Malachi 3:2
in Malachi 3But who can endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For He will be like a refiner’s fire, like a launderer’s soap.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
But who can abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he is like a refiner’s fire, and like fullers’ soap:
KJV
But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he is like a refiner’s fire, and like fullers’ soap:
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This verse in Malachi 3
Commentary
11 notes on this verseBut who may abide the day of his coming? - Only they who shall believe on his name; for they that will not, shall be blinded, and the unbelieving nations shall be destroyed by the Romans. Like fuller’s soap - כברית keborith, from ברר barar, to cleanse, any thing that deterges. Kali, or fern ashes, or such things. I doubt whether the composition which we call soap, was known in ancient times.
This site's exposition
Behold, I will send My messenger
on Malachi 3:1-2
The demand of 2:17 is answered with an arrival: "Behold, I will send My messenger". Matthew 11:10, Mark 1:2 and Luke 7:27 quote the verse of John the Baptist. The Lord follows as "the Messenger of the covenant," and verse 2 asks "who can endure the day of His coming?"
This site's exposition
who can endure the day of His coming
The people asked for the God of justice at 2:17, and this verse asks who could bear His arrival. Fire refines metal and a launderer's soap cleans cloth. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown read the refining as begun at Christ's first coming and completed at the final separation of Matthew 25.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers3 voices
But as it is in mockery that Celsus says we speak of "God coming down like a torturer bearing fire" and thus compels us unseasonably to investigate words of deeper meaning, we shall make a few remarks, sufficient to enable our hearers to form an idea of the defense which disposes of the ridicule of Celsus against us. And then we shall turn to what follows. The divine word says that our God is "a consuming fire" and that "he draws rivers of fire before him." He even enters in as "a refiner's fire and as a fuller's herb," to purify his own people. But when he is said to be a "consuming fire," we inquire what are the things that are appropriate to be consumed by God. And we assert that it is wickedness, and the works which result from it, which are being figuratively called "wood, hay, stubble," God consumes as a fire.
(Verse 2) Look, says the Lord of Hosts, who can think of the day of his coming? And who will stand to see him? For he will come like a refining fire and like the fullers' soap. LXX: Behold, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts, and who will endure the day of his coming? And who can stand when he appears?
The same Christ who did all this will hereafter stand before us as our judge. Certainly the prophets did not pass over this but foretold it. Some saw him in that very form which he would stand before us; others predicted this only in words. Daniel was in the midst of the barbarians and the Babylonians when he saw Christ coming in the clouds. Listen to what he said: "I beheld, and lo! One like the Son of man was coming on the clouds. And he advanced to the ancient of days and was presented before him; and to him was given the government and the kingdom, and all the peoples, tribes and languages serve him." And Daniel hinted at God's court and judgment when he said, "The thrones were set, and the books were opened. A river of fire rolled before him. Thousands upon thousands ministered to him, and myriads waited on him." [Daniel not only revealed that, but also he showed the honor that the just would have when he said, "He gave judgment to the holy ones of the most high, and the holy ones possessed the kingdom."] And that judgment will come through fire. Malachi said, "He is coming [like the fire of a refiner's furnace, and] like the soap of the fullers." And then the just will enjoy great honor. And Daniel was speaking of the resurrection when he said, "Those lying in the dust shall arise."
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
To the troublous times that should follow soon after. The Jewish doctors speak of the pangs or griefs of the Messiah, meaning (they say) the great afflictions that should be to Israel at the time of his coming; he himself speaks of great tribulation then approaching, such as was not since the beginning of the world, nor ever shall be, Matt. xxiv.
But who may abide the day of his coming?....
3 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
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,
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
His mission is here regarded as a whole from the first to the second advent: the process of refining and separating the godly from the ungodly beginning during Christ's stay on earth, going on ever since, and about to continue till the final separation (Mt 25:31-46).
