Discovery BoxMalachi 1:2 
Context1:2 “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
Malachi 1:7
Context1:7 You are offering improper sacrifices on my altar, yet you ask, ‘How have we offended you?’ By treating the table 1 of the Lord as if it is of no importance!
Malachi 2:8
Context2:8 You, however, have turned from the way. You have caused many to violate the law; 2 you have corrupted the covenant with Levi,” 3 says the Lord who rules over all.
Malachi 3:7
Context3:7 From the days of your ancestors you have ignored 4 my commandments 5 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?’
1 sn The word table, here a synonym for “altar,” has overtones of covenant imagery in which a feast shared by the covenant partners was an important element (see Exod 24:11). It also draws attention to the analogy of sitting down at a common meal with the governor (v. 8).
2 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).
3 tn Or “the Levitical covenant.”
4 tn Heb “turned aside from.”
5 tn Or “statutes” (so NAB, NASB, NRSV); NIV “decrees”; NLT “laws.”
