New Living Translation
Malachi 4:6
6His preaching will turn the hearts of fathers to their children, and the hearts of children to their fathers. Otherwise I will come and strike the land with a curse.”
Malachi 4:6 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.
- New International Version (NIV)He will turn the hearts of the parents to their children, and the hearts of the children to their parents; or else I will come and strike the land with total destruction.”
- English Standard Version (ESV)And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction."
- New King James Version (NKJV)And he will turn The hearts of the fathers to the children, And the hearts of the children to their fathers, Lest I come and strike the earth with a curse.”
Context of Malachi 4:6
4“Remember to obey the Law of Moses, my servant—all the decrees and regulations that I gave him on Mount Sinai for all Israel. 5“Look, I am sending you the prophet Elijah before the great and dreadful day of the Lord arrives. His preaching will turn the hearts of fathers to their children, and the hearts of children to their fathers. Otherwise I will come and strike the land with a curse.”
Read all of Malachi 4Malachi 4:6 word by word
וְהֵשִׁ֤יב לֵב־אָבוֹת֙ עַל־בָּנִ֔ים וְלֵ֥ב בָּנִ֖ים עַל־אֲבוֹתָ֑ם פֶּן־אָב֕וֹא וְהִכֵּיתִ֥י אֶת־הָאָ֖רֶץ חֵֽרֶם׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- And he shall turnשׁוּבshûb · to return: turn backH7725
- the heartלֵבlêb · heartH3820
- of the fathersאָב'âb · fatherH1
- to the childrenבֵּןbên · son: childH1121
- lest I comeבּוֹאbô' · to come (in): comeH935
- and smiteנָכָהnâkâh · to smiteH5221
- the earthאֶ֫רֶץ'erets · land: country/planetH776
- with a curseחֵ֫רֶםchêrem cherem · devoted thingH2764
Cross-references for Malachi 4:6
- Luke 1:16And he will turn many Israelites to the Lord their God.
- Isaiah 61:2He has sent me to tell those who mourn that the time of the Lord’s favor has come, and with it, the day of God’s anger against their enemies.
- Daniel 9:26“After this period of sixty-two sets of seven, the Anointed One will be killed, appearing to have accomplished nothing, and a ruler will arise whose armies will destroy the city and the Temple. The end will come with a flood, and war and its miseries are decreed from that time to the very end.
- Zechariah 11:6Likewise, I will no longer have pity on the people of the land,” says the Lord. “I will let them fall into each other’s hands and into the hands of their king. They will turn the land into a wilderness, and I will not rescue them.”
- Zechariah 13:8Two-thirds of the people in the land will be cut off and die,” says the Lord. “But one-third will be left in the land.
- Zechariah 14:2I will gather all the nations to fight against Jerusalem. The city will be taken, the houses looted, and the women raped. Half the population will be taken into captivity, and the rest will be left among the ruins of the city.
- Matthew 22:7“The king was furious, and he sent out his army to destroy the murderers and burn their town.
- Matthew 23:35As a result, you will be held responsible for the murder of all godly people of all time—from the murder of righteous Abel to the murder of Zechariah son of Berekiah, whom you killed in the Temple between the sanctuary and the altar.
- Matthew 24:27For as the lightning flashes in the east and shines to the west, so it will be when the Son of Man comes.
- Mark 13:14“The day is coming when you will see the sacrilegious object that causes desecration standing where he should not be.” (Reader, pay attention!) “Then those in Judea must flee to the hills.
- Luke 19:41But as he came closer to Jerusalem and saw the city ahead, he began to weep.
- Luke 21:22For those will be days of God’s vengeance, and the prophetic words of the Scriptures will be fulfilled.
- Deuteronomy 29:19“Those who hear the warnings of this curse should not congratulate themselves, thinking, ‘I am safe, even though I am following the desires of my own stubborn heart.’ This would lead to utter ruin!
- Isaiah 24:6Therefore, a curse consumes the earth. Its people must pay the price for their sin. They are destroyed by fire, and only a few are left alive.
- Isaiah 43:28That is why I have disgraced your priests; I have decreed complete destruction for Jacob and shame for Israel.
- Isaiah 65:15Your name will be a curse word among my people, for the Sovereign Lord will destroy you and will call his true servants by another name.
Commentaries on Malachi 4:6
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 6And he shall turn (convert) the heart of the fathers (על al, with) the children - Or, together with the children; both old and young. Lest I come, and, finding them unconverted, smote the land with a curse, חרם cherem, utter extinction. So we find that, had the Jews turned to God, and received the Messiah at the preaching of John the Baptist and that of Christ and his apostles, the awful חרם cherem of final excision and execration would not have been…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 6And he shall turn the hearts of the fathers unto the children - Now they were unlike, and severed by that unlikeness from each other. Yet not on earth, for on earth parents and children were alike alienated from God, and united between themselves in wickedness or worldliness. The common love of the world or of worldly pursuits, or gain or self-exaltation, or making a fortune or securing it, is, so far, a common bond of interest to those of one family…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 4-6Verses 4-6 Here is a solemn conclusion, not only of this prophecy, but of the Old Testament. Conscience bids us remember the law. Though we have not prophets, yet, as long as we have Bibles, we may keep up our communion with God. Let others boast in their proud reasoning, and call it enlightening, but let us keep near to that sacred word, through which this Sun of Righteousness shines upon the souls of his people. They must keep up a believing expectation…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 6he will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children: Two key themes in Malachi and the Old Testament prophets are turning hearts and reconciliation. In the Old Testament, turn means repentance and a complete change of loyalties. Turning toward God results in reconciliation between generations (see 2 Corinthians 5:18–20). strike the land with a curse: The word curse means total destruction (see Deuteronomy 7:26; 1 Samuel 15:18; Zechariah 14:11). The…Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 66. turn ... heart of ... fathers to ... children, &c.--Explained by some, that John's preaching should restore harmony in families. But Lu 1:16, 17 substitutes for "the heart of the children to the fathers," "the disobedient to the wisdom of the just," implying that the reconciliation to be effected was that between the unbelieving disobedient children and the believing ancestors, Jacob, Levi, "Moses," and "Elijah" (just mentioned) (compare Mal 1:2; 2:4…Read the comment
Topics related to Malachi 4:6
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Malachi 4
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- 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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