Malachi 2:12

"Jehovah will cut off to the man that doeth this, him that waketh and him that answereth, out of the tents of Jacob, and him that offereth an offering to Jehovah of hosts."

This is one of the difficult verses, the meaning of which is ambiguous.

"Him that waketh and him that answereth" has been rendered as:

teacher and scholar,

son and grandson,

master and servant,

stranger and kinsman.[19]

But, while the exact implication of the words is not clear, the idea that dire and terrible consequences will occur in the lives of those whom Jehovah shall "cut off" is perfectly plain.

"Him that offereth an offering to Jehovah of hosts ..." This would appear to be an identification of a worshipper of God, with the meaning that a man who married a foreign wife, "daughter of a foreign god" would automatically assure that none of his children would accept the true religion. In practice, of course, that is the way it always worked out.