Malachi 1:1-3

The Pulpit Commentary - Malachi 1:1

§ 1 . Heading and author. The burden ( Zechariah 9:1 ; Zechariah 12:1 ; see note on Nahum 1:1 ). The word of the Lord is heavy and full of threats, but, as St. Jerome notes, it is also consolatory, because it is not "against" but to Israel. By this name the whole covenanted nation is designated, here, perhaps, with some idea of reminding the people of Jacob's faith and patience, and stimulating them to imitate their great ancestor. By Malachi; literally, by the hand of Malachi ... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Malachi 1:1

Malachi and his burden. I. MALACHI , THE LAST OF THE PROPHETS OF THE OLD TESTAMENT . He may be compared to: 1 . A late evening closing a long day of light and blessing, and which is itself: 2 . A midsummer twilight in some northern latitude, bearing on its besom the new and still brighter day of the gospel. 3 . A finger post pointing across an untrodden waste of time in the direction in which the ages should move onwards towards the advent of their expected... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Malachi 1:1

Burdensome prophecies. "The burden of the Lord to Israel by Malachi." Much of the work of the Old Testament prophets involved a serious strain on feeling, and may appropriately be figured as a "burden" which they were called to bear. A very large proportion of it consists of denunciations, declarations of swiftly coming and overwhelming Divine judgments. Those prophets were, in fact, raised up to meet a condition of society and national life of which God disapproved, and by which God was... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Malachi 1:1-5

The sovereignty of God in relation to man's secular condition of life. "The burden of the word of the Lord," etc. Malachi—which means "Messenger" the last of the Hebrew prophets, is a man whose personal history is wrapped in utter obscurity. He is supposed to have lived after Haggai and Zechariah, and to be contemporary with Nehemiah. It is likely that he occupied a relationship to Nehemiah somewhat analogous to that which Haggai and Zechariah sustained to Zerubbabel. The general opinion... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Malachi 1:2

I have loved you. The prophet, desiring to bring home to the people their ingratitude, lays down his thesis; then, in his characteristic manner, repeats the objection of the sceptics in an interrogatory form, and refutes it by plain argument. God had shown his love for Israel by electing them to be his people, and by his treatment of them during the whole course of their history. Wherein hast thou loved us! This was the inward feeling of the people at this time. They doubted God's love and... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Malachi 1:2-3

The Lord's love for his people. The Lord had chosen Israel as his peculiar people, out of pure love and kindness, without any antecedent merit on their side. This love is strikingly exhibited by contrasting the Divine dealings with the two nations, Edom and Israel. Both came into Divine judgment for sin, and love triumphed in the restoration of Israel; but because of Edom's treatment of Israel, it was left, to its desolations. The word "hate" is employed, but South properly explains that... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Malachi 1:2-5

§ 2. The prophet declares God's special love for Israel read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Malachi 1:2-5

The sovereign love of God. Remembering that the scriptural sense of "hate" in this and corresponding passages is to love less in comparison, or to reject when there is a competition of claims, we nevertheless learn from this passage— I. THAT GOD 'S LOVE TO INDIVIDUALS AND TO NATIONS IS A SOVEREIGN LOVE . By this we mean that it is a love which bestows special favours, for reasons which cannot be discovered in those that enjoy them, but in the gracious purpose of... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Malachi 1:3

And I hated Esau. St. Paul quotes these words ( Romans 9:13 ) in order to illustrate his position, "that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth." Even before his birth Jacob was the chosen one, and Esau, the elder, was to serve the younger. This mystery of Divine election has seemed to some to be stated so harshly that they have thought that the words of the text need to be softened, or to be modified by their explanation. Thus they give... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Malachi 1:1

The burden of the word of the Lord to Israel - o “The word of the Lord is heavy, because it is called a burden, yet it hath something of consolation, because it is not ‘against,’ but to Israel. For it is one thing when we write to this or that person; another, when we write ‘against’ this or that person; the one being the part of friendship, the other, the open admission of enmity.”“By the hand of Malachi;” through him, as the instrument of God, deposited with him; as Paul speaks of 1... read more

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