Malachi 2:1-8 meaning

Malachi 2:1-8 begins with a rebuke to the priests to change their wicked ways, lest they fall under God’s curse, which He already pronounced against them. The prophet declared, Now, this commandment is for you, O priests (v. 1).

The term commandment in the phrase Now, this commandment is for you, O priests is “mitzvah” in Hebrew. It expresses God’s will and authority. Since the God of Israel is a Father, Judge, and King, He issues orders that His people should follow. In our passage, the target audience is the priests, the religious leaders of Judah.

The commandment will be to honor His name by following His statutes. Verse 2 will give a general command then specific instructions will follow later in the chapter. God will command the priests to speak knowledge and properly teach His people, as He had commanded (Malachi 2:7, Deuteronomy 33:10). He later directs the priests to honor their marriage vows and commands that “no one deal treacherously against the wife of your youth” (Malachi 2:15).

Before making this commandment in Malachi 2:1, God has spent a number of verses in Chapter 1 citing ways in which the priests were erring from living properly according to God’s covenant with them and properly performing their assigned duties. The priests were tasked to represent the people before the LORD by making prayers and sacrifices on their behalf. But they were not following God’s commands.

They were also commanded to teach the people to follow the law, the statutes in God’s covenant/treaty with Israel (Deuteronomy 33:10). That the teachers were breaking the law meant they were violating their sacred responsibility to lead the people to walk in God’s ways.

The previous chapter, Chapter 1, showed how the priests dishonored God by offering defiled food and blemished animals to Him. God wished that at least one priest would take action to counter the disobedience, even drastic action such as locking the temple doors to stop such disobedient offerings. These offerings displeased God, exposed the priests’ deceitful behavior, and brought a curse down upon the worshipers (Malachi 1:10-14).

Through His prophet Malachi, God begins Chapter 2 by restating the basic principle of His covenant/treaty with Israel. It was the priests’ job to know, live, and lead the people to honor and keep their covenant vow (Exodus 19:8). Malachi speaks to the priests on God’s behalf:

If you do not listen and if you do not take it to heart to give honor to My name and if you do not take it to heart to give honor to My name,” says the LORD of hosts, “then I will send the curse upon you and I will curse your blessings; and indeed, I have cursed them already, because you are not taking it to heart (v. 2).

Malachi 2:2 basically restates the first and greatest commandment, to love the LORD with all our heart, mind, and strength (Deuteronomy 6:4, Matthew 22:37-39). The verb listen (“shema” in Hebrew) in Malachi 2:2 describes the activity of hearing and acting upon what is heard. “Shema” is the first word of the greatest commandment verse, Deuteronomy 6:4. That verse is referred to in Jewish tradition as “The Shema.”

The foundation of God’s covenant/treaty with Israel was this first and greatest command to love and obey the LORD. The first four of the Ten Commandments essentially cover this greatest command to love God by stating it in the negative, by prohibiting substitutes for God. That infers that humans are going to love and serve something. The New Testament states this principle plainly (Romans 6:16).

The second great command is to love our neighbors as ourselves (Leviticus 19:18, Matthew 22:37-39). The last five of the Ten Commandments state this principle in the negative, telling us what not to do if we are to love our neighbor. Later in this chapter, Malachi will restate principles from the last five of the Ten Commandments including chastising the priests for speaking and dealing falsely with their brethren (Malachi 2:7-8, 10-11) as well as confronting the priests for forsaking their marriage vows (Malachi 2:15-16).

In the context of God’s covenant relationship with Israel, “shema” (listen) means to both hear and to obey His commands, as indicated in the full verse of Malachi 2:2.

The noun curse in the context of verse 2 means a negative consequence God would send upon the priests in judgment for their evil actions. Curses were set forth as a negative consequence for disobedience to the provisions of God’s covenant/treaty that He made with Israel (Deuteronomy 28:15-68). The people vowed to abide by the words of the covenant/treaty and understood that the curses for disobedience were a part of the covenant agreement (Exodus 19:8).

The LORD is just and keeps His promises, and in this case He promised that there would be adverse consequences, or curses, for disobeying His covenant. If the people refused to obey Him by loving others, there would be negative results (Matthew 22:37-39). Common sense would insist that a society which seeks to exploit rather than love one another will suffer substantial adverse consequences.

