Charles Ellicott Commentary Malachi 2
Charles Ellicott Commentary
Malachi 2
Charles Ellicott Commentary
Malachi 2
"And now, O ye priests, this commandment is for you." — Malachi 2:1 (ASV)
Commandment. —Better, decree. (Compare the use of the verb from which this substantive is derived in Nahum 1:14; Psalms 7:6; Psalms 42:8.)
"And now, O ye priests, this commandment is for you. If ye will not hear, and if ye will not lay it to heart, to give glory unto my name, saith Jehovah of hosts, then will I send the curse upon you, and I will curse your blessings; yea, I have cursed them already, because ye do not lay it to heart. Behold, I will rebuke your seed, and will spread dung upon your faces, even the dung of your feasts; and ye shall be taken away with it. And ye shall know that I have sent this commandment unto you, that my covenant may be with Levi, saith Jehovah of hosts. My covenant was with him of life and peace; and I gave them to him that he might fear; and he feared me, and stood in awe of my name. The law of truth was in his mouth, and unrighteousness was not found in his lips: he walked with me in peace and uprightness, and turned many away from iniquity. 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. But ye are turned aside out of the way; ye have caused many to stumble in the law; ye have corrupted the covenant of Levi, saith Jehovah of hosts. Therefore have I also made you contemptible and base before all the people, according as ye have not kept my ways, but have had respect of persons in the law." — Malachi 2:1-9 (ASV)
The decree against the priests.
"If ye will not hear, and if ye will not lay it to heart, to give glory unto my name, saith Jehovah of hosts, then will I send the curse upon you, and I will curse your blessings; yea, I have cursed them already, because ye do not lay it to heart." — Malachi 2:2 (ASV)
Hear ... lay to heart — namely, the warning of Malachi 1:6-13.
Your blessings. — Some take this as meaning the priests’ tithes, atonement money, and their portions of the sacrifices, in accordance with a common usage of the word in the sense of “gift” — e.g.,Genesis 33:11. Others refer the words to the blessing which the priests pronounce on the people (Numbers 6:23–27).
"Behold, I will rebuke your seed, and will spread dung upon your faces, even the dung of your feasts; and ye shall be taken away with it." — Malachi 2:3 (ASV)
I will corrupt your seed. — Better, I will destroy for you the seed — namely, of the crops. It must be remembered that because the people neglected to pay the tithes, the Levites were obliged to go and till the fields (Nehemiah 13:10). The Septuagint for “seed” reads “corn.”
Dung of your solemn feasts. — Or rather, of your festival sacrifices. (Psalms 118:27.) The dung of the sacrificial animals was to be carried to an unclean place outside the camp, and burnt there. The priests, because they had profaned God’s Name by offering unfit animals in sacrifice, were to be treated in the most ignominious manner.
And one shall take you away with it — that is, according to a Hebrew idiom, and you shall be carried away to it — you shall be treated like it.
"And ye shall know that I have sent this commandment unto you, that my covenant may be with Levi, saith Jehovah of hosts." — Malachi 2:4 (ASV)
Commandment. —Or rather, decree, as in Malachi 2:1.
That my covenant might be. —Better, to be my covenant — i.e., so that this new decree, which I have been compelled to make against the house of Levi, may be my covenant with him instead of the old one, of which the prophet goes on to speak.
Levi denotes throughout the tribe of Levi, and especially the priests, the sons of Aaron. (See Note on Malachi 3:3.)
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