1.5 The Lord’s sovereignty even beyond the borders of Israel is a theme beloved of the exilic and postexilic prophets (e.g., Isa 19.23–25; 46.1–2; Ezek 1.1–3; Zech 9.1–8; Jon 3–4). The aim of this oracle about the rejection of Edom is to elicit from Malachi’s Judean audience this exclamation of trust.
1.6–2.9 Second oracle. An indictment of the Jerusalemite priesthood for its failures (1.6–14), followed by a curse (2.1–9).
1.8 Blind animals and those that are lame or sick were not acceptable for sacrifice (see Lev 22.17–30; Deut 15.21). Deficient offerings showed disrespect to the Lord.
1.10 Shut the temple doors suggests that no worship at all would be preferable to stingy, grudging offerings.
1.11 In a universal vision of the worship of Israel’s Lord, even the gentile nations are said to be able to worship the Lord in holiness (see also v. 14; Ps 50.1). Pure offering may refer to the manner of worship carried on by Jews living in exile, which contrasts sharply with the corruption of worship at the temple itself (v. 12).
MALACHI 2
1And now, O priests, this command is for you. 2If you will not listen, if you will not lay it to heart to give glory to my name, says the LORD of hosts, then I will send the curse on you and I will curse your blessings; indeed I have already cursed them,a because you do not lay it to heart. 3I will rebuke your off-spring, and spread dung on your faces, the dung of your offerings, and I will put you out of my presence.b
4Know, then, that I have sent this command to you, that my covenant with Levi may hold, says the LORD of hosts. 5My covenant with him was a covenant of life and well-being, which I gave him; this called for reverence, and he revered me and stood in awe of my name. 6True instruction was in his mouth, and no wrong was found on his lips. He walked with me in integrity and uprightness, and he turned many from iniquity. 7For the lips of a priest should guard knowledge, and people should seek instruction from his mouth, for he is the messenger of the LORD of hosts. 8But you have turned aside from the way; you have caused many to stumble by your instruction; you have corrupted the covenant of Levi, says the LORD of hosts, 9and so I make you despised and abased before all the people, inasmuch as you have not kept my ways but have shown partiality in your instruction.
The Covenant Profaned by Judah
10Have we not all one father? Has not one God created us? Why then are we faithless to one another, profaning the covenant of our ancestors? 11Judah 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. 12May the LORD cut off from the tents of Jacob anyone who does this—any to witnessc or answer, or to bring an offering to the LORD of hosts.
13And 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 at your hand. 14You ask, “Why does he not?” Because the LORD was a witness between you and the wife of your youth, to whom you have been faithless, though she is your companion and your wife by covenant. 15Did not one God make her?d Both flesh and spirit are his.e And what does the one Godf desire? Godly offspring. So look to yourselves, and do not let anyone be faithless to the wife of his youth. 16For I hateg divorce, says the LORD, the God of Israel, and covering one’s garment with violence, says the LORD of hosts. So take heed to yourselves and do not be faithless.
17You have wearied the LORD with your words. Yet you say, “How have we wearied him?” By saying, “All who do evil are good in the sight of the LORD, and he delights in them.” Or by asking, “Where is the God of justice?”
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a Heb it
b Cn Compare Gk Syr: Heb and he shall bear you to it
c Cn Compare Gk: Heb arouse
d Or Has he not made one?
e Cn: Heb and a remnant of spirit was his
f Heb he
g Cn: Heb he hates
2.2 It is the task of priests to pronounce blessings (Num 6.22–27). Malachi’s curse against the priests turns their benedictions into anathemas.
2.3 I will rebuke your offspring. The Septuagint reads “I will cut off your arm,” perhaps as a way of stressing that the priests will not be able to perform their duty of pronouncing blessings with upraised hands. The dung of offerings was supposed to be burned outside the camp (see Ex 29.14).
2.4–6 Because the priestly tribe of Levi supported Moses against the Aaronites in the incident of the golden calf and were immediately ordained to divine service (Ex 32.25–29), the Levites were always held in esteem by the prophets.