The term blessing (“berakhah” in the Hebrew language) is a positive reward from God and may refer to fertility, prosperity, and abundance (Genesis 12:2, 26:12; Deuteronomy 12:7, 33:1). In the context of the priestly blessings, it includes the privilege to minister before the LORD as religious leaders and the material benefits (tithes and portions of sacrificial animals), which the priests received as rewards for their service in the temple.

As a part of His covenant/treaty with Israel, God promised blessings for the Israelites if they would obey the commands of the agreement (Deuteronomy 28:1-14). Many of those blessings would be natural consequences for following God’s commands. It is also common sense that a society will thrive that tells the truth, respects the person and possessions of others, and seeks the best for others as much as for themselves. The reason we can say that it is “common sense” is because the cause-effect relationships God designed into the world are obvious to anyone willing to see.

The priests will suffer adverse consequences for failing to take God’s commands to heart. The term for honor is “kavod” in Hebrew. It denotes heaviness in the physical sense. It is often translated “glory” in scripture, as in Genesis 49:6 and Exodus 16:7.

Glory is the essence of someone or something being observed, as in 1 Corinthians 15:41 where the moon and sun are said to have different kinds of glory, because they differ in essence. The priests were to honor or glorify God’s name by obeying His commandments (Malachi 2:1). In doing so they would display God’s character and serve as an example to lead the people to follow God’s ways. When we follow God’s ways we reflect His nature and creative design, which glorifies Him (John 15:8).

The Hebrew term for LORD is “Yahweh,” the covenant name of God. That name speaks of God’s character and His relationship with His chosen people (Exodus 3:14; 34:6). In this passage, the prophet told his audience that the word came from the LORD, thus giving divine credibility to the message. He wanted the post-exilic Jews to know he received a word from their covenant partner, the LORD of hosts.

The term translated as hosts is “Sabaoth” in the Hebrew language. It means “armies” and often refers to the angelic armies of heaven (1 Samuel 1:3). In prophetic literature, the phrase LORD of hosts often describes God’s power as a warrior leading His army to defeat His adversaries (Amos 5:16, 9:5; Habakkuk 2:17). It was considered to be one of the holiest titles of God. So much so that James in the New Testament chose to transliterate this title rather than translating it into Greek (James 5:4).

Here in Malachi, the phrase LORD of hosts demonstrates God’s power as the supreme commander who has complete control over all human affairs. His dominion over the world prompted Him to command the priests to alter their evil behavior. Failure to comply with the terms of Israel’s covenant vows would result in severe consequences, per the terms of God’s covenant agreement with Israel (Deuteronomy 28:15-68).

The second part of the statement makes it clear that the time for judgment was imminent, when God declared: Then, I will send the curse upon you (v. 2b). Then here refers back to the immediate context. God is saying He will send the curse if the priests do not listen to Him and obey His commandments given through Malachi.

The primary commands God makes to the priests in the immediate context is:

a) to honor His name by listening to and following His commands (the “shema” of Malachi 2:2),

b) to serve the people by living as a good example and giving proper instruction in the Law, as commanded in God’s covenant (Deuteronomy 33:10, Malachi 2:7-8), and

c) to honor the wife of their youth and not divorce them for a younger woman (Malachi 2:15-16).

The first chapter of Malachi outlined the disobedience of the priests. They were guilty of dishonoring God’s covenant by putting forth defiled food and blemished animals in their offerings to Him (Malachi 1:6-9). It is inferred that they were also swindling the people they were supposed to be serving (Malachi 1:14). Taking these things together, we get a picture that the priests were abusing their privileged status to enrich themselves and fulfill their lusts, thus leading the people astray.

Here, the word heart (“levav” in Hebrew) occurs in the phrase if you do not take it to heart to give honor to My name, then is repeated later in verse 2, I have cursed them already, because you are not taking it to heart. “Levav” refers to the deepest human thoughts and intentions, including the rational faculties of the mind.

The prophet infers that his audience, the priests, had an issue of the will, rather than the emotions. They willfully disdained obeying God’s command and forsook their sacred responsibility to be a godly example to the people (Malachi 1:12-13). If they did not repent they would fall under the curse as promised in the covenant/treaty God made with Israel.

