Maleakhi 2:4

2:4 Then you will know that I sent this commandment to you so that my covenant ¹  may continue to be with Levi,” says the Lord who rules over all.

Maleakhi 2:10

The Rebellion of the People

2:10 Do we not all have one father? ²  Did not one God create us? Why do we betray one another, in this way making light of the covenant of our ancestors?

Maleakhi 1:2

1:2 “I have shown love to you,” says the Lord, but you say, “How have you shown love to us?”

“Esau was Jacob’s brother,” the Lord explains, “yet I chose Jacob

Maleakhi 3:7

3:7 From the days of your ancestors you have ignored ³  my commandments ⁴  and have not kept them! Return to me, and I will return to you,” says the Lord who rules over all. “But you say, ‘How should we return?’

[2:4]  ¹ sn My covenant refers to the priestly covenant through Aaron and his grandson Phinehas (see Exod 6:16-20; Num 25:10-13; Jer 33:21-22). The point here is to contrast the priestly ideal with the disgraceful manner in which it was being carried out in postexilic times.

[2:10]  ² sn The rhetorical question Do we not all have one father? by no means teaches the “universal fatherhood of God,” that is, that all people equally are children of God. The reference to the covenant in v. 10 as well as to Israel and Judah (v. 11) makes it clear that the referent of “we” is God’s elect people.

[3:7]  ³ tn Heb “turned aside from.”

[3:7]  ⁴ tn Or “statutes” (so NAB, NASB, NRSV); NIV “decrees”; NLT “laws.”