2.4 The covenant with Levi is nowhere described, but its existence is affirmed in Jer 33.21–22.
2.7 Lev 10.11 underscores the duty of priests to teach the covenant tradition, but this is the only place in the Hebrew Bible where the priest is described as the messenger of the LORD of hosts. The entire book of Malachi stands at the junction of prophetic oracle and priestly pronouncement.
2.10–16 Third oracle. An indictment of the people for their infidelity.
2.11 Marriage to foreign women threatens the very identity of Israel, which has been reduced to one of the many minor subject peoples within the Persian Empire (see also Ezra 10.44; Neh 13.23–27).
2.13–16 This is the strongest condemnation of divorce expressed anywhere in the Hebrew Bible. Although divorce is permitted by Deut 24.1–4, the Bible always regards marriage as a holy covenant (Gen 2.24; 31.50; Prov 2.17; Eph 5.21–33).
2.17–3.5 Fourth oracle. The judgment day to come.
2.17 In words reminiscent of the skepticism of Eccl 7.15; 8.14–15, the questioners challenge God’s intention to vindicate goodness and to be just. Yet they themselves have been neither good nor just.
MALACHI 3
The Coming Messenger
1See, I am sending my messenger to prepare the way before me, and the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple. The messenger of the covenant in whom you delight—indeed, he is coming, says the LORD of hosts. 2But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears?
For he is like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap; 3he will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the descendants of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, until they present offerings to the LORD in righteousness.a 4Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the LORD as in the days of old and as in former years.
5Then I will draw near to you for judgment; I will be swift to bear witness against the sorcerers, against the adulterers, against those who swear falsely, against those who oppress the hired workers in their wages, the widow and the orphan, against those who thrust aside the alien, and do not fear me, says the LORD of hosts.
6For I the LORD do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, have not perished. 7Ever since the days of your ancestors you have turned aside from my statutes and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you, says the LORD of hosts. But you say, “How shall we return?”
Do Not Rob God
8Will anyone rob God? Yet you are robbing me! But you say, “How are we robbing you?” In your tithes and offerings! 9You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing me—the whole nation of you! 10Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in my house, and thus put me to the test, says the LORD of hosts; see if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you an overflowing blessing. 11I will rebuke the locustb for you, so that it will not destroy the produce of your soil; and your vine in the field shall not be barren, says the LORD of hosts. 12Then all nations will count you happy, for you will be a land of delight, says the LORD of hosts.
13You have spoken harsh words against me, says the LORD. Yet you say, “How have we spoken against you?” 14You have said, “It is vain to serve God. What do we profit by keeping his command or by going about as mourners before the LORD of hosts? 15Now we count the arrogant happy; evildoers n
ot only prosper, but when they put God to the test they escape.”
The Reward of the Faithful
16Then those who revered the LORD spoke with one another. The LORD took note and listened, and a book of remembrance was written before him of those who revered the LORD and thought on his name. 17They shall be mine, says the LORD of hosts, my special possession on the day when I act, and I will spare them as parents spare their children who serve them. 18Then once more you shall see the difference between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve him.
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a Or right offerings to the LORD
b Heb devourer
3.1–4 Before the Lord suddenly comes to his temple, the messenger of the covenant will fully cleanse the levitical priests so that they will at last be able to perform the priestly office in righteousness (v. 3). This will open the way for blessings to flow, just as was promised by Haggai at the time of the reconsecration of the temple (Hag 2.19).
3.5 God promises to be swift to bear witness (see Zeph 3.8) against all those who violate the covenant tradition. The list of sins is typical of the prophetic indictment of evildoers (see Jer 7.9; note on Zech 7.9–10). Because God is “Father of orphans and protector of widows” (Ps 68.5), the “day of the LORD” brings retribution to any who abuse the marginalized (Zeph 3.1–5).
3.6–12 Fifth oracle. Repentance issuing in right action will restore God’s blessings.
