Malachi 3:5
in Malachi 3“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 laborers of their wages and deny justice to the foreigner but do not fear Me,” says the LORD of Hosts.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And I will come near to you to judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against the false swearers, and against those that oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow, and the fatherless, and that turn aside the sojourner from his right, and fear not me, saith Jehovah of hosts.
KJV
And I will come near to you to judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against false swearers, and against those that oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow, and the fatherless, and that turn aside the stranger from his right, and fear not me, saith the Lord of hosts.
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This verse in Malachi 3
Commentary
9 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
And I will come near to you to judgment - They had clamored for the coming of “the God of judgment;” God assures them that He will come to judgment, which they had desired, but far other than they look for. The few would be purified; the great mass of them (so that He calls them “you”), the main body of those who had so clamored, would find that He came as a Judge, not for them but against them.
This site's exposition
I will come near to you to judgment
I will come near to you to judgment turns the refining fire toward a specific list of offenses, a swift witness against sorcerers, adulterers, and false swearers first, then against those who oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow, and the fatherless, and turn aside the stranger from his right. The list joins ritual and moral failure in one sentence, ceremonial faithlessness in chapter 2 followed here by social injustice against the very people the law names for special protection. Fear not me, saith the Lord of hosts, closes the list by naming the root of every offense on it, the absence of the fear of God rather than any single sin standing behind them all.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Verse 5) And I will come to you in judgment, and I will be a swift witness against sorcerers and adulterers, and perjurers, and those who oppress the hired worker, the widow, and the fatherless, and those who thrust aside the sojourner: they have not feared me, says the Lord of hosts. LXX: And I will come to you in judgment, and I will be a swift witness against evildoers, and against adulterers, and against those who swear falsely by my name.
The Puritans and the Awakening4 voices
It was purely because he would be as good as his word, Deut. vii. Now as God had kept them from ruin, while the covenant of peculiarity remained in force, purely because he would be faithful to that covenant, and would show that he is not a man that he should lie ( Num. xxiii.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
And I will come near to you to judgment,....
He will be a swift witness; though they reflect upon him as slow and dilatory, and ask, Where is the God of judgment, and where the promise of his coming? they will find that he is not slack concerning his threatenings any more than he is concerning his promises. Judgment against those sinners shall not be put off for want of evidence, for he will be a swift witness.
A reproof of the Jews for their corrupting God's ordinances and sacrilegiously robbing him of his dues, with a charge to them to amend this matter, and a promise that, if they did, God would return in mercy to them,
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)
I . . . come near . . . to judgment--I whom ye challenged, saying, "Where is the God of judgment?" (Mal 2:17). I whom ye think far off, and to be slow in judgment, am "near," and will come as a "swift witness"; not only a judge, but also an eye-witness against sorcerers; for Mine eyes see every sin, though ye think I take no heed.
I will come near to you to judgment - And what fearful cases does he get to judge! Sorcerers, adulterers, false swearers, defrauders of the wages of the hireling, oppressors of widows and orphans, and perverters of the stranger and such as do not fear the Lord: a horrible crew; and the land at that time was full of them. Several were converted under the preaching of Christ and his apostles, and the rest the Romans destroyed or carried into captivity.
The words behind it
22 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְקָרַבְתִּ֣י | vekaravti | and I will draw near | H7126 → | |
| אֲלֵיכֶם֮ | ʾaleikhem | to you | H413 → | 5510 times |
| לַמִּשְׁפָּט֒ | lamishpat | for <the> judgment | H4941 → | 422 times |
| וְהָיִ֣יתִי׀ | vehayiti | and I will be | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| עֵ֣ד | ʾed | a witness | H5707 → | |
| מְמַהֵ֗ר | memaher | hastening | H4116 → | |
| בַּֽמְכַשְּׁפִים֙ | bamkhashefim | on the sorcerers | H3784 → | |
| וּבַמְנָ֣אֲפִ֔ים | uvamnaafim | and on the adulterers | H5003 → | |
| וּבַנִּשְׁבָּעִ֖ים | uvanishbaim | and on <the> [those who] swear an oath | H7650 → | |
| לַשָּׁ֑קֶר | lashaker | to <the> falsehood | H8267 → | |
| וּבְעֹשְׁקֵ֣י | uveoshekei | and on [those who] defraud | H6231 → | |
| שְׂכַר־ | sekharsa- | <of> [the] hire of | H7939 → | |
| שָׂ֠כִיר | sakhir | a hired laborer | H7916 → | |
| אַלְמָנָ֨ה | ʾalmanah | a widow | H490 → | |
| וְיָת֤וֹם | veyatom | and a fatherless one | H3490 → | |
| וּמַטֵּי־ | umatei- | and [those who] thrust aside | H5186 → | |
| גֵר֙ | ger | <of> a sojourner | H1616 → | |
| וְלֹ֣א | velo' | and not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| יְרֵא֔וּנִי | yereuni | they fear me | H3372 → | 315 times |
| אָמַ֖ר | ʾamar | he says | H559 → | 5305 times |
| יְהוָ֥ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| צְבָאֽוֹת׃ | tzevaot | of hosts | H6635 → | 485 times |
וְקָרַבְתִּ֣יand I will draw near
vekaravtiH7126 →
אֲלֵיכֶם֮to you
ʾaleikhemH413 →5510 times
לַמִּשְׁפָּט֒for <the> judgment
lamishpatH4941 →422 times
וְהָיִ֣יתִי׀and I will be
vehayitiH1961 →3559 times
עֵ֣דa witness
ʾedH5707 →
מְמַהֵ֗רhastening
memaherH4116 →
בַּֽמְכַשְּׁפִים֙on the sorcerers
bamkhashefimH3784 →
וּבַמְנָ֣אֲפִ֔יםand on the adulterers
uvamnaafimH5003 →
וּבַנִּשְׁבָּעִ֖יםand on <the> [those who] swear an oath
uvanishbaimH7650 →
לַשָּׁ֑קֶרto <the> falsehood
lashakerH8267 →
וּבְעֹשְׁקֵ֣יand on [those who] defraud
uveoshekeiH6231 →
שְׂכַר־<of> [the] hire of
sekharsa-H7939 →
שָׂ֠כִירa hired laborer
sakhirH7916 →
אַלְמָנָ֨הa widow
ʾalmanahH490 →
וְיָת֤וֹםand a fatherless one
veyatomH3490 →
וּמַטֵּי־and [those who] thrust aside
umatei-H5186 →
גֵר֙<of> a sojourner
gerH1616 →
וְלֹ֣אand not
velo'H3808 →5168 times
יְרֵא֔וּנִיthey fear me
yereuniH3372 →315 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
Hebrews 13:4Marriage should be honored by all and the marriage bed kept undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterers.
it leads to
- Genesis 2:24
For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.
- Proverbs 5:15–23
Drink water from your own cistern, and running water from your own well.
- 1 Corinthians 7:2–16
But because there is so much sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife, and each woman her own husband.
- Galatians 5:19
The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity, and debauchery;
- Genesis 1:27–28
So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.
- Genesis 2:24
Through
Deuteronomy 5:11You 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.
it leads to
- Exodus 20:7
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.
- Exodus 20:7
Through
James 5:4Look, 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.
it leads to
- Leviticus 19:13
You must not defraud your neighbor or rob him. You must not withhold until morning the wages due a hired hand.
- Jeremiah 22:13
“Woe to him who builds his palace by unrighteousness, and his upper rooms without justice, who makes his countrymen serve without pay, and fails to pay their wages,
- Leviticus 19:13
Where this verse is studied
On this page
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); 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); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.