New English Translation
Malachi 2:16
16“I hate divorce,” says the Lord God of Israel, “and the one who is guilty of violence,” says the Lord who rules over all. “Pay attention to your conscience, and do not be unfaithful.”
Malachi 2:16 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)For the Lord, the God of Israel, saith that he hateth putting away: for one covereth violence with his garment, saith the Lord of hosts: therefore take heed to your spirit, that ye deal not treacherously.
- New International Version (NIV)“The man who hates and divorces his wife,” says the Lord, the God of Israel, “does violence to the one he should protect,” says the Lord Almighty. So be on your guard, and do not be unfaithful.
- English Standard Version (ESV)"For the man who does not love his wife but divorces her, says the Lord, the God of Israel, covers his garment with violence, says the Lord of hosts. So guard yourselves in your spirit, and do not be faithless."
- New King James Version (NKJV)“For the Lord God of Israel says That He hates divorce, For it covers one’s garment with violence,” Says the Lord of hosts. “Therefore take heed to your spirit, That you do not deal treacherously.”
Context of Malachi 2:16
14Yet you ask, “Why?” The Lord is testifying against you on behalf of the wife you married when you were young, to whom you have become unfaithful even though she is your companion and wife by law. 15No one who has even a small portion of the Spirit in him does this. What did our ancestor do when seeking a child from God? Be attentive, then, to your own spirit, for one should not be disloyal to the wife he took in his youth. “I hate divorce,” says the Lord God of Israel, “and the one who is guilty of violence,” says the Lord who rules over all. “Pay attention to your conscience, and do not be unfaithful.” 17You have wearied the Lord with your words. But you say, “How have we wearied him?” Because you say, “Everyone who does evil is good in the Lord’s opinion, and he delights in them,” or “Where is the God of justice?”
Read all of Malachi 2Malachi 2:16 word by word
כִּֽי־שָׂנֵ֣א שַׁלַּ֗ח אָמַ֤ר יְהוָה֙ אֱלֹהֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל וְכִסָּ֤ה חָמָס֙ עַל־לְבוּשׁ֔וֹ אָמַ֖ר יְהוָ֣ה צְבָא֑וֹת וְנִשְׁמַרְתֶּ֥ם בְּרוּחֲכֶ֖ם וְלֹ֥א תִבְגֹּֽדוּ׃ סRead the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- For the Lordיְהֹוָהyehôvâh · LORDH3068
- the Godאֱלֹהִים'ĕlôhîym · GodH430
- of Israelיִשְׂרָאֵלyiώrâ'êl · IsraelH3478
- saithאָמַר'âmar · to sayH559
- that he hatethשָׂנֵאώânê' · to hateH8130
- putting awayשָׁלַחshâlach · to send: divorceH7971
- coverethכָּסָהkâsâh · to coverH3680
- violenceחָמָסchâmâs · violenceH2555
- with his garmentלְבוּשׁlebûsh lebûsh · clothingH3830
- of hostsצָבָאtsâbâ' tsebâ'âh · HostsH6635
- therefore take heedשָׁמַרshâmar · to keep: guardH8104
- to your spiritרוּחַrûach · spiritH7307
- that ye deal not treacherouslyבָּגַדbâgad · to act treacherouslyH898
Cross-references for Malachi 2:16
- Deuteronomy 24:1If a man marries a woman and she does not please him because he has found something offensive in her, then he may draw up a divorce document, give it to her, and evict her from his house.
- Isaiah 50:1This is what the Lord says: “Where is your mother’s divorce certificate by which I divorced her? Or to which of my creditors did I sell you? Look, you were sold because of your sins; because of your rebellious acts I divorced your mother.
- Matthew 5:31“It was said, ‘Whoever divorces his wife must give her a legal document.’
- Matthew 19:3Then some Pharisees came to him in order to test him. They asked, “Is it lawful to divorce a wife for any cause?”
- Mark 10:2Then some Pharisees came, and to test him they asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?”
- Luke 16:18“Everyone who divorces his wife and marries someone else commits adultery, and the one who marries a woman divorced from her husband commits adultery.
- Proverbs 28:13The one who covers his transgressions will not prosper, but whoever confesses them and forsakes them will find mercy.
- Isaiah 28:20For the bed is too short to stretch out on, and the blanket is too narrow to wrap around oneself.
- Isaiah 59:6Their webs cannot be used for clothing; they cannot cover themselves with what they make. Their deeds are sinful; they commit violent crimes.
- Micah 7:2Faithful men have disappeared from the land; there are no godly men left. They all wait in ambush so they can shed blood; they hunt their own brother with a net.
Commentaries on Malachi 2:16
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 16For the Lord - hateth putting away - He abominates all such divorces, and him that makes them. Covereth violence with his garment - And he also notes those who frame idle excuses to cover the violence they have done to the wives of their youth, by putting them away, and taking others in their place, whom they now happen to like better, when their own wives have been worn down in domestic services.Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 16He hateth putting away - oHe had allowed it “for the hardness of their hearts,” yet only in the one case of some extreme bodily foulness discovered upon marriage, and which the woman, knowing the law, concealed at her own peril. Not subsequent illness or any consequences of it, however loathsome (as leprosy), were a ground of divorce, but only this concealed foulness, which the husband “found” upon marriage. The capricious tyrannical divorce, God saith…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. 16hate: God dislikes a broken promise (see Malachi 1:3; Hosea 9:15). This is fitting because God's relationship with people is based on faithfulness, and he expected the same from Israel (Exodus 34:6; Deuteronomy 7:9). To divorce (literally send away) means to force a marriage partner to leave. Malachi wanted to address the misuse of divorce laws (see Deuteronomy 24:1–4). covers his garment with violence: Cruelty involves acts of violence or wrongdoing…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 2:16
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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