3.6 The very existence of sinful Israel is grounded in the Lord’s constancy.
3.8 The law required that God receive the first tenth of the produce of the land (see Lev 27.30; Num 18.21–24). In Deut 14.28 the tithe due every third year is designated for the support of resident aliens, widows, orphans, and levitical priests. Failure to pay up amounts to robbing God.
3.10 At the waters of Meribah the people “tested” God in the matter of the manna, causing God to be angry (Ps 95.8–11). Here, however, God invites Israel to put me to the test. The Lord makes a direct causal connection between covenant obedience and showers of blessing.
3.12 Judah is assured that the test will vindicate God and that all nations will count it happy (see Pss 41.2; 72.17; Isa 61.6–9; 62.4). The charge that the Lord delights in evildoers (2.17) is here refuted by the nations, who once again prove to be authentic witnesses to the truth about God’s blessing (cf. 1.14).
3.13–4.3 Sixth oracle. God takes note of the faithful and will save them on the day of judgment.
3.14–15 See note on 2.17. Conventional wisdom held that the righteous prosper and evildoers fail (Ps 1.3; Prov 28.13). Yet the tragedy of exile (see Lam 1.5), the ambivalence of the Preacher (see Eccl 8.10–13), and the pessimism of the apocalyptic writers about history (see Dan 8.25;11.36) all concede that the wicked may prosper. Malachi tacitly concedes this as well, but their success is only temporary.
3.16 Biblical tradition knows of three heavenly record books. The book hinted at in Ps 139.16 seems to be a book of destiny in which the fate of the individual was written down before the beginning of time (cf. Dan 10.21; Rev 13.8; 20.15; 21.27). Here, however, the book of remembrance is juridical in character. In it the obedient deeds done by individuals during their lifetimes are recorded (see Ex 32.32–33; Ps 40.7 [cited in Heb 10.7]; 56.8; 69.28; Phil 4.3; Rev 3.5). Two references to “the books” in Dan 7.10; 12.1 could be read either way; and in the great judgment scene of Rev 20.12 a third “book of life” is mentioned.
3.17 A special possession is the title given Israel in one of the most famous election scenes in the Bible, Ex 19.5. To be recorded in God’s book ensures salvation on the coming day when God will act.
MALACHI 4a
The Great Day of the LORD
1See, the day is coming, burning like an oven, when all the arrogant and all evildoers will be stubble; the day that comes shall burn them up, says the LORD of hosts, so that it will leave them neither root nor branch. 2But for you who revere my name the sun of righteousness shall rise, with healing in its wings. You shall go out leaping like calves from the stall. 3And you shall tread down the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet, on the day when I act, says the LORD of hosts.
4Remember the teaching of my servant Moses, the statutes and ordinances that I commanded him at Horeb for all Israel.
5Lo, I will send you the prophet Elijah before the great and terrible day of the LORD comes. 6He will turn the hearts of parents to their children and the hearts of children to their parents, so that I will not come and strike the land with a curse.b
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a Ch 4.1-6 are Ch 3.19-24 in Heb
b Or a ban of utter destruction
4.1 See Mt 3.10–12.
4.2 Sun of righteousness. See Ps 84.11. One of the most familiar symbols of deity in Egyptian and Mesopotamian religion is the winged solar disk. Although God is not directly described here as a winged disk, the implication is that God will rise on the “day of the LORD” to effect healing for the righteous (see also Job 38.12–15; Ps 46.5).
4.4–6 Two of Israel’s greatest covenant mediators are mentioned in the concluding postscripts to the book.
4.4 In Deuteronomy, on the high scarp of Moab Moses preached the statutes and ordinances that God gave at Horeb/Sinai. They were to be the foundation of life in the promised land.
4.5–6 The “messenger” of 3.1 is now identified with Elijah the prophet, who also encountered the Lord at Horeb (1 Kings 19.4–18). Because he did not die but was carried into heaven (2 Kings 2.11), he becomes a figure of the future, poised to return as the harbinger of the “day of the LORD.” In the Gospel tradition the identification is carried further to John the Baptist (see Mt 11.13; 17.9–13; Mk 6.14–15; Lk 1.17). Malachi predicts that the returned Elijah will effect reconciliation within families, undoing the alienation of kindred that stretches back to the beginning of the biblical narrative.
