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Malachi 2:11

in Malachi 2

Judah has broken faith; an abomination has been committed in Israel and in Jerusalem. For Judah has profaned the LORD’s beloved sanctuary by marrying the daughter of a foreign god.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

Judah hath dealt treacherously, and an abomination is committed in Israel and in Jerusalem; for Judah hath profaned the holiness of Jehovah which he loveth, and hath married the daughter of a foreign god.

KJV

Judah hath dealt treacherously, and an abomination is committed in Israel and in Jerusalem; for Judah hath profaned the holiness of the Lord which he loved, and hath married the daughter of a strange god.

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This verse in Malachi 2

Commentary

8 notes on this verse

A commentator

Jerome

Against Jovinianus 1.10 · Written before 420.

And if you wish to see more clearly how utterly unlawful it is for a Christian woman to marry a Gentile, consider what the same apostle says, "A wife is bound for so long time as her husband lives. But if the husband be dead, she is freed to be married to whom she will, only in the Lord," that is, to a Christian. The one who allows second and third marriages in the Lord forbids first marriages with a Gentile.

This site's exposition

Have we not all one father

on Malachi 2:10-12

The appeal to a shared father and one Creator, have we not all one father, hath not one God created us, grounds the charge that follows, dealing treacherously every man against his brother by profaning the covenant of their fathers. The specific treachery named is marriage to the daughter of a strange god, a phrase the bench reads as intermarriage with pagan worshippers rather than a charge against foreign birth as such, the same concern Ezra and Nehemiah confronted in the same period. The Lord's judgment is total, cut off from the tabernacles of Jacob, master and scholar alike, because the covenant people's holiness was meant to be Judah's distinguishing mark and was instead its point of failure.

The record, by era

The Church Fathers1 voice

A commentator

Jerome

Commentary on Malachi · Written before 420.

proposed

(Verse 10 and following) Is not the Father one of us all? Is not God one who created us? Why then does each one of us despise his brother, violating the covenant of our fathers? Judah has transgressed, and abomination has been made in Israel and in Jerusalem: because Judah has defiled the sanctification of the Lord, which he loved, and has taken the daughter of a foreign god. The Lord will destroy the man who does this, the master and the disciple from the tents of Jacob, and the one who offers an offering to the Lord of hosts. LXX: Is not the Father of you all one? Did not one God create you? Why have you each forsaken his brother, making the abominable testament of your fathers? Judas has been abandoned, and abomination has been made in Israel and in Jerusalem, because Judas defiled the holy things of the Lord, in which he loved, and he discovered foreign gods. May the Lord destroy the man who does these things, until he is driven out from the tents of Jacob, and from those who offer sacrifice to the Almighty Lord. Before we discuss the current chapter, the tradition of the Hebrews must be presented, indeed the truth of the Scriptures must be explained. We read in a volume titled Ezra, spoken in the person of Ezra himself: The leaders approached me, saying: The people of Israel, as well as the priests and Levites, have not separated themselves from the peoples of the lands and from their abominations, namely the Canaanites, Ethiopians, Persians, Jebusites, Ammonites, Moabites, Egyptians, and Amorites. For they have taken of their daughters for themselves, and for their sons: and the holy seed is mixed with the people of those lands. Moreover the hand of the princes and magistrates hath been first in this transgression. […]

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

And that which was at the bottom of this and other instances of profaneness and downright atheism, thinking God altogether such a one as themselves, which was, in effect, to say, There is no God,
Judah hath dealt treacherously,....

The Nineteenth Century2 voices

Treacherously has Judah dealt; an abomination is committed in Israel - The prophet, by the order of the words, emphasizes the “treachery” and the “abomination.” This have they done; the very contrary to what was required of them as the people of God. He calls the remnant of Judah by the sacred name of the whole people, of whom they were the surviving representatives.

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

proposed

dealt treacherously--namely, in respect to the Jewish wives who were put away (Mal 2:14; also Mal 2:10, 15, 16). profaned the holiness of . . . Lord--by ill-treating the Israelites (namely, the wives), who were set apart as a people holy unto the Lord: "the holy seed" (Ezr 9:2; compare Jer 2:3). Or, "the holiness of the Lord" means His holy ordinance and covenant (De 7:3).

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1 more voice on this verse

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

proposed

Daughter of a strange god - Of a man who worships an idol.

How the passage was read

What the Jewish commentators add

for Judah has profaned himself, who was the holy one of the Lord, the first of His grain.
Rashi: France, 1040–1105 · Rashi on Malachi 2:11:1, via Sefaria, The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg
2 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
to profane the covenant of our forefathers The covenant that the Holy One, blessed be He, formed with our forefathers at Sinai.
Rashi: France, 1040–1105 · Rashi on Malachi 2:10:1, via Sefaria, The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg
one of acuity or erudition An ingenious one among the students, and one who can answer among the sages. עֵר An expression of an ingenious person.
Rashi: France, 1040–1105 · Rashi on Malachi 2:12:1, via Sefaria, The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg

This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.

Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 4 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.

The words behind it

17 Hebrew words

Every 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.

  • בָּגְדָ֣הit has acted treacherously

    bagedahH898 →49 times

  • יְהוּדָ֔הJudah

    yehudahH3063 →819 times

  • וְתוֹעֵבָ֛הand an abomination

    vetoevahH8441 →

  • נֶעֶשְׂתָ֥הit has been done

    neestahH6213 →2628 times

  • בְיִשְׂרָאֵ֖לin Israel

    veyisraelH3478 →2507 times

  • וּבִירֽוּשָׁלִָ֑םand in Jerusalem

    uvirushalimH3389 →

  • כִּ֣י׀for

    kiH3588 →4482 times

  • חִלֵּ֣לit has profaned

    chilelH2490 →143 times

  • יְהוּדָ֗הJudah

    yehudahH3063 →819 times

  • קֹ֤דֶשׁ[the] sanctuary of

    kodeshH6944 →

  • יְהוָה֙Yahweh

    yahwehH3068 →6520 times

  • אֲשֶׁ֣רwhich

    ʾasherH834 →5497 times

  • אָהֵ֔בhe loves

    ʾahevH157 →211 times

  • וּבָעַ֖לand it has married

    uvaalH1166 →

  • בַּת־a daughter of

    bat-H1323 →

  • אֵ֥לa god of

    ʾelH410 →241 times

  • נֵכָֽר׃foreignness

    nekharH5236 →

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

18 in all, six open

The number beside each verse is how many compiled reference works tie it to this one. The strongest six stand open.

Malachi 2:10Do we not all have one Father? Did not one God create us? Why then do we break faith with one another so as to profane the covenant of our fathers?37 works2 Corinthians 6:14–18Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership can righteousness have with wickedness? Or what fellowship does light have with darkness?34 worksHosea 7:8Ephraim mixes with the nations; Ephraim is an unturned cake.7 worksEzra 9:1–2After these things had been accomplished, the leaders approached me and said, “The people of Israel, including the priests and Levites, have not kept themselves separate from the surrounding peoples whose abominations are like those of the Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Jebusites, Ammonites, Moabites, Egyptians, and Amorites.4 worksEzra 9:2Indeed, the Israelites have taken some of their daughters as wives for themselves and their sons, so that the holy seed has been mixed with the people of the land. And the leaders and officials have taken the lead in this unfaithfulness!”4 worksPsalms 81:9There must be no strange god among you, nor shall you bow to a foreign god.4 works
The other 12 cross-references, with their words ▾
Nehemiah 13:23–29In those days I also saw Jews who had married women from Ashdod, Ammon, and Moab.3 worksExodus 19:5–6Now if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, you will be My treasured possession out of all the nations—for the whole earth is Mine.3 worksRevelation 21:8But to the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and sexually immoral and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their place will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur. This is the second death.”3 works1 Kings 11:1–8King Solomon, however, loved many foreign women along with the daughter of Pharaoh—women of Moab, Ammon, Edom, and Sidon, as well as Hittite women.3 worksPsalms 106:34–39They did not destroy the peoples as the LORD had commanded them,3 worksDeuteronomy 7:3–6Do not intermarry with them. Do not give your daughters to their sons or take their daughters for your sons,3 worksLeviticus 20:26You are to be holy to Me because I, the LORD, am holy, and I have set you apart from the nations to be My own.3 works1 Corinthians 7:39A wife is bound to her husband as long as he lives. But if her husband dies, she is free to marry anyone she wishes, as long as he belongs to the Lord.3 works1 Kings 11:2These women were from the nations about which the LORD had told the Israelites, “You must not intermarry with them, for surely they will turn your hearts after their gods.” Yet Solomon clung to these women in love.3 worksIsaiah 48:8You have never heard; you have never understood; for a long time your ears have not been open. For I knew how deceitful you are; you have been called a rebel from birth.3 worksJohn 8:41You are doing the works of your father.” “We are not illegitimate children,” they declared. “Our only Father is God Himself.”3 worksJeremiah 2:21–22I had planted you like a choice vine from the very best seed. How could you turn yourself before Me into a rotten, wild vine?2 works

The walk

5 stops

Each 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

    Revelation 21:8

    But to the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and sexually immoral and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their place will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur. This…

    it leads to

    • 1 Corinthians 6:9–10

      Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who submit to or perform homosexual…

    • Revelation 2:11

      He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. The one who overcomes will not be harmed by the second death.

    • Ephesians 5:5–6

      For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure, or greedy person (that is, an idolater), has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.

    • Revelation 22:15

      But outside are the dogs, the sorcerers, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.

    • Revelation 20:14–15

      Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death—the lake of fire.

Where this verse is studied

On this page

Studies1

About Malachi

Ezra Reads the Law to the People, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
Ezra Reads the Law to the People, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
Malachi: the study guide →Read Malachi 2 →
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jamieson, Fausset and Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Against Jovinianus 1.10; Jerome, Commentary on Malachi; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.

Read on in Malachi 2 →