Maleachi 2
BasisBijbel
God beschuldigt de priesters
2 De Heer zegt: "Daarom waarschuw Ik jullie, priesters! 2 Jullie willen niet naar Mij luisteren. Jullie willen geen ontzag voor Mij hebben. Daarom zal Ik jullie vervloeken,[a] zegt de Heer van de hemelse legers. Ik zal jullie niet langer zegenen. Ik zal jullie vervloeken. Ja, Ik héb jullie al vervloekt. Want jullie willen Mij niet gehoorzamen.
3 Let op, Ik zal jullie graanoogsten doen mislukken.[b] De mest van de geslachte dieren van jullie offerfeesten zal Ik jullie in je gezicht gooien.[c] En jullie zullen samen met die mest worden weggegooid. 4 Dan zullen jullie weten dat Ik jullie van tevoren gewaarschuwd heb. Want Ik wil dat jullie je aan mijn verbond met de stam van Levi houden,[d] zegt de Heer van de hemelse legers. 5 Dat verbond zou leven en vrede geven. De bedoeling was dat de priesters diep ontzag voor Mij zouden hebben. 6 Dat ze mijn wet zouden kennen. Dat ze eerlijk zouden zijn. Dat ze eerlijk en oprecht met Mij zouden leven. Dat ze betrouwbaar les zouden geven in de wet. Dat dankzij hen heel veel slechte mensen bij Mij zouden terugkomen. 7 Dat ze mijn priesters zouden zijn. Dat ze Mij en mijn wet zouden kennen. Dat de mensen naar hen toe zouden komen om mijn wet te leren. Dat ze boodschappers zouden zijn van Mij, de Heer van de hemelse legers.
8 Maar jullie hebben dat niet gedaan. Door wat jullie de mensen over mijn wet geleerd hebben, zijn ze juist bij Mij weggelopen. Jullie hebben mijn verbond met de stam van Levi bedorven, zegt de Heer van de hemelse legers. 9 Jullie doen niet wat Ik gezegd heb. Jullie zeggen tegen de mensen wat ze graag willen horen. Daarom zal Ik ervoor zorgen dat het hele volk jullie niet belangrijk meer zal vinden. De mensen zullen geen enkel respect meer voor jullie hebben."
Maleachi zegt dat de mensen zich niet aan Gods verbond houden
10 Maleachi zegt: We hebben allemaal dezelfde Vader. Eén God heeft ons allemaal gemaakt. Waarom doen we elkaar dan kwaad? Waarom houden we ons niet aan het verbond van onze voorouders? 11 Juda is niet trouw aan de Heer. Er worden verschrikkelijke dingen gedaan in Israël en Jeruzalem. Want Juda heeft de tempel van de Heer, de plaats waarvan Hij houdt, bedorven door ontrouw. Want de mensen trouwen met dochters van mensen die andere goden aanbidden. 12 De Heer zal iedereen die zoiets doet, wie hij ook is, wegjagen uit het land. Ook als hij nog steeds offers aan de Heer brengt.
13 Jullie maken het altaar van de Heer nat met jullie tranen. Jullie huilen en klagen daar dat Hij niet meer naar jullie luistert. Want Hij laat merken dat Hij niet blij is met jullie offers. 14 En jullie vragen: 'Waarom is dat?' Hierom: toen jullie jong waren, was de Heer getuige toen jullie met je vrouw trouwden. Maar jullie hebben je vrouw weggestuurd. Jullie waren dus ontrouw aan haar. Toch hadden jullie een verbond met haar gesloten en haar trouw beloofd! 15 De Heer heeft jullie samen tot één geheel, tot één geest gemaakt.[e] Dat had Hij toch niet hoeven doen? Want Hij had genoeg geest over voor twee. Waarom heeft Hij jullie dan toch tot één gemaakt? Omdat Hij wilde dat jullie kinderen Hem zouden dienen. Pas dus op jezelf en beheers je. Zorg dat je trouw blijft aan de vrouw met wie je getrouwd bent toen je nog jong was. 16 Want Ik haat het als mensen van elkaar scheiden, zegt de Heer, de God van Israël. Ik haat het als je je vrouw wegstuurt.[f] Want daarmee doe je haar veel kwaad, ook al doe je alsof dat niet zo is. Pas dus op: Ik wil niet dat je ontrouw bent aan je vrouw.
