Chapter One

First discourse: complaint of disrespect toward Jehovah. 1–5. God’s special favor toward Israel. 6–14. Disrespect toward Jehovah shown by the priests and the people.

((Mal 1:1-5.) The prophet first of all wishes to awaken in the Israelites the consciousness of how much they are obligated by God’s mercy toward them. For this, he points to the fact that God loved the forefather of the Israeli people, Jacob, in preference to his brother Esau, and continues now to treat the descendants of Jacob with special love, not allowing the descendants of Esau to rise.

Malachi 1:1. The prophetic word of the Lord to Israel through Malachi. “The prophetic word.” The Hebrew word massa standing here denotes a burden, a weight (cf., for example, Isa 13:1). Until the time of the prophet Jeremiah, such a designation of prophetic speech was applied only to words addressed to foreign nations, but after Jeremiah it began to be applied also to words addressed to the Jews. This designation indicates the threatening character of the prophecy that follows. Indeed, Malachi strictly denounces sinful Jews and predicts punishment from God to them (Mal 2:3). “To Israel.” Malachi’s prophecy is directed to those who returned from captivity and were subjects of the Jewish kingdom, but he calls them by the name of “Israel” because the post-captivity Jews called themselves this as the sole representatives of the entire Israelite people (subjects of the Israelite kingdom did not return to Palestine). “Through Malachi,” that is, by means of Malachi.

Malachi 1:2. I have loved you, says the Lord. But you say: “In what way have You shown Your love to us?” Is not Esau the brother of Jacob? says the Lord; yet I have loved Jacob, The prophet proclaims that God has always loved and continues to love Israel. This is a proposition that certainly needs proof. The latter is given further as an answer to the presumed objection against the proposition just put forward. Malachi precisely points to Jacob’s brother—Esau—who by no means experienced from God the favor which Jacob was granted. The names Jacob and Esau here, clearly, denote the two sons of Isaac, about whom in the Book of Genesis there is a well-known prophecy (see Gen 25:23).

Malachi 1:3. but Esau I have hated, and I have made his mountains a desolation, and his heritage a dwelling place for jackals of the wilderness. Here the discourse concerns not Esau as the forefather of the Jews, but the Edomite people descended from Esau. The Lord hated the Edomite people. This expression is an anthropomorphism, which Malachi employed in order to convince his listeners—the Jews—that God indeed loves them. For, in loving the Jews, one could not at the same time avoid hating the Edomites, who always sought to cause the Jews all sorts of evil. God’s hatred for Edom denotes the perpetual wrath of God against this people, which also continued, without ceasing, to do all evil to the chosen Jewish people. “He made his mountains a desolation.” The mountains were the dwelling place of the Edomites (cf. Obad 1:3). To make the mountains desolate means, therefore, to destroy all the dwellings of the Edomites. “The jackals of the wilderness”—see Isa 34:13. Tikhomirov translates this passage thus: “his possessions (made) a desert pasture.” What desolation of Edom the prophet means here cannot be said for certain. Most naturally is the supposition that he is alluding here to the desolations caused to Edom by the Persian kings—Darius Hystaspes, Xerxes, and Artaxerxes, who during their campaigns to Egypt could not avoid Edom and naturally subjected it to desolation each time, while toward the Jews these kings were generally merciful.

Malachi 1:4–5. If Edom says: “We are laid waste, but we will rebuild the ruins,” then the Lord of hosts says: “They may build, but I will tear down, and they shall be called the land of wickedness, and the people with whom the Lord is angry forever. And your eyes shall see this, and you shall say: “Great is the Lord beyond the border of Israel!” Not only from the past destruction of Edom is God’s hatred for Edom seen, but the entire subsequent history of Edom—the history of attempts to rise again as an independent state—will clearly prove how decisively God’s terrible determination regarding this hateful people is. Moreover, the prophet says that this hatred was provoked in God by the wickedness of the Edomites. Their wickedness will be clear to all (“they shall call them”). This prophecy was finally fulfilled under the Jewish ruler John Hyrcanus, who defeated the Edomites and forced them to accept circumcision (about 130 years before Christ). “Great is the Lord,” that is, great is the God of the land of Israel. (Mal 1:6-14.) The Jews, instead of paying the Lord proper honor for His love toward them, offend Him. The priests allow blind and lame animals, impure bread to be offered in sacrifice. The prophet, for this, proclaims to the priests God’s wrath and predicts the loss of their exclusive right to be the servants of the true God. He proclaims a curse also to the common Israelites, who offer God unsuitable animals, keeping the good livestock for themselves.

