God’s Word Translation
Malachi 1:7
7“You offer contaminated food on my altar. “But you ask, ‘Then how have we contaminated you?’ “When you say that the Lord’s table may be despised.
Malachi 1:7 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Ye offer polluted bread upon mine altar; and ye say, Wherein have we polluted thee? In that ye say, The table of the Lord is contemptible.
- New International Version (NIV)“By offering defiled food on my altar. “But you ask, ‘How have we defiled you?’ “By saying that the Lord’s table is contemptible.
- English Standard Version (ESV)By offering polluted food upon my altar. But you say, 'How have we polluted you?' By saying that the Lord's table may be despised.
- New King James Version (NKJV)“You offer defiled food on My altar, But say, ‘In what way have we defiled You?’ By saying, ‘The table of the Lord is contemptible.’
Context of Malachi 1:7
5You will see these things with your own eyes and say, ‘Even outside the borders of Israel the Lord is great.’ 6“This is what the Lord of Armies says: A son honors his father, and a servant honors his master. So if I am a father, where is my honor? If I am a master, where is my respect? You priests despise my name. “But you ask, ‘How have we despised your name?’ “You offer contaminated food on my altar. “But you ask, ‘Then how have we contaminated you?’ “When you say that the Lord’s table may be despised. 8When you bring a blind animal to sacrifice, isn’t that wrong? When you bring a lame or a sick animal, isn’t that wrong? Try offering it to your governor. Would he accept it from you? Would he welcome you?” asks the Lord of Armies. 9“Now try asking God to be kind to you. This is what you are doing! Will he welcome you?” asks the Lord of Armies.
Read all of Malachi 1Malachi 1:7 word by word
מַגִּישִׁ֤ים עַֽל־מִזְבְּחִי֙ לֶ֣חֶם מְגֹאָ֔ל וַאֲמַרְתֶּ֖ם בַּמֶּ֣ה גֵֽאַלְנ֑וּךָ בֶּאֱמָרְכֶ֕ם שֻׁלְחַ֥ן יְהוָ֖ה נִבְזֶ֥ה הֽוּא׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- Ye offerנָגַשׁnâgash · to approach: bringH5066
- pollutedגָּאַלgâ'al · to defileH1351
- breadלֶ֫חֶםlechem · foodH3899
- upon mine altarמִזְבֵּחַmizbêach · altarH4196
- and ye sayאָמַר'âmar · to sayH559
- The tableשֻׁלְחָןshûlchân · tableH7979
- of the Lordיְהֹוָהyehôvâh · LORDH3068
- contemptibleבָּזָהbâzâh · to despiseH959
Cross-references for Malachi 1:7
- Leviticus 2:11“Every grain offering that you bring to the Lord must be prepared without yeast. Never burn yeast or honey as an offering to the Lord.
- Leviticus 21:6“Be God’s holy men, and don’t dishonor the name of your God. Be holy because you bring sacrifices by fire to the Lord. It is the food of your God.
- Deuteronomy 15:21But if an animal is lame or blind or has any other serious defect—never sacrifice it to the Lord your God.
- Malachi 1:12“But you dishonor it when you say that the Lord’s table may be contaminated and that its food may be despised.
- 1 Samuel 2:15But ⌞in the case of Eli’s sons,⌟ even before the people burned the fat, their servants would come and say to the man who was sacrificing, “Give the meat to the priest to roast. He doesn’t want boiled meat from you. He wants it raw.”
- Ezekiel 41:22There was a wooden altar, 5 feet high and 3½ feet wide. Its corners, its base, and its sides were made of wood. Then the man told me, “This is the table that is in the presence of the Lord.”
- 1 Corinthians 10:21You cannot drink the Lord’s cup and the cup of demons. You cannot participate at the table of the Lord and at the table of demons.
- 1 Corinthians 11:21Each of you eats his own supper ⌞without waiting for each other⌟. So one person goes hungry and another gets drunk.
Commentaries on Malachi 1:7
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 7Ye offer polluted bread - The priests, probably to ingratiate themselves with the people, took the refuse beasts, etc., and offered them to God; and thus the sacrificial ordinances were rendered contemptible.Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 7Offering polluted bread upon Mine altar - This, continuing on the words, “despisers of My Name,”, is the answer to their question, “Wherein have we despised Thy Name?” “Bread” might stand, in itself, either for the showbread, or for the מנחה minchāh meal-offering, which was the necessary accompaniment of sacrifices and sometimes the whole. But here the “polluted bread” cannot be the showbread, since this was not put upon the altar, but upon its own…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 6-14Verses 6-14 We may each charge upon ourselves what is here charged upon the priests. Our relation to God, as our Father and Master, strongly obliges us to fear and honour him. But they were so scornful that they derided reproof. Sinners ruin themselves by trying to baffle their convictions. Those who live in careless neglect of holy ordinances, who attend on them without reverence, and go from them under no concern, in effect say, The table of the Lord is…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 7defiled food on my table: Ceremonial uncleanness or contamination made an object or person unfit for worship ceremonies to the Lord. In this case, defilement happened by ignoring the laws about acceptable animal sacrifices (Leviticus 22:17–25; Deuteronomy 15:21).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 77. ye offer, &c.--God's answer to their challenge (Mal 1:6), "Wherein have we despised?" polluted bread--namely, blemished sacrifices (Mal 1:8, 13, 14; De 15:21). So "the bread of thy God" is used for "sacrifices to God" (Le 21:8). polluted thee--that is, offered to thee "polluted bread." table of the Lord--that is, the altar (Eze 41:22) (not the table of showbread). Just as the sacrificial flesh is called "bread." contemptible--(Mal 1:12, 13). Ye…Read the comment
Topics related to Malachi 1:7
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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