Malachi 2

Chap. II. Ver. 1-17. Farther reproofs to priests and people—This chapter continues to reprove the priests for their unfaithfulness in their office, for which they are threatened with curses instead of blessings, and to be rewarded only with poverty and contempt. The great degeneracy of the order is then complained of, and they are again threatened. The rest of the chapter reproves the people for marrying strange and idolatrous women, and multiplying divorces with all their consequent distress, in order to make way for such illicit alliances. (See (Nehemiah 10:30), and xiii. 33, &c.) This part of the chapter is very obscure. Perhaps the sense of verse 16 may be, The man who puts away one wife, merely for the purpose of marrying another, and thus covers his sin under the cloak of law, is like a thief, who hides what he has violently taken under his garment, to conceal it.

There are no sins so offensive to God, as those which are covered with the mantle of hypocrisy.

Notes on the verses

Chap. II. Ver. 3. I will corrupt.—See margin. Heb. “scatter.” Newcome, “Have respect to the perverse.” Ver. 5. Which he loved.—Newcome, “Loveth;” i.e. which Jehovah loveth. The “worshipper of a strange god” is, “the worshipper,” says Newcome, “an alien addicted to the worship of a strange god.” The prophet Zechariah forbids intermarriages with women of the surrounding idolatrous nations; and also divorces, which seem to have been multiplied for the purpose of contracting these prohibited marriages.—Bagster.

Ver. 12. The master and scholar.—See margin. Bp. Lowth, “The watchman and the prophet.” See (Psalms 84)and (Isaiah 62:6).

Ver. 13. Covering the altar of the Lord with tears.—The sighs and groans of divorced wives, referred to the priests for condonation; anens.

Ver. 14. The wife of thy covenant.—That is, thy covenanted wife.

Ver. 15. And did not he make one?—Did not God make one wife for Adam? and wherefore one? that he might seek a godly seed.—See margin. That is, monogamy (having one wife) is more favourable to a religious education. Bishop Newcome quotes, from Madan’s Thelyphthora, another rendering: “Did not one (God) make us? and hath he the residue of the Spirit? And what doth the one (God) seek? a godly seed,” &c. But the prelate himself leads (by transposition) “And did not he (God) make one flesh? And is there not one spirit thereto? And what doth he seek?” &c. The text is certainly perplexed and obscure, and we dare not give a decided opinion.

Ver. 16. Saith that he hateth putting away.—Newcome, “Saith, I hate him that putteth away,” viz. his wife, to marry another.—For one covereth violence with his garment—Or, “what he hath taken by violence under his garment.”

Chap. III. Ver. 1. The messenger of the covenant.—Whom Jews as well as Christians understand to be the Messiah. The ancient Jewish book Zohar says, “It is the angel of whom it is written, (Genesis 48:16). That angel is the Shechina, the Redeemer and Guardian of men.”—[Aben Ezra acknowledges that the Lord whom they sought and the Angel of the covenant are the same, the same thing being intended under a double expression; and Kimchi says, “He is the King Messiah, He is the Angel of the Covenant.”

Ver. 2. Like fullers’ soap.—Heb. “Like the borith of the fullers.” Mons. Goguet says, “With respect to the herb borith, I imagine it is saltwort; a plant very common in Syria, Judea, Egypt, and Arabia: they burn it, and pour water on the ashes, which become impregnated with a very strong lixivial salt, proper for taking stains out of wool or cloth.”

Ver. 3. Shall sit as a refiner.—A band of pious females were accustomed to meet weekly to read and converse upon the scriptures. This text came under consideration: one remarked, that a peculiar emphasis seemed to rest on the verb sit; and as she was acquainted with a refiner of metals, she would make inquiries of him. She inquired of him on her return home, “if it was customary to sit whilst purifying silver.” “O yes, madam, we always sit.”

“But why do you sit?” “Because it is necessary to watch the metal with great care; for if it is suffered to remain beyond a certain point, the silver itself is materially injured; so that whilst we blow the coals to increase the heat, we must sit and carefully watch for the moment when it is purified.” “But how do you know when it is purified?” “That, madam, is very easy—it is the moment that the silver clearly and perfectly reflects the image of my face.” Let the Christian remember, that in all his afflictions and trials, Christ is blowing the coals; is making the furnace hotter; that he sits and watches his saints until his own blessed image is reflected in them; then are they purified.

Ver. 5. Swift witness.—[The coming of the Messiah would be followed by the condemnation and punishment of the Jewish nation. He would come near unto them in judgment, and be a swift witness to testify that their works were evil; and thus he would speedily convict the sorcerers, and other notorious criminals, of which the bulk of the nation at that time principally consisted, and bring them to condign punishment. Indeed the prevalence of the sins here enumerated, and of similar crimes, caused the Jews to reject Jesus the true Messiah, and his holy Gospel, and thus brought on the ruin of the whole nation.—Bagster.]

Ver. 1. The devourer.—That is, the locust, &c.

Ver. 16. A book of remembrance.—An allusion to the records kept by kings.

See (Exodus 6:1).

Ver. 17. My jewels.—Newcome, “My peculiar treasure.”