Uiteindelijk zal God het kwaad uit zijn volk weghalen
17 Maleachi zegt: Jullie maken de Heer maar moe met jullie woorden. En dan vragen jullie: 'Waarom wordt Hij dan moe van ons?' Hij wordt er moe van dat jullie zeggen: 'God vindt het kennelijk niet erg als mensen slechte dingen doen. Hij vindt het wel goed zo. Anders zou Hij er toch wel iets aan doen?' (lees verder)
Footnotes
- Maleachi 2:2 Lees Deuteronomium 28:14-39.
- Maleachi 2:3 Eigenlijk staat er: 'Ik zal jullie zaad vervloeken.' Met 'zaad' kan zaaizaad bedoeld worden, maar ook de kinderen, het nageslacht.
- Maleachi 2:3 De priesters hadden bij de offerfeesten recht op de beste stukken vlees van de dieren. In plaats daarvan gooit God hun nu de darminhoud toe.
- Maleachi 2:4 De stam van Levi werd door God uitgekozen. De mannen zouden God dienen in zijn heiligdom. Lees Deuteronomium 10:8 en 9.
- Maleachi 2:15 Lees Genesis 2:24.
- Maleachi 2:16 Oudere mannen stuurden vaak hun vrouw weg om met een jongere vrouw te kunnen trouwen.
Malachi 2
New English Translation
The Sacrilege of the Priestly Message
2 “Now, you priests, this commandment is for you. 2 If you do not listen and take seriously[a] the need to honor my name,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, “I will send judgment[b] on you and turn your blessings into curses—indeed, I have already done so because you are not taking it to heart. 3 I am about to discipline your children[c] and will spread offal[d] on your faces,[e] the very offal produced at your festivals, and you will be carried away along with it. 4 Then you will know that I sent this commandment to you so that my covenant[f] may continue to be with Levi,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. 5 “My covenant with him was designed to bring life and peace. I gave its statutes to him to fill him with awe, and he indeed revered me and stood in awe before me. 6 He taught what was true;[g] sinful words were not found on his lips. He walked with me in peace and integrity, and he turned many people away from sin. 7 For the lips of a priest should preserve knowledge of sacred things, and people should seek instruction from him[h] because he is the messenger of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. 8 You, however, have turned from the way. You have caused many to violate the law;[i] you have corrupted the covenant with Levi,”[j] says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. 9 “Therefore, I have caused you to be ignored and belittled before all people to the extent that you are not following after me and are showing partiality in your[k] instruction.”
The Rebellion of the People
10 Do we not all have one father?[l] Did not one God create us? Why do we betray one another, thus making light of the covenant of our ancestors? 11 Judah has become disloyal, and unspeakable sins have been committed in Israel and Jerusalem. For Judah has profaned[m] the holy things that the Lord loves and has turned to a foreign god![n] 12 May the Lord cut off from the community[o] of Jacob every last person who does this,[p] as well as the person who presents improper offerings to the Lord of Heaven’s Armies!
13 You also do this: You cover the altar of the Lord with tears[q] as you weep and groan, because he no longer pays any attention to the offering nor accepts it favorably from you. 14 Yet you ask, “Why?” The Lord is testifying against you on behalf of the wife you married when you were young,[r] to whom you have become unfaithful even though she is your companion and wife by law.[s] 15 No one who has even a small portion of the Spirit in him does this.[t] What did our ancestor[u] do when seeking a child from God? Be attentive, then, to your own spirit, for one should not be disloyal to the wife he took in his youth.[v] 16 “I hate divorce,”[w] says the Lord God of Israel, “and the one who is guilty of violence,”[x] says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. “Pay attention to your conscience, and do not be unfaithful.”
