Malachia 2:12 Commento

There are two great ordinances which divine wisdom has instituted, the wretched profanation of both of which is complained of and sharply reproved in this chapter. I. The ordinance of the ministry, which is peculiar to the church, and is designed for the maintaining and keeping up of that; this was profaned by those who were themselves dignified with the honour of it and entrusted with the business of it. The priests profaned the holy things of God; this they are here charged with; their sin is aggravated, and they are severely threatened for it (Mal 2:1-9). II. The ordinance of marriage, which is common to the world of mankind, and was instituted for the maintaining and keeping up of that; this was profaned both by the priests and by the people, in marrying strangers (Mal 2:11, Mal 2:12), treating their wives unkindly (Mal 2:13), putting them away (Mal 2:16), and herein dealing treacherously (Mal 2:10, Mal 2:14, Mal 2:15). And that which was at the bottom of this and other instances of profaneness and downright atheism, thinking God altogether such a one as themselves, which was, in effect, to say, There is no God (Mal 2:17). And these reproofs to them are warnings to us.

INTRODUCTION TO MALACHI 2 This chapter contains a reproof both of priests and people for their sins. It begins with the priests, Mal 2:1 and threatens, in case they attend not to glorify the name of the Lord, they and their blessings should be cursed, their seed corrupted, dung spread upon them, and they took away with it, Mal 2:2 and the end of this commandment being sent them, of giving glory to the name of God, was that the covenant might appear to be with Levi, or him that was typified by him, Mal 2:4 of which covenant some account is given, with the reason why the blessings of it were given to him, with whom it was, Mal 2:5 who is described by the true doctrine he preached; by the purity of his lips; by the peaceableness and righteousness of his walk and conversation; and by his usefulness and success in turning many from sin, Mal 2:6 and it being part of the priest's office to preserve true knowledge, and communicate it, it is the duty of the people to seek to him for it; since he is the messenger of the Lord, Mal 2:7 but as for the priests of those times the prophet respects, they were apostates from the way of the Lord; made others to stumble at the law, and corrupted the covenant; and therefore became contemptible, base, and mean, in the sight of the people, Mal 2:8 who are next reproved for their marrying with those of other nations, idolatrous persons; and using polygamy and divorces, which were a profanation of the covenant of their fathers; a piece of perfidy and treachery among themselves; an abomination to the Lord; a profanation of his holiness; and led to idolatry, Mal 2:10 wherefore they are threatened to be cut off from the tabernacles of Jacob, and their sacrifices to be rejected; insomuch that the altar is represented as covered with weeping and tears, because disregarded, Mal 2:12. The reason of which was, because marrying more wives than one, and these strange women, was dealing treacherously with their lawful wives; was contrary to the first creation of man, and the end of it; and therefore such practices ought to be avoided; and the rather, since putting away was hateful to the Lord, Mal 2:14 and the chapter is concluded with a charge against them, that they wearied the Lord with their wicked words; affirming that the Lord took delight in the men that did evil; and that there were no judgment, truth, nor righteousness, in him, Mal 2:17.

The Lord will cut off the man that doeth this,.... That is guilty of such treachery, wickedness, and idolatry: or "to the man that doeth this" (y); all that belong to him, his children and substance: it denotes the utter destruction, not of a single man and his family only, but of the whole Jewish nation and its polity, civil and ecclesiastical, as follows: the master and the scholar out of the tabernacles of Jacob; the Targum paraphrases it, "the son, and son's son, out of the cities of Jacob;'' agreeable to which is Kimchi's note, "it is as if it was said, there shall not be left in his house one alive; that there shall not be in his house one that answers him, that calls by name.'' In the Hebrew text it is, "him that is awake, and him that answers" (z); which the Talmudists (a) explain, the former of the wise men or masters, and the latter of the disciples of the wise men; to which sense our version agrees: but by "him that waketh or watcheth", according to Cocceius, is meant the civil magistrate, who watches for the good of the commonwealth, and so may design the elders and rulers of the people; and by him that "answereth", the prophet, who returns answers when he is consulted in things belonging to the law of God, and such were the scribes and lawyers. And him that offereth an offering unto the Lord of hosts; the priests, that offered sacrifice for the people; so that hereby is threatened an entire destruction, both of the civil and ecclesiastical polity of the Jews, that there should be no prince, prophet, and priest among them; all should be removed out of the tents of Jacob, or cities of Israel; see Hos 3:4. (y) "viro", Drusius, Cocceius, Burkius, De Dieu; "filius et qui fecerit istud", Piscator. (z) "vigilantem et respondentem", Montanus, Vatablus, Drusius, Grotius; "vigilantem et responsantem", Junius & Tremellius; "vigilem et respondentem", Burkius. (a) T. Bab. Sanhedrin, fol. 82. 1.

