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Matthew Henry

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 3:2

But who may abide the day of his coming ?.... When he should be manifest in Israel, and come preaching the Gospel of the kingdom; who could bear the doctrines delivered by him, concerning his deity and equality with God the Father; concerning his character and mission as the Messiah, and his kingdom not being a temporal, but a spiritual one; concerning his giving his flesh for the life of the world, and eating that by faith; concerning distinguishing and efficacious grace; and all such that... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Malachi 3:2

But who may abide the day of his coming? - Only they who shall believe on his name; for they that will not, shall be blinded, and the unbelieving nations shall be destroyed by the Romans. Like fuller's soap - כברית keborith , from ברר barar , to cleanse, any thing that deterges. Kali, or fern ashes, or such things. I doubt whether the composition which we call soap, was known in ancient times. read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Malachi 3:2

Verse 2 The Prophet in this verse contends more sharply with the Jews, and shows that it was a mere presence that they so much expected the coming of the Mediator, for they were far different from him through the whole course of their life. And when he says that the coming of Christ would be intolerable, what is said is to be confined to the ungodly; for we know that nothing is more delightful and sweeter to us than when Christ is nigh us: though now we are pilgrims and at a distance from him,... 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

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Malachi 3:2

Who may abide the day of his comings? They had expected him to come and judge the heathen; the prophet warns them that they themselves shall be first judged (comp. Amos 5:18 ). "Malachi, like John the Baptist, sees the future Judge in the present Saviour" (Wordsworth); Joel 2:11 . Who shall stand! Who can stand up under the burden of this judgment? The Vulgate Version , Quis stabit ad videndum eum? points to the brightness of his presence, which eye of man cannot endure. Like a... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Malachi 3:2

The manifestation of Christ a testing time to all. We may apply this truth— I. TO CHRIST 'S FIRST MANIFESTATION TO THE WORLD . This truth was foreseen by Simeon ( Luke 2:34 , Luke 2:35 ). And when Jesus entered on his public ministry, his preaching and his very presence served as a testing time to all. 1 . His teaching was a process of sifting ( Matthew 3:12 ). Socrates used to go about Athens testing and refining men's ideas, and in his own unrivalled method... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Malachi 3:2

The severe side of Messiah's mission. "Like a refiner's fire, and like fuller's soap." It is usually shown that the triumphant side of Messiah's mission wholly occupied the mind of the Jews, and that consequently the stern, judgment side needed to be presented vigorously. But some recent accounts of the actual condition of Jewish thought in the first century suggest that the fears of Messiah's time were so extravagant that they needed to be corrected and qualified. The stern things of... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Malachi 3:2

And who may abide the day of His coming? And who shall stand when He appeareth? - The implied answer is, “No one;” as in the Psalm Psalms 130:3, “If Thou, Lord, wilt mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand?” Joel had asked the same , “The day of the Lord is great and very terrible; and who can abide it?” “How can the weakness of man endure such might; his blindness, such light; his frailty, such power; his uncleanness, such holiness; the chaff, such a fire? For He is like a refine’s fire. Who... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Malachi 3:2

Malachi 3:2. But who may abide the day of his coming The LXX. read, τις υωομενει ημεραν εισοδου αυτου , who shall be able to bear the day of his coming? So also the Chaldee. “Quare hoc?” “Why this?” says Grotius: “Because he himself shall bear the cross, that he may come to the kingdom, and shall show the same way to his followers.” The day of his coming, with respect to the Jews, includes all the time from the beginning of his preaching, to the total destruction of their temple and... read more

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