Resistance to the Lord through Self-deceit
17 You have wearied the Lord with your words. But you say, “How have we wearied him?” Because you say, “Everyone who does evil is good in the Lord’s opinion,[y] and he delights in them,” or, “Where is the God of justice?”
Footnotes
- Malachi 2:2 tn Heb “and if you do not place upon [the] heart”; KJV, NAB, NRSV “lay it to heart.”
- Malachi 2:2 tn Heb “the curse” (so NASB, NRSV); NLT “a terrible curse.”
- Malachi 2:3 tc The phrase “discipline your children” is disputed. The LXX and Vulgate suppose זְרוֹעַ (zeroaʿ, “arm”) for the MT זֶרַע (zeraʿ, “seed”; hence, “children”). Then, for the MT גֹעֵר (goʿer, “rebuking”) the same versions suggest גָּרַע (garaʿ, “take away”). The resulting translation is “I am about to take away your arm” (cf. NAB “deprive you of the shoulder”). However, this reading is unlikely. It is common for a curse (v. 2) to fall on offspring (see, e.g., Deut 28:18, 32, 41, 53, 55, 57), but a curse never takes the form of a broken or amputated arm. It is preferable to retain the reading of the MT here.
- Malachi 2:3 tn The Hebrew term פֶרֶשׁ (feresh, “offal”) refers to the entrails as ripped out in preparing a sacrificial victim (BDB 831 s.v. פֶּרֶשׁ). This graphic term has been variously translated: “dung” (KJV, RSV, NRSV, NLT); “refuse” (NKJV, NASB); “offal” (NEB, NIV).
- Malachi 2:3 sn See Zech 3:3-4 for similar coarse imagery which reflects cultic disqualification.
- Malachi 2:4 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.
- Malachi 2:6 tn Heb “True teaching was in his mouth”; cf. NASB, NRSV “True instruction (doctrine NAB) was in his mouth.”
- Malachi 2:7 tn Heb “from his mouth” (so NAB, NASB, NRSV).
- Malachi 2:8 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).
- Malachi 2:8 tn Or “the Levitical covenant.”
- Malachi 2:9 tn Heb “in the instruction” (so NASB). The Hebrew article is used here as a possessive pronoun (cf. NRSV, NLT).
- Malachi 2:10 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.
- Malachi 2:11 tn Or perhaps “secularized”; cf. NIV “desecrated”; TEV, NLT “defiled”; CEV “disgraced.”
- Malachi 2:11 tn Heb “has married the daughter of a foreign god.” Marriage is used here as a metaphor to describe Judah’s idolatry, that is, her unfaithfulness to the Lord and “remarriage” to pagan gods. But spiritual intermarriage found expression in literal, physical marriage as well, as vv. 14-16 indicate.
- Malachi 2:12 tn Heb “tents,” used figuratively for the community here (cf. NCV, TEV); NLT “the nation of Israel.”
- Malachi 2:12 tc Heb “every man who does this, him who is awake and him who answers.” For “answers” the LXX suggests an underlying Hebrew text of עָנָה (ʿanah, “to be humbled”), and then the whole phrase is modified slightly: “until he is humbled.” This requires also that the MT עֵר (ʿer, “awake”) be read as עֵד (ʿed, “until”; here the LXX reads ἕως, heōs). The reading of the LXX is most likely an alteration to correct what is arguably a difficult text.tn Heb “every man who does this, him who is awake and him who answers.” The idea seems to be a merism expressing totality, that is, everybody from the awakener to the awakened, thus “every last person who does this” (NLT similar); NIV “whoever he may be.”
- Malachi 2:13 sn You cover the altar of the Lord with tears. These tears are the false tears of hypocrisy, not genuine tears of repentance. The people weep because the Lord will not hear them, not because of their sin.
- Malachi 2:14 tn Heb “the Lord is a witness between you and [between] the wife of your youth.”