The word “levav” (heart) also appears in the Greatest Commandment verse of Deuteronomy 6:4, which is known by its first word “shema” (“hear”): “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart [‘levav’].” This is another instance of Deuteronomy 2:2 mirroring what Jesus called the Greatest Commandment (Matthew 22:37-39).

The LORD emphasized the certainty of His judgment against the priests’ disobedient behavior by saying: Indeed, I have cursed them already. The reason for their judgement was Because you are not taking it to heart. The Greatest Commandment was to love the LORD by hearing His commandments and taking them to heart. The priests were charged by God to lead in instructing the people, but were not even following God’s ways themselves. Therefore God cursed them already. 

In Hebrew, repetition equals emphasis. Since heart appears at the first and last part of Malachi 2:2, and since heart reflects our modern idea of mind and will, then it seems that verse 2 is emphasizing the willful nature of the priest’s disobedience. This underscores a biblical principle that God judges His people for willful disobedience (Hebrews 10:26-27).

Thankfully for New Testament believers, when we are faithful in following the amount of light we have, Jesus covers the things about which we are ignorant (1 John 1:7-8). Further, when we realize we are in sin and our fellowship with God is broken, we can confess our sin and turn to Him and He will forgive us and restore our fellowship with Him (1 John 1:9).

The Hebrew word translated heart is sometimes translated “wisdom” when it refers to someone who has embraced the reality of God’s revelation and chosen to put it into action. The priests were acting foolishly and refusing to acknowledge the truth of God’s word. As a result, they took willful actions of disobedience. Therefore, God had cursed them already. 

Moreover, God’s judgment on the priests would impact their descendants. The prophet Malachi utilized the word Behold to show the imminent nature of the action: Behold, I am going to rebuke your offspring, and I will spread refuse on your faces, the refuse of your feasts; and you will be taken away with it (v. 3).

In the Bible, the term Behold often describes an event about to occur. It serves to focus attention on the statement that follows it. Here, the unexpected event was sad news to the priests as God said, I am going to rebuke your offspring (v. 3). This will be one of the curses, or negative consequences, for breaking their covenant/treaty with God, their Suzerain/ruler. Judgment upon the sons and daughters was a provision in the cursings-for-disobedience portion of God’s covenant/treaty with Israel (Deuteronomy 28:32). God would now invoke the cursings provision of that covenant due to the priests breaking their vow, and presumably leading the people to follow their wicked ways.

The verb rebuke (“gaʿar” in Hebrew) in the phrase Behold, I am going to rebuke your offspring is part of the vocabulary of cursing in the Old Testament. It denotes restraining something to prevent it from working as it should (Malachi 3:11). Using this verb, God told the priests He would disqualify them and remove their descendants from ministering in the sanctuary, which was the privilege allotted to the priests (Numbers 18:20-21).

The LORD then provided a graphic word picture demonstrating that He would remove the priests’ offspring from ministering to Him: I will spread refuse on your faces, the refuse of your feasts, and you will be taken away with it.

The noun refuse (also translated as “dung” or “excrement”) denotes the residual contents of an animal’s stomach. Since it was an unclean substance, the LORD commanded His covenant people to burn it outside the encampment and later outside the gates of Jerusalem (Exodus 29:14; Leviticus 16:27; Nehemiah 3:13, 14). Old Testament writers often used the term figuratively to depict God’s judgment. In 2 Kings 9, God pronounced His judgment on Jezebel and said that her “corpse will be as dung on the face of the field in the property of Jezreel, so they cannot say, ‘This is Jezebel’” (2 Kings 9:37).

Here, the LORD used the term refuse to portray the shame the priests would experience. Casting this substance on their faces would contaminate them and render them impure and incapable of fulfilling their religious duties. This figurative expression evokes the humiliation awaiting the priests as the LORD removes them from their privileged position. He would treat them like animal dung and take them away from their priestly service.

The refuse of your feasts might refer to the dung from animals brought to the temple to be sacrificed. The dung would be scooped up and carried away to keep the temple area clean. The word picture here appears to be that rather than carrying the dung away, it will be spread on your faces. Perhaps this is because the priests are being made to bow in the dung-filled streets to conquerors. The conquering power will thereafter cause them to be taken away along with the dung. 

