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

12As for the man who does this, may the Lord eliminate from the tents of Jacob everyone who is awake and answers, or who presents an offering to the Lord of armies. 13And this is another thing you do: you cover the altar of the Lord with tears, with weeping and sighing, because He no longer gives attention to the offering or accepts it with favor from your hand. Yet you say, “For what reason?” Because the Lord has been a witness between you and the wife of your youth, against whom you have dealt treacherously, though she is your marriage companion and your wife by covenant. 15But not one has done so who has a remnant of the Spirit. And why the one? He was seeking a godly offspring. Be careful then about your spirit, and see that none of you deals treacherously against the wife of your youth. 16“For I hate divorce,” says the Lord, the God of Israel, “and him who covers his garment with violence,” says the Lord of armies. “So be careful about your spirit, that you do not deal treacherously.”

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

• Yet you sayאָמַר'âmar · to sayH559
• Forעַל‛al · uponH5921
• whatמָהmâh mah mâ ma meh · what?H4100
• Becauseכִּיkîy · forH3588
• the Lordיְהֹוָהyehôvâh · LORDH3068
• has beenעוּד‛ûd · to testifyH5749
• betweenבַּ֫יִןbêyn · betweenH996
• wifeאִשָּׁה'ishshâh nâshîym · woman: wifeH802
• of your youthנְעוּרִיםnâ‛ûr nâ‛ûr ne‛ûrâh · youthH5271
• against whomאֲשֶׁר'ăsher · whichH834
• you have dealtבָּגַדbâgad · to act treacherouslyH898
• though she is your marriageחֲבֶ֫רֶתchăbereth · consortH2278
• by covenantבְּרִיתberîyth · covenantH1285

Cross-references for Malachi 2:14

• Malachi 1:6“‘A son honors his father, and a servant his master. Then if I am a father, where is My honor? And if I am a master, where is My respect?’ says the Lord of armies to you, the priests who despise My name! But you say, ‘How have we despised Your name?’
• Malachi 3:8“Would anyone rob God? Yet you are robbing Me! But you say, ‘How have we robbed You?’ In tithes and offerings.
• Proverbs 30:20This is the way of an adulterous woman: She eats and wipes her mouth, And says, “I have done no wrong.”
• Isaiah 58:3‘Why have we fasted and You do not see? Why have we humbled ourselves and You do not notice?’ Behold, on the day of your fast you find your desire, And oppress all your workers.
• Jeremiah 8:12Were they ashamed because of the abomination they had done? They were not ashamed at all, And they did not know how to be ashamed; Therefore they will fall among those who fall; At the time of their punishment they will collapse,” Says the Lord.
• Malachi 3:5“Then I will come near to you for judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, the adulterers, against those who swear falsely, those who oppress the wage earner in his wages or the widow or the orphan, and those who turn away the stranger from justice and do not fear Me,” says the Lord of armies.
• Genesis 31:50If you mistreat my daughters, or if you take wives besides my daughters, although no one is with us, see, God is witness between you and me.”
• Judges 11:10And the elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, “The Lord is witness between us; be assured we will do as you have said.”
• 1 Samuel 12:5So he said to them, “The Lord is witness against you, and His anointed is witness this day that you have found nothing in my hand.” And they said, “He is witness.”
• Jeremiah 42:5Then they said to Jeremiah, “May the Lord be a true and faithful witness against us if we do not act in accordance with the whole message with which the Lord your God will send you to us.
• Micah 1:2Hear, you peoples, all of you; Listen carefully, earth and all it contains, And may the Lord God be a witness against you, The Lord from His holy temple.
• Malachi 2:15But not one has done so who has a remnant of the Spirit. And why the one? He was seeking a godly offspring. Be careful then about your spirit, and see that none of you deals treacherously against the wife of your youth.
• Proverbs 5:18Let your fountain be blessed, And rejoice in the wife of your youth.
• Ecclesiastes 9:9Enjoy life with the wife whom you love all the days of your futile life which He has given you under the sun, all the days of your futility; for this is your reward in life and in your work which you have labored under the sun.
• Isaiah 54:6For the Lord has called you, Like a wife forsaken and grieved in spirit, Even like a wife of one’s youth when she is rejected,” Says your God.
• Genesis 2:18Then the Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable 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