- Malachi 2:14 sn Though there is no explicit reference to marriage vows in the OT (but see Job 7:13; Prov 2:17; Ezek 16:8), the term law (Heb “covenant”) here asserts that such vows or agreements must have existed. References to divorce documents (e.g., Deut 24:1-3; Jer 3:8) also presuppose the existence of marriage documents.
- Malachi 2:15 tn Heb “and not one has done, and a remnant of the spirit to him.” The very elliptical nature of the statement suggests it is proverbial. The present translation represents an attempt to clarify the meaning of the statement (cf. NASB).
- Malachi 2:15 tn Heb “the one.” This is an oblique reference to Abraham who sought to obtain God’s blessing by circumventing God’s own plan for him by taking Hagar as wife (Gen 16:1-6). The result of this kind of intermarriage was, of course, disastrous (Gen 16:11-12).
- Malachi 2:15 sn The wife he took in his youth probably refers to the first wife one married (cf. NCV “the wife you married when you were young”).
- Malachi 2:16 tc The verb שָׂנֵא (saneʾ) appears to be a third person form, “he hates,” which makes little sense in the context, unless one emends the following word to a third person verb as well. Then one might translate, “he [who] hates [his wife] [and] divorces her…is guilty of violence.” A similar translation is advocated by M. A. Shields, “Syncretism and Divorce in Malachi 2, 10-16, ” ZAW 111 (1999): 81-85. However, it is possible that the first person pronoun אָנֹכִי (ʾanokhi, “I”) has accidentally dropped from the text after כִּי (ki). If one restores the pronoun, the form שָׂנֵא can be taken as a participle and the text translated, “for I hate” (so NAB, NASB, NRSV, NLT). sn Though the statement “I hate divorce” may (and should) be understood as a comprehensive biblical principle, the immediate context suggests that the divorce in view is that of one Jewish person by another in order to undertake subsequent marriages. The injunction here by no means contradicts Ezra’s commands to Jewish men to divorce their heathen wives (Ezra 9-10).
- Malachi 2:16 tn Heb “him who covers his garment with violence” (similar ASV, NRSV). Here “garment” is a metaphor for appearance and “violence” a metonymy of effect for cause. God views divorce as an act of violence against the victim.
- Malachi 2:17 tn Heb “in the eyes of the Lord.”
Malachi 2
New King James Version
Corrupt Priests
2 “And now, O (A)priests, this commandment is for you.
2 (B)If you will not hear,
And if you will not take it to heart,
To give glory to My name,”
Says the Lord of hosts,
“I will send a curse upon you,
And I will curse your blessings.
Yes, I have cursed them (C)already,
Because you do not take it to heart.
3 “Behold, I will rebuke your descendants
And spread (D)refuse on your faces,
The refuse of your solemn feasts;
And one will (E)take you away [a]with it.
4 Then you shall know that I have sent this commandment to you,
That My covenant with Levi may continue,”
Says the Lord of hosts.
5 “My(F) covenant was with him, one of life and peace,
And I gave them to him (G)that he might fear Me;
So he feared Me
And was reverent before My name.
6 (H)The[b] law of truth was in his mouth,
And [c]injustice was not found on his lips.
He walked with Me in peace and equity,
And (I)turned many away from iniquity.
7 “For(J) the lips of a priest should keep knowledge,
And people should seek the law from his mouth;
(K)For he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts.
8 But you have departed from the way;
You (L)have caused many to stumble at the law.
(M)You have corrupted the covenant of Levi,”
Says the Lord of hosts.
9 “Therefore (N)I also have made you contemptible and base
Before all the people,
Because you have not kept My ways
But have shown (O)partiality in the law.”
Treachery of Infidelity
10 (P)Have we not all one Father?
(Q)Has not one God created us?
Why do we deal treacherously with one another
By profaning the covenant of the fathers?
11 Judah has dealt treacherously,
And an abomination has been committed in Israel and in Jerusalem,
For Judah has (R)profaned
The Lord’s holy institution which He loves:
He has married the daughter of a foreign god.
12 May the Lord cut off from the tents of Jacob
The man who does this, being [d]awake and aware,
Yet (S)who brings an offering to the Lord of hosts!
