Accusing God and the Coming Purifier
Malachi 2:17-3:5
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Mal.2.17 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- הוגעתם: VERB,qal,perf,2,m,pl
- יהוה: NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
- בדבריכם: PREP+NOUN,m,pl,abs
- ואמרתם: VERB,qal,perf,2,m,pl
- במה: PREP+PRON,interr
- הוגענו: VERB,qal,perf,1,_,pl
- באמרכם: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs+2mp
- כל: DET
- עשה: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- רע: ADJ,m,sg,abs
- טוב: ADJ,m,pl,abs
- בעיני: PREP+NOUN,f,pl,abs
- יהוה: NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
- ובהם: CONJ+PREP+PRON,3,m,pl
- הוא: PRON,3,m,sg
- חפץ: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- או: CONJ
- איה: ADV,interr
- אלהי: NOUN,m,sg,cons
- המשפט: NOUN,m,sg,def
Parallels
- Psalm 73:2-3,12-13,16-17 (thematic): Asaph laments the prosperity and apparent vindication of the wicked and questions God’s justice—similar complaint that the wicked prosper and God seems absent or approval of evil.
- Job 21:7-15 (thematic): Job observes that the wicked often live in ease and die peacefully, challenging the expectation of retributive justice echoed in Malachi’s question about where God’s justice is.
- Habakkuk 1:2-4 (thematic): The prophet explicitly asks how long injustice will persist and accuses God of seeming to look on idly as wrongdoing goes unpunished, paralleling Malachi’s ‘Where is the God of justice?’
- Isaiah 5:20-21 (verbal): Isaiah condemns those who call evil good and good evil—language closely related to Malachi’s charge that people treat doers of evil as if they were right in the sight of the LORD.
- Psalm 10:1-2 (thematic): The psalmist cries out that God seems distant and asks why the wicked flourish, reflecting Malachi’s complaint that God is wearied by words and the rhetorical question about divine justice.
Alternative generated candidates
- You have wearied the LORD with your words. Yet you say, “How have we wearied him?” — when you say, “Everyone who does evil is good in the sight of the LORD, and he delights in them,” or, “Where is the God of justice?”
- You have wearied the LORD with your words. Yet you say, “How have we wearied you?”—by saying, “Everyone who does evil is good in the sight of the LORD, and he delights in them,” or, “Where is the God of justice?”
Mal.3.1 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- הנני: PRT+PRON,1,sg
- שלח: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- מלאכי: NOUN,m,pl,construct
- ופנה: CONJ+VERB,qal,impf,3,_,pl
- דרך: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- לפני: PREP
- ופתאם: ADV
- יבוא: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- אל: NEG
- היכלו: NOUN,m,sg,abs+3ms
- האדון: NOUN,m,sg,def
- אשר: PRON,rel
- אתם: PRON,2,m,pl
- מבקשים: VERB,qal,part,mp,pl
- ומלאך: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- הברית: NOUN,f,sg,def
- אשר: PRON,rel
- אתם: PRON,2,m,pl
- חפצים: VERB,qal,part,mp,pl
- הנה: PART
- בא: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- אמר: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- יהוה: NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
- צבאות: NOUN,m,pl,abs
Parallels
- Isaiah 40:3 (verbal): The call to 'prepare the way' and make straight a highway in the wilderness echoes Malachi's 'I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me'—a close verbal and thematic parallel later cited by NT writers.
- Mark 1:2-3 (quotation): Mark explicitly combines and cites the prophetic language (Malachi and Isaiah) and applies it to John the Baptist as the 'messenger' who prepares the way for Jesus, directly linking Mal. 3:1 to the Gospel event.
- Luke 1:76 (allusion): Zechariah's prophecy about his son (John) — 'you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways' — echoes Malachi's depiction of a forerunner or messenger preparing the Lord's coming.
- Exodus 23:20-21 (thematic): God's promise to 'send an angel/messenger before you' to guard and bring Israel into the place He has prepared provides an older Israelite background for the idea of a divine messenger sent ahead of God's presence or covenantal action, resonating with the 'messenger of the covenant' language in Malachi.
Alternative generated candidates
- Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me; and suddenly the LORD whom you seek will come to his temple—indeed, the messenger of the covenant whom you desire, behold, he comes, says the LORD of hosts.
- Behold, I send my messenger; he will clear the way before me. Suddenly the LORD whom you seek will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you long for—behold, he comes, says the LORD of hosts.
Mal.3.2 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ומי: PRON,interr
- מכלכל: VERB,piel,ptc,NA,m,sg
- את: PRT,acc
- יום: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- בואו: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs+3ms
- ומי: PRON,interr
- העמד: VERB,pi'el,ptc,3,m,sg
- בהראותו: PREP+NOUN,f,sg,abs+3ms
- כי: CONJ
- הוא: PRON,3,m,sg
- כאש: PREP+NOUN,f,sg,abs
- מצרף: VERB,piel,ptc,NA,m,sg
- וכברית: CONJ+PREP+NOUN,f,sg,abs
- מכבסים: VERB,piel,impf,3,pl
Parallels
- Isaiah 1:25 (verbal): God purges/judges with a refiner's fire to remove tin/dross — closely parallels Malachi's imagery of divine refining and purification.
- Zechariah 13:9 (verbal): God will refine and test Israel like silver, leaving a purified remnant — similar theme of refinement and testing in the day of the Lord.
- Proverbs 25:4 (verbal): “Take away the dross from the silver” — proverbial language of removing impurity mirrors Malachi’s fuller/soap and refiner imagery.
- Matthew 3:11-12 (thematic): John the Baptist contrasts baptism with Spirit/fire and describes purging/winnowing (gathering wheat, burning chaff) — thematically parallels Malachi’s image of the Lord coming as a purifying, judging fire.
- 1 Peter 1:7 (thematic): The testing of faith is compared to the refining of gold by fire until Christ’s appearing — echoes Malachi’s motif of purification at the Lord’s coming.
Alternative generated candidates
- But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner’s fire and like launderers’ soap.
- Who can endure the day of his coming? Who can stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap.
Mal.3.3 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- וישב: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- מצרף: VERB,piel,ptc,0,m,sg
- ומטהר: VERB,piel,ptc,0,m,sg
- כסף: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- וטהר: VERB,piel,impf,3,m,sg
- את: PRT,acc
- בני: NOUN,m,pl,construct
- לוי: PROPN,m,sg
- וזקק: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- אתם: PRON,2,m,pl
- כזהב: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- וככסף: CONJ+PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- והיו: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,pl
- ליהוה: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,def
- מגישי: NOUN,m,pl,const
- מנחה: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- בצדקה: PREP+NOUN,f,sg,abs
Parallels
- Zechariah 13:9 (verbal): Uses almost identical refining language—God will 'refine them like silver'— portraying divine refinement that yields a purified remnant/servants, closely paralleling Malachi's image of purifying the Levites.
- Isaiah 1:25 (thematic): Speaks of the LORD purging away dross and refining as judgment/cleansing; thematically similar in depicting God removing impurity to restore righteousness.
- Proverbs 17:3 (verbal): The crucible/furnace imagery ('the crucible for silver, and the furnace for gold') aligns with Malachi's metallurgical metaphor of testing and purifying to produce acceptable service.
- Psalm 66:10 (thematic): Declares that God has tested/ tried his people 'as silver is tried,' linking divine testing and refinement of people to the silversmith metaphor used in Malachi.
Alternative generated candidates
- He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; he will purify the sons of Levi, refine them like gold and silver, and they will present offerings to the LORD in righteousness.
- He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; he will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, and they will present offerings to the LORD in righteousness.
Mal.3.4 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- וערבה: CONJ+VERB,qal,perf,3,f,sg
- ליהוה: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,def
- מנחת: NOUN,f,sg,cons
- יהודה: NOUN,m,sg,prop
- וירושלם: CONJ+NOUN,prop,f,sg,abs
- כימי: NOUN,m,pl,cs+sim
- עולם: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- וכשנים: CONJ+PREP+NOUN,m,pl,cons
- קדמניות: NOUN,f,pl,abs
Parallels
- Malachi 3:3 (structural): Immediate context: speaks of the refining and purification of the priesthood so that the offerings of Judah and Jerusalem will be righteous and acceptable—direct lead-in to 3:4's claim.
