Malachi 2:16

"For I hate putting away, saith Jehovah, the God of Israel, and him that covereth his garment with violence, saith Jehovah of hosts: therefore take heed to your spirit, that ye deal not treacherously."

"I hate putting away ..." God hates divorce. Our society loves divorce. The shameful acceptance of the wanton violation of the marriage covenant on the part of many today, to the extent of threatening even the holy institution of marriage itself, is a cruel, heartless, and brutal fact of our culture. We are rapidly drifting into a state of godlessness from which there might never be any complete return. It is a deadly cancer in our social order that should be of utmost concern to every thoughtful person. God's hatred of what many are doing ought to be a strong deterrent.

"Such a vigorous warning and exhortation from the Lord in a former decadent and permissive age should not be silenced; its principle should be heralded to the ends of our own time."[30]

"That covereth his garment with violence ..." This is a difficult clause, as seen in the various renditions of it:

Covereth violence with his garment (KJV).

Covereth his garment with violence (ASV).

Violence covereth his garment.[31]

Iniquity shall cover his garment (Douay).

Moffatt simply left it out!

It is not certain at all that we can find out exactly what is signified by these words, but one thing is clear. There will be unhappy consequences of divorce and remarriage.

"This figure appears nowhere else in the Old Testament. The basis of it seems to lie in an ancient custom whereby the casting of one's garment over a woman was tantamount to claiming her as a wife."[32]