Maleakhi 2:7

2:7 For the lips of a priest should preserve knowledge of sacred things, and people should seek instruction from him ¹  because he is the messenger of the Lord who rules over all.

Maleakhi 2:6

2:6 He taught what was true; ²  sinful words were not found on his lips. He walked with me in peace and integrity, and he turned many people away from sin.

Maleakhi 2:8-9

2:8 You, however, have turned from the way. You have caused many to violate the law; ³  you have corrupted the covenant with Levi,” ⁴  says the Lord who rules over all. 2:9 “Therefore, I have caused you to be ignored and belittled before all people to the extent to which you are not following after me and are showing partiality in your ⁵  instruction.”

Maleakhi 3:13

Resistance to the Lord through Self-sufficiency

3:13 “You have criticized me sharply,” ⁶  says the Lord, “but you ask, ‘How have we criticized you?’

Maleakhi 4:4

Restoration through the Lord

4:4 “Remember the law of my servant Moses, to whom at Horeb ⁷  I gave rules and regulations for all Israel to obey. ⁸ 

Maleakhi 4:6

4:6 He will encourage fathers and their children to return to me, ⁹  so that I will not come and strike the earth with judgment.” ¹⁰ 

[2:7]  ¹ tn Heb “from his mouth” (so NAB, NASB, NRSV).

[2:6]  ² tn Heb “True teaching was in his mouth”; cf. NASB, NRSV “True instruction (doctrine NAB) was in his mouth.”

[2:8]  ³ tn The definite article embedded within בַּתּוֹרָה (battorah) may suggest that the Torah is in mind and not just “ordinary” priestly instruction, though it might refer to the instruction previously mentioned (v. 7).

[2:8]  ⁴ tn Or “the Levitical covenant.”

[2:9]  ⁵ tn Heb “in the instruction” (so NASB). The Hebrew article is used here as a possessive pronoun (cf. NRSV, NLT).

[3:13]  ⁶ tn Heb “your words are hard [or “strong”] against me”; cf. NIV “said harsh things against me”; TEV, NLT “said terrible things about me.”

[4:4]  ⁷ sn Horeb is another name for Mount Sinai (cf. Exod 3:1).

[4:4]  ⁸ tn Heb “which I commanded him in Horeb concerning all Israel, statutes and ordinances.”

[4:6]  ⁹ tn Heb “he will turn the heart[s] of [the] fathers to [the] sons, and the heart[s] of [the] sons to their fathers.” This may mean that the messenger will encourage reconciliation of conflicts within Jewish families in the postexilic community (see Mal 2:10; this interpretation is followed by most English versions). Another option is to translate, “he will turn the hearts of the fathers together with those of the children [to me], and the hearts of the children together with those of their fathers [to me].” In this case the prophet encourages both the younger and older generations of sinful society to repent and return to the Lord (cf. Mal 3:7). This option is preferred in the present translation; see Beth Glazier-McDonald, Malachi (SBLDS), 256.

[4:6]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “[the] ban” (חֵרֶם, kherem). God’s prophetic messenger seeks to bring about salvation and restoration, thus avoiding the imposition of the covenant curse, that is, the divine ban that the hopelessly unrepentant must expect (see Deut 7:2; 20:17; Judg 1:21; Zech 14:11). If the wicked repent, the purifying judgment threatened in 4:1-3 will be unnecessary.