Malachi 2:15

Malachi 2:15 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)And did not he make one? Yet had he the residue of the spirit. And wherefore one? That he might seek a godly seed. Therefore take heed to your spirit, and let none deal treacherously against the wife of his youth.
• New International Version (NIV)Has not the one God made you? You belong to him in body and spirit. And what does the one God seek? Godly offspring. So be on your guard, and do not be unfaithful to the wife of your youth.
• English Standard Version (ESV)Did he not make them one, with a portion of the Spirit in their union? And what was the one God seeking? Godly offspring. So guard yourselves in your spirit, and let none of you be faithless to the wife of your youth.
• New King James Version (NKJV)But did He not make them one, Having a remnant of the Spirit? And why one? He seeks godly offspring. Therefore take heed to your spirit, And let none deal treacherously with the wife of his youth.

Context of Malachi 2:15

13This is another thing you do: you cover the altar of the Lord with tears, with [your own] weeping and sighing, because the Lord no longer regards your offering or accepts it with favor from your hand. 14But you say, “Why [does He reject it]?” Because the Lord has been a witness between you and the wife of your youth, against whom you have dealt treacherously. Yet she is your marriage companion and the wife of your covenant [made by your vows]. But not one has done so who has a remnant of the Spirit. And what did that one do while seeking a godly offspring? Take heed then to your spirit, and let no one deal treacherously against the wife of your youth. 16“For I hate divorce,” says the Lord, the God of Israel, “and him who covers his garment with wrong and violence,” says the Lord of hosts. “Therefore keep watch on your spirit, so that you do not deal treacherously [with your wife].” 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 2:15 word by word

וְלֹא־אֶחָ֣ד עָשָׂ֗ה וּשְׁאָ֥ר ר֙וּחַ֙ ל֔וֹ וּמָה֙ הָֽאֶחָ֔ד מְבַקֵּ֖שׁ זֶ֣רַע אֱלֹהִ֑ים וְנִשְׁמַרְתֶּם֙ בְּר֣וּחֲכֶ֔ם וּבְאֵ֥שֶׁת נְעוּרֶ֖יךָ אַל־יִבְגֹּֽד׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• And did not he makeעָשָׂה‛âώâh · to makeH6213
• oneאֶחָד'echâd · oneH259
• Yet had he the residueשְׁאָרshe'âr · remnantH7605
• of the spiritרוּחַrûach · spiritH7307
• That he might seekבָּקַשׁbâqash · to seekH1245
• a godlyאֱלֹהִים'ĕlôhîym · GodH430
• seedזֶ֫רַעzera‛ · seed: childrenH2233
• Therefore take heedשָׁמַרshâmar · to keep: guardH8104
• and let none deal treacherouslyבָּגַדbâgad · to act treacherouslyH898
• against the wifeאִשָּׁה'ishshâh nâshîym · woman: wifeH802
• of his youthנְעוּרִיםnâ‛ûr nâ‛ûr ne‛ûrâh · youthH5271

Cross-references for Malachi 2:15

• Genesis 1:27So God created man in His own image, in the image and likeness of God He created him; male and female He created them.
• Genesis 2:20And the man gave names to all the livestock, and to the birds of the air, and to every animal of the field; but for Adam there was not found a helper [that was] suitable (a companion) for him.
• Matthew 19:4He replied, “Have you never read that He who created them from the beginning made them male and female,
• Mark 10:6But from the beginning of creation God made them male and female.
• 1 Corinthians 7:2But because of [the temptation to participate in] sexual immorality, let each man have his own wife, and let each woman have her own husband.
• Genesis 2:7then the Lord God formed [that is, created the body of] man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and the man became a living being [an individual complete in body and spirit].
• Job 27:3As long as my life is within me, And the breath of God is [still] in my nostrils,
• Ecclesiastes 12:7then the dust [out of which God made man’s body] will return to the earth as it was, and the spirit will return to God who gave it.
• John 20:22And when He said this, He breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.
• Genesis 24:3and I will make you swear by the Lord, the God of heaven and the God of earth, that you will not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I live,
• Genesis 26:34When Esau was forty years old he married Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Basemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite as his wives;
• Genesis 27:46Then Rebekah said to Isaac, “I am tired of living because of the daughters of Heth [these insolent wives of Esau]. If Jacob takes a wife from the daughters of Heth, like these daughters of the land, what good will my life be to me?”
• Genesis 28:2Arise, go to Paddan-aram, to the house of Bethuel your mother’s father; and take from there as a wife for yourself one of the daughters of Laban your mother’s brother.
• Deuteronomy 7:4for they will turn your sons away from following Me to serve other gods; then the anger of the Lord will be kindled and burn against you and He will quickly destroy you.
• Ezra 9:4Then everyone who trembled at the words of the God of Israel because of the unfaithfulness of the exiles gathered to me as I sat appalled until the evening offering.
• Nehemiah 13:24As for their children, half spoke in the language of Ashdod, and none of them knew how to speak [Hebrew] the language of Judah, but only the language of his own people.

Commentaries on Malachi 2:15

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 15And did not he make one? - One of each kind, Adam and Eve. Yet had he the residue of the Spirit, he could have made millions of pairs, and inspired them all with living souls. Then wherefore one? He made one pair from whom all the rest might proceed, that he might have a holy offspring; that children being a marked property of one man and one woman, proper care might be taken that they should be brought up in the discipline of the Lord. Perhaps the holy…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 15And did not He - , God, of whom he had spoken as the witness between man and his wife, “make one,” namely, Adam first, to mark the oneness of marriage and make it a law of nature, appointing “that out of man (created in His own image and similitude), woman should take her beginning, and, knitting them together, did teach that it should never be lawful to put asunder those, whom He by matrimony had made one?” “Between those two, and consequently between…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 10-17Verses 10-17 Corrupt practices are the fruit of corrupt principles; and he who is false to his God, will not be true to his fellow mortals. In contempt of the marriage covenant, which God instituted, the Jews put away the wives they had of their own nation, probably to make room for strange wives. They made their lives bitter to them; yet, in the sight of others, they pretend to be tender of them. Consider she is thy wife; thy own; the nearest relation…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 10-16Malachi’s third message shows that the failure to keep the covenant spread from the priests to all the people. They did not keep their promises to the Lord or to their fellow citizens when they married foreign women. They also broke their promises to their wives when they divorced them. The prophet now addresses the people as fellow members of the community. This marks a clear change in tone. He moves from sharp accusation to an inclusive appeal (Malachi…Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 10-1610-16. Reproof of those who contracted marriages with foreigners and repudiated their Jewish wives. 10. Have we not all one father?--Why, seeing we all have one common origin, "do we deal treacherously against one another" ("His brother" being a general expression implying that all are "brethren" and sisters as children of the same Father above (1Th 4:3-6), and so including the wives so injured)? namely, by putting away our Jewish wives, and taking…Read the comment

Topics related to Malachi 2:15

• Divorce
• Husband
• Marriage
• Polygamy
• Watchfulness

In the dictionaries

• Corrupt
• Malachi
• Profane
• Wherein
• Abraham
• Genesis
• Priests and Levites
• Seed

Commentaries on Malachi 2

• 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
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings