Malachi 2:15
in Malachi 2Has 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 wife of your youth.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And did he not make one, although he had the residue of the Spirit? And wherefore one? He sought a godly seed. Therefore take heed to your spirit, and let none deal treacherously against the wife of his youth.
KJV
And did not he make one? Yet had he the residue of the spirit. And wherefore one? That he might seek a godly seed. Therefore take heed to your spirit, and let none deal treacherously against the wife of his youth.
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This verse in Malachi 2
Commentary
9 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 did not he make one
on Malachi 2:15-16
Did not he make one? Yet had he the residue of the spirit is among the most disputed sentences in the Twelve, and the bench divides over its exact sense: some read it of Adam and Eve, one flesh made from one pair though the Lord had spirit enough to make many, in order that he might seek a godly seed from a stable home; others connect it to Abraham, one man richly endowed yet seeking godly offspring through Isaac rather than through a plurality of wives. Verse 16 carries its own translation crux, rendered by the King James as the Lord that hateth putting away, and by other readings as a warning that the man who divorces covers his garment with violence, positions the commentators name without settling between them. What both readings agree on is the conclusion, therefore take heed to your spirit, that ye deal not treacherously, marital faithfulness required regardless of which grammatical path leads there.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
For in the Gospel of Matthew he says, "Whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causes her to commit adultery." He also is deemed equally guilty of adultery who marries a woman put away by her husband. The Creator, however, except on account of adultery, does not put asunder that which he himself joined together, the same Moses in another passage enacting that he who had married after violence to a damsel should thenceforth not have it in his power to put away his wife.
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
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,
And wherefore did he make but one woman for one man? It was that he might seek a godly seed -- a seed of God (so the word is), a seed that should bear the image of God, be employed in the service of God, and be devoted to his glory and honour,--that every man having his own wife, and but one, according to the law, ( 1 Cor. vii.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
And did not he make one?....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
And wherefore (that is, why then did He thus isolate us as) the one (people; the Hebrew is 'the one')? In order that He might seek a godly seed"; that is, that He might have "a seed of God," a nation the repository of the covenant, and the stock of the Messiah, and the witness for the one God amidst the surrounding polytheisms.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — odd-straight-quotes
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
And did not he make one? - One of each kind, Adam and Eve. Yet had he the residue of the Spirit, he could have made millions of pairs, and inspired them all with living souls. Then wherefore one? He made one pair from whom all the rest might proceed, that he might have a holy offspring; that children being a marked property of one man and one woman, proper care might be taken that they should be brought up in the discipline of the Lord. Perhaps the holy or godly seed, זרע אלהים zera Elohim, a seed of God, may refer to the Messiah. God would have the whole human race to spring from one pair, that Christ, springing from the same family, might in his sufferings taste death for every man; because he had that nature that was common to the whole human race. Had there been several heads of families in the beginning, Jesus must have been incarnated from each of those heads, else his death could have availed for those only who belonged to the family of which he was incarnated. Take heed to your spirit - Scrutinize the motives which induce you to put away your wives.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
