Chapter Two

Second discourse: treachery of priests and people. 1–9. Levi formerly and now. 10–16. Violation of the covenants of the fathers regarding marriage bonds and divorces.

(Mal 2:1-9.) If in the first discourse the prophet chiefly denounced the priests for their negligence in relation to worship, then here he directly threatens the curse of God upon the entire sacred Levitical class for the fact that it dishonors the name of Jehovah, instead of, as did the ancestors of the present priests, teaching the people to honor this great name. Since the priests, by allowing violations of the orders of worship, sought popularity among the people, God proclaims to them that the result which will arise from such actions will be completely opposite to what the priests expected: they will be subjected to complete contempt from the people.

Malachi 2:1–2. And now, O priests, this command is for you: if you will not listen, and if you do not lay it to heart to give glory to My name, says the Lord of hosts, then I will send a curse upon you and I will curse your blessings; yes, I have already cursed them, because you do not lay it to heart. The Lord gives the priests, in view of their negligent attitude toward their duties, a command—that is, a determination or decision of the following content: either they must reform themselves, or, on the contrary, accept punishment from God. The punishment itself will consist in the curse that God will send upon them. In Holy Scripture, curse is understood as various misfortunes (cf. Deut 28:20). Moreover, God will curse even the blessings of the priests. Thus, through their blessings, they will bring upon the blessed only misfortunes and troubles (on priestly blessing, see Num 6:23-27). Already now the Lord is acting thus with the priests’ blessings.

Malachi 2:3. Behold, I will rebuke your seed, and spread dung upon your faces, the dung of your festival offerings, and you shall be taken away with it. The Russian text here follows the translation of the Seventy: “Behold, I will take away from you the shoulder.” The Seventy, according to the interpretation of Jerome, understood here the shoulder of the sacrificial animal, which, according to the law, was to be given to the priest offering the sacrifice. Some modern translators see here the designation of the priest’s shoulder or muscle, from which God Himself will cut this muscle, thereby depriving the priest of the ability to perform sacrifice. According to the Masoretic text, instead of the word “shoulder,” here is read the word “seed.” The meaning of the Masoretic reading is that God will strike the priests by depriving them of the power to bear children. The dung, which lay in masses on the ground where the animals destined for sacrifice in the festivals stood, God will throw upon the faces of the priests, and they will be carried off to throw together with this dung on the refuse heap.

Malachi 2:4. And you shall know that I have sent this commandment to you, that My covenant with Levi might stand, says the Lord of hosts. The Russian translation does not quite accurately convey the meaning. A better reading is this: “and you shall know that I have sent you this commandment, that it may be a covenant of Mine with Levi” (Orelli, Tikhomirov, and others). When the curses that God has just spoken fall upon the priests, they will then know, that is, understand, that Jehovah has indeed decided that instead of blessings, He will send them all kinds of misfortunes—this will be, as it were, a covenant of His with the priests, that is, an exact and immutable agreement. “Levi”—the whole tribe of Levi, in which the priests, descendants of Aaron, formed the best part.

Malachi 2:5. My covenant was with him, a covenant of life and peace, and I gave him the priesthood in reverence, and he revered Me and stood in awe of My name. Formerly Jehovah dealt with the tribe of Levi and, in particular, with the priests, otherwise. He sent Levi life and peace, or, in other words, a peaceful, happy life, and Levi, for his part, repaid Jehovah with boundless reverence (fear).

Malachi 2:6. The law of truth was in his mouth, and no wrong was found on his lips; he walked with Me in peace and uprightness, and he turned many away from iniquity. Formerly, the law of truth was constantly in the mouth of Levi. This means that the priests in their demands addressed to those offering sacrifices were guided only by the precepts of the Mosaic Law, not deviating from them by an iota. That falsehood, those unjustifiable excuses which the priests have now invented to justify those bringing unsuitable sacrifices, in those distant times were not yet spoken by the servants of the altar. Levi walked, that is, lived peacefully, because he lived in righteousness, as the law of Jehovah required. He turned many from sin—he did not act as the present priests, who by their excessive indulgence lead many to the thought of deceiving God by bringing a defective animal instead of a spotless one (cf. Mal 1:14).

Malachi 2:7. For the lips of a priest should guard knowledge, and they seek the law from his mouth, for he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts. Here it is explained why Levi should have had a beneficial influence on ordinary Israelites. He possesses knowledge of the Law—of course, chiefly in its precepts concerning worship. He is a messenger announcing to people the will of God contained in the Law of Moses, just as the prophet announces to people the will of God which has been revealed to him personally. From whom, then, will the people learn, if not from the priest?

Malachi 2:8–9. But you have turned aside from the way; you have caused many to stumble in the law; you have corrupted the covenant of Levi, says the Lord of hosts. Therefore I have made you despised and abased before all the people, inasmuch as you have not kept My ways but have shown partiality in matters of the law. The present-day priests, instead of teaching the people the true understanding and fulfillment of the Mosaic Law, mislead it by various excuses (see Mal 1:13). In this way, they have broken the covenant of Levi with God (see verse 5), and God, instead of being well-pleased with them, will deprive them of all authority in the eyes of the people: the people will cease to turn to them for instruction. “You show partiality in matters of the law.” Here the prophet points to another vice of the priests—their partiality in the judgment of judicial cases, in which the priests took part according to the law (cf. Deut 19:17). (Mal 2:10-16.) In the second part of the second discourse, the prophet denounces the Jews, first, because they enter into marriages with pagan women, and, second, because of their inclination to dissolve their marriage bonds, which they have concluded with their own countrywomen.

