Malachi 3:1

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Malachi 3:1-6

The first words of this chapter seem a direct answer to the profane atheistical demand of the scoffers of those days which closed the foregoing chapter: Where is the God of judgment? To which it is readily answered, ?Here he is; he is just at the door; the long-expected Messiah is ready to appear; and he says, For judgment have I come into this world, for that judgment which you have so impudently bid defiance to.? One of the rabbin says that the meaning of this is, That God will raise up a... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Malachi 3:1

Behold, I will send my messenger ,.... These are the words of Christ, in answer to the question put in the last verse of the preceding chapter Malachi 2:17 , "Where is the God of judgment?" intimating that he would quickly appear, and previous to his coming send his messenger or angel; not the angel of death to destroy the wicked, as Jarchi thinks; nor an angel from heaven, as Kimchi; nor Messiah the son of Joseph; as Aben Ezra; nor the Prophet Malachi himself, as Abarbinel; but the same... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Malachi 3:1

Behold, I will send my messenger - מלאכי Malachi , the very name of the prophet. But this speaks of John the Baptist. I, the Messiah, the Seed of God, mentioned above, will send my messenger, John the Baptist. He shall prepare the way - Be as a pioneer before me; a corrector of civil abuses, and a preacher of righteousness. And the Lord, whom ye seek - The Messiah, whom ye expect, from the account given by the prophet Daniel, in his seventy weeks, Daniel 9:24 . Shall... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Malachi 3:1

Verse 1 Here the Prophet does not bring comfort to the wicked slanderers previously mentioned, but asserts the constancy of his faith in opposition to their blasphemous words; as though he had said, “Though they impiously declare that they have been either deceived or forsaken by the God in whom they had hoped, yet his covenant shall not be in vain.” The design of what is announced is like that of the declaration made elsewhere, “Though men are perfidious and false, yet God remains true, and... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Malachi 3:1

Behold, I will send ( I send ) my messenger. God answers that he is coming to show himself the God of judgment and justice. Are they ready to meet him and to bear his sentence? Who this "messenger" is is disputed. That no angel or heavenly visitant is meant is clear from historical considerations, as no such event took place immediately before the Lord came to his temple. Nor can Malachi himself be intended, as his message was delivered nearly four, hundred years before Messiah came.... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Malachi 3:1

Preparation work. "Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me." It is fully recognized that the allusion here is to the ministry of John the Baptist. In him was realized the fulfilment of the promise that Elijah should come again. Our Lord declared that Elijah had come, in his time, and had not been recognized. And the disciples understood him to speak of John the Baptist. The more familiar figure of a "preparer of ways" is that given in Isaiah 40:3 , ... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Malachi 3:1

The unexpectedness of the advent. "Shall suddenly come" Two messengers are spoken of in this verse. John, the messenger, prepares the way for Jesus; and Jesus, the Messenger, prepares the way for God. Each was a sent and commissioned one. The coming to the temple is a figure of speech, and means coming to the people, not our Lord's actually entering into the temple. The people of Israel were the temple of the Lord, and of that true temple the material building was a sign. The point... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Malachi 3:1-4

Christ as a spiritual Reformer. "Behold, I will send my messenger," etc. This passage seems to be an answer to the question of the sceptic in the last verse of the preceding chapter, "Where is the God of judgment?" It informs us that he will come, but that a preparatory work is necessary. It points to the advent of John the Baptist, the herald of that great Messiah predicted by ancient prophets, and who was the "Desire of all nations" ( Haggai 2:7 , Authorized Version). The passage... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Malachi 3:1

God answers their complaints of the absence of His judgments, that they would come, but would include those also who clamored for them. For no one who knew his own sinfulness would call for the judgment of God, as being himself, chief of sinners. Augustine pictures one saying to God, “Take away the ungodly man,” and that God answers, “Which?”Behold, I send My messenger before My face, and he shall prepare My way before Me - they, then, were not prepared for His Coming, for whom they clamored.... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Malachi 3:1

Malachi 3:1. Behold, &c. To silence the cavils of unbelievers, spoken of in the last verse of the preceding chapter, the prophet here foretels the coming of the Messiah, who should set things in order; and of his harbinger, who should prepare men for his reception. I will send my messenger It is God who speaks here, for John the Baptist, who is here intended, was God’s messenger, and had his commission from heaven and not of men, Matthew 21:25-26; being sent by the same divine... read more

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