Malachi 3:2
in Malachi 3But who can endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For He will be like a refiner’s fire, like a launderer’s soap.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
But who can abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he is like a refiner’s fire, and like fullers’ soap:
KJV
But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he is like a refiner’s fire, and like fullers’ soap:
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This verse in Malachi 3
Commentary
4 notes on this verseBut who may abide the day of his coming? - Only they who shall believe on his name; for they that will not, shall be blinded, and the unbelieving nations shall be destroyed by the Romans. Like fuller’s soap - כברית keborith, from ברר barar, to cleanse, any thing that deterges. Kali, or fern ashes, or such things. I doubt whether the composition which we call soap, was known in ancient times.
This site's exposition
Behold, I will send my messenger
on Malachi 3:1-2
Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me answers the previous chapter's demand for the God of judgment with an announcement of arrival, the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in, following immediately after. The New Testament identifies this messenger directly, Matthew 11:10, Mark 1:2, and Luke 7:27 all quote the verse of John the Baptist, the Lord himself applying it to his forerunner. But who may abide the day of his coming? turns from the messenger to the one he announces, the coming itself framed as a refiner's fire and fullers' soap, purifying rather than merely comforting.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
To the troublous times that should follow soon after. The Jewish doctors speak of the pangs or griefs of the Messiah, meaning (they say) the great afflictions that should be to Israel at the time of his coming; he himself speaks of great tribulation then approaching, such as was not since the beginning of the world, nor ever shall be, Matt. xxiv.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
His mission is here regarded as a whole from the first to the second advent: the process of refining and separating the godly from the ungodly beginning during Christ's stay on earth, going on ever since, and about to continue till the final separation (Mt 25:31-46).
The words behind it
14 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וּמִ֤י | umi | and who? | H4310 → | 423 times |
| מְכַלְכֵּל֙ | mekhalkel | [will] endure | H3557 → | |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| י֣וֹם | yom | [the] day of | H3117 → | 2304 times |
| בּוֹא֔וֹ | boo | coming he | H935 → | 2568 times |
| וּמִ֥י | umi | and who? | H4310 → | 423 times |
| הָעֹמֵ֖ד | haomed | [is] the [one who will] stand | H5975 → | |
| בְּהֵרָֽאוֹת֑וֹ | beheraoto | when appears he | H7200 → | 1300 times |
| כִּֽי־ | ki- | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| הוּא֙ | hu' | he | H1931 → | 1879 times |
| כְּאֵ֣שׁ | keesh | [is] like [the] fire of | H784 → | |
| מְצָרֵ֔ף | metzaref | a refiner | H6884 → | |
| וּכְבֹרִ֖ית | ukhevorit | and like [the] soap of | H1287 → | |
| מְכַבְּסִֽים׃ | mekhabesim | washers | H3526 → |
וּמִ֤יand who?
umiH4310 →423 times
מְכַלְכֵּל֙[will] endure
mekhalkelH3557 →
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
י֣וֹם[the] day of
yomH3117 →2304 times
בּוֹא֔וֹcoming he
booH935 →2568 times
וּמִ֥יand who?
umiH4310 →423 times
הָעֹמֵ֖ד[is] the [one who will] stand
haomedH5975 →
בְּהֵרָֽאוֹת֑וֹwhen appears he
beheraotoH7200 →1300 times
כִּֽי־for
ki-H3588 →4482 times
הוּא֙he
hu'H1931 →1879 times
כְּאֵ֣שׁ[is] like [the] fire of
keeshH784 →
מְצָרֵ֔ףa refiner
metzarefH6884 →
וּכְבֹרִ֖יתand like [the] soap of
ukhevoritH1287 →
מְכַבְּסִֽים׃washers
mekhabesimH3526 →
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
Zechariah 13:9This third I will bring through the fire; I will refine them like silver and test them like gold. They will call on My name, and I will answer them. I will say, ‘They…
it leads to
- Psalms 50:15
Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will honor Me.”
- Jeremiah 29:11–12
For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, to give you a future and a hope.
- Acts 2:21
And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’
- Isaiah 65:23–24
They will not labor in vain or bear children doomed to disaster; for they will be a people blessed by the LORD—they and their descendants with them.
- Isaiah 48:10
See, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction.
- Psalms 50:15
Through
Isaiah 4:4when the Lord has washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion and cleansed the bloodstains from the heart of Jerusalem by a spirit of judgment and a spirit of fire.
it leads to
- Malachi 3:2–3
But who can endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For He will be like a refiner’s fire, like a launderer’s soap.
- Malachi 3:2–3
Through
Revelation 6:17For the great day of Their wrath has come, and who is able to withstand it?”
it leads to
- Psalms 76:7
You alone are to be feared. When You are angry, who can stand before You?
- Joel 2:11
The LORD raises His voice in the presence of His army. Indeed, His camp is very large, for mighty are those who obey His command. For the Day of the LORD is great and…
- Psalms 76:7
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Malachi
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Carl Friedrich Keil, The Twelve Minor Prophets; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.