The people of Judah had already experienced being conquered by Babylon and carried away into exile (2 Kings 25:1-4). They were exiled because they had been unfaithful to keep their covenant vows (1 Chronicles 9:1). But God was faithful to keep His promise to allow them to return. Now the people were being disobedient once again. God promises here to bring judgement, but to also have mercy.

God will be gracious and not judge this generation. Rather, He will judge a later generation, the priest’s offspring. This time of judgment and submission could refer to a later time when Judah will be occupied by the Greeks and severely mistreated. During the second century BC, which might be a couple of centuries after Malachi was written, the Jews suffered substantial persecution under the Greek ruler Antiochus Epiphanes. Antiochus Epiphanes committed various outrages including outlawing Jewish practices and sacrificing a pig on the altar.

The time of judgment could also foreshadow the annihilation of Jerusalem by Rome in the first century. It could include both Greek and Roman oppression, as well as other instances. Whatever time is anticipated, it is clear that the result will be that the priests will realize that they have experienced God’s judgment and will repent and return to Him, as the next verse asserts: “Then you will know that I have sent this commandment to you that My covenant may continue with Levi,” says the LORD of hosts. (v. 4).

It is possible that this foreshadows the time when a group of priests will lead a revolt against Antiochus Epiphanes. The Maccabees were a priestly family that led a revolt which allowed Judah to be independent for a time. In this future time (from Malachi’s day), God would discipline the religious leaders to let them know His instruction was for them.

The purpose for the judgment was that My covenant may continue with Levi. God wanted to preserve His covenant relationship with Israel and would do so through Levi. The tribe of Levi was set apart for religious service including the priesthood. God disciplines those He loves (Deuteronomy 8:5, Hebrews 12:6). This discipline of the priests shows God’s care for them and their descendants.

Levi was the patriarch of the tribe of Levi. This context is referring to the tribe of priests who descended from him. God pronounces that He had a covenant relationship with the Levites. A covenant is a promise between at least two parties to perform some actions. There is a covenant with Levi alluded to in Numbers 25:11-13:

“Behold, I give him My covenant of peace; and it shall be for him and his descendants after him, a covenant of a perpetual priesthood, because he was jealous for his God and made atonement for the sons of Israel.”
(Numbers 25:12-13)

God’s covenant with Levi here involves two parties, God and the Levites, but is an unconditional grant from God to the Levites as a reward for the faithful service of Phinehas the priest, who was zealous for God (Numbers 25:10-11). This is similar to God’s grant to Abraham. God granted the Promised Land to Abraham and his descendants after he parted with Lot and therefore complied fully with God’s command to leave his home and relatives and come to the land He promised (Genesis 13:14-15).

In Numbers, God promised the Levites would have a “perpetual priesthood.” God always keeps His vows or promises. Sometimes His promises are conditional, as in His promise to bless Israel if they would keep the commands of His covenant law (Deuteronomy 28:1-14). In this case of His covenant with the priests in Numbers, His promise is unconditional.

In Jeremiah 33:20-21, God asserts the certainty that He will keep His promises. There He declares that His promise to install a perpetual reign for a descendant of David is as certain as every 24-hour period being divided between day and night. Similarly, God adds “and with the Levitical priests, My ministers” referring to His covenant with them.

God is calling the Levites to serve Him as priests and fulfill their assigned role to teach the Israelites to follow His commands and make intercessory prayers and sacrifices on behalf of the people (Deuteronomy 33:9-10). Since the priests in Malachi’s day failed to honor God, He sent this message to chastise them and encourage them to repent.

However, this prophecy indicates more discipline will be necessary before the priests will repent, and this discipline will occur as God said in verse 3, that He would “rebuke their offspring.” The prophet reiterates the phrase, says the LORD of hosts, to confirm the divine nature of his message.

That God gave the Levites a covenant of peace is amazing since the tribal patriarch Levi was a violent man. He joined his brother Simeon to avenge their sister Dinah against Shechem the son of Hamor the Hivite who had sex with her outside of marriage and defiled her. Then he wanted her as a wife and asked for her hand. Jacob’s sons convinced all the males in Shechem’s community to be circumcised and while they were healing, Levi and Simeon killed them (Genesis 34:25).

