Malachi 2:3

Malachi 2:3 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Behold, I will corrupt your seed, and spread dung upon your faces, even the dung of your solemn feasts; and one shall take you away with it.
• New International Version (NIV)“Because of you I will rebuke your descendants; I will smear on your faces the dung from your festival sacrifices, and you will be carried off with it.
• English Standard Version (ESV)Behold, I will rebuke your offspring, and spread dung on your faces, the dung of your offerings, and you shall be taken away with it.
• New Living Translation (NLT)I will punish your descendants and splatter your faces with the manure from your festival sacrifices, and I will throw you on the manure pile.

Context of Malachi 2:3

1“And now, O priests, this commandment is for you. 2If you will not hear, And if you will not take it to heart, To give glory to My name,” Says the Lord of hosts, “I will send a curse upon you, And I will curse your blessings. Yes, I have cursed them already, Because you do not take it to heart. “Behold, I will rebuke your descendants And spread refuse on your faces, The refuse of your solemn feasts; And one will take you away with it. 4Then you shall know that I have sent this commandment to you, That My covenant with Levi may continue,” Says the Lord of hosts. 5“My covenant was with him, one of life and peace, And I gave them to him that he might fear Me; So he feared Me And was reverent before My name.

Malachi 2:3 word by word

הִנְנִ֨י גֹעֵ֤ר לָכֶם֙ אֶת־הַזֶּ֔רַע וְזֵרִ֤יתִי פֶ֙רֶשׁ֙ עַל־פְּנֵיכֶ֔ם פֶּ֖רֶשׁ חַגֵּיכֶ֑ם וְנָשָׂ֥א אֶתְכֶ֖ם אֵלָֽיו׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Behold, I will corruptגָּעַרgâ‛ar · to rebukeH1605
• your seedזֶ֫רַעzera‛ · seed: childrenH2233
• and spreadזָרָהzârâh · to scatterH2219
• dungפֶּ֫רֶשׁperesh · fæcal matterH6569
• upon your facesפָּנֶהpânîym · faceH6440
• of your solemn feastsחַגchag châg · feastH2282
• shall take you awayנָשָׂאnâώâ' nâsâh · to lift: bearH5375

Cross-references for Malachi 2:3

• Joel 1:17The seed shrivels under the clods, Storehouses are in shambles; Barns are broken down, For the grain has withered.
• Malachi 2:9“Therefore I also have made you contemptible and base Before all the people, Because you have not kept My ways But have shown partiality in the law.”
• 1 Samuel 2:29Why do you kick at My sacrifice and My offering which I have commanded in My dwelling place, and honor your sons more than Me, to make yourselves fat with the best of all the offerings of Israel My people?’
• 1 Kings 14:10therefore behold! I will bring disaster on the house of Jeroboam, and will cut off from Jeroboam every male in Israel, bond and free; I will take away the remnant of the house of Jeroboam, as one takes away refuse until it is all gone.
• 2 Kings 9:36Therefore they came back and told him. And he said, “This is the word of the Lord, which He spoke by His servant Elijah the Tishbite, saying, ‘On the plot of ground at Jezreel dogs shall eat the flesh of Jezebel;
• Job 20:7Yet he will perish forever like his own refuse; Those who have seen him will say, ‘Where is he?’
• Psalms 83:10Who perished at En Dor, Who became as refuse on the earth.
• Jeremiah 8:2They shall spread them before the sun and the moon and all the host of heaven, which they have loved and which they have served and after which they have walked, which they have sought and which they have worshiped. They shall not be gathered nor buried; they shall be like refuse on the face of the earth.
• Nahum 3:6I will cast abominable filth upon you, Make you vile, And make you a spectacle.
• Luke 14:35It is neither fit for the land nor for the dunghill, but men throw it out. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!”
• 1 Corinthians 4:13being defamed, we entreat. We have been made as the filth of the world, the offscouring of all things until now.

Commentaries on Malachi 2:3

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 3Behold, I will corrupt your seed - So as to render it unfruitful. Newcome translates, - "I will take away from you the shoulder." This was the part that belonged to the priest, Leviticus 7:32; Deuteronomy 18:3. Spread dung upon your faces - Instead of receiving a sacrifice at your hands, I will throw your offerings back into your faces. Here God shows his contempt for them and their offerings.Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 3Lo, I will rebuke the seed for your sake - oi. e., that it should not grow. He who worketh by His sustaining will all the operations of nature, would at His will withhold them. Neither priests nor Levites cultivated the soil; yet, since the tithes were assigned to them, the diminution of the harvest affected them. The meal-offering too was a requisite part of the sacrifice. (See also Joel 1:13; Joel 2:14.) And spread dung upon your phaces, the dung o of…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 1-9Malachi’s second message confirms the Lord as God and father of Israel. God alone deserves true worship. The first part (Malachi 1:6–14) shows how the Israelites dishonored God despite his fatherly care and great power. The second part (Malachi 2:1–9) warns the priests of Judah against sacrificing sick and defective animals and criticizes them for not teaching God’s instructions (2:6–8).Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 33. corrupt, &c.--literally, "rebuke," answering to the opposite prophecy of blessing (Mal 3:11), "I will rebuke the devourer." To rebuke the seed is to forbid its growing. your--literally, "for you"; that is, to your hurt. dung of ... solemn feasts--The dung in the maw of the victims sacrificed on the feast days; the maw was the perquisite of the priests (De 18:3), which gives peculiar point to the threat here. You shall get the dung of the maw as your…Read the comment

Topics related to Malachi 2:3

• Minister, Christian

In the dictionaries

• Corrupt
• Profane
• Wherein
• Dung; Dung Gate
• Malachi
• 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