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
And who may abide the day of His coming? And who shall stand when He appeareth? - The implied answer is, “No one;” as in the Psalm Psa 130:3, “If Thou, Lord, wilt mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand?” Joel had asked the same , “The day of the Lord is great and very terrible; and who can abide it?” “How can the weakness of man endure such might; his blindness, such light; his frailty, such power; his uncleanness, such holiness; the chaff, such a fire? For He is like a refine’s fire. Who would not fail through stupefaction, fear, horror, shrinking reverence, from such majesty?” Malachi seems to blend, as Joel, the first and second coming of our Lord. The first coming too was a time of sifting and severance, according as those, to whom He came, did or did not receive Him. The severance was not final, because there was yet space for repentance; but it was real, an earnest of the final judgment. Joh 9:39, “for judgment,” our Lord says, “I am come into this world, that they which see not may see, and they which see might be made blind;” and again Joh 12:31, “Now is the judgment of this world;” and Joh 3:18, “He that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed on the name of the Only-Begotten Son of God; Joh 3:36. He that believeth not the Son, shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him.” As, on the other hand, He saith Joh 6:54. “whoso eateth My Flesh and drinketh My Blood hath eternal life;” and Joh 6:47, “he that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life;” “hath,” He saith; not, “shall have;” “hath it,” in present reality and earnest, though he may forfeit it: so the other class is “condemned already,” although the one may repent and be saved, the other may Eze 33:18. “turn from his righteousness and commit iniquity;” and if he persevere in it, “shall die therein.” It is then one ever-present judgment. […]
The words behind it
14 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וּמִ֤י | umi | and who? | H4310 → | 423 times |
| מְכַלְכֵּל֙ | mekhalkel | [will] endure | H3557 → | |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| י֣וֹם | yom | [the] day of | H3117 → | 2304 times |
| בּוֹא֔וֹ | boo | coming he | H935 → | 2568 times |
| וּמִ֥י | umi | and who? | H4310 → | 423 times |
| הָעֹמֵ֖ד | haomed | [is] the [one who will] stand | H5975 → | |
| בְּהֵרָֽאוֹת֑וֹ | beheraoto | when appears he | H7200 → | 1300 times |
| כִּֽי־ | ki- | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| הוּא֙ | hu' | he | H1931 → | 1879 times |
| כְּאֵ֣שׁ | keesh | [is] like [the] fire of | H784 → | |
| מְצָרֵ֔ף | metzaref | a refiner | H6884 → | |
| וּכְבֹרִ֖ית | ukhevorit | and like [the] soap of | H1287 → | |
| מְכַבְּסִֽים׃ | mekhabesim | washers | H3526 → |
וּמִ֤יand who?
umiH4310 →423 times
מְכַלְכֵּל֙[will] endure
mekhalkelH3557 →
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
י֣וֹם[the] day of
yomH3117 →2304 times
בּוֹא֔וֹcoming he
booH935 →2568 times
וּמִ֥יand who?
umiH4310 →423 times
הָעֹמֵ֖ד[is] the [one who will] stand
haomedH5975 →
בְּהֵרָֽאוֹת֑וֹwhen appears he
beheraotoH7200 →1300 times
כִּֽי־for
ki-H3588 →4482 times
הוּא֙he
hu'H1931 →1879 times
כְּאֵ֣שׁ[is] like [the] fire of
keeshH784 →
מְצָרֵ֔ףa refiner
metzarefH6884 →
וּכְבֹרִ֖יתand like [the] soap of
ukhevoritH1287 →
מְכַבְּסִֽים׃washers
mekhabesimH3526 →
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
Zechariah 13:9This third I will bring through the fire; I will refine them like silver and test them like gold. They will call on My name, and I will answer them. I will say, ‘They…
it leads to
- Psalms 50:15
Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will honor Me.”
- Jeremiah 29:11–12
For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, to give you a future and a hope.
- Acts 2:21
And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’
- Isaiah 65:23–24
They will not labor in vain or bear children doomed to disaster; for they will be a people blessed by the LORD—they and their descendants with them.
- Isaiah 48:10
See, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction.
- Psalms 50:15
Through
Isaiah 4:4when the Lord has washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion and cleansed the bloodstains from the heart of Jerusalem by a spirit of judgment and a spirit of fire.
it leads to
- Malachi 3:2–3
But who can endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For He will be like a refiner’s fire, like a launderer’s soap.
- Malachi 3:2–3
Through
Revelation 6:17For the great day of Their wrath has come, and who is able to withstand it?”
it leads to
- Psalms 76:7
You alone are to be feared. When You are angry, who can stand before You?
- Joel 2:11
The LORD raises His voice in the presence of His army. Indeed, His camp is very large, for mighty are those who obey His command. For the Day of the LORD is great and…
- Psalms 76:7
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies12
On this verse
About Malachi
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
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 Chrysostom, DEMONSTRATION AGAINST THE PAGANS 11:1-3; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Origen of Alexandria, AGAINST CELSUS 4:13.