Malachi 2:7 BSB — MannaFest

Malachi 2:7

For the lips of a priest should preserve knowledge, and people should seek instruction from his mouth, because he is the messenger of the LORD of Hosts.

BSB

Parallel translations (2) ▾

ASV

For the priest’s lips should keep knowledge, and they should seek the law at his mouth; for he is the messenger of Jehovah of hosts.

KJV

For the priest’s lips should keep knowledge, and they should seek the law at his mouth: for he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts.

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Commentary

5 voices

Jerome

Commentary on Malachi (420)

(Verse 7) For the lips of the priest preserve knowledge, and people seek instruction from his mouth, for he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts. LXX: For the lips of a priest should guard knowledge, and people should seek instruction from his mouth, because he is the messenger of the Almighty. The lips of the priest shall keep knowledge: they shall not say, pronounce, but shall keep, so that they may speak at the proper time, and give food to the servants in due season, and seek the law from his mouth.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

Here is a memorial of the fidelity and zeal of many of their predecessors in the priest's office, which are mentioned as an aggravation of their sin in degenerating from such honourable ancestors and deserting such illustrious examples, and as a justification of God in withdrawing from them those tokens of his presence which he had granted to those that kept close to him.

The Nineteenth Century3 voices

Albert Barnes

1798–1870

Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)

For the priest’s lips should keep knowledge - o “He assigns the reason for what he had just said, the law of truth was in his mouth; they had done what it was their duty to do; as in Ecclesiasticus it is said of Aaron (Ecclesiasticus 45:17), ‘God gave unto him His commandments, and authority in the statutes of judgments, that he should teach Jacob the testimonies, and inform Israel in His laws.’ So Paul requires of Titus to ordain such overseers, as shall be able to Tit 1:9, ‘exhort by sound doctrine and to convince gainsayers.’ Wherefore Ambrose calls the Bible, which contains the law of God, ‘the book of priests,’ as specially belonging to them, to be specially studied by them.

Voices on this verse

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Original language & word study

13 tagged words

Original	Transliteration	Meaning	Word study
כִּֽי־	ki-	for	H3588 →
שִׂפְתֵ֤י	sif.Tei	[the] lips of	H8193 →
כֹהֵן֙	kho.Hen	a priest	H3548 →
יִשְׁמְרוּ־	yish.me.ru-	they will preserve	H8104 →
דַ֔עַת	Da.'at	knowledge	H1847 →
וְתוֹרָ֖ה	ve.to.Rah	and instruction	H8451 →
יְבַקְשׁ֣וּ	ye.vak.Shu	people will seek	H1245 →
מִפִּ֑יהוּ	mi.Pi.hu	from mouth his	H6310 →
כִּ֛י	ki	for	H3588 →
מַלְאַ֥ךְ	mal.'Akh	[is] [the] messenger of	H4397 →
יְהוָֽה־	Yah.weh-	Yahweh	H3068 →
צְבָא֖וֹת	tze.va.'ot	of hosts	H6635 →
הֽוּא׃	Hu'	he	H1931 →

Rare words are the text's own signal of a deliberate thread: the fewer the occurrences, the more the places it appears belong together.

The walk

The walk8

Where the connections lead

Follow this verse’s cross-references two steps out. Each card is a verse this one points to, and beneath it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several different paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it. Every stop shows its own words, and every stop is a page.

Through
2 Corinthians 5:20
Therefore we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making His appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ: Be reconciled to God.
leads to
- Ephesians 6:20
  for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may proclaim it fearlessly, as I should.
- Luke 14:23
  So the master told his servant, ‘Go out to the highways and hedges and compel them to come in, so that my house will be full.
- Luke 10:16
  Whoever listens to you listens to Me; whoever rejects you rejects Me; and whoever rejects Me rejects the One who sent Me.”
  Reached by 2 independent paths from here.
- Ezekiel 18:31–32
  Cast away from yourselves all the transgressions you have committed, and fashion for yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. Why should you die, O house of Israel?
- John 20:21
  Again Jesus said to them, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent Me, so also I am sending you.”
Through
1 Thessalonians 4:8
Anyone, then, who rejects this command does not reject man but God, the very One who gives you His Holy Spirit.
leads to
- 1 John 3:24
  Whoever keeps His commandments remains in God, and God in him. And by this we know that He remains in us: by the Spirit He has given us.
Through
Deuteronomy 21:5
And the priests, the sons of Levi, shall come forward, for the LORD your God has chosen them to serve Him and pronounce blessings in His name and to give a ruling in every…
leads to
- 1 Chronicles 23:13
  The sons of Amram: Aaron and Moses. Aaron and his descendants were set apart forever to consecrate the most holy things, to burn incense before the LORD, to minister before Him, and to pronounce…
Through
Leviticus 10:11
so that you may teach the Israelites all the statutes that the LORD has given them through Moses.”
leads to
- Matthew 28:20
  and teaching them to obey all that I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

Featured studies on this passage

On Malachi 2:7

The Priest

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About Malachi

Ezra Reads the Law to the People — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain

Malachi: the study guide →Read chapter 2 →The featured study →

Continue: Malachi 2 →

01Commentary

The record, by era

Voices on this verse

02Original language & word study

03The walk

Where the connections lead

04Related verses

05Featured studies on this passage

06About Malachi

The record, by era

Where the connections lead

Commentary

Original language & word study

The walk

Related verses

Featured studies on this passage

About Malachi