Malachi 4:3
in Malachi 4Then you will trample the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day I am preparing,” says the LORD of Hosts.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And ye shall tread down the wicked; for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I make, saith Jehovah of hosts.
KJV
And ye shall tread down the wicked; for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I shall do this, saith the Lord of hosts.
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This verse in Malachi 4
Commentary
8 notes on this verse(Verse 3) And you shall trample the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet, on the day when I act, says the Lord of hosts. LXX: And you shall tread down the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet, on the day when I act, says the Lord of hosts. And he is not content with the end of this joy; but he will trample on the wicked when they become ashes.
This site's exposition
ye shall tread down the wicked
The healed and the burned change places under the same sun, calves released to pasture in verse 2 becoming the very feet that tread the ashes of the proud in verse 3. Ashes under the soles is the after picture of verse 1's fire completed, nothing left of the wicked but what a foot can grind further, and the reversal answers the disputers of chapter 3 who had asked what profit there was in serving God. Gill and Clarke both connect the image to Joshua's promise that Israel's enemies would be put under their feet, the day of the Lord finishing what the conquest began.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
By the accomplishment of these prophecies in the ruin of the Jewish nation, we should have our faith confirmed in the assurances Christ has given us concerning the dissolution of all things. Surely I come quickly; so says Christ, the Lord of hosts, to whom all power in heaven and earth is committed.
And this is represented to us under a prophecy of the destruction of Jerusalem, and the unbelieving Jews with it, and of the comforts and triumphs of those among them that received the gospel. Concerning the state of trial and preparation we are now in, in which we are directed to have an eye to divine revelation, and to follow that; they then must keep to the law of Moses (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
And ye shall tread down the wicked,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Their prosperity and the adversity of the godly shall soon be reversed. Yea, the righteous shall be the army attending Christ in His final destruction of the ungodly (2Sa 22:43; 19:14, 15). ashes--after having been burnt with the fire of judgment (Mal 4:1).
Ye shall tread down - This may be the commission given to the Romans: Tread down the wicked people, tread down the wicked place; set it on fire, and let the ashes be trodden down under your feet.
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
And ye shall tread down the wicked, for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet. It shall be a great reversal. He that exalteth himself shall be abased, and he, that humbleth himself shall be exalted - Here the wicked often have the pre-eminence.
The words behind it
15 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְעַסּוֹתֶ֣ם | veasotem | and you will tread down | H6072 → | |
| רְשָׁעִ֔ים | reshaim | wicked [people] | H7563 → | |
| כִּֽי־ | ki- | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| יִהְי֣וּ | yihyu | they will be | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| אֵ֔פֶר | ʾefer | ash[es] | H665 → | |
| תַּ֖חַת | tachat | under | H8478 → | |
| כַּפּ֣וֹת | kapot | [the] soles of | H3709 → | |
| רַגְלֵיכֶ֑ם | ragleikhem | feet your | H7272 → | |
| בַּיּוֹם֙ | baiyom | on the day | H3117 → | 2304 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֣ר | ʾasher | when | H834 → | 5497 times |
| אֲנִ֣י | ʾani | I | H589 → | 874 times |
| עֹשֶׂ֔ה | ʾoseh | [will be] acting | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| אָמַ֖ר | ʾamar | he says | H559 → | 5305 times |
| יְהוָ֥ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| צְבָאֽוֹת׃ פ | tzevaot | of hosts | H6635 → | 485 times |
וְעַסּוֹתֶ֣םand you will tread down
veasotemH6072 →
רְשָׁעִ֔יםwicked [people]
reshaimH7563 →
כִּֽי־for
ki-H3588 →4482 times
יִהְי֣וּthey will be
yihyuH1961 →3559 times
אֵ֔פֶרash[es]
ʾeferH665 →
תַּ֖חַתunder
tachatH8478 →
כַּפּ֣וֹת[the] soles of
kapotH3709 →
רַגְלֵיכֶ֑םfeet your
ragleikhemH7272 →
בַּיּוֹם֙on the day
baiyomH3117 →2304 times
אֲשֶׁ֣רwhen
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
אֲנִ֣יI
ʾaniH589 →874 times
עֹשֶׂ֔ה[will be] acting
ʾosehH6213 →2628 times
אָמַ֖רhe says
ʾamarH559 →5305 times
יְהוָ֥הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
צְבָאֽוֹת׃ פof 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
Romans 16:20The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.
it leads to
- Luke 10:19
Behold, I have given you authority to tread on snakes and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy. Nothing will harm you.
- Zechariah 10:5
They will be like mighty men in battle, trampling the enemy in the mire of the streets. They will fight because the LORD is with them, and they will put the horsemen to shame.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 1 John 3:8
The one who practices sin is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the very start. This is why the Son of God was revealed, to destroy the works of the…
- Genesis 3:15
And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed. He will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.”
- Revelation 12:10
And I heard a loud voice in heaven saying: “Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of His Christ. For the accuser of our…
- Luke 10:19
Through
Malachi 3:17“They will be Mine,” says the LORD of Hosts, “on the day when I prepare My treasured possession. And I will spare them as a man spares his own son who serves him.
it leads to
- Exodus 19:5
Now if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, you will be My treasured possession out of all the nations—for the whole earth is Mine.
- Deuteronomy 7:6
For you are a people holy to the LORD your God. The LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for His prized possession out of all peoples on the face of…
- 2 Corinthians 6:18
And: “I will be a Father to you, and you will be My sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.”
- Exodus 19:5
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; Jerome, Commentary on Malachi; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.