Malachi 1:10

1:10 “I wish that one of you would close the temple doors, 1  so that you no longer would light useless fires on my altar. I am not pleased with you,” says the Lord who rules over all, “and I will no longer accept an offering from you.

Malachi 1:14

1:14 “There will be harsh condemnation for the hypocrite who has a valuable male animal in his flock but vows and sacrifices something inferior to the Lord. For I am a great king,” 2  says the Lord who rules over all, “and my name is awesome among the nations.”

Malachi 2:2

2:2 If you do not listen and take seriously 3  the need to honor my name,” says the Lord who rules over all, “I will send judgment 4  on you and turn your blessings into curses – indeed, I have already done so because you are not taking it to heart.

Malachi 3:1

3:1 “I am about to send my messenger, 5  who will clear the way before me. Indeed, the Lord 6  you are seeking will suddenly come to his temple, and the messenger 7  of the covenant, whom you long for, is certainly coming,” says the Lord who rules over all.

Malachi 3:10

3:10 “Bring the entire tithe into the storehouse 8  so that there may be food in my temple. Test me in this matter,” says the Lord who rules over all, “to see if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you a blessing until there is no room for it all.

1 sn The rhetorical language suggests that as long as the priesthood and people remain disobedient, the temple doors may as well be closed because God is not “at home” to receive them or their worship there.

2 sn The epithet great king was used to describe the Hittite rulers on their covenant documents and so, in the covenant ideology of Malachi, is an apt description of the Lord.

3 tn Heb “and if you do not place upon [the] heart”; KJV, NAB, NRSV “lay it to heart.”

4 tn Heb “the curse” (so NASB, NRSV); NLT “a terrible curse.”

5 tn In Hebrew the phrase “my messenger” is מַלְאָכִי (mal’akhi), the same form as the prophet’s name (see note on the name “Malachi” in 1:1). However, here the messenger appears to be an eschatological figure who is about to appear, as the following context suggests. According to 4:5, this messenger is “Elijah the prophet,” whom the NT identifies as John the Baptist (Matt 11:10; Mark 1:2) because he came in the “spirit and power” of Elijah (Matt 11:14; 17:11-12; Lk 1:17).

6 tn Here the Hebrew term הָאָדוֹן (ha’adon) is used, not יְהוָה (yÿhvah, typically rendered Lord). Thus the focus is not on the Lord as the covenant God, but on his role as master.

7 sn This messenger of the covenant may be equated with my messenger (that is, Elijah) mentioned earlier in the verse, or with the Lord himself. In either case the messenger functions as an enforcer of the covenant. Note the following verses, which depict purifying judgment on a people that has violated the Lord’s covenant.

8 tn The Hebrew phrase בֵּית הָאוֹצָר (bet ha’otsar, here translated “storehouse”) refers to a kind of temple warehouse described more fully in Nehemiah (where the term לִשְׁכָּה גְדוֹלָה [lishkah gÿdolah, “great chamber”] is used) as a place for storing grain, frankincense, temple vessels, wine, and oil (Neh 13:5). Cf. TEV “to the Temple.”