Malachi 2:13-15

The Pulpit Commentary - Malachi 2:10-16

Part II . CONDEMNATION OF PRIESTS AND PEOPLE FOR ALIEN MARRIAGES AND FOR DIVORCES . read more

The Pulpit Commentary - Malachi 2:10-16

The sin of conjugal unfaithfulness. We here use the term "unfaithfulness" in its widest sense, extending far beyond the sin of unchastity. We note— I. UNFAITHFULNESS TO GOD IS THE ROOT SIN OF ALL OTHER FORMS OF INFIDELITY . The sins denounced in the earlier verses of this book are quite sufficient to account for the criminality here exposed. Those who profane the "covenant" and the "holiness" of God in their hearts, and who do not seek "to give glory" to his... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Malachi 2:13

Not only did they marry heathen females, but they divorced their own legitimate wives to facilitate such unholy alliances. This have ye done again; this again ye do. Here is another and a further offence. Others take "again" in the sense of "a second time," referring to the fact that Ezra had effected a reform in this matter, but the people had relapsed into the same sin. But the first explanation is preferable. Septuagint, καὶ ταῦτα , ἂ ἐμίσουν ἐποιεῖτε , "and this which I... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Malachi 2:14

Yet ye say, Wherefore? Here is the usual sceptical objection, as in Malachi 1:6 , Malachi 1:7 . The people will not acknowledge their guiltiness, and ask, "Why is God displeased with us? why are our offerings not acceptable?" The prophet replies, Because the Lord hath been witness, etc. The sin is now disclosed. Their marriages had been made before God; he who first instituted matrimony ( Genesis 2:24 ) was a witness of the contract and gave it his sanction (comp. Genesis 31:50 ). ... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Malachi 2:14-16

The Divine institution of marriage. "Yet ye say, Wherefore?" etc. The subject of these verses is the Divine institution of marriage. In relation to this institution we observe— I. THAT IT IMPLIES A LOVING UNION OF TWO , AND ONLY TWO , SOULS UNTIL DEATH . "Because the Lord hath been witness between thee and the wife of thy youth, against whom thou hast dealt treacherously: yet is she thy companion, and the wife of thy covenant. And did not he make one?" "Wife... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Malachi 2:15

And did not he make one? Yet had he the residue of the spirit. The passage has always been a crux , and has received many interpretations. The Anglican rendering (which, however, is probably not correct) is thus explained: God made at first one man and one woman, to show the oneness of marriage, and God gave man the breath of life and the residue to the woman; he made them both equally living souls; therefore divorce was never contemplated in the first institution of marriage. Others take... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Malachi 2:15

God served by our meeting family obligations. This verse is difficult to paraphrase. 'Speaker's Commentary' renders thus: "And hath no one acted thus (in putting away his wife) who yet had a remnant of sense in him?" The prophet makes the people say this in excuse of their conduct, and in allusion to the Patriarch Abraham, who put away his wife Hagar. Wordsworth puts the sentence interrogatively, "And did not one (Abraham) do it ( i.e. put away his wife Hagar), and yet he had a remnant... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Malachi 2:13

And this ye have done again - , adding the second sin of cruelty to their wives to the taking foreign women; “they covered the altar of God with tears,” in that they by ill-treatment occasioned their wives to weep there to God; and God regarded this, as though they had stained the altar with their tears.Insomuch that He regardeth not the offering anymore - God regarded the tears of the oppressed, not the sacrifices of the oppressors. He would not accept what was thus offered Him as a thing... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Malachi 2:14

And ye say, Wherefore? - They again act the innocent, or half-ignorant. What had they to do with their wives’ womanly tears? He who knows the hearts of all was Himself the witness between them and the wife of youth of each; her to whom, in the first freshness of life and their young hearts, each had plighted his troth having been entrusted by her with her earthy all. Genesis 31:49-50. “The Lord,” said even Laban, when parting from his daughters, “watch between me and thee, when we are absent,... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Malachi 2:15

And did not He - , God, of whom he had spoken as the witness between man and his wife, “make one,” namely, Adam first, to mark the oneness of marriage and make it a law of nature, appointing “that out of man (created in His own image and similitude), woman should take her beginning, and, knitting them together, did teach that it should never be lawful to put asunder those, whom He by matrimony had made one?” “Between those two, and consequently between all other married, to be born from them,... read more

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