Malachi 3:9
in Malachi 3You are cursed with a curse, yet you—the whole nation—are still robbing Me.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Ye are cursed with the curse; for ye rob me, even this whole nation.
KJV
Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation.
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This verse in Malachi 3
Commentary
8 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Ye have been cursed with the curse - (not “with a curse”). The curse threatened had come upon them: but, as fore-supposed in Leviticus by the repeated burden, “If ye still walk contrary to Me,” they had persevered in evil. God had already shown His displeasure. But they, so far from being amended by it, were the more hardened in their sin. Perhaps as men do, they pleaded their punishment, as a reason why they should not amend. They defrauded God, under false pretences.
This site's exposition
Will a man rob God
on Malachi 3:8-10
Will a man rob God? names the specific form the people's unfaithfulness has taken, withheld tithes and offerings, and the Lord's answer is direct, ye are cursed with a curse, for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation. Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse sets the remedy inside the covenant's own terms, provision for the Levites and the temple service rather than a private transaction between an individual and personal wealth, and the test offered, prove me now herewith, is addressed to the nation's corporate obedience rather than promised as a formula for any one giver. The windows of heaven opened and a blessing poured out belongs to this covenant setting, the commentators reading it as agricultural abundance answering a specific national failure rather than a general principle detached from it.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Verse 7 and following) Return to me, and I will return to you, says the Lord of hosts. But you say, 'How shall we return?' Will man rob God? Yet you are robbing me. But you say, 'How have we robbed you?' In your tithes and contributions. You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing me, the whole nation of you. Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
10, 11 ), and now for not maintaining the temple-service. Note, Those that deny God his part of their estates may justly expect a curse upon their own part of them: "You are cursed with a curse for robbing me, and yet you go on to do it." Note, It is a great aggravation of sin when men persist in it notwithstanding the rebukes of Providence which they are under for it.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-citation-number+unbalanced-parens
Ye are cursed with a curse,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Reproof for the non-payment of tithes and offerings, which is the cause of their national calamities, and promise of prosperity on their paying them. from . . . days of your fathers--Ye live as your fathers did when they brought on themselves the Babylonian captivity, and ye wish to follow in their steps.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
We may compromise with conscience for half the price, but God will not endorse the compromise; and, like Ananias and Sapphira, we shall lose not only what we thought we had purchased so cheaply, but also the price we paid for it. If we would have God "open" His treasury, we must open ours. One cause of the barrenness of the Church is the parsimony of its members [MOORE].
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
Ye are cursed with a curse - The whole nation is under my displeasure. The curse of God is upon you.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
so that there may be nourishment in My House There shall be food accessible for My servants.
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. 5 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
8 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| בַּמְּאֵרָה֙ | bameerah | with <the> curse | H3994 → | |
| אַתֶּ֣ם | ʾatem | you | H859 → | 1094 times |
| נֵֽאָרִ֔ים | nearim | [are] cursed | H779 → | 63 times |
| וְאֹתִ֖י | veoti | and <obj.> me | H853 → | 10935 times |
| אַתֶּ֣ם | ʾatem | you | H859 → | 1094 times |
| קֹבְעִ֑ים | koeim | [are] robbing | H6906 → | 6 times |
| הַגּ֖וֹי | hagoy | the nation | H1471 → | 561 times |
| כֻּלּֽוֹ׃ | kulo | all of it | H3605 → | 5413 times |
בַּמְּאֵרָה֙with <the> curse
bameerahH3994 →
אַתֶּ֣םyou
ʾatemH859 →1094 times
נֵֽאָרִ֔ים[are] cursed
nearimH779 →63 times
וְאֹתִ֖יand <obj.> me
veotiH853 →10935 times
אַתֶּ֣םyou
ʾatemH859 →1094 times
קֹבְעִ֑ים[are] robbing
koeimH6906 →6 times
הַגּ֖וֹיthe nation
hagoyH1471 →561 times
כֻּלּֽוֹ׃all of it
kuloH3605 →5413 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
Malachi 2:2If you do not listen, and if you do not take it to heart to honor My name,” says the LORD of Hosts, “I will send a curse among you, and I will curse…
it leads to
- Luke 17:18
Was no one found except this foreigner to return and give glory to God?”
- Revelation 14:7
And he said in a loud voice, “Fear God and give Him glory, because the hour of His judgment has come. Worship the One who made the heavens and the earth and the sea…
- Psalms 81:11–12
But My people would not listen to Me, and Israel would not obey Me.
- Psalms 69:22
May their table become a snare; may it be a retribution and a trap.
- Leviticus 26:14–46
If, however, you fail to obey Me and to carry out all these commandments,
- Luke 17:18
Through
Joshua 22:20Was not Achan son of Zerah unfaithful regarding what was set apart for destruction, bringing wrath upon the whole congregation of Israel? Yet it was not only Achan who perished because of his sin!’”
it leads to
- Joshua 7:1
The Israelites, however, acted unfaithfully regarding the things devoted to destruction. Achan son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took some of what was set…
- Joshua 7:5
And the men of Ai struck down about thirty-six of them, chasing them from the gate as far as the quarries and striking them down on the slopes. So the hearts of the people…
- Joshua 7:24
Then Joshua, together with all Israel, took Achan son of Zerah, the silver, the cloak, the bar of gold, his sons and daughters, his oxen and donkeys and sheep, his tent, and everything else…
- Joshua 7:1
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); Carl Friedrich Keil, The Twelve Minor Prophets; 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.