Malachi 2:8
in Malachi 2But you have departed from the way, and your instruction has caused many to stumble. You have violated the covenant of Levi,” says the LORD of Hosts.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
But ye are turned aside out of the way; ye have caused many to stumble in the law; ye have corrupted the covenant of Levi, saith Jehovah of hosts.
KJV
But ye are departed out of the way; ye have caused many to stumble at the law; ye have corrupted the covenant of Levi, saith the Lord of hosts.
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This verse in Malachi 2
Commentary
9 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
But ye - o are departed out of the way “of knowledge, truth, equity, fear of God, which I appointed to Aaron and the Levites.” “Ye have caused many to stumble at the law.” He does not simply say, “in the law,” but “at” it. The law was what they stumbled at. They did not only misunderstand the law, through the false teaching of the priests, as though it allowed things which in truth were sins (although this too); itself was their source of stumbling.
This site's exposition
But ye are departed out of the way
on Malachi 2:8-9
But ye are departed out of the way turns from the ideal Levi to the actual priesthood, causing many to stumble at the law and corrupting the very covenant just described. Their partiality in the law, favoring persons rather than administering it evenly, is answered in kind, the Lord making them contemptible and base before all the people exactly as they had made his worship contemptible before them. The measure returned is the same one Obadiah names for Edom, as thou hast done, it shall be done unto thee, applied here to Israel's own priesthood rather than to a foreign nation.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Vers. 8, 9.) But you have departed from the way, and have caused many to stumble in the law: you have made void the covenant of Levi, says the Lord of hosts. Therefore I also have made you contemptible and base before all the people, because you have not kept my ways, and have had respect of persons in the law. LXX: But you have turned aside from my way, and have made many weak in the law, you have corrupted the covenant of Levi, says the Almighty Lord.
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
), out of the good way which God has prescribed to you, and which your godly ancestors walked before you in. It is ill with a people when those whose office it is to guide them in the way do themselves depart out of it: " You have not kept my ways, not kept in them yourselves, nor done your part to keep others in them,"
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
The ordinance of marriage, which is common to the world of mankind, and was instituted for the maintaining and keeping up of that; this was profaned both by the priests and by the people, in marrying strangers (
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But ye are departed out of the way,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
MAURER thus explains it; the Hebrew is, literally, "My covenant was with him, life and peace (to be given him on My part), and I gave them to him: (and on his part) fear (that is, reverence), and he did fear Me," &c. The former portion of the verse expresses the promise, and Jehovah's fulfilment of it; the latter, the condition, and Levi's steadfastness to it (De 33:8, 9).
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
out of the way--that is, from the covenant. caused many to stumble--By scandalous example, the worse inasmuch as the people look up to you as ministers of religion (1Sa 2:17; Lu 17:1). at the law--that is, in respect to the observances of the law. corrupted . . . covenant--made it of none effect, by not fulfilling its conditions, and so forfeiting its promises (Zec 11:10;
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase+unbalanced-parens
But ye are departed out of the way - Ye are become impure yourselves, and ye have led others into iniquity.
The words behind it
13 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְאַתֶּם֙ | veatem | and you | H859 → | 1094 times |
| סַרְתֶּ֣ם | sartem | you have turned aside | H5493 → | |
| מִן־ | min- | from | H4480 → | |
| הַדֶּ֔רֶךְ | haderekh | the way | H1870 → | 707 times |
| הִכְשַׁלְתֶּ֥ם | hikhshaltem | you have caused to stumble | H3782 → | |
| רַבִּ֖ים | rabim | many [people] | H7227 → | |
| בַּתּוֹרָ֑ה | batorah | by the instruction | H8451 → | 219 times |
| שִֽׁחַתֶּם֙ | shichatem | you have corrupted | H7843 → | 146 times |
| בְּרִ֣ית | berit | [the] covenant of | H1285 → | 284 times |
| הַלֵּוִ֔י | halevi | <the> Levi | H3878 → | 59 times |
| אָמַ֖ר | ʾamar | he says | H559 → | 5305 times |
| יְהוָ֥ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| צְבָאֽוֹת׃ | tzevaot | of hosts | H6635 → | 485 times |
וְאַתֶּם֙and you
veatemH859 →1094 times
סַרְתֶּ֣םyou have turned aside
sartemH5493 →
מִן־from
min-H4480 →
הַדֶּ֔רֶךְthe way
haderekhH1870 →707 times
הִכְשַׁלְתֶּ֥םyou have caused to stumble
hikhshaltemH3782 →
רַבִּ֖יםmany [people]
rabimH7227 →
בַּתּוֹרָ֑הby the instruction
batorahH8451 →219 times
שִֽׁחַתֶּם֙you have corrupted
shichatemH7843 →146 times
בְּרִ֣ית[the] covenant of
beritH1285 →284 times
הַלֵּוִ֔י<the> Levi
haleviH3878 →59 times
אָמַ֖רhe says
ʾamarH559 →5305 times
יְהוָ֥הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
צְבָאֽוֹת׃of hosts
tzevaotH6635 →485 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
Jeremiah 17:5This is what the LORD says: “Cursed is the man who trusts in mankind, who makes the flesh his strength and turns his heart from the LORD.
it leads to
- Psalms 118:8–9
It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in man.
- Psalms 146:3–4
Put not your trust in princes, in mortal man, who cannot save.
- Isaiah 2:22
Put no more trust in man, who has only the breath in his nostrils. Of what account is he?
- 2 Chronicles 32:8
With him is only the arm of flesh, but with us is the LORD our God to help us and to fight our battles.” So the people were strengthened by the words of Hezekiah…
- Isaiah 31:1–9
Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help, who rely on horses, who trust in their abundance of chariots and in their multitude of horsemen. They do not look to the Holy…
- Psalms 118:8–9
Through
Jeremiah 18:15Yet My people have forgotten Me. They burn incense to worthless idols that make them stumble in their ways, leaving the ancient roads to walk on rutted bypaths instead of on the highway.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 6:16
This is what the LORD says: “Stand at the crossroads and look. Ask for the ancient paths: ‘Where is the good way?’ Then walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls.…
- Jeremiah 2:32
Does a maiden forget her jewelry or a bride her wedding sash? Yet My people have forgotten Me for days without number.
- Isaiah 57:14
And it will be said, “Build it up, build it up, prepare the way, take every obstacle out of the way of My people.”
- Jeremiah 6:16
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); Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Malachi; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.