(Verse 10 and following) Is not the Father one of us all? Is not God one who created us? Why then does each one of us despise his brother, violating the covenant of our fathers? Judah has transgressed, and abomination has been made in Israel and in Jerusalem: because Judah has defiled the sanctification of the Lord, which he loved, and has taken the daughter of a foreign god. The Lord will destroy the man who does this, the master and the disciple from the tents of Jacob, and the one who offers an offering to the Lord of hosts. LXX: Is not the Father of you all one? Did not one God create you? Why have you each forsaken his brother, making the abominable testament of your fathers? Judas has been abandoned, and abomination has been made in Israel and in Jerusalem, because Judas defiled the holy things of the Lord, in which he loved, and he discovered foreign gods. May the Lord destroy the man who does these things, until he is driven out from the tents of Jacob, and from those who offer sacrifice to the Almighty Lord. Before we discuss the current chapter, the tradition of the Hebrews must be presented, indeed the truth of the Scriptures must be explained. We read in a volume titled Ezra, spoken in the person of Ezra himself: The leaders approached me, saying: The people of Israel, as well as the priests and Levites, have not separated themselves from the peoples of the lands and from their abominations, namely the Canaanites, Ethiopians, Persians, Jebusites, Ammonites, Moabites, Egyptians, and Amorites. For they have taken of their daughters for themselves, and for their sons: and the holy seed is mixed with the people of those lands. Moreover the hand of the princes and magistrates hath been first in this transgression. And when I had heard this thing, I rent my mantle and my coat, and plucked off the hair of my head and of my beard, and sat down mourning (1 Esdras 9:1). And again in the following: And there were found of the sons of the priests that had taken strange wives: of the sons of Jesus, the son of Josedec, and his brethren, Maasia, and Eleazar, and Jarib, and Godolia: and they gave their hands to put away their wives, and to offer for their offence a ram of the flock (1 Esdras 10:18-19). At the end of the chapter, after listing those who had taken foreign wives ((or had taken)), the Scripture states: All of these took foreign wives, and there were women among them who gave birth to sons. Therefore, upon their return from the Babylonian captivity, both the leaders, priests, and Levites, as well as the rest of the people, rejected their wives of Israelite descent, who, due to poverty and the injustice of a long journey, as well as the frailty of their gender, could not bear the labor and had become worn out, and had contracted physical weakness and deformity. And they had entered into matrimony with foreigners, who were either in the prime of life or possessed more attractive physical appearances, or were the daughters of the powerful and wealthy. So Ezra the prophet rebukes them and challenges them to reject their new wives and take back the wives they had divorced. He says, 'Is not Abraham our father? Didn't Isaiah write about him: Look to Abraham your father, and to Sarah, who bore you; for he was one, and I called him.' Isn't it one God who created us, who chose our lineage from Abraham? Why then do we despise our old wives and cast aside the daughters of our brothers, in order to abandon the covenant of our fathers and not take wives according to the Law? Juda transgressed (for this tribe alone returned from Babylon with the priests and Levites, and abomination was committed in Israel and in Jerusalem. Not from the ten tribes which were held by the Assyrians did this happen, but from those who returned under the authority of King Cyrus, Zerubbabel, Ezra, and Nehemiah from Babylon. Because Judah defiled the sanctification of the Lord, which he loved, and took a daughter of a foreign god, mixing Israel's seed with foreigners and the daughters of the nations, that is, with non-Israelite women who served idols, by marrying them. Therefore, the word of the prophets is directed towards them, and they are drawn away from sin by curses. May the Lord destroy the man who does this. How beautifully he does not pardon the error, nor does he say, 'May the Lord curse the one who did this,' but the one who does it, stretching the curse towards the future, in order to provoke sinners to repentance. The teacher, he says, the disciple from the tents of Jacob, whether he be a priest or a layperson, they shall be struck with the same curse, and there shall be no difference in punishment for those in whom the sins are equal. And the one offering a gift to the Lord of hosts: it is understood that the Lord will destroy him as well, who wishes to offer a gift at the altar for men of this kind, whose only remedy is not to do what they have done. Some, not understanding this passage, nor knowing the truth of history, understand what he says: 'Is not the father of us all one?' concerning Abraham, so as to also mention Abraham as the father of the Gentiles, according to what is written: 'God is able from these stones to raise up children of Abraham' (Matt. 3:9). Certainly they affirm one God the Father according to what we read in Deuteronomy: Is not this the same Father who possessed you, and made you, and created you (Deut. XXXII, 6)? And again: You have deserted the God who created you (Ibid., 18). And elsewhere: I have begotten sons and exalted them, but they have forsaken me (Isaiah I, 2). And in the Book of Psalms: The sons of strangers have lied to me: the sons of strangers have grown old and stumbled from their paths (Ps. XVII, 46). 