Malachi 2:14
in Malachi 2Yet you ask, “Why?” It is because the LORD has been a witness between you and the wife of your youth, against whom you have broken faith, though she is your companion and your wife by covenant.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Yet ye say, Wherefore? Because Jehovah hath been witness between thee and the wife of thy youth, against whom thou hast dealt treacherously, though she is thy companion, and the wife of thy covenant.
KJV
Yet ye say, Wherefore? Because the Lord hath been witness between thee and the wife of thy youth, against whom thou hast dealt treacherously: yet is she thy companion, and the wife of thy covenant.
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This verse in Malachi 2
Commentary
10 notes on this verse(v. 13 ff.) And you have done this again, covering the altar of the Lord with tears, weeping and groaning, so that I will no longer look upon your sacrifices or accept anything pleasing from your hands. Yet you ask, 'Why?' Because the Lord has been witness between you and the wife of your youth, whom you have despised, though she is your companion and your wife by covenant. Did not one God create us all? Did not one God give us life and breath? And what does one seek, except the seed of God?
This site's exposition
And this have ye done again
on Malachi 2:13-14
This have ye done again shifts the dispute from idolatrous marriage to marital treachery within the covenant community itself, covering the altar of the Lord with tears and weeping that the Lord no longer regards. The people's own question, Wherefore, receives a direct answer, the Lord hath been witness between a man and the wife of his youth, his companion and the wife of his covenant, whom he has dealt treacherously against, almost certainly by unjust divorce in favor of a more attractive or better connected new wife. Marriage is described here in covenantal language rare in the Old Testament, the Lord himself standing as witness to a bond he expects to be honoured as solemnly as the covenant with Levi.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening5 voices
The wife of thy covenant - To whom thou art so firmly bound, that while she continues faithful, thou canst not be loosed.
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,
They did not perform their promises to them, but defrauded them of their maintenance or dower, or took in concubines, to share in the affection that was due to their wives only. [3.] They put them away, gave them a bill of divorce, and turned them off, nay, perhaps they did it without the ceremony that the law of Moses prescribed,
It is the wife with whom thou hast covenanted, and who has covenanted with thee; there is an oath of God between you, which is not to be trifled with, is not to be played fast and loose with." Married people should often call to mind their marriage-vows, and review them with all seriousness, as those that make conscience of performing what they promised.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — odd-straight-quotes
Yet ye say, Wherefore?....
3 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
Ye say, Wherefore? - Is the Lord angry with us? Because ye have been witness of the contract made between the parties; and when the lawless husband divorced his wife, the wife of his youth, his companion, and the unite of his covenant, ye did not execute on him the discipline of the law. They kept their wives till they had passed their youth, and then put them away, that they might get young ones in their place.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Isa 54:6). wife of thy covenant--not merely joined to thee by the marriage covenant generally, but by the covenant between God and Israel, the covenant-people, whereby a sin against a wife, a daughter of Israel, is a sin against God [MOORE]. Marriage also is called "the covenant of God" (Pr 2:17), and to it the reference may be (Ge 2:24;
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
And ye say, Wherefore? - They again act the innocent, or half-ignorant. What had they to do with their wives’ womanly tears? He who knows the hearts of all was Himself the witness between them and the wife of youth of each; her to whom, in the first freshness of life and their young hearts, each had plighted his troth having been entrusted by her with her earthy all. Gen 31:49-50. “The Lord,” said even Laban, when parting from his daughters, “watch between me and thee, when we are absent, the one from the other; if thou shalt afflict my daughters, or if thou shalt take wives beside my daughters, no man is with us; see, God is witness between me and thee.” And he dealt treacherously against her - , violating his own faith and her trusting love, which she had given once for all, and could not now retract. “And she is thy companion;” she has been another self, the companion of thy life, sharing thy sorrows, joys, hopes, fears, interests; different in strength, yet in all, good and ill, sickness and health, thy