Jacob was worried that after his two sons had killed the men of that community, that their family’s reputation would be tarnished among the inhabitants of the land. Levi and Simeon felt they were justified in the slaying of those men because they treated their sister as a prostitute (Genesis 34:30-31). Notwithstanding this, both Moses and Aaron were descendants of Levi. And God granted His covenant to the sons of Levi when Phinehas was faithful to be zealous for God’s law. This demonstrates the principle that each generation has the opportunity to be faithful and God will reward them (Ezekiel 18:19-21).

Next, the LORD explains the nature of the relationship He established with the tribe of Levi: My covenant with him was one of life and peace, and I gave them to him as an object of reverence (v. 5).

Again, the passage in Numbers 25:12-13 speaks of God’s covenant of peace which He made with Levi. The addition of life might refer to the promise of a “perpetual priesthood.” The Hebrew word translated life is used to describe all the living things God made and breathed His Spirit into in the creation account of Genesis 1. The idea of a “perpetual priesthood” might be thought of as a priesthood that never dies, a living priesthood.

The Hebrew word translated peace is “shalom.” It is a concept that entails wholeness and well-being. Proverbs 3:1-2 promises that following God’s law leads to “shalom.” This makes sense, as God’s law shows humans how to walk in His good design, so that we gain fulfillment of what God intended us to be. Therefore, walking in God’s law leads us to wholeness. It also makes sense that a covenant with the priests would lead to peace since their assigned duty includes teaching the law to God’s people (Deuteronomy 33:10).

And God’s plan achieved the intended results: So, he revered Me and stood in awe of My name. That means that the earlier priests after the era of Phinehas honored their duties. Because of the faithfulness of Phinehas, God promised to reward the priests (as set forth in Numbers 25:12-13) by giving them His covenant of life and peace. They understood the seriousness of the task and performed it diligently. They obeyed God and served His people faithfully. But in Malachi’s day, the priests had become apathetic toward their duties. Rather than using their privileged status to serve God’s people, they were using it to exploit them (Malachi 1:14, 2:8).

The LORD then provided evidence of the successful ministry of the earlier priests. Using the tribe of Levi again as their representative, the Lord describes how faithful the earlier priests were, referring to them collectively as their forefather Levi: True instruction was in his mouth and unrighteousness was not found on his lips; he walked with Me in peace and uprightness, and he turned many back from iniquity (v. 6).

From context, the word his refers to Levi, and Levi refers to the priests of an earlier generation, from the episode of Numbers 25:12-13 onward. The word instruction (“Torah” in Hebrew) usually refers to the Mosaic Law, which includes the provisions of God’s covenant/treaty with Israel. In the present context, however, it pertains to the oral teaching of God’s law, a task Levi performed well because unrighteousness was not found on his lips.

The Levites taught the people the truth from God’s word. This was according to the job description God gave the Levites (Deuteronomy 33:10). It is likely they used oral instruction from their lips rather than passing out books due to the prohibitive cost of written material. It is likely the priests were the primary people possessing the written word of God and they transmitted the words of God orally, from their lips.

The priestly genealogy from Levi is detailed in 1 Chronicles 6. There are many good priests listed there as well as some disobedient ones. Samuel, who in addition to being a priest was also a faithful prophet, is listed in 1 Chronicles 6:28. Here in Malachi, God speaks exclusively of the former priests who were faithful, having an exemplary conduct of life. God declared: he walked with Me in peace and uprightness, and he turned many back from iniquity. (v. 6).

The he here still refers back to Levi, the patriarch of the tribe of Levi. The passage continues to speak to the group of priests who walked with God by representing them as one person, their ancestor Levi. To have walked with Me in peace and uprightness speaks of the priests walking with God by living according to the precepts of His covenant/treaty with them. They not only taught the law in truth, but they also followed the law in their daily living.

In this verse, peace denotes harmony with God and His ways. The Hebrew word translated peace is again “shalom.” Shalom is a broad concept of harmony with God and His design for creation. People walk in “shalom” with God when they follow His instruction (“torah”). God’s instruction shows people how to walk in the way God designed creation by loving one another and seeking the best for others (Leviticus 19:18, Matthew 22:37-39).

The idea of uprightness refers to a conduct characterized by moral integrity. Thus, to walk with Him in peace and uprightness means to follow Him obediently, display moral integrity in every matter of life, and enjoy fellowshipping with Him. This was God’s intention for the tribe of Levi, and many priests over the centuries would follow this faithfulness. Many lived blamelessly before the LORD. As a result of this fidelity to God’s ways, these priests turned many back from iniquity.

