Malachi 2:14

Malachi 2:14 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Yet ye say, Wherefore? Because the Lord hath been witness between thee and the wife of thy youth, against whom thou hast dealt treacherously: yet is she thy companion, and the wife of thy covenant.
• New International Version (NIV)You ask, “Why?” It is because the Lord is the witness between you and the wife of your youth. You have been unfaithful to her, though she is your partner, the wife of your marriage covenant.
• English Standard Version (ESV)But you say, "Why does he not?" Because the Lord was witness between you and the wife of your youth, to whom you have been faithless, though she is your companion and your wife by covenant.
• New King James Version (NKJV)Yet you say, “For what reason?” Because the Lord has been witness Between you and the wife of your youth, With whom you have dealt treacherously; Yet she is your companion And your wife by covenant.

Context of Malachi 2:14

12I pray that the Lord will remove all people like that from among his people. Not one of them will continue to belong to the family of Jacob. They will no longer be able to offer gifts to the Lord Almighty. 13Also, you weep so much that your tears cover the Lord's altar! You cry because the Lord no longer accepts your gifts. He is not happy with the gifts that you offer to him. You ask, ‘Why is the Lord not happy with our gifts?’ The Lord knows that you men have not done the right thing with your wives. When you married as a young man, you promised to take care of your wife always. But you have sent her away, when the law says that you must stay with her as your wife. 15The Lord has joined you together, as a man with his wife. Your body and your spirit belong to him. Why did God put you together? He wanted you to have children who would belong to him. So think carefully about how you live. Do not leave the wife that you married when you were a young man. 16The Lord God of Israel says this: ‘If a man sends his wife away from him, I hate that! He has been cruel to his wife when he should take care of her. So be very careful! Remember your promise to take care of your wife.’ That is what the Lord Almighty says.

Malachi 2:14 word by word

וַאֲמַרְתֶּ֖ם עַל־מָ֑ה עַ֡ל כִּי־יְהוָה֩ הֵעִ֨יד בֵּינְךָ֜ וּבֵ֣ין׀ אֵ֣שֶׁת נְעוּרֶ֗יךָ אֲשֶׁ֤ר אַתָּה֙ בָּגַ֣דְתָּה בָּ֔הּ וְהִ֥יא חֲבֶרְתְּךָ֖ וְאֵ֥שֶׁת בְּרִיתֶֽךָ׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Yet ye sayאָמַר'âmar · to sayH559
• Whereforeמָהmâh mah mâ ma meh · what?H4100
• Because the Lordיְהֹוָהyehôvâh · LORDH3068
• hath been witnessעוּד‛ûd · to testifyH5749
• between thee and the wifeאִשָּׁה'ishshâh nâshîym · woman: wifeH802
• of thy youthנְעוּרִיםnâ‛ûr nâ‛ûr ne‛ûrâh · youthH5271
• against whom thou hast dealt treacherouslyבָּגַדbâgad · to act treacherouslyH898
• she thy companionחֲבֶ֫רֶתchăbereth · consortH2278
• of thy covenantבְּרִיתberîyth · covenantH1285

Cross-references for Malachi 2:14

• Malachi 1:6The Lord Almighty says this to the priests: ‘A son respects his father. A servant respects his master. If I am really your father and your master, why do you not respect me? You are my priests, but you insult my name. But then you ask, “What have we done to insult your name?”
• Malachi 3:8I say to you, “A man should not rob God. But you are robbing me.” But you ask, “How do we rob you?” I say, “You do not give to me the tithes and the offerings that you should give.”
• Proverbs 30:20A woman who is not faithful to her husband does this: When she has sex with another man, she thinks it is like a meal that she has eaten. Then she washes herself and she says, ‘I have not done anything wrong.’ That is something else that I cannot understand.
• Isaiah 58:3They say to me, “We have fasted to please you, but you do not see it. We make ourselves humble and you do not even look.” Listen to me! Yes you fast, but you do it to please yourselves. At the same time as you are fasting, you are being cruel to the people who work for you.
• Jeremiah 8:12They are not ashamed of the disgusting things that they do. They do not even know what shame is. They have forgotten how to be ashamed. So they will fall to the ground, as other people have fallen. When I punish them, that will be the end of them.’ That is what the Lord says.
• Malachi 3:5At that time, I will come among you as your judge. I will speak clearly against those who have done wrong things. I will punish the magicians, the adulterers and those who tell lies against other people. I will punish those people who are cruel to their workers, or they deceive widows or children who have no family. And I will punish those who do not help foreigners who live among them. People who do those things show that they do not respect me.’ That is what the Lord Almighty says.
• Genesis 31:50Remember that God is watching you. If you do wrong to my daughters, God will see it. And if you marry any other women, remember this. God is watching you. Even if no one else sees you, God will know.’
• Judges 11:10The leaders of Gilead said, ‘We promise to do that. The Lord will judge between us if we do not do what you have said.’
• 1 Samuel 12:5Samuel said to them, ‘The Lord and his chosen king have heard what you have said today. They know that I have not done a wrong thing against any of you.’ The people replied, ‘Yes, the Lord knows what we have said.’
• Jeremiah 42:5They said to Jeremiah, ‘We promise to do everything that the Lord sends you to say to us. We ask the Lord to listen to our promise. May he punish us if we do not do what we have promised to do.
• Micah 1:2Listen, all of you people everywhere! Hear this, everyone who lives on the earth! The Lord God will speak against you. You have done what is wrong. That is why he will speak against you. He will speak from his special house.
• Malachi 2:15The Lord has joined you together, as a man with his wife. Your body and your spirit belong to him. Why did God put you together? He wanted you to have children who would belong to him. So think carefully about how you live. Do not leave the wife that you married when you were a young man.
• Proverbs 5:18Enjoy sex with your own wife. May the wife that you married when you were young continue to give you joy.
• Ecclesiastes 9:9Love your wife and enjoy your life together with her. God has given you your life. It is a short life and it is difficult to understand everything that happens. God wants you to enjoy these things as you do hard work during your life on the earth.
• Isaiah 54:6‘The Lord will now call you to come back to him. You have been like a wife who was very upset, because her husband has left her. You have been like a wife who married when she was young, and her husband sent her away.’ That is what your God says.
• Genesis 2:18Then the Lord God said, ‘It is not good for the man to live alone. I will make a helper who is right for him.’

Commentaries on Malachi 2:14

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 14Ye say, Wherefore? - Is the Lord angry with us? Because ye have been witness of the contract made between the parties; and when the lawless husband divorced his wife, the wife of his youth, his companion, and the unite of his covenant, ye did not execute on him the discipline of the law. They kept their wives till they had passed their youth, and then put them away, that they might get young ones in their place.Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 14And ye say, Wherefore? - They again act the innocent, or half-ignorant. What had they to do with their wives‘ womanly tears? He who knows the hearts of all was Himself the witness between them and the wife of youth of each; her to whom, in the first freshness of life and their young hearts, each had plighted his troth having been entrusted by her with her earthy all. Genesis 31:49-50. “The Lord,” said even Laban, when parting from his daughters, “watch…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. 14In the Greek Old Testament, wife is called koinōnos, meaning "joint partner." The Hebrew word for a seam or joint in construction (for example, Exodus 26:6–11) implies a lasting bond. covenant: Marriage is a serious promise, with God as a witness (see Proverbs 2:17).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 2:14

• Divorce
• Husband
• Marriage
• Polygamy
• Sin

In the dictionaries

• Corrupt
• Malachi
• Profane
• Wherein
• Covenant, in the Old Testament
• Israel, History of
• Priests and Levites

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