Malachi 1:3
in Malachi 1but Esau I have hated, and I have made his mountains a wasteland and left his inheritance to the desert jackals.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
but Esau I hated, and made his mountains a desolation, and gave his heritage to the jackals of the wilderness.
KJV
And I hated Esau, and laid his mountains and his heritage waste for the dragons of the wilderness.
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This verse in Malachi 1
Commentary
6 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
And I made his mountains a waste, and his heritage for the jackals of the wilderness - o Malachi attests the first stage of fulfillment of Joel’s prophecy (Joe 3:19, vol. i. pp. 214, 215), “Edom shall be a desolate wilderness.” In temporal things, Esau’s blessing was identical with Jacob’s; “the fatness of the earth and of the dew of heaven from above;” and the rich soil on the terraces of its mountain-sides, though yielding nothing now except a wild beautiful vegetation, and its deep glens, attest what they once must have been, when artificially watered and cultivated.
This site's exposition
The burden of the word of the Lord
on Malachi 1:1-3
The burden of the word of the Lord to Israel by Malachi opens the last prophetic book of the Old Testament with a name that means my messenger, the very word 3:1 will use of the one still to come. The Lord's opening claim, I have loved you, meets a nation's skeptical question, Wherein hast thou loved us, and he answers from the ledger of Genesis itself, Esau and Jacob were brothers, yet one line was chosen and the other was not. Paul quotes this election language directly at Romans 9:13, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated, reading the two nations' histories rather than the individual men's eternal states, a reading the commentators note keeps the verse inside its own historical argument.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
His heritage - Mount Seir with the neighbouring mountains. Waste - By Nebuchadnezzar's arms five years after the sacking of Jerusalem, and whereas Jacob's captivity returned, and their cities were rebuilt, Esau's never were. The dragons - Creatures which delight in desolate places, by which the utter desolation of Esau is signified.
And I hated Esau,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
hated--not positively, but relatively; that is, did not choose him out to be the object of gratuitous favor, as I did Jacob (compare Lu 14:26, with Mt 10:37; De 21:15, 16). laid his mountains . . . waste--that is, his territory which was generally mountainous.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
And I hated Esau - I have shown him less love; Gen 29:30, Gen 29:31. I comparatively hated him by giving him an inferior lot. And now, I have not only laid waste the dwelling-place of the Edomites, by the incursions of their enemies; but (Mal 1:4) they shall remain the perpetual monuments of my vengeance. On the subject of loving Jacob and hating Esau, see the notes on Genesis 27 (note), and Rom 9:13 (note). Let it be remembered, 1. That there is not a word spoken here concerning the eternal state of either Jacob or Esau. 2. That what is spoken concerns merely their earthly possessions. And, 3. That it does not concern the two brothers at all, but the posterity of each.
The words behind it
11 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְאֶת־ | veet | and <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| עֵשָׂ֖ו | ʾesav | Esau | H6215 → | |
| שָׂנֵ֑אתִי | saneti | I hated | H8130 → | |
| וָאָשִׂ֤ים | vaasim | and I have made | H7760 → | 584 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| הָרָיו֙ | harav | mountains his | H2022 → | |
| שְׁמָמָ֔ה | shemamah | a waste | H8077 → | |
| וְאֶת־ | veet | and <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| נַחֲלָת֖וֹ | nachalato | inheritance his | H5159 → | |
| לְתַנּ֥וֹת | letanot | for jackals of | H8577 → | |
| מִדְבָּֽר׃ | midbar | [the] wilderness | H4057 → |
וְאֶת־and <obj.>
veetH853 →10935 times
עֵשָׂ֖וEsau
ʾesavH6215 →
שָׂנֵ֑אתִיI hated
sanetiH8130 →
וָאָשִׂ֤יםand I have made
vaasimH7760 →584 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
הָרָיו֙mountains his
haravH2022 →
שְׁמָמָ֔הa waste
shemamahH8077 →
וְאֶת־and <obj.>
veetH853 →10935 times
נַחֲלָת֖וֹinheritance his
nachalatoH5159 →
לְתַנּ֥וֹתfor jackals of
letanotH8577 →
מִדְבָּֽר׃[the] wilderness
midbarH4057 →
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Obadiah 1:10Because of the violence against your brother Jacob, you will be covered with shame and cut off forever.
it leads to
- Malachi 1:3–4
but Esau I have hated, and I have made his mountains a wasteland and left his inheritance to the desert jackals.”
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Amos 1:11
This is what the LORD says: “For three transgressions of Edom, even four, I will not revoke My judgment, because he pursued his brother with the sword and stifled all compassion; his anger raged…
- Genesis 27:41
Esau held a grudge against Jacob because of the blessing his father had given him. And Esau said in his heart, “The days of mourning for my father are at hand; then I will…
- Psalms 89:45
You have cut short the days of his youth; You have covered him with shame. Selah
- Psalms 137:7
Remember, O LORD, the sons of Edom on the day Jerusalem fell: “Destroy it,” they said, “tear it down to its foundations!”
- Malachi 1:3–4
Through
Joel 3:19Egypt will become desolate, and Edom a desert wasteland, because of the violence done to the people of Judah, in whose land they shed innocent blood.
it leads to
- Isaiah 19:1–15
This is the burden against Egypt: Behold, the LORD rides on a swift cloud; He is coming to Egypt. The idols of Egypt will tremble before Him, and the hearts of the Egyptians will…
- Jeremiah 51:35
May the violence done to me and to my flesh be upon Babylon,” says the dweller of Zion. “May my blood be on the dwellers of Chaldea,” says Jerusalem.
- Isaiah 19:1–15
Through
Jeremiah 49:10But I will strip Esau bare; I will uncover his hiding places, and he will be unable to conceal himself. His descendants will be destroyed along with his relatives and neighbors, and he will…
it leads to
- Isaiah 17:14
In the evening, there is sudden terror! Before morning, they are no more! This is the portion of those who loot us and the lot of those who plunder us.
- Isaiah 17:14
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies3
On this verse
On this chapter
About Malachi
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Carl Friedrich Keil, The Twelve Minor Prophets; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jamieson, Fausset and Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament.