God’s Word Translation
Malachi 1:3
3but Esau I hated. I turned his mountains into a wasteland and left his inheritance to the jackals in the desert.
Malachi 1:3 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)And I hated Esau, and laid his mountains and his heritage waste for the dragons of the wilderness.
- New International Version (NIV)but Esau I have hated, and I have turned his hill country into a wasteland and left his inheritance to the desert jackals.”
- English Standard Version (ESV)but Esau I have hated. I have laid waste his hill country and left his heritage to jackals of the desert."
- New King James Version (NKJV)But Esau I have hated, And laid waste his mountains and his heritage For the jackals of the wilderness.”
Context of Malachi 1:3
1This is a divine revelation. The Lord spoke his word to Israel through Malachi. 2“I loved you,” says the Lord. “But you ask, ‘How did you love us?’ “Wasn’t Esau Jacob’s brother?” declares the Lord. “I loved Jacob, but Esau I hated. I turned his mountains into a wasteland and left his inheritance to the jackals in the desert. 4“The descendants of Esau may say, ‘We have been beaten down, but we will rebuild the ruins.’ “Yet, this is what the Lord of Armies says: They may rebuild, but I will tear it down. They will be called ‘the Wicked Land’ and ‘the people with whom the Lord is always angry.’ 5You will see these things with your own eyes and say, ‘Even outside the borders of Israel the Lord is great.’
Read all of Malachi 1Malachi 1:3 word by word
וְאֶת־עֵשָׂ֖ו שָׂנֵ֑אתִי וָאָשִׂ֤ים אֶת־הָרָיו֙ שְׁמָמָ֔ה וְאֶת־נַחֲלָת֖וֹ לְתַנּ֥וֹת מִדְבָּֽר׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- And I hatedשָׂנֵאώânê' · to hateH8130
- Esauעֵשָׂו‛êώâv · EsauH6215
- and laidשׂוּםώûm ώîym · to set: makeH7760
- his mountainsהַרhar · mountain: mountH2022
- and his heritageנַחֲלָהnachălâh · inheritanceH5159
- wasteשְׁמָמָהshemâmâh shimâmâh · devastationH8077
- for the dragonsתַּנָּהtannâh · dragonH8568
- of the wildernessמִדְבָּרmidbâr · wildernessH4057
Cross-references for Malachi 1:3
- Genesis 29:30Jacob slept with Rachel too. He loved Rachel more than Leah. So he worked for Laban another seven years.
- Deuteronomy 21:15A man might have two wives and love one but not the other. Both wives might have children, and the firstborn son might belong to the wife that the man doesn’t love.
- Luke 14:26“If people come to me and are not ready to abandon their fathers, mothers, wives, children, brothers, and sisters, as well as their own lives, they cannot be my disciples.
- Isaiah 34:9Edom’s streams will be turned to tar. Its soil will be turned to burning sulfur. Its land will become blazing tar.
- Jeremiah 49:16You have frightened other people. Your arrogance has deceived you. You live on rocky cliffs and occupy the highest places in the hills. Even though you build your nest as high as an eagle, I will bring you down from there,” declares the Lord.
- Ezekiel 25:13So this is what the Almighty Lord says: I will use my power against Edom. I will wipe out people and animals. I will turn the land into ruins from Teman to Dedan. People will die in battle.
- Ezekiel 36:3“So prophesy. Say, ‘This is what the Almighty Lord says: Your enemies turned you into ruins and crushed you from every side. You became the possession of the rest of the nations, and people began to talk and gossip about you.
- Joel 3:19Egypt will become a wasteland. Edom will become a barren desert. This is because the nations were cruel to Judah. They murdered innocent people in their land.
- Obadiah 1:10“Because of the violence you did to Jacob, your relative, you will be covered with shame. You will be destroyed forever.
- Isaiah 13:21Desert animals will lie down there. Their homes will be full of owls. Ostriches will live there, and wild goats will skip about.
- Isaiah 34:13Its palaces are covered with thorns. Its fortresses have nettles and thistles. It will become a home for jackals and a place for ostriches.
- Isaiah 35:7Then the hot sand will become a pool, and dry ground will have springs. Grass will become cattails and rushes in the home of jackals.
- Jeremiah 9:11I will turn Jerusalem into a pile of rubble, a home for jackals. I will destroy the cities of Judah so that no one can live there.
- Jeremiah 51:37Babylon will become piles of rubble. It will become a dwelling place for jackals, something horrible, and an object of contempt, where no one lives.
Commentaries on Malachi 1:3
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 3And I hated Esau - I have shown him less love; Genesis 29:30, Genesis 29:31. I comparatively hated him by giving him an inferior lot. And now, I have not only laid waste the dwelling-place of the Edomites, by the incursions of their enemies; but ( Malachi 1:4;) they shall remain the perpetual monuments of my vengeance. On the subject of loving Jacob and hating Esau, see the notes on Genesis 27 (note), and Romans 9:13; (note). Let it be remembered, That…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 3And I made his mountains a waste, and his heritage for the jackals of the wilderness - o Malachi attests the first stage of fulfillment of Joel‘s prophecy (Joel 3:19, vol. i. pp. 214,215), “Edom shall be a desolate wilderness.” In temporal things, Esau‘s blessing was identical with Jacob‘s; “the fatness of the earth and of the dew of heaven from above;” and the rich soil on the terraces of its mountain-sides, though yielding nothing now except a wild…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 3hated (the opposite of loved in Malachi 1:2): Love and hate are opposite words in Old Testament legal and prophetic texts (see Deuteronomy 7:9–10; Amos 5:15). They often describe the separation caused by a broken covenant. Here, God says he rejected Esau and his descendants, the Edomites. Esau had despised and rejected a covenant relationship with the Lord (see Genesis 25:34; 26:34–35). Esau was the ancestor of the Edomite nation. His inheritance, the…Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 33. hated--not positively, but relatively; that is, did not choose him out to be the object of gratuitous favor, as I did Jacob (compare Lu 14:26, with Mt 10:37; Ge 29:30, 31; De 21:15, 16). laid his mountains ... waste--that is, his territory which was generally mountainous. Israel was, it is true, punished by the Chaldeans, but Edom has been utterly destroyed; namely, either by Nebuchadnezzar [Rosenmuller], or by the neighboring peoples, Egypt, Ammon…Read the comment
Topics related to Malachi 1:3
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
God’s Word Translation — © 1995 God’s Word to the Nations Bible Society
Commentaries