Berean Standard Bible
Malachi 1:2
2“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 Jacob I have loved,
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
1This is the burden of the word of the LORD to Israel through Malachi: “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 Jacob I have loved, 3but Esau I have hated, and I have made his mountains a wasteland and left his inheritance to the desert jackals.” 4Though Edom may say, “We have been devastated, but we will rebuild the ruins,” this is what the LORD of Hosts says: “They may build, but I will demolish. They will be called the Land of Wickedness, and a people with 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
- I have loved youאָהֵב'âhab 'âhêb · to love: loverH157
- ·אֵת'êth · [Obj.]H853
- saysאָמַר'âmar · to sayH559
- the LORDיְהֹוָהyehôvâh · LORDH3068
- Howמָהmâh mah mâ ma meh · what?H4100
- Was notלֹאlô' lô' lôh · notH3808
- Esauעֵשָׂו‛êώâv · EsauH6215
- Jacob’sיַעֲקֹבya‛ăqôb · JacobH3290
- brotherאָח'âch · brother: male-siblingH251
- declaresנְאֻםne'ûm · utteranceH5002
Cross-references for Malachi 1:2
- Deuteronomy 7:6For you are a people holy to the LORD your God. The LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for His prized possession out of all peoples on the face of the earth.
- Deuteronomy 10:15Yet the LORD has set His affection on your fathers and loved them. And He has chosen you, their descendants after them, above all the peoples, even to this day.
- Deuteronomy 32:8When the Most High gave the nations their inheritance, when He divided the sons of man, He set the boundaries of the peoples according to the number of the sons of God.
- Isaiah 41:8“But you, O Israel, My servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen, descendant of Abraham My friend—
- Isaiah 43:4Because you are precious and honored in My sight, and because I love you, I will give men in exchange for you and nations in place of your life.
- Jeremiah 31:3The LORD appeared to us in the past, saying: “I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have drawn you with loving devotion.
- Romans 11:28Regarding the gospel, they are enemies on your account; but regarding election, they are loved on account of the patriarchs.
- Malachi 1:6“A son honors his father, and a servant his master. But if I am a father, where is My honor? And if I am a master, where is your fear of Me?” says the LORD of Hosts to you priests who despise My name. “But you ask, ‘How have we despised Your name?’
- Malachi 2:17You have wearied the LORD with your words; yet you ask, “How have we wearied Him?” By saying, “All who do evil are good in the sight of the LORD, and in them He delights,” or, “Where is the God of justice?”
- Malachi 3:7Yet from the days of your fathers, you have turned away from My statutes and have not kept them. Return to Me, and I will return to you,” says the LORD of Hosts. “But you ask, ‘How can we return?’
- Jeremiah 2:5This is what the LORD says: “What fault did your fathers find in Me that they strayed so far from Me? They followed worthless idols, and became worthless themselves.
- Luke 10:29But wanting to justify himself, he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
- Genesis 25:23and He declared to her: “Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you will be separated; one people will be stronger than the other, and the older will serve the younger.”
- Genesis 27:27So he came near and kissed him. When Isaac smelled his clothing, he blessed him and said: “Ah, the smell of my son is like the smell of a field that the LORD has blessed.
- Genesis 28:3May God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and multiply you, so that you may become a company of peoples.
- Genesis 32:28Then the man said, “Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with men, and you 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
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