- Isaiah 56:6-7 (thematic): Promises that those brought to God’s house (including outsiders) will have their burnt offerings and sacrifices accepted on the Lord’s altar—parallels the theme of restored, acceptable worship 'as in former days.'
- Ezekiel 20:40-41 (thematic): God says he will accept Israel with a pleasing aroma when he brings them out and they serve him with offerings—echoes the idea of offerings being pleasing/accepted after restoration.
- Ezra 3:6-7 (structural): Describes the resumption of temple sacrifices and the reestablishment of cultic service by the returned exiles—concrete historical parallel to worship 'as in the days of old.'
- Haggai 2:9 (thematic): Promises that the latter glory of the rebuilt house will exceed the former—implies a renewed, honored cultic presence and acceptable offerings in the restored temple era.
Alternative generated candidates
- Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the LORD as in the days of old, as in former years.
- Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be acceptable to the LORD as in the days of old and as in former years.
Mal.3.5 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- וקרבתי: VERB,qal,perf,1,m,sg
- אליכם: PREP+PRON,2,pl
- למשפט: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- והייתי: VERB,qal,perf,1,m,sg
- עד: PREP
- ממהר: ADJ,m,sg
- במכשפים: PREP+NOUN,m,pl,abs
- ובמנאפים: CONJ+PREP+NOUN,m,pl,abs
- ובנשבעים: CONJ+PREP+NOUN,m,pl,abs
- לשקר: VERB,qal,inf
- ובעשקי: CONJ+PREP+NOUN,m,pl,abs
- שכר: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- שכיר: ADJ,m,sg
- אלמנה: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- ויתום: CONJ+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ומטי: CONJ+NOUN,m,pl,abs
- גר: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ולא: CONJ
- יראוני: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,pl
- אמר: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- יהוה: NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
- צבאות: NOUN,m,pl,abs
Parallels
- Deuteronomy 24:14-15 (verbal): Explicit command not to withhold the wages of a hired servant; directly parallels Malachi's condemnation of oppressing the hireling and withholding pay.
- Leviticus 19:13 (verbal): Prohibits defrauding or robbing a neighbor and keeping the wages of a hired man overnight, echoing the legal/ethical charge against exploiting workers in Malachi.
- Exodus 22:22-24 (thematic): Promises divine intervention on behalf of widow, orphan, and stranger when they are oppressed—parallels Malachi's declaration that God will come for judgment against those who mistreat them.
- Isaiah 1:17 (thematic): Calls Israel to learn to do good: seek justice, defend the oppressed, plead for the widow—echoes Malachi's focus on injustice toward vulnerable groups and God's judgment.
- Psalm 82:3-4 (thematic): Commands defenders of justice to uphold the weak and deliver the poor and needy; resonates with Malachi's rebuke of those who fail to fear God by oppressing widows, orphans, and strangers.
Alternative generated candidates
- I will draw near to you for judgment; I will be a swift witness against sorcerers and adulterers, against those who swear falsely, against those who oppress the hired worker of his wages, the widow and the orphan, and those who turn aside the sojourner, and who do not fear me, says the LORD of hosts.
- Then I will come near to you for judgment; I will be swift to bear witness against the sorcerers, against the adulterers, against those who swear falsely, against those who oppress the hired worker in his wage, the widow and the orphan, against those who turn aside the sojourner, and who do not fear me, says the LORD of hosts.
You have wearied the LORD with your words. Yet you say, “How have we wearied him?” By saying, “Everyone who does evil is good in the sight of the LORD, and he delights in them”—or, “Where is the God of justice?”
Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me; and suddenly the LORD whom you seek will come to his temple. The messenger of the covenant, whom you desire—behold, he is coming, says the LORD of hosts.
Who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap.
He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; he will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, that they may present offerings to the LORD in righteousness.
Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the LORD as in the days of old, as in former years.
I will come near to you for judgment; I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, the adulterers, those who swear falsely, those who oppress the hired worker in his wages, the widow and the orphan, and those who deprive the sojourner of justice, and who do not fear me, says the LORD of hosts.