Malachi 3:18
in Malachi 3So you will again distinguish between the righteous and the wicked, between those who serve God and those who do not.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Then shall ye return and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not.
KJV
Then shall ye return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not.
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This verse in Malachi 3
Commentary
10 notes on this verse(Ver. 17, 18.) And the Lord waited, and heard, and a book of remembrance was written before Him for those who fear the Lord and meditate on His name. 'They shall be Mine,' says the Lord of hosts, 'on the day that I make them My special possession. And I will spare them as a man spares his own son who serves him. Then you shall again discern between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve Him.'
This site's exposition
those who feared the LORD spoke with one another
on Malachi 3:16-18
Against the complaint stands a remnant: "those who feared the LORD spoke with one another," so "a scroll of remembrance was written before Him". They will be His "treasured possession". Verse 18 answers verse 15, for that day will "distinguish between the righteous and the wicked".
This site's exposition
distinguish between the righteous and the wicked
The complaint of verse 15 was that God made no difference between the two. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown warn against judging God's government before His work is complete. Wesley says the scoffers will see the happiness of the righteous and their own misery.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening4 voices
Ye - Ye contemners of God and religion, return to your reason, forced by the convincing power of God's judgments. Discern - Clearly see the happiness of the righteous, and your own misery, who perish in your wickedness.
To his temple - That which was the second temple at Jerusalem, lately built by Zerubbabel and Joshua. The messenger - The angel of the covenant, the Messiah, in whose blood the covenant between God and man was confirmed. Whom ye delight in - You Jews, among whom, few there are, who do not please themselves to think of his coming, tho' from various motives.
Then shall ye return,....
To which it is readily answered, "Here he is; he is just at the door; the long-expected Messiah is ready to appear; and he says, For judgment have I come into this world, for that judgment which you have so impudently bid defiance to." One of the rabbin says that the meaning of this is, That God will raise up a righteous King, to set things in order, even the king Messiah.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
Then shall ye return - To your senses, when perhaps too late; and discern - see the difference which God makes, between the righteous and the wicked, which will be most marked and awful. Between him that serveth God - Your obedience to whom, ye said, would be unprofitable to you. And hits that serveth him not - Of whom ye said, his disobedience would be no prejudice to him. You will find the former received into the kingdom of glory; and the latter, with yourselves, thrust down into the bitter pains of an eternal death. Reader, ponder these things.
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)
Then shall ye . . . discern--Then shall ye see the falseness of your calumny against God's government (Mal 3:15), that the "proud" and wicked prosper. Do not judge before the time till My work is complete.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Then shall ye return, or turn - , not, “return” in the sense of returning to God, for in that day will be the time of judgment, not of repentance; nor yet, “then shall ye again see;” for this is what they denied; and, if they had ceased to deny it, they would have been converted, not in that day, but before, when God gave them grace to see it. They shall turn, so as to have other convictions than before; but, as Judas. The Day of Judgment will make a great change in earthly judgment. Last shall be first and first last; this world’s sorrow shall end in joy, and worldly joy in sorrow; afflictions shall be seen to be God’s love: Psa 119:75, “Thou in very faithfulness hast afflicted me;” and the unclouded prosperity of the ungodly to be God’s abandonment of them. The picture of the surprise of the wicked in the Day of Judgment, in the Wisdom of Solomon, is a comment on the prophet (Wisdom 5:1-5), “Then shall the righteous man stand in great boldness before the face of such as have afflicted him, and made no account of his labors; when they see it, they shall be troubled with terrible fear, and shall be amazed with the strangeness of his salvation, so far beyond all they looked for: and they, repenting and groaning for anguish of spirit, shall say within themselves, This was he whom we had sometimes in derision and a proverb of reproach: we fools counted his life madness and his end to be without honor: how is he numbered among the children of God, and his lot is among the saints!”
The words behind it
11 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְשַׁבְתֶּם֙ | veshavtem | and you will return | H7725 → | 1056 times |
| וּרְאִיתֶ֔ם | ureitem | and you will see | H7200 → | 1300 times |
| בֵּ֥ין | bein | between | H996 → | 407 times |
| צַדִּ֖יק | tzadik | a righteous [person] | H6662 → | |
| לְרָשָׁ֑ע | lerasha' | and a wicked [person] | H7563 → | |
| בֵּ֚ין | bein | between | H996 → | 407 times |
| עֹבֵ֣ד | ʾoved | [one who] serves | H5647 → | 288 times |
| אֱלֹהִ֔ים | ʾelohim | <of> God | H430 → | 2601 times |
| לַאֲשֶׁ֖ר | laasher | and [one] who | H834 → | 5497 times |
| לֹ֥א | lo' | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| עֲבָדֽוֹ׃ ס | avado | he serves him | H5647 → | 288 times |
וְשַׁבְתֶּם֙and you will return
veshavtemH7725 →1056 times
וּרְאִיתֶ֔םand you will see
ureitemH7200 →1300 times
בֵּ֥יןbetween
beinH996 →407 times
צַדִּ֖יקa righteous [person]
tzadikH6662 →
לְרָשָׁ֑עand a wicked [person]
lerasha'H7563 →
בֵּ֚יןbetween
beinH996 →407 times
עֹבֵ֣ד[one who] serves
ʾovedH5647 →288 times
אֱלֹהִ֔ים<of> God
ʾelohimH430 →2601 times
לַאֲשֶׁ֖רand [one] who
laasherH834 →5497 times
לֹ֥אnot
lo'H3808 →5168 times
עֲבָדֽוֹ׃ סhe serves him
avadoH5647 →288 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
Joshua 24:15But if it is unpleasing in your sight to serve the LORD, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods…
it leads to
- 1 Kings 18:21
Then Elijah approached all the people and said, “How long will you waver between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow Him. But if Baal is God, follow him.” But the people did…
- John 6:67–68
So Jesus asked the Twelve, “Do you want to leave too?”
- Ruth 1:15–16
“Look,” said Naomi, “your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and her gods; follow her back home.”
- Deuteronomy 29:18
Make sure there is no man or woman, clan or tribe among you today whose heart turns away from the LORD our God to go and worship the gods of those nations. Make sure…
- Ezekiel 20:39
And as for you, O house of Israel, this is what the Lord GOD says: Go and serve your idols, every one of you. But afterward, you will surely listen to Me, and you…
- 1 Kings 18:21
Through
Matthew 25:46And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
it leads to
- Daniel 12:2
And many who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake, some to everlasting life, but others to shame and everlasting contempt.
- John 5:29
and come out—those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment.
- John 3:36
Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life. Whoever rejects the Son will not see life. Instead, the wrath of God remains on him.”
- Daniel 12:2
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies12
On this verse
About Malachi
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; 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 (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.