And did not He - , God, of whom he had spoken as the witness between man and his wife, “make one,” namely, Adam first, to mark the oneness of marriage and make it a law of nature, appointing “that out of man (created in His own image and similitude), woman should take her beginning, and, knitting them together, did teach that it should never be lawful to put asunder those, whom He by matrimony had made one?” “Between those two, and consequently between all other married, to be born from them, He willed that there should be one indivisible union, for Adam could be married to no other save Eve, since no other had been created by God, nor could Eve turn to any other man than Adam, since there was no other in the world. ‘Infringe not then this sanction of God, and unity of marriage, and degenerate not from your first parents, Adam and Eve.’” “If divorce had been good, Jesus says, God would not have made one man and one woman, but, having made one Adam, would have made two women, had He meant that he should cast out the one, bring in the other; but now by the mode of creation, He brought in this law, that each should have, throughout, the wife which he had from the beginning. This law is older than that about divorce, as much as Adam is older than Moses.” Yet had he the residue of the spirit - Gen 2:7, “the breath of life, which He breathed into Adam, and man became a living soul.” All the souls, which God would ever create, are His, and He could have called them into being at once. Yet in order to designate the unity of marriage, He willed to create but one. So our Lord argues against divorce Mat 19:4-6, “Have ye not read, that He which made them at the beginning, made them male and female?” They both together are called “one man” Gen 1:27, and, therefore, should be of one mind and spirit also, the unity of which they ought faithfully to preserve. And wherefore one? […]
The words behind it
17 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְלֹא־ | velo'- | and not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| אֶחָ֣ד | ʾechad | one | H259 → | 971 times |
| עָשָׂ֗ה | ʾasah | he made | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| וּשְׁאָ֥ר | ushear | and a remnant of | H7605 → | |
| ר֙וּחַ֙ | ruach | spirit | H7307 → | 378 times |
| ל֔וֹ | lo | to him | ||
| וּמָה֙ | umah | and what? | H4100 → | 752 times |
| הָֽאֶחָ֔ד | haechad | [was] the one | H259 → | 971 times |
| מְבַקֵּ֖שׁ | mevakesh | seeking | H1245 → | 225 times |
| זֶ֣רַע | zera' | offspring of | H2233 → | |
| אֱלֹהִ֑ים | ʾelohim | God | H430 → | 2601 times |
| וְנִשְׁמַרְתֶּם֙ | venishmartem | and you will take heed | H8104 → | 468 times |
| בְּר֣וּחֲכֶ֔ם | beruchakhem | in spirit your | H7307 → | 378 times |
| וּבְאֵ֥שֶׁת | uveeshet | and with [the] wife of | H802 → | 781 times |
| נְעוּרֶ֖יךָ | neureikha | youth<s> your | H5271 → | |
| אַל־ | ʾal- | may not | H408 → | |
| יִבְגֹּֽד׃ | yivgod | anyone deal treacherously | H898 → | 49 times |
וְלֹא־and not
velo'-H3808 →5168 times
אֶחָ֣דone
ʾechadH259 →971 times
עָשָׂ֗הhe made
ʾasahH6213 →2628 times
וּשְׁאָ֥רand a remnant of
ushearH7605 →
ר֙וּחַ֙spirit
ruachH7307 →378 times
ל֔וֹto him
lo
וּמָה֙and what?
umahH4100 →752 times
הָֽאֶחָ֔ד[was] the one
haechadH259 →971 times
מְבַקֵּ֖שׁseeking
mevakeshH1245 →225 times
זֶ֣רַעoffspring of
zera'H2233 →
אֱלֹהִ֑יםGod
ʾelohimH430 →2601 times
וְנִשְׁמַרְתֶּם֙and you will take heed
venishmartemH8104 →468 times
בְּר֣וּחֲכֶ֔םin spirit your
beruchakhemH7307 →378 times
וּבְאֵ֥שֶׁתand with [the] wife of
uveeshetH802 →781 times
נְעוּרֶ֖יךָyouth<s> your
neureikhaH5271 →
אַל־may not
ʾal-H408 →
יִבְגֹּֽד׃anyone deal treacherously
yivgodH898 →49 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
Genesis 1:27So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.
it leads to
- Matthew 19:4
Jesus answered, “Have you not read that from the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’
- Ephesians 2:10
For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance as our way of life.
- Genesis 5:1–2
This is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day that God created man, He made him in His own likeness.
- Mark 10:6
However, from the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female.’
- Genesis 2:21–25
So the LORD God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep, and while he slept, He took one of the man’s ribs and closed up the area with flesh.
- Matthew 19:4
Through
Malachi 2:14Yet 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…
it leads to
- Isaiah 54:6
For 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.
- Ecclesiastes 9:9
Enjoy 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…
- Genesis 31:50
If you mistreat my daughters or take other wives, although no one is with us, remember that God is a witness between you and me.”
- Isaiah 54:6
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Malachi

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); 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; Jerome, Commentary on Malachi; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Tertullian, AGAINST MARCION 4.34.
