Malachi 3:2-3

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

John Gill

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

And he shall sit as a refiner, and purifier of silver ,.... Kimchi interprets this, as he does the latter part of the preceding verse Malachi 3:2 , of the day, and not of the Lord, which he compares to a judge that sits and separates the guilty from the innocent; see 1 Corinthians 3:13 but it is to be understood of the Lord himself, and expresses his diligence in sitting and separating good men and principles from bad ones, just as silver is purified and refined from dross. Maimonides ... 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

Adam Clarke

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

He shall sit as a refiner - Alluding to the case of a refiner of metals, sitting at his fire; increasing it when he sees necessary, and watching the process of his work. The sons of Levi - Those who minister in their stead under the New covenant, for the Old Levitical institutions shall be abolished; yet, under the preaching of our Lord, a great number of the priests became obedient to the faith, Acts 6:7 ; and, as to the others that did not believe, this great Refiner threw them as... 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

John Calvin

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

Verse 3 The Prophet says, that Christ would sit to purify the sons of Levi; for though they were the flower, as it were, and the purity of the Church, they had yet contracted some contagion from the corruption which prevailed. Such then was the contagion, that not only the common people became corrupt, but even the Levites themselves, who ought to have been guides to others, and who were to be in the Church as it were the pattern of holiness. God however promises that such would be the... 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

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