New King James Version
Malachi 2:14
14Yet 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.
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 Living Translation (NLT)You cry out, “Why doesn’t the Lord accept my worship?” I’ll tell you why! Because the Lord witnessed the vows you and your wife made when you were young. But you have been unfaithful to her, though she remained your faithful partner, the wife of your marriage vows.
Context of Malachi 2:14
12May the Lord cut off from the tents of Jacob The man who does this, being awake and aware, Yet who brings an offering to the Lord of hosts! 13And this is the second thing you do: You cover the altar of the Lord with tears, With weeping and crying; So He does not regard the offering anymore, Nor receive it with goodwill from your hands. 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. 15But 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. 16“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.”
Read all of Malachi 2Malachi 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
Words taken from the KJV.
- Yet ye sayאָמַר'âmar · to sayH559
- Whereforeמָהmâh mah mâ ma meh · what?H4100
- Because the Lordיְהֹוָהyehôvâh · LORDH3068
- hath been witnessעוּד‛ûd · to testifyH5749
- between thee and the wifeאִשָּׁה'ishshâh nâshîym · woman: wifeH802
- of thy youthנְעוּרִיםnâ‛ûr nâ‛ûr ne‛ûrâh · youthH5271
- against whom thou hast dealt treacherouslyבָּגַדbâgad · to act treacherouslyH898
- she thy companionחֲבֶ֫רֶתchăbereth · consortH2278
- of thy covenantבְּרִיתberîyth · covenantH1285
Cross-references for Malachi 2:14
- Malachi 1:6“A son honors his father, And a servant his master. If then I am the Father, Where is My honor? And if I am a Master, Where is My reverence? Says the Lord of hosts To you priests who despise My name. Yet you say, ‘In what way have we despised Your name?’
- Malachi 3:8“Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed Me! But you say, ‘In what way 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 wickedness.”
- Isaiah 58:3‘Why have we fasted,’ they say, ‘and You have not seen? Why have we afflicted our souls, and You take no notice?’ “In fact, in the day of your fast you find pleasure, And exploit all your laborers.
- Jeremiah 8:12Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? No! They were not at all ashamed, Nor did they know how to blush. Therefore they shall fall among those who fall; In the time of their punishment They shall be cast down,” says the Lord.
- Malachi 3:5And I will come near you for judgment; I will be a swift witness Against sorcerers, Against adulterers, Against perjurers, Against those who exploit wage earners and widows and orphans, And against those who turn away an alien— Because they do not fear Me,” Says the Lord of hosts.
- Genesis 31:50If you afflict my daughters, or if you take other wives besides my daughters, although no man is with us—see, God is witness between you and me!”
- Judges 11:10And the elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, “The Lord will be a witness between us, if we do not do according to your words.”
- 1 Samuel 12:5Then he said to them, “The Lord is witness against you, and His anointed is witness this day, that you have not found anything in my hand.” And they answered, “He is witness.”
- Jeremiah 42:5So they said to Jeremiah, “Let the Lord be a true and faithful witness between us, if we do not do according to everything which the Lord your God sends us by you.
- Micah 1:2Hear, all you peoples! Listen, O earth, and all that is in it! Let the Lord God be a witness against you, The Lord from His holy temple.
- Malachi 2:15But 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.
- Proverbs 5:18Let your fountain be blessed, And rejoice with the wife of your youth.
- Ecclesiastes 9:9Live joyfully with the wife whom you love all the days of your vain life which He has given you under the sun, all your days of vanity; for that is your portion in life, and in the labor which you perform under the sun.
- Isaiah 54:6For the Lord has called you Like a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit, Like a youthful wife when you were refused,” Says your God.
- Genesis 2:18And the Lord God said, “It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to 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
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
New King James Version — © 1982 Thomas Nelson, Inc
Commentaries