Malachi 1:6. A son honors his father, and a servant his master; if I am a Father, where is the honor due to Me? and if I am a Master, where is the fear of Me? says the Lord of hosts to you, O priests, who despise My name. You say: “How have we despised Your name? So, Jehovah loves Israel. But Israel does not love Him, though He is the Father of Israel (see Exod 4:22; Hos 11:1; Jer 31:9): this is a matter of direct unnaturalness, because it is natural for every son to love his father. At least Israel should fear Jehovah as his Master (Isa 41:8). But Israel shows no fear before Jehovah. In this case, the priests are chiefly to blame: they despise the name of Jehovah, whereas they ought to have been the example of reverence before Jehovah. The priests cannot calmly hear such accusation: whoever despised or blasphemed Jehovah was, according to the law, subject to capital punishment (Lev 24:10-16). Therefore, they hastily declare that the prophet is mistaken: how can it be said that they despise the name of Jehovah?

Malachi 1:7. You offer defiled food upon My altar, and you say: “How have we defiled You?” By saying: “The table of the Lord is contemptible. The prophet answers the priests’ question by pointing out that they allow themselves to offer upon the altar—that is, for burning upon the altar—any kind, even leavened offering (Cyril of Alexandria), or they burn upon the altar all sorts of defective sacrifices (the word “bread” sometimes denotes any sacrifice, cf. Lev 21:6; Num 28:2). Yes, the priests sometimes even say directly that Jehovah’s altar is not worthy of special respect. These words of the prophet are better understood in a figurative sense, for it is hardly likely that the priests could speak thus of the altar, from which they themselves lived. The prophet apparently wishes to say: “By treating so carelessly the reception of animals offered in sacrifice by the people, you, O priests, thereby as it were openly invite the people also to a careless attitude in the matter of sacrifice.”

Malachi 1:8. And when you offer blind animals for sacrifice, is it not evil? Or when you offer the lame and sick, is it not evil? Try offering it to your governor; will he be pleased with you or accept you favorably? says the Lord of hosts. The prophet explains here what he means by “defiled bread”: these are blind, lame, and sick animals, with which one cannot appear even before a provincial official—in all probability, some Persian official—when one has to turn to him with a request. In the East, from ancient times, there has been established a custom of bringing gifts to rulers and judges, and the Jews could not help but submit to this custom, though their own judges the law forbade to accept gifts (Exod 23:8). Where did the post-captivity Jews get the custom of bringing such unlawful sacrifices? It is very possible that, at first, the offerers actually did not have better animals, and the priests decided to accept even such, in order not to offend the offerer, who in any case wished to express his devotion to Jehovah. But then, gradually, this became a habit, and the priests began to accept inferior animals even when they knew the offerer had good livestock. They became convinced: “Jehovah will pay no attention to this, because He did not punish it before!”

Malachi 1:9. So then, pray to God that He may have pity on us. But when such comes from your hands, will He receive you with favor? says the Lord of hosts. The Russian translation here contains a call to prayer and repentance. But it is more natural to see here a continuation of the denunciation begun in verse 8. The prophet ironically suggests to the priests to try to appease God with such unsuitable gifts. “No,” says the prophet, “it is hardly likely that God will receive you with such gifts.” “Says the Lord of hosts.” The prophet adds these words in order to show that the denunciation he has spoken is said by the command of Jehovah. In calling Jehovah, in this case, Jehovah of hosts, the prophet wishes to denote the seriousness of the priests’ transgression, who dare to treat with such negligence the service of the Almighty King of the universe.