964 From this one father, who sinned, departing, they made many fathers of their vices: For everyone who commits sin is born of the devil. And this is what follows: Therefore each one of us despises his brother, violating the covenant of our fathers, they interpreted it in such a way as to say: We who are all generated from one father ought to be one, and to have one confession of faith; but afterwards by pride and the building of the tower against God, they were divided into many languages and opinions (Gen. XI). They also refer to acts of charity, saying: Let us despise our brothers when we do not share with them what we have received from God for sustaining life. And they further allege that our brother is called Lord according to the Scriptures, who commanded Mary Magdalene to announce to his brothers that the Lord has risen (John 20), and he speaks in the Psalm: I will declare your name to my brothers, in the midst of the Church I will sing praise to you (Psalm 22:23). So the Jews deserted their brother and contaminated the covenant of their fathers, which God had made with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, that in their descendants, who is interpreted as Christ, all the nations would be blessed. They suspect these things in various ways because they do not find a certain way. Finally, even this which follows according to the Septuagint: Judas has been forsaken, and abomination has been made in Israel and in Jerusalem, they explain thus: The Jews have been deserted because they have blasphemed the Lord Savior and have endured what is written: According to the multitude of their wickedness, drive them out, for they have provoked you, O Lord (Ps. 5:11), so that they would be scattered as wanderers and fugitives into all the provinces. For they have polluted the holy things of the Lord, being devoted to the Son of God, and approaching foreign gods: For whoever does not accept the Son, does not accept the Father who sent him (Luke IX, 43). And because they have done this, they will continue to be destroyed until they are humbled, either by the injustice of captivity, or by the guilt of their conscience: and they will be cast out from the tents of Jacob, so that with the temple and altar destroyed, no sacrifices may be offered among them (or by them). Not content with this explanation (because Judas is interpreted as the confession of the Lord), they transfer understanding to the penitent, who, after confessing the Lord, if he sins, commits an abomination in Israel, and in Jerusalem, in the sense of seeing God, and in the vision of peace. For he pollutes the mysteries of Christ, unworthily receiving his body and blood (I Cor. XI), because he loves vices and finds for himself foreign gods, having the number of gods according to the number of sins. According to the Apostle Paul: God is a voracious belly (Phil. III), and according to Peter (also James). Whoever is conquered by him, is subjected to him (II Petr. II, 19). And whoever does this, will be exterminated from the Church, and from the tents of Jacob, who supplants vices and sins, until he is humbled for his own good, and a victim is offered for him to the Almighty Lord.

REPROOF OF THE PRIESTS FOR VIOLATING THE COVENANT; AND THE PEOPLE ALSO FOR MIXED MARRIAGES AND UNFAITHFULNESS. (Mal. 2:1-17) for you--The priests in particular are reproved, as their part was to have led the people aright, and reproved sin, whereas they encouraged and led them into sin. Ministers cannot sin or suffer alone. They drag down others with them if they fall [MOORE].

master and . . . scholar--literally, "him that watcheth and him that answereth." So "wakeneth" is used of the teacher or "master" (Isa 50:4); masters are watchful in guarding their scholars. The reference is to the priests, who ought to have taught the people piety, but who led them into evil. "Him that answereth" is the scholar who has to answer the questions of his teacher (Luk 2:47) [GROTIUS]. The Arabs have a proverb, "None calling and none answering," that is, there being not one alive. So GESENIUS explains it of the Levite watches in the temple (Psa 134:1), one watchman calling and another answering. But the scholar is rather the people, the pupils of the priests "in doing this," namely, forming unions with foreign wives. "Out of the tabernacles of Jacob" proves it is not the priests alone. God will spare neither priests nor people who act so. him that offereth--His offerings will not avail to shield him from the penalty of his sin in repudiating his Jewish wife and taking a foreign one.