John Calvin Commentary Malachi 1:13

"Ye say also, Behold, what a weariness is it! and ye have snuffed at it, saith Jehovah of hosts; and ye have brought that which was taken by violence, and the lame, and the sick; thus ye bring the offering: should I accept this at your hand? saith Jehovah." — Malachi 1:13 (ASV)

He pursues the same subject — that the worship of God was despised by them and regarded as almost worthless. We must bear in mind what I have previously stated — that the Jews are not reprimanded here as if they had openly and avowedly spoken reproachfully of God’s worship; rather, this was sufficiently evident from their conduct. For they allowed themselves so much licentiousness that it was quite clear that they were trifling with God, since they had cast off all fear of Him and all reverence toward Him.

You have said, “Behold, labor!” This may apply to the whole people or to the priests alone. It is commonly explained as referring to the priests — that they complained that they had a hard office, because they were continually in the temple, constantly kept watch there, and were very occupied with cleaning the vessels.

The monks today under the Papacy, and the priests, boasting of themselves, say, “While all others sleep, we are watching; for we are constant in prayers.” Indeed! They howl at midnight in their temples; and then by saying Mass and by doing other strange things they imagine that they are seriously engaged in pacifying God.

In this sense, some understand this passage, as if the priests, in order to commend their work, alleged that they labored much in God’s service, and as if God had required of them many and difficult things. But I prefer applying this to the whole people, and yet I do not exclude the priests; for the Prophet here condemns both and shows that it was wearisome to them to spend labor in worshipping God, that they considered it weariness, as we commonly say, Tu le fais par courvee.

And the meaning of what follows is the same, You have snuffed at it — that is, through disdain. Some give this translation: “With sorrow have you moved him;” and the verb is in Hiphil, and is often taken in this sense. The verb, נפח (nephech), properly means to snuff; and it is here in another conjugation, but even in Hiphil it has this meaning and cannot be understood otherwise.

Now those who translate it as “to move or touch with sorrow” are forced to twist the Prophet’s words to a meaning most foreign and remote — namely, that the priests, extremely greedy for gain, compelled the common people to bring sacrifices, and thus extorted sacrifices, but not without sorrow and lamentation.

We see how strained this is; I therefore completely reject it. Some have fashioned a very subtle meaning, which is by no means suitable: “You have snuffed at it,” that is, you have said indeed that the victims are good and sufficiently fat, and yet you can by breath blow them into the air.

Others translate it as “to cast down,” because they threw the sacrifices on the ground. But what need is there to depart from the common meaning of the word, since it is easy to conclude that both the priests and the people are here condemned because the worship of God was a weariness to them, just as we snuff at a thing when it displeases us? The behavior, then, of the fastidious is what the Prophet meant here to express. The passage will thus be very appropriate: You have said, “Behold weariness! You have snuffed at it”; then he adds —

You have offered the torn, and the lame, and the weak. These words prove the same thing — that they performed their duty toward God in a trifling manner by offering unsuitable victims: when they had anything defective or diseased, they said that it was sacred to God, as we find it stated in the next verse.

Some improperly translate גזול (gazul) as “a prey,” meaning what had been unjustly procured, as if he had said that they offered victims obtained by plunder; but I wonder how they could thus distort the Prophet’s words without any justification. He mentions here three kinds: the torn, the lame, and the maimed or the feeble.

Who then does not see that “the torn” was an animal that had been torn by wild beasts? Therefore, when they had an animal half-dead, having been torn by wolves, they thought they had a suitable victim: “I am obliged to offer a sacrifice to God; this lamb is very suitable, for the wolf has devoured a part of it, and it has hardly escaped. Since, then, it is maimed, I will bring it.” The Prophet then calls those animals “torn victims” which had been lacerated by the teeth of wild beasts.

We now understand the meaning of the words; but we must remember what I have said previously — that God did not require the performance of external rites because He needed meat and drink, or because He placed great value on these sacrifices, but because of their purpose.

The sacrifices, then, which God demanded from His ancient people had in themselves nothing that promoted true religion; nor could the odor of sacrifices of itself delight God. Instead, their purpose was to be regarded. Since God ordered and commanded sacrifices to be offered to Him, so that He might train His people in penitence and faith, it was for this reason that He valued them.

But when the people had fallen into such blatant contempt for them that they brought to God, as if to insult Him, the maimed and the lame, their extremely vile and intolerable impiety, as I have already said, became fully evident. This is the reason why the Prophet now so sharply rebukes the priests and the whole people: they offered to God such sacrifices as any person would have rejected, according to what we noticed yesterday.