Malachi 2:9
in Malachi 2“So I in turn have made you despised and humiliated before all the people, because you have not kept My ways, but have shown partiality in matters of the law.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Therefore have I also made you contemptible and base before all the people, according as ye have not kept my ways, but have had respect of persons in the law.
KJV
Therefore have I also made you contemptible and base before all the people, according as ye have not kept my ways, but have been partial in the law.
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This verse in Malachi 2
Commentary
10 notes on this verseA commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Because ye do not keep the condition of the covenant, I will not fulfil the promise. partial in the law--having respect to persons rather than to truth in the interpretation and administration of the law (Le 19:15).
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 Awakening4 voices
And thus they forfeited the benefit of that covenant, and corrupted it to themselves; they made it void, and lost the life and peace which were by it settled upon them. We have no reason to expect God should perform his part of the covenant if we do not make conscience of performing ours. Another instance of their betraying their trust was that they were partial in the law,
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 (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
Therefore have I also made you contemptible and base,....
It is bad in any to rob God of his honour, but worst in ministers, whose office and business it is to bear up his name and to give him the glory due to it. Here is a record of the judgments God had brought upon these priests for their profaneness, and their profanation of holy things.
3 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
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).
Therefore have I also made you contemptible - The people despised you because they saw that you acted contrary to your functions. This has happened repeatedly since, to several classes of priests. Not maintaining, by purity of life and soundness of doctrine, the dignity of the ministerial function, they became contemptible before the people; their meager preaching was disregarded, and their persons at last cast out as a general loathing to the universe! See what happened to the truly abominable priesthood of France and Rome 1796-8. They were the sole cause of that infidelity that brought about the revolution. They are now partially restored; and are endeavouring to supply by grimace, paltry superstition, and jesuitical cunning, what they want in purity of morals, soundness of doctrine, and unction from God. They must mend, or look for another revolution. Mankind will no longer put up with the chaff of puerile and fanatical ceremonies in place of the wheat of God’s word and worship.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Therefore have I made you contemptible - They had said in their hearts Mal 1:7, “The table of the Lord is contemptible.” So God would requite them “measure for measure.” Yet not only so, but in their office as judges, against the repeated protestations in the law Lev 19:15, “Thou shalt not respect the person of the poor, nor honor the person of the mighty, in righteousness shalt thou judge thy neighbor Deu 1:17, ye shall not respect persons in judgment Deu 16:19, thou shall not wrest judgment,” he says, Ye have accepted persons in the law - You have interpreted the law differently for rich and poor, or have put it in force against the poor, not against the rich. It would include actual bribery; but there are many more direct offences against equal justice.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
to profane the covenant of our forefathers The covenant that the Holy One, blessed be He, formed with our forefathers at Sinai.
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 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְגַם־ | vegam- | and also | H1571 → | 769 times |
| אֲנִ֞י | ʾani | I | H589 → | 874 times |
| נָתַ֧תִּי | natati | I have made | H5414 → | 2011 times |
| אֶתְכֶ֛ם | ʾetkhem | <obj.> you | H853 → | 10935 times |
| נִבְזִ֥ים | nivzim | despised | H959 → | 44 times |
| וּשְׁפָלִ֖ים | ushefalim | and lowly | H8217 → | |
| לְכָל־ | lekhol | to all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| הָעָ֑ם | haam | the people | H5971 → | |
| כְּפִ֗י | kefi | according to [the] mouth of | H6310 → | 498 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֤ר | ʾasher | that | H834 → | 5497 times |
| אֵֽינְכֶם֙ | ʾeinekhem | not you | H369 → | 789 times |
| שֹׁמְרִ֣ים | shomerim | [are] keeping | H8104 → | 468 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| דְּרָכַ֔י | derakhai | ways my | H1870 → | 707 times |
| וְנֹשְׂאִ֥ים | venoseim | and [you are] lifting up | H5375 → | 656 times |
| פָּנִ֖ים | panim | faces | H6440 → | 2123 times |
| בַּתּוֹרָֽה׃ פ | batorah | in <the> instruction | H8451 → | 219 times |
וְגַם־and also
vegam-H1571 →769 times
אֲנִ֞יI
ʾaniH589 →874 times
נָתַ֧תִּיI have made
natatiH5414 →2011 times
אֶתְכֶ֛ם<obj.> you
ʾetkhemH853 →10935 times
נִבְזִ֥יםdespised
nivzimH959 →44 times
וּשְׁפָלִ֖יםand lowly
ushefalimH8217 →
לְכָל־to all
lekholH3605 →5413 times
הָעָ֑םthe people
haamH5971 →
כְּפִ֗יaccording to [the] mouth of
kefiH6310 →498 times
אֲשֶׁ֤רthat
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
אֵֽינְכֶם֙not you
ʾeinekhemH369 →789 times
שֹׁמְרִ֣ים[are] keeping
shomerimH8104 →468 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
דְּרָכַ֔יways my
derakhaiH1870 →707 times
וְנֹשְׂאִ֥יםand [you are] lifting up
venoseimH5375 →656 times
פָּנִ֖יםfaces
panimH6440 →2123 times
בַּתּוֹרָֽה׃ פin <the> instruction
batorahH8451 →219 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
1 Samuel 2:30Therefore, the LORD, the God of Israel, declares: ‘I did indeed say that your house and the house of your father would walk before Me forever. But now the LORD declares: Far be it…
it leads to
- John 12:26
If anyone serves Me, he must follow Me; and where I am, My servant will be as well. If anyone serves Me, the Father will honor him.
- Jeremiah 18:9–10
And if at another time I announce that I will build up and establish a nation or kingdom,
- Proverbs 3:9–10
Honor the LORD with your wealth and with the firstfruits of all your harvest;
- Malachi 1:6
“A son honors his father, and a servant his master. But if I am a father, where is My honor? And if I am a master, where is your fear of Me?” says the…
- 2 Chronicles 15:2
So he went out to meet Asa and said to him, “Listen to me, Asa and all Judah and Benjamin. The LORD is with you when you are with Him. If you seek Him,…
- John 12:26
Through
Luke 11:42Woe to you Pharisees! You pay tithes of mint, rue, and every herb, but you disregard justice and the love of God. You should have practiced the latter without neglecting the former.
it leads to
- Matthew 23:23
Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You pay tithes of mint, dill, and cumin. But you have disregarded the weightier matters of the law: justice, mercy, and faithfulness. You should have practiced…
- Matthew 23:23
Through
Luke 10:29But wanting to justify himself, he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
it leads to
- Luke 16:15
So He said to them, “You are the ones who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. For what is prized among men is detestable before God.
- Luke 16:15
Through
Deuteronomy 1:17Show no partiality in judging; hear both small and great alike. Do not be intimidated by anyone, for judgment belongs to God. And bring to me any case too difficult for you, and I…
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 16:19
Do not deny justice or show partiality. Do not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and twists the words of the righteous.
- Deuteronomy 16:19
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Malachi
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; 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; Jerome, Commentary on Malachi; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.