priests to stand at the doors of the court of the altar of burnt offerings, and to have excluded blemished victims [CALVIN].
11 For--Since ye Jewish priests and people "despise My name" (
Mal 1:6), I shall find others who will magnify it (
Matt 3:9). Do not think I shall have no worshippers because I have not you; for from the east to the west My name shall be great among the Gentiles (
Isa 66:19-
Isa 66:20), those very peoples whom ye look down upon as abominable.
pure offering--not "the blind, the lame, and the sick," such as ye offer (
Mal 1:8). "In every place," implies the catholicity of the Christian Church (
John 4:21,
John 4:23;
1Tim 2:8). The "incense" is figurative of prayers (
Ps 141:2;
Rev 8:3). "Sacrifice" is used metaphorically (
Ps 51:17;
Heb 13:10,
Heb 13:15-
Heb 13:16;
1Pet 2:5,
1Pet 2:12). In this sense the reference to the Lord's Supper, maintained by many of the fathers, may be admitted; it, like prayer, is a spiritual offering, accepted through the literal offering of the "Lamb without blemish," once for all slain.
12 Renewal of the charge in
Mal 1:7.
fruit . . . meat--the offerings of the people. The "fruit" is the produce of the altar, on which the priests subsisted. They did not literally say, The Lord's table is contemptible; but their acts virtually said so. They did not act so as to lead the people to reverence, and to offer their best to the Lord on it. The people were poor, and put off God with the worst offerings. The priests let them do so, for fear of offending the people, and so losing all gains from them.
13 what a weariness is it!--Ye regard God's service as irksome, and therefore try to get it over by presenting the most worthless offerings. Compare
Mic 6:3, where God challenges His people to show wherein is the "weariness" or hardship of His service. Also
Isa 43:22-
Isa 43:24, wherein He shows that it is they who have "wearied" Him, not He who has wearied them.
snuffed at--despised.
it--the table of the Lord, and the meat on it (
Mal 1:12).
torn--namely, by beasts, which it was not lawful to eat, much less to offer (
Exod 22:31).
thus . . . offering--Hebrew, mincha; the unbloody offering of flour, &c. Though this may have been of ordinary ingredients, yet the sacrifices of blemished animals accompanying it rendered it unacceptable.
14 deceiver--hypocrite. Not poverty, but avarice was the cause of their mean offerings.
male--required by law (
Lev 1:3,
Lev 1:10).
great King-- (
Ps 48:2;
Matt 5:35).
my name . . . dreadful among . . . heathen--Even the heathen dread Me because of My judgments; what a reproach this is to you, My people, who fear Me not (
Mal 1:6)! Also it may be translated, "shall be feared among," &c. agreeing with the prophecy of the call of the Gentiles (
Mal 1:11).