Since the earlier priests lived what they taught, they had effective spiritual leadership. Their followers abandoned their evil ways and turned to God in genuine faith. This shows that godly leadership has positive impact. The positive impact of priests of former times contrasts with the negative impact of the priests of the current time who are misguiding the people (Malachi 2:8).

Living a blameless life was an essential part of the role of the Levitical priesthood: 

For the lips of a priest should preserve knowledge and men should seek instruction from his mouth; for he is the messenger of the LORD of hosts (v. 7).

The priests were responsible for studying God’s Word, living it out and teaching it to the people. In doing so, they would preserve knowledge. They would also spread knowledge by teaching the law to the people; the lips of a priest should speak instruction. It is up to the people to seek instruction from his mouth. But it is the job of the priest to faithfully serve as a messenger of the LORD of hosts by speaking truthfully and teaching His word.

Knowledge apart from the fear of the Lord leads to futility, madness, and eventually evil as Solomon taught in Ecclesiastes. But the fear of the Lord is the very beginning of knowledge, as Solomon also taught (Proverbs 1:7). By teaching the people in the fear of the LORD, the priests led them to true knowledge.

People in difficulty might ask a priest for advice because he was a religious leader. They would seek instruction from his mouth. Then, because the priest properly did his job, he would serve as the messenger of the LORD of hosts. That means that he was the mediator of the divine revelation God provides in His word.

New Testament believers are also called to be set apart to have a priestly function. They are to each serve as a faithful messenger of God’s word to those with whom they come in contact. This includes spheres of influence in our homes, places of work, as well as communities. New Testament believers are called to be a godly example and live faithfully. In so doing, they will positively influence those around them and point them toward God and His holiness, and away from the flesh and the world (1 Peter 2:9-12).

The Hebrew word translated messenger is “malak” which is related to “Malaki” the name of this book. The message to the priests is that their job was to relay God’s instructions to the people truthfully, as faithful messengers. The priests were supposed to follow the positive example of the earlier priests, who were faithful. However, the priests being addressed in Malachi have not properly fulfilled their calling to be faithful messengers for the LORD. God accordingly chastises them, saying: “But as for you, you have turned aside from the way; you have caused many to stumble by the instruction; you have corrupted the covenant of Levi,” says the LORD of hosts (v. 8).

Contrasting the former priests with those of Malachi’s time, the LORD emphatically stated, But as for you, you have called many to stumble. The current era wayward priests have not walked in the faithful ways of the priests of old. The current priests have caused the people they are supposed to lead faithfully to stumble because of their bad example: You have turned aside from the way.

The way refers to God’s moral standard: “His way is blameless” (Psalm 18:30). All His precepts are right. Sadly, the priests deviated from that course and lived wickedly before the LORD, following their own way. In the book of Acts, one of the earliest names used to refer to Christianity was “The Way” (Acts 9:2, 19:9, 19:23, 22:4).

Another sin of the priests pertained to their perversion of the divine laws: You have caused many to stumble by the instruction (v 8). The priests were responsible for teaching the Word of God to the people. Again, here instruction translates the Hebrew word “torah.” In this case it refers to the word of the Lord. The priests twisted the word of God. Instead of leading the people to follow God’s ways, they used their position to benefit themselves (Malachi 1:13-14, 2:9).

The third sin of the priests is a consequence of the first two. By turning aside from the way and causing many to stumble through their false teaching, the priests have corrupted the covenant of Levi. The covenant of Levi in this context would appear to be the same covenant as referred to in Malachi 2:4-5. This in turn would appear to refer to the covenant God made with the Levites in Numbers 25:12-13, which God called a “covenant of peace.” He granted this to the Levites due to their faithfulness in having zeal for God’s word. It would seem that the priests have violated the kind of faithful behavior that caused God to grant them His covenant.

Consequently, instead of turning many from iniquity, as the earlier priests did, they caused the people to stumble. The prophet adds the phrase, says the LORD of hosts, to confirm the divine origin of his message. The phrase LORD of hosts refers to God as the leader of heavenly armies, and emphasizes His sovereignty. In the next section, the sovereign LORD will appropriately discipline and bring judgment on the disobedient priests.