THE APOCRYPHAL/DEUTEROCANONICAL BOOKS
of The Old Testament
NEW REVISED STANDARD VERSION
Apocryphal/Deuterocanonical Books in Various Bibles
* * *
BOOKS INCLUDED IN ALL ORTHODOX AND CATHOLIC BIBLES
* * *
Tobit
Judith
Additions to Esther
Wisdom of Solomon
Ecclesiasticus, or the Wisdom of Jesus Son of Sirach
Baruch
Letter of Jeremiah
Additions to Daniel (Prayer of Azariah and the Song of the Three Jews, Susanna, Bel and the Dragon)
1 Maccabees
2 Maccabees
GREEK ORTHODOX BIBLE
Prayer of Manasseh
SLAVONIC ORTHODOX BIBLES
Prayer of Manasseh
GREEK ORTHODOX BIBLE
Psalm 151
SLAVONIC ORTHODOX BIBLES
Psalm 151
GREEK ORTHODOX BIBLE
1 Esdras
SLAVONIC ORTHODOX BIBLES
2 Esdras
GREEK ORTHODOX BIBLE
3 Maccabees
SLAVONIC ORTHODOX BIBLES
3 Esdras
GREEK ORTHODOX BIBLE
4 Maccabees (in appendix)
SLAVONIC ORTHODOX BIBLES
3 Maccabees
Designations for Books Asssociated with Ezra and Nehemiah
NRSV
Ezra
GREEK BIBLE (SEPTUAGINT)
2 Esdras
LATIN BIBLE (VULGATE)
1 Ezra
SLAVONIC BIBLE
1 Esdras
NRSV
Nehemiah
GREEK BIBLE (SEPTUAGINT)
2 Esdras
LATIN BIBLE (VULGATE)
2 Ezra
SLAVONIC BIBLE
Nehemiah
NRSV
1 Esdras
GREEK BIBLE (SEPTUAGINT)
1 Esdras
LATIN BIBLE (VULGATE)
3 Ezra
SLAVONIC BIBLE
2 Esdr
as
NRSV
2 Esdras
GREEK BIBLE (SEPTUAGINT)
(not included)
LATIN BIBLE (VULGATE)
4 Ezra*
SLAVONIC BIBLE
3 Esdras
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* 4 Ezra is sometimes used for chs. 3–14 specifically; chs. 1–2 are then designated 5 Ezra and chs. 15–16 designated 6 Ezra.
(a) The books and parts of books from Tobit through 2 Maccabees are recognized as Deuterocanonical Scripture by the Roman Catholic, Greek, and Russian Orthodox Churches.
TOBIT
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 |
TOBIT, A MULTIFACETED PIECE OF HISTORICAL FICTION about the sufferings and healing of a pious Israelite and his family, is one of the most remarkable texts to have survived from Jewish antiquity. In complex ways it offers precious evidence about the religious, intellectual, and social worlds of the people of Israel in the last centuries before the common era.
A Religious Text
THEODICY, THE VINDICATION OF GOD’S JUSTICE, is the book’s central motif. Tobit, the story’s protagonist, is by every account a pious and righteous Israelite who does not deserve the intense suffering he experiences. Nor does his young relative Sarah. The situation is different for the nation as a whole; Israel has been exiled because of its apostasy, and the prophets’ predictions that the nation will return to the land promised to Abraham and his descendants remain unfulfilled. The author offers a twofold explanation of unjust suffering. In some cases, an unseen demonic realm causes the innocent to suffer; in others, God sends suffering to those who are righteous, but not perfect, as a temporary means of chastisement. The author solves the problem of suffering by appealing to the future. As in Job, things end well for the righteous sufferer. For Israel, the prophecies will be fulfilled when the nation’s chastisement at the hands of more sinful nations is complete. But in everything a sovereign and just God is active, orchestrating human events for the good of those who are pious and righteous.
HarperCollins Study Bible Page 344