God’s Word Translation
Malachi 2:15
15Didn’t ⌞God⌟ make you one? Your flesh and spirit belong to him. And what does the same ⌞God⌟ look for but godly descendants? So be careful not to be unfaithful to the wife of your youth.
Malachi 2:15 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)And did not he make one? Yet had he the residue of the spirit. And wherefore one? That he might seek a godly seed. Therefore take heed to your spirit, and let none deal treacherously against the wife of his youth.
- New International Version (NIV)Has not the one God made you? You belong to him in body and spirit. And what does the one God seek? Godly offspring. So be on your guard, and do not be unfaithful to the wife of your youth.
- English Standard Version (ESV)Did he not make them one, with a portion of the Spirit in their union? And what was the one God seeking? Godly offspring. So guard yourselves in your spirit, and let none of you be faithless to the wife of your youth.
- New King James Version (NKJV)But did He not make them one, Having a remnant of the Spirit? And why one? He seeks godly offspring. Therefore take heed to your spirit, And let none deal treacherously with the wife of his youth.
Context of Malachi 2:15
13Here is another thing you do: You cover the Lord’s altar with tears. You moan and groan because he no longer pays attention to your offerings or accepts them from you. 14But you ask, “Why ⌞aren’t our offerings accepted⌟?” It is because the Lord is a witness between you and the wife of your youth, to whom you have been unfaithful. Yet, she is your companion, the wife of your marriage vows. Didn’t ⌞God⌟ make you one? Your flesh and spirit belong to him. And what does the same ⌞God⌟ look for but godly descendants? So be careful not to be unfaithful to the wife of your youth. 16“I hate divorce,” says the Lord God of Israel. “I hate the person who covers himself with violence,” says the Lord of Armies. “Be careful not to be unfaithful.” 17You have tried the patience of the Lord with your words. But you ask, “How have we tried his patience?” When you say, “Everyone who does evil is considered good by the Lord. He is pleased with them,” or “Where is the God of justice?”
Read all of Malachi 2Malachi 2:15 word by word
וְלֹא־אֶחָ֣ד עָשָׂ֗ה וּשְׁאָ֥ר ר֙וּחַ֙ ל֔וֹ וּמָה֙ הָֽאֶחָ֔ד מְבַקֵּ֖שׁ זֶ֣רַע אֱלֹהִ֑ים וְנִשְׁמַרְתֶּם֙ בְּר֣וּחֲכֶ֔ם וּבְאֵ֥שֶׁת נְעוּרֶ֖יךָ אַל־יִבְגֹּֽד׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- And did not he makeעָשָׂה‛âώâh · to makeH6213
- oneאֶחָד'echâd · oneH259
- Yet had he the residueשְׁאָרshe'âr · remnantH7605
- of the spiritרוּחַrûach · spiritH7307
- That he might seekבָּקַשׁbâqash · to seekH1245
- a godlyאֱלֹהִים'ĕlôhîym · GodH430
- seedזֶ֫רַעzera‛ · seed: childrenH2233
- Therefore take heedשָׁמַרshâmar · to keep: guardH8104
- and let none deal treacherouslyבָּגַדbâgad · to act treacherouslyH898
- against the wifeאִשָּׁה'ishshâh nâshîym · woman: wifeH802
- of his youthנְעוּרִיםnâ‛ûr nâ‛ûr ne‛ûrâh · youthH5271
Cross-references for Malachi 2:15
- Genesis 1:27So God created humans in his image. In the image of God he created them. He created them male and female.
- Genesis 2:20So the man named all the domestic animals, all the birds, and all the wild animals. But the man found no helper who was right for him.
- Matthew 19:4Jesus answered, “Haven’t you read that the Creator made them male and female in the beginning
- Mark 10:6But God made them male and female in the beginning, at creation.
- 1 Corinthians 7:2But in order to avoid sexual sins, each man should have his own wife, and each woman should have her own husband.
- Genesis 2:7Then the Lord God formed the man from the dust of the earth and blew the breath of life into his nostrils. The man became a living being.
- Job 27:3‘As long as there is one breath ⌞left⌟ in me and God’s breath fills my nostrils,
- Ecclesiastes 12:7Then the dust ⌞of mortals⌟ goes back to the ground as it was before, and the breath of life goes back to God who gave it.
- John 20:22After he had said this, he breathed on the disciples and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.
- Genesis 24:3I want you to swear by the Lord God of heaven and earth that you will not get my son a wife from the daughters of the Canaanites among whom I’m living.
- Genesis 26:34When Esau was 40 years old, he married Judith, daughter of Beeri the Hittite. He also married Basemath, daughter of Elon the Hittite.
- Genesis 27:46Rebekah said to Isaac, “I can’t stand Hittite women! If Jacob marries a Hittite woman like one of those from around here, I might as well die.”
- Genesis 28:2Quick! Go to Paddan Aram. Go to the home of Bethuel, your mother’s father, and get yourself a wife from there from the daughters of your uncle Laban.
- Deuteronomy 7:4These people will turn your children away from me to worship other gods. Then the Lord will get very angry with you and will quickly destroy you.
- Ezra 9:4Since the former exiles had been unfaithful, everyone who gathered around me there trembled at the words of the God of Israel. I sat in shock until the evening sacrifice.
- Nehemiah 13:24Half their children spoke the language of Ashdod or one of the other languages, but they couldn’t understand the language of Judah well enough to speak it.
Commentaries on Malachi 2:15
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 15And did not he make one? - One of each kind, Adam and Eve. Yet had he the residue of the Spirit, he could have made millions of pairs, and inspired them all with living souls. Then wherefore one? He made one pair from whom all the rest might proceed, that he might have a holy offspring; that children being a marked property of one man and one woman, proper care might be taken that they should be brought up in the discipline of the Lord. Perhaps the holy…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 15And did not He - , God, of whom he had spoken as the witness between man and his wife, “make one,” namely, Adam first, to mark the oneness of marriage and make it a law of nature, appointing “that out of man (created in His own image and similitude), woman should take her beginning, and, knitting them together, did teach that it should never be lawful to put asunder those, whom He by matrimony had made one?” “Between those two, and consequently between…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. 10-16Malachi’s third message shows that the failure to keep the covenant spread from the priests to all the people. They did not keep their promises to the Lord or to their fellow citizens when they married foreign women. They also broke their promises to their wives when they divorced them. The prophet now addresses the people as fellow members of the community. This marks a clear change in tone. He moves from sharp accusation to an inclusive appeal (Malachi…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 2:15
In the dictionaries
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
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