associate and companion; the help meet for the husband and provided for him by God in Paradise; and above all, “the wife of thy covenant,” to whom thou didst pledge thyself before God. These are so many aggravations of their sin. She was the wife of their youth, of their covenant, their companion; and God was the Witness and Sanctifier of their union. Marriage was instituted and consecrated by God in Paradise. Man was to leave father and mother (if so be), but to cleave to his wife indissolubly. For they were to be Mat 19:6, “no more twain, but one flesh.” Hence, as a remnant of Paradise, even the pagan knew of marriage, as a religious act, guarded by religious sanctions. Among God’s people, marriage was a Pro 2:17 “covenant of their God.” To that original institution of marriage he seems to refer in the following:
The words behind it
19 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַאֲמַרְתֶּ֖ם | vaamartem | and you say | H559 → | 5305 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | concerning | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| מָ֑ה | mah | what? | H4100 → | 752 times |
| עַ֡ל | ʾal | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| כִּי־ | ki- | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| יְהוָה֩ | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| הֵעִ֨יד | heid | he has testified | H5749 → | |
| בֵּינְךָ֜ | beinekha | between you | H996 → | 407 times |
| וּבֵ֣ין׀ | uvein | and between | H996 → | 407 times |
| אֵ֣שֶׁת | ʾeshet | [the] wife of | H802 → | 781 times |
| נְעוּרֶ֗יךָ | neureikha | youth<s> your | H5271 → | |
| אֲשֶׁ֤ר | ʾasher | whom | H834 → | 5497 times |
| אַתָּה֙ | ʾatah | you | H859 → | 1094 times |
| בָּגַ֣דְתָּה | bagadtah | you have dealt treacherously | H898 → | 49 times |
| בָּ֔הּ | bah | with her | ||
| וְהִ֥יא | vehi' | and she | H1931 → | 1879 times |
| חֲבֶרְתְּךָ֖ | chavertekha | [was] companion your | H2278 → | |
| וְאֵ֥שֶׁת | veeshet | and [the] wife of | H802 → | 781 times |
| בְּרִיתֶֽךָ׃ | beritekha | covenant your | H1285 → | 284 times |
וַאֲמַרְתֶּ֖םand you say
vaamartemH559 →5305 times
עַל־concerning
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
מָ֑הwhat?
mahH4100 →752 times
עַ֡לon
ʾalH5921 →5755 times
כִּי־for
ki-H3588 →4482 times
יְהוָה֩Yahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
הֵעִ֨ידhe has testified
heidH5749 →
בֵּינְךָ֜between you
beinekhaH996 →407 times
וּבֵ֣ין׀and between
uveinH996 →407 times
אֵ֣שֶׁת[the] wife of
ʾeshetH802 →781 times
נְעוּרֶ֗יךָyouth<s> your
neureikhaH5271 →
אֲשֶׁ֤רwhom
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
אַתָּה֙you
ʾatahH859 →1094 times
בָּגַ֣דְתָּהyou have dealt treacherously
bagadtahH898 →49 times
בָּ֔הּwith her
bah
וְהִ֥יאand she
vehi'H1931 →1879 times
חֲבֶרְתְּךָ֖[was] companion your
chavertekhaH2278 →
וְאֵ֥שֶׁתand [the] wife of
veeshetH802 →781 times
בְּרִיתֶֽךָ׃covenant your
beritekhaH1285 →284 times
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
Malachi 3:5“Then I will draw near to you for judgment. And I will be a swift witness against sorcerers and adulterers and perjurers, against oppressors of the widowed and fatherless, and against those who defraud…
it leads to
- James 5:8–9
You, too, be patient and strengthen your hearts, because the Lord’s coming is near.
- Hebrews 13:4
Marriage should be honored by all and the marriage bed kept undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterers.
- Deuteronomy 5:11
You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not leave anyone unpunished who takes His name in vain.
- James 5:4
Look, the wages you withheld from the workmen who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of Hosts.
- James 5:8–9
Through
Ecclesiastes 9:9Enjoy life with your beloved wife all the days of the fleeting life that God has given you under the sun—all your fleeting days. For this is your portion in life and in your…
it leads to
- Proverbs 5:18–19
May your fountain be blessed, and may you rejoice in the wife of your youth:
- Proverbs 5:18–19
Through
Isaiah 54:6For the LORD has called you back, like a wife deserted and wounded in spirit, like the rejected wife of one’s youth,” says your God.
it leads to
- Isaiah 62:4
No longer will you be called Forsaken, nor your land named Desolate; but you will be called Hephzibah, and your land Beulah; for the LORD will take delight in you, and your land will…
- Isaiah 62:4
Through
Malachi 2:15Has not the LORD made them one, having a portion of the Spirit? And why one? Because He seeks godly offspring. So guard yourselves in your spirit and do not break faith with the…
it leads to
- Matthew 19:4–6
Jesus answered, “Have you not read that from the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’
- Mark 10:6–8
However, from the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female.’
- Matthew 19:4–6
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Malachi
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; Jerome, Commentary on Malachi; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.