New King James Version
Malachi 2:16
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.”
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 Living Translation (NLT)“For I hate divorce!” says the Lord, the God of Israel. “To divorce your wife is to overwhelm her with cruelty,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. “So guard your heart; do not be unfaithful to your wife.”
Context of Malachi 2:16
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. 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. “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.” 17You have wearied the Lord with your words; Yet you say, “In what way have we wearied Him?” In that you say, “Everyone who does evil Is good in the sight of the Lord, 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 24:1“When a man takes a wife and marries her, and it happens that she finds no favor in his eyes because he has found some uncleanness in her, and he writes her a certificate of divorce, puts it in her hand, and sends her out of his house,
- Isaiah 50:1Thus says the Lord: “Where is the certificate of your mother’s divorce, Whom I have put away? Or which of My creditors is it to whom I have sold you? For your iniquities you have sold yourselves, And for your transgressions your mother has been put away.
- Matthew 5:31“Furthermore it has been said, ‘Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.’
- Matthew 19:3The Pharisees also came to Him, testing Him, and saying to Him, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for just any reason?”
- Mark 10:2The Pharisees came and asked Him, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?” testing Him.
- Luke 16:18“Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery; and whoever marries her who is divorced from her husband commits adultery.
- Proverbs 28:13He who covers his sins will not prosper, But whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy.
- Isaiah 28:20For the bed is too short to stretch out on, And the covering so narrow that one cannot wrap himself in it.
- Isaiah 59:6Their webs will not become garments, Nor will they cover themselves with their works; Their works are works of iniquity, And the act of violence is in their hands.
- Micah 7:2The faithful man has perished from the earth, And there is no one upright among men. They all lie in wait for blood; Every man hunts his 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
New King James Version — © 1982 Thomas Nelson, Inc
Commentaries