Malachi 2:10. Do we not all have one Father? Did not one God create us? Why then are we faithless to one another, profaning the covenant of our fathers? The prophet reminds the Jews that all of them have one Father—God (cf. Mal 1:6), and all, therefore, are brothers to one another. It is not proper for brothers to act treacherously and faithlessly toward each other. They should support one another and together fulfill the “covenant of the fathers,” that is, the Law of Moses given to the fathers. If some keep this law exactly and others do not follow it, then they will completely destroy the unity of the nation.

Malachi 2:11. Judah has been faithless, and abomination has been committed in Israel and in Jerusalem; for Judah has profaned the sanctuary of the Lord, which he loves, and has married the daughter of a foreign god. An example of such a violation of the law is the marriage of Jews to pagan women, strictly forbidden in the law (Exod 34:11-16). Israel—this is not the Israelite kingdom, which by this time no longer existed, but designates the Jewish people in general, as it was represented by the Jerusalem community. “The sanctuary of the Lord”—that is, the “covenant of the fathers” of which was spoken above (verse 10). “Daughter of a foreign god.” Since the Jews were sons of Jehovah, pagan women appear to the prophet as daughters also of a god, but a different, non-Jewish god (cf. Deut 32:19; Num 21:29).

Malachi 2:12. May the Lord cut off from the tents of Jacob anyone who does this—any to witness or answer, or to bring an offering to the Lord of hosts. God will cut off from the tents, or from the house of Jacob, all inhabitants of such violators of the law, who are in a state to speak (those watching on guard and answering—this is one and the same person, “a living man,” as was said in ancient Russia). Especially is there mention of the one who brings an offering to the Lord, that is, the priest. And the priests, as is known, were guilty of such violation of the law (Ezra 10:18-19).

Malachi 2:13. And this you do as well: You cover the Lord’s altar with tears, with weeping and groaning, because He no longer regards the offering or accepts it with favor from your hand. As is evident from the following verse, the prophet here has in mind the faithless behavior of Jewish husbands toward their wives. Husbands reject their wives, and these go to make their complaints at the altar of Jehovah, complaining about the wrong done to them to Jehovah. Jehovah, for His part, punishes the faithless husbands by ceasing to accept their sacrifices.

Malachi 2:14. But you say: “Why is it?” Because the Lord was witness between you and the wife of your youth, to whom you have been faithless, though she is your companion and your lawful wife. The Lord is angry at such husbands especially because He was a witness to the oaths that were taken by the spouses. This may mean either that marriages were concluded before the invisibly present Jehovah (cf. Gen 31:50), or that originally God established monogamy, creating for Adam only one wife, thereby showing that he should never separate from her (Gen 2:24). “The wife of your youth”—that is, you lived with her through the best time of life—youth, and therefore you should always love and pity her.

Malachi 2:15. Has not the one God made and sustained for us the spirit of life? And what does the one God desire? Godly offspring. So guard yourselves in your spirit, and do not break faith with the wife of your youth. The first question belongs to the Jews accused of violating the law. They point out to the prophet the “one,” that is, Abraham, who also, valuing only his offspring, which he saw in Isaac, cast out his concubine Hagar with his son Ishmael. And yet Abraham was a man of outstanding moral qualities (had an excellent spirit!). To this question, the prophet also answers with a question: what did this “one” do? He acted thus not from any personal selfish calculations and was not guided by carnal attraction, but desired to obtain, or more correctly, to keep with him Isaac, to whom Ishmael was beginning to become dangerous (Gen 21:9). Therefore, the Jews should guard themselves from God’s wrath (“guard yourselves in your spirit,” that is, your life) and should not divorce their wives.

Malachi 2:16. For the man who hates and divorces, says the Lord, the God of Israel, covers his garment with violence, says the Lord of hosts. So take heed to yourselves and do not be faithless. The Russian translation of this verse is obscure. In Tikhomirov’s version, the translation is as follows: “for I hate divorce, says Jehovah, God of Israel, and the one who covers himself with injustice, says Jehovah of hosts. Therefore, guard yourselves in your spirit and do not be faithless.” The meaning of this translation is quite clear. God cannot approve of divorce, because the one who divorces commits a manifest sin (as if he clothes himself entirely with injustice). Noteworthy is the strictness of the prophet Malachi in resolving the question of mixed marriages and divorce. The Law of Moses forbade marriages only with Canaanite women (Exod 34:16; Deut 7:3), while Malachi forbids marriages with women of other nations in general. In this he agrees with Ezra and Nehemiah (Ezra 9:2; Nehem 13:23). The new, post-captivity Jewish community, naturally, had to guard more strictly its theocratic isolation, lest it dissolve into paganism. Similarly, Malachi also strengthens the prohibition of the Mosaic Law regarding divorces. Moses permitted divorce under certain conditions (Deut 24:1), but Malachi completely denies the right to divorce, approaching, in this case, the commandment of Christ (Matt 19:8-9).

Malachi 2:17. You have wearied the Lord with your words. Yet you say: “How have we wearied Him?” By saying: “Everyone who does evil is good in the sight of the Lord, and He delights in them,” or by asking: “Where is the God of justice? Here is contained the introduction to the third discourse which follows. Seeing the prosperity of people who were not constrained by the requirements of morality—perhaps some wealthy Jews—the Jews began to say that God is pleased with the wicked, that divine justice is a pure fiction. By this they angered God—more precisely, wearied God, irritating Him to manifest His justice. * * * Notes In the temple of Zerubbabel there was not yet a special court for women