Malachi 2:3

Malachi 2:3 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Behold, I will corrupt your seed, and spread dung upon your faces, even the dung of your solemn feasts; and one shall take you away with it.
• New International Version (NIV)“Because of you I will rebuke your descendants; I will smear on your faces the dung from your festival sacrifices, and you will be carried off with it.
• New King James Version (NKJV)“Behold, I will rebuke your descendants And spread refuse on your faces, The refuse of your solemn feasts; And one will take you away with it.
• New Living Translation (NLT)I will punish your descendants and splatter your faces with the manure from your festival sacrifices, and I will throw you on the manure pile.

Context of Malachi 2:3

1"And now, O priests, this command is for you. 2If you will not listen, if you will not take it to heart to give honor to my name, says the Lord of hosts, then I will send the curse upon you and I will curse your blessings. Indeed, I have already cursed them, because you do not lay it to heart. Behold, I will rebuke your offspring, and spread dung on your faces, the dung of your offerings, and you shall be taken away with it. 4So shall you know that I have sent this command to you, that my covenant with Levi may stand, says the Lord of hosts. 5My covenant with him was one of life and peace, and I gave them to him. It was a covenant of fear, and he feared me. He stood in awe of my name.

Malachi 2:3 word by word

הִנְנִ֨י גֹעֵ֤ר לָכֶם֙ אֶת־הַזֶּ֔רַע וְזֵרִ֤יתִי פֶ֙רֶשׁ֙ עַל־פְּנֵיכֶ֔ם פֶּ֖רֶשׁ חַגֵּיכֶ֑ם וְנָשָׂ֥א אֶתְכֶ֖ם אֵלָֽיו׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Behold, I will corruptגָּעַרgâ‛ar · to rebukeH1605
• your seedזֶ֫רַעzera‛ · seed: childrenH2233
• and spreadזָרָהzârâh · to scatterH2219
• dungפֶּ֫רֶשׁperesh · fæcal matterH6569
• upon your facesפָּנֶהpânîym · faceH6440
• of your solemn feastsחַגchag châg · feastH2282
• shall take you awayנָשָׂאnâώâ' nâsâh · to lift: bearH5375

Cross-references for Malachi 2:3

• Joel 1:17The seed shrivels under the clods; the storehouses are desolate; the granaries are torn down because the grain has dried up.
• Malachi 2:9and so I make you despised and abased before all the people, inasmuch as you do not keep my ways but show partiality in your instruction."
• 1 Samuel 2:29Why then do you scorn my sacrifices and my offerings that I commanded for my dwelling, and honor your sons above me by fattening yourselves on the choicest parts of every offering of my people Israel?'
• 1 Kings 14:10therefore behold, I will bring harm upon the house of Jeroboam and will cut off from Jeroboam every male, both bond and free in Israel, and will burn up the house of Jeroboam, as a man burns up dung until it is all gone.
• 2 Kings 9:36When they came back and told him, he said, "This is the word of the Lord, which he spoke by his servant Elijah the Tishbite: 'In the territory of Jezreel the dogs shall eat the flesh of Jezebel,
• Job 20:7he will perish forever like his own dung; those who have seen him will say, 'Where is he?'
• Psalms 83:10who were destroyed at En-dor, who became dung for the ground.
• Jeremiah 8:2And they shall be spread before the sun and the moon and all the host of heaven, which they have loved and served, which they have gone after, and which they have sought and worshiped. And they shall not be gathered or buried. They shall be as dung on the surface of the ground.
• Nahum 3:6I will throw filth at you and treat you with contempt and make you a spectacle.
• Luke 14:35It is of no use either for the soil or for the manure pile. It is thrown away. He who has ears to hear, let him hear."
• 1 Corinthians 4:13when slandered, we entreat. We have become, and are still, like the scum of the world, the refuse of all things.

Commentaries on Malachi 2:3

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 3Behold, I will corrupt your seed - So as to render it unfruitful. Newcome translates, - "I will take away from you the shoulder." This was the part that belonged to the priest, Leviticus 7:32; Deuteronomy 18:3. Spread dung upon your faces - Instead of receiving a sacrifice at your hands, I will throw your offerings back into your faces. Here God shows his contempt for them and their offerings.Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 3Lo, I will rebuke the seed for your sake - oi. e., that it should not grow. He who worketh by His sustaining will all the operations of nature, would at His will withhold them. Neither priests nor Levites cultivated the soil; yet, since the tithes were assigned to them, the diminution of the harvest affected them. The meal-offering too was a requisite part of the sacrifice. (See also Joel 1:13; Joel 2:14.) And spread dung upon your phaces, the dung o of…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 1-9Malachi’s second message confirms the Lord as God and father of Israel. God alone deserves true worship. The first part (Malachi 1:6–14) shows how the Israelites dishonored God despite his fatherly care and great power. The second part (Malachi 2:1–9) warns the priests of Judah against sacrificing sick and defective animals and criticizes them for not teaching God’s instructions (2:6–8).Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 33. corrupt, &c.--literally, "rebuke," answering to the opposite prophecy of blessing (Mal 3:11), "I will rebuke the devourer." To rebuke the seed is to forbid its growing. your--literally, "for you"; that is, to your hurt. dung of ... solemn feasts--The dung in the maw of the victims sacrificed on the feast days; the maw was the perquisite of the priests (De 18:3), which gives peculiar point to the threat here. You shall get the dung of the maw as your…Read the comment

Topics related to Malachi 2:3

• Minister, Christian

In the dictionaries

• Corrupt
• Profane
• Wherein
• Dung; Dung Gate
• Malachi
• 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