Tree of Life Version
Malachi 3:2
2But who can endure the day of His coming? Or who can stand when He appears? For He will be like a refiner’s fire, and like soap for cleaning raw wool.
Malachi 3:2 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he is like a refiner’s fire, and like fullers’ soap:
- New International Version (NIV)But who can endure the day of his coming? Who can stand when he appears? For he will be like a refiner’s fire or a launderer’s soap.
- English Standard Version (ESV)But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner's fire and like fullers' soap.
- New King James Version (NKJV)“But who can endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For He is like a refiner’s fire And like launderers’ soap.
Context of Malachi 3:2
1“Behold, I am sending My messenger, and he will clear the way before Me. Suddenly He will come to His Temple —the Lord whom you seek— and the Messenger of the covenant —the One whom you desire— behold, He is coming,” says Adonai-Tzva’ot. But who can endure the day of His coming? Or who can stand when He appears? For He will be like a refiner’s fire, and like soap for cleaning raw wool. 3And He will sit as a smelter or a purifier of silver, and He will cleanse the sons of Levi, and purify them like gold or silver. Then they will become for Adonai those who present an offering in righteousness. 4Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to Adonai, as in days of antiquity and years of old.
Read all of Malachi 3Malachi 3:2 word by word
וּמִ֤י מְכַלְכֵּל֙ אֶת־י֣וֹם בּוֹא֔וֹ וּמִ֥י הָעֹמֵ֖ד בְּהֵרָֽאוֹת֑וֹ כִּֽי־הוּא֙ כְּאֵ֣שׁ מְצָרֵ֔ף וּכְבֹרִ֖ית מְכַבְּסִֽים׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- But who may abideכּוּלkûl · to sustainH3557
- the dayיוֹםyôm · dayH3117
- of his comingבּוֹאbô' · to come (in): comeH935
- and who shall standעָמַד‛âmad · to stand: standH5975
- when he appearethרָאָהrâ'âh · to see: seeH7200
- like a refiner’sצָרַףtsâraph · to refineH6884
- fireאֵשׁ'êsh · fireH784
- and like fullers’כָּבַסkâbas · to washH3526
- soapבֹּרִיתbôrîyth · lyeH1287
Cross-references for Malachi 3:2
- Amos 5:18Oy to you—longing for the Day of Adonai! What would it be for you? The Day of Adonai will be darkness and not light.
- Matthew 3:7But when he saw many Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his immersion, he said to them, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?
- Matthew 21:31Which of the two did the will of the father?” “The first,” they said. Yeshua said to them, “Amen, I tell you, the tax collectors and prostitutes are going ahead of you into the kingdom of God.
- Matthew 23:13“But woe to you, Torah scholars and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut people out of the kingdom of heaven. For you do not enter yourselves, nor do you let those enter who are trying to go in.
- Matthew 25:10“But while they were going off to buy, the bridegroom came. And those who were ready went in with him to the wedding feast, and the door was shut.
- Luke 2:34And Simeon offered a bracha over them and said to Miriam His mother, “Behold, this One is destined to cause the fall and rise of many in Israel, and to be a sign that is opposed,
- Luke 3:9Even now the axe is laid at the root of the trees, so every tree that does not produce good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire!”
- Luke 7:23Blessed is he who is not led to stumble because of Me.”
- Luke 11:37As He spoke, a Pharisee asked Yeshua to eat with him, so He entered and sat down.
- Luke 21:36But stay alert at all times, praying that you may have the strength to escape all these things about to happen, and to stand before the Son of Man.”
- John 6:42They were saying, “Isn’t this Yeshua the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can He now say, ‘I have come down from heaven’?”
- John 8:41You are doing the deeds of your father.” They said to Him, “We were not born as illegitimate children—we have one Father, God Himself!”
- John 9:39Yeshua said, “For judgment I came into this world, so that those who don’t see may see, and the ones who do see may become blind.”
- John 15:22If I had not come and spoken to them, they would have no sin. But now they have no excuse for their sin.
- Acts 7:52Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? They killed the ones who foretold the coming of the Righteous One. Now you have become His betrayers and murderers—
Commentaries on Malachi 3:2
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 2But who may abide the day of his coming? - Only they who shall believe on his name; for they that will not, shall be blinded, and the unbelieving nations shall be destroyed by the Romans. Like fuller's soap - כברית keborith, from ברר barar, to cleanse, any thing that deterges. Kali, or fern ashes, or such things. I doubt whether the composition which we call soap, was known in ancient times.Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 2And who may abide the day of His coming? And who shall stand when He appeareth? - The implied answer is, “No one;” as in the Psalm Psalm 130:3, “If Thou, Lord, wilt mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand?” Joel had asked the same, “The day of the Lord is great and very terrible; and who can abide it?” “How can the weakness of man endure such might; his blindness, such light; his frailty, such power; his uncleanness, such holiness; the chaff, such a…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 2refiner's fire: The people's wickedness must be removed through divine testing and punishment (Isaiah 1:25; Jeremiah 6:29; Ezekiel 22:22). launderer's soap: An alkaline detergent was made from plants (see Jeremiah 2:22). The blazing fire and strong soap represent the testing and cleansing needed to restore Israel's faithfulness to its covenant with the Lord.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 22. (Mal 4:1; Re 6:16, 17). The Messiah would come, not, as they expected, to flatter the theocratic nation's prejudices, but to subject their principles to the fiery test of His heart-searching truth (Mt 3:10-12), and to destroy Jerusalem and the theocracy after they had rejected Him. His mission is here regarded as a whole from the first to the second advent: the process of refining and separating the godly from the ungodly beginning during Christ's stay…Read the comment
Topics related to Malachi 3:2
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Malachi 3
- 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
Tree of Life Version — © 2015 The Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society
Commentaries