Amplified Bible
Malachi 1:2
2“I have loved you,” says the Lord. But you say, “How and in what way have You loved us?” “Was not Esau Jacob’s brother?” declares the Lord. “Yet I loved Jacob (Israel);
Malachi 1:2 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)I have loved you, saith the Lord. Yet ye say, Wherein hast thou loved us? Was not Esau Jacob’s brother? saith the Lord: yet I loved Jacob,
- New International Version (NIV)“I have loved you,” says the Lord. “But you ask, ‘How have you loved us?’ “Was not Esau Jacob’s brother?” declares the Lord. “Yet I have loved Jacob,
- English Standard Version (ESV)"I have loved you," says the Lord. But you say, "How have you loved us?" "Is not Esau Jacob's brother?" declares the Lord. "Yet I have loved Jacob
- New King James Version (NKJV)“I have loved you,” says the Lord. “Yet you say, ‘In what way have You loved us?’ Was not Esau Jacob’s brother?” Says the Lord. “Yet Jacob I have loved;
Context of Malachi 1:2
1The oracle (burdensome message) of the word of the Lord to Israel through [My messenger] Malachi. “I have loved you,” says the Lord. But you say, “How and in what way have You loved us?” “Was not Esau Jacob’s brother?” declares the Lord. “Yet I loved Jacob (Israel); 3but [in comparison with My love for Jacob] I have hated Esau (Edom), and I have made his mountains a wasteland, and have given his inheritance to the jackals of the wilderness.” 4Though [impoverished] Edom says, “We have been beaten down, but we will return and build up the ruins.” Thus says the Lord of hosts, “They may build, but I will tear down; and men will call them the Wicked Territory, the people against whom the Lord is indignant forever.”
Read all of Malachi 1Malachi 1:2 word by word
אָהַ֤בְתִּי אֶתְכֶם֙ אָמַ֣ר יְהוָ֔ה וַאֲמַרְתֶּ֖ם בַּמָּ֣ה אֲהַבְתָּ֑נוּ הֲלוֹא־אָ֨ח עֵשָׂ֤ו לְיַֽעֲקֹב֙ נְאֻם־יְהוָ֔ה וָאֹהַ֖ב אֶֽת־יַעֲקֹֽב׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Malachi 1:2
- Deuteronomy 7:6For you are a holy people [set apart] to the Lord your God; the Lord your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be a people for His own possession [that is, His very special treasure].
- Deuteronomy 10:15Yet the Lord had a delight in loving your fathers and set His affection on them, and He chose their descendants after them, you above all peoples, as it is this day.
- Deuteronomy 32:8When the Most High gave the nations their inheritance, When He separated the sons of man, He set the boundaries of the peoples According to the number of the sons of Israel.
- Isaiah 41:8“But you, Israel, My servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, The offspring of Abraham My friend,
- Isaiah 43:4Because you are precious in My sight, You are honored and I love you, I will give other men in return for you and other peoples in exchange for your life.
- Jeremiah 31:3The Lord appeared to me (Israel) from ages past, saying, “I have loved you with an everlasting love; Therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you and continued My faithfulness to you.
- Romans 11:28From the standpoint of the gospel, the Jews [at present] are enemies [of God] for your sake [which is for your benefit], but from the standpoint of God’s choice [of the Jews as His people], they are still loved by Him for the sake of the fathers.
- Malachi 1:6“ ‘A son honors his father, and a servant his master. Then if I am a Father, where is My honor? And if I am a Master, where is the [reverent] fear and respect due Me?’ says the Lord of hosts to you, O priests, who despise My name. But you say, ‘How and in what way have we despised Your name?’
- Malachi 2:17You have wearied the Lord with your words. But you say, “In what way have we wearied Him?” In that you say, “Everyone who does evil is good in the sight of the Lord, and He delights in them,” or [by asking], “Where is the God of justice?”
- Malachi 3:7“Yet from the days of your fathers you have turned away from My statutes and ordinances and have not kept them. Return to Me, and I will return to you,” says the Lord of hosts. “But you say, ‘How shall we return?’
- Jeremiah 2:5Thus says the Lord, “What injustice or unrighteousness did your fathers find in Me, That they have wandered far from Me And [habitually] walked after emptiness and futility and became empty?
- Luke 10:29But he, wishing to justify and vindicate himself, asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
- Genesis 25:23The Lord said to her, “[The founders of] two nations are in your womb; And the separation of two nations has begun in your body; The one people shall be stronger than the other; And the older shall serve the younger.”
- Genesis 27:27So he came and kissed him; and Isaac smelled his clothing and blessed him and said, “The scent of my son [Esau] Is like the aroma of a field which the Lord has blessed;
- Genesis 28:3May God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and multiply you, so that you may become a [great] company of peoples.
- Genesis 32:28And He said, “Your name shall no longer be Jacob, but Israel; for you have struggled with God and with men and have prevailed.”
Commentaries on Malachi 1:2
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 2Was not Esau Jacob's brother? - Have I not shown a greater partiality to the Israelites than I have to the Edomites? I loved Jacob - My love to Jacob has been proved by giving him greater privileges and a better inheritance than what I have given to Esau.Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 2I have loved you, saith the Lord - What a volume of God‘s relations to us in two simple words, “I-have-loved you”. So would not God speak, unless He still loved. “I have loved and do love you,” is the force of the words. When? And since when? In all eternity God loved; in all our past, God loved. Tokens of His love, past or present, in good or seeming ill, are but an effluence of that everlasting love. He, the Unchangeable, ever loved, as the apostle of…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 2loved: The relationship between the Lord and Israel involves covenant implications. This love can mean God's choice or election of Israel as his people. Malachi's message shows that other aspects of God's unconditional covenant love for Israel, like his patient mercy (see Malachi 3:6, 17), are still active. See also Romans 9:13.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 22. I have loved you--above other men; nay, even above the other descendants of Abraham and Isaac. Such gratuitous love on My part called for love on yours. But the return ye make is sin and dishonor to Me. This which is to be supplied is left unexpressed, sorrow as it were breaking off the sentence [Menochius], (De 7:8; Ho 11:1). Wherein hast thou loved us?--In painful contrast to the tearful tenderness of God's love stands their insolent challenge. The…Read the comment
Topics related to Malachi 1:2
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Malachi 1
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
Amplified Bible — © 2015 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, CA 90631
Commentaries