Malachi 1:10. Would that one of you would shut the doors, so that you would not kindle fire on My altar in vain! I have no pleasure in you, says the Lord of hosts, and I will not accept an offering from your hands. God says that in such a case, it would be better than offering sacrifices displeasing to God, if one of the priests would shut the gates leading from the outer court to the inner court, on which stood the altar of burnt offering. Let the fire not burn uselessly on this altar—let no sacrifice burn on it (cf. Isa 1:11). The offering of the priests, both bloodless and blood sacrifices, brought by their hands, is displeasing to Jehovah (cf. Gen 4:3-5).

Malachi 1:11. For from the rising of the sun to its setting, My name will be great among the nations, and in every place incense will be offered to My name, and a pure offering; for My name will be great among the nations, says the Lord of hosts. How great is the transgression of the priests who, by their contempt for sacrifices, defile the holiness of God’s name, is evident from the fact that in time, this name will be exalted (great will be) from the east to the west, that is, throughout all the earth (Zech 8:7), among all the (pagan) peoples. Everywhere will be offered incense, that is, the burning of all kinds of offerings (incense is an imprecise expression) in honor of God’s name, and among all peoples pure sacrifices will be brought to God, not such as the Jewish priests now bring. In agreement with the majority of the Church Fathers, we see here a prediction of the establishment of true worship in the Church of Christ and true divine service. Besides, many Fathers and teachers of the Church saw here a prophecy of the establishment of the mystery of the Eucharist.

Malachi 1:12. But you profane it by saying: “The table of the Lord is defiled, and its fruit, the food, is contemptible. The prophet adds to his former denunciation of the priests that they themselves (to themselves) say that the table of the Lord, that is, the altar, is already desecrated (thus should these words of the priests be translated, instead of the Russian: “is not worthy of respect”), and they themselves unwillingly partake of the portions remaining to them from the sacrifices.

Malachi 1:13. And you say: “Behold, what a weariness this is!” and you sniff at it, says the Lord of hosts, and you bring what is stolen, and the lame, and the sick; thus you bring the grain offering. Should I accept this from your hand? says the Lord. The Russian translation here accurately conveys the meaning of the Masoretic text. The priests say that it is burdensome for them to choose which animal is suitable for sacrifice, which is not (“Behold, what a weariness!”). But a more correct sense is contained in the Septuagint text: “and this from grievous suffering.” According to this text, here is contained an excuse that the priests invented when the prophet reproached them for bringing blind and lame animals to be sacrificed to God. They said that this was permitted by them only because of the difficult circumstances in which the offerers found themselves. Tikhomirov, recognizing the Slavic reading (according to the Septuagint) as correct, translates the entire verse thus: “and you say, ‘this is done from difficult circumstances.’ And you despise Me,” says Jehovah of hosts: “you bring stolen, lame, and sick—and you bring an offering. Will I receive it from your hands?” says Jehovah.”

Malachi 1:14. Cursed be the cheat, who has in his flock a male, and vows, but sacrifices to the Lord what is blemished. For I am a great King, and My name is feared among the nations. Now the prophet denounces the common Israelites for contempt of Jehovah’s altar. It turns out that the offerers had good animals, indeed, male animals (males were preferred to females), and yet the Jews kept such animals for themselves, bringing defective animals in sacrifice. “I am a great King”—a repetition of the thought from verse 11. The prophet attaches such importance to the outward order in sacrifice, of course, because the lack of attention to this order, established by law, testified to a lack of inward fear of God in the Jewish society of that time. Remarkable in this is that the prophet predicts the greatest revolution in worship. Formerly only Jerusalem was considered the lawful place for the performance of worship, and the line of Aaron—the lawful performer of worship. Now, however, the prophet foresees the possibility of offering a true pure sacrifice to God in every place, not only in Jerusalem. In connection with this is, of course, the abolition of the order by which only priests of the line of Aaron could bring sacrifices. Sacrifices will, in time, be brought, clearly, not only by the descendants of Aaron, but also by other persons, from different tribes and nations (verse 11). Is it not clear that Malachi is the harbinger of the destruction of national and local boundaries of true worship, about which the Lord Jesus Christ proclaimed with complete clarity (John 4:23-24)?