13 And this is the second thing you do:
You cover the altar of the Lord with tears,
With weeping and crying;
So He does not regard the offering anymore,
Nor receive it with goodwill from your hands.
14 Yet you say, “For what reason?”
Because the Lord has been witness
Between you and (T)the wife of your youth,
With whom you have dealt treacherously;
(U)Yet she is your companion
And your wife by covenant.
15 But (V)did He not make them one,
Having a remnant of the Spirit?
And why one?
He seeks (W)godly offspring.
Therefore take heed to your spirit,
And let none deal treacherously with the wife of his youth.
16 “For (X)the Lord God of Israel says
That He hates divorce,
For it covers one’s garment with violence,”
Says the Lord of hosts.
“Therefore take heed to your spirit,
That you do not deal treacherously.”
17 (Y)You have wearied the Lord with your words;
Yet you say,
“In what way have we wearied Him?”
In that you say,
(Z)“Everyone who does evil
Is good in the sight of the Lord,
And He delights in them,”
Or, “Where is the God of justice?”
Footnotes
- Malachi 2:3 Lit. to it
- Malachi 2:6 Or True instruction
- Malachi 2:6 Or unrighteousness
- Malachi 2:12 Talmud, Vg. teacher and student
Malaki 2
Svenska Folkbibeln 2015
Prästernas synd
2 Och nu kommer denna befallning till er, ni präster:
2 (A) Om ni inte vill höra,
om ni inte tar det till hjärtat
att ge ära åt mitt namn,
säger Herren Sebaot,
då ska jag sända förbannelse
över er.
Jag ska förbanna era välsignelser,
och jag har redan förbannat dem
eftersom ni inte tar det till hjärtat.
3 (B) Se, jag ska tillrättavisa era ättlingar
och kasta dynga[a] i ansiktet på er,
dynga från era högtidsoffer,
och ni ska bäras bort
tillsammans med den.
4 (C) Och ni ska förstå
att jag har gett er
denna befallning
för att mitt förbund med Levi
ska bestå, säger Herren Sebaot.
5 (D) Mitt förbund med honom
var liv och frid,
och jag gav honom det
för att han skulle vörda mig.
Och han vördade mig
och bävade för mitt namn.
6 Sann undervisning var i hans mun,
ingen orätt fanns på hans läppar.
I frid och uppriktighet
vandrade han med mig,
och han omvände många
från deras missgärningar.
7 (E) För prästens läppar
ska bevara kunskap,
och man ska hämta undervisning
från hans mun,
eftersom han är en budbärare
från Herren Sebaot.
8 Men ni har vikit av från vägen,
ni har fått många på fall
genom er undervisning.
Ni har fördärvat förbundet
med Levi, säger Herren Sebaot.
9 (F) Därför har jag också gjort er
föraktade och förnedrade
inför hela folket,
för ni har inte hållit er
till mina vägar
utan varit partiska
när ni undervisar.
Folkets trolöshet
10 (G) Har vi inte alla samme Far?
Har inte samme Gud skapat oss?
Varför begår vi då svek
mot varandra
och kränker våra fäders förbund?
11 (H) Juda har begått svek,
och avskyvärda ting
har gjorts i Israel och i Jerusalem.
Juda har kränkt
det som Herren håller heligt,
det som han älskar,
och de har gift sig med kvinnor
som dyrkar främmande gudar.
12 Herren ska utrota ur Jakobs tält
var och en som gör så,
både hög och låg[b]
och den som bär fram gåvor
till Herren Sebaot.
13 (I) Och dessutom gör ni detta:
Ni översköljer Herrens altare
med tårar, gråt och klagan,
eftersom han inte vill
se till offergåvan längre
eller ta emot något från er hand
med glädje.
14 Och ni frågar: ”Varför?”
Därför att Herren var vittne
mellan dig
och din ungdoms hustru.
Du har varit trolös mot henne,
trots att hon är din maka,
din hustru
som du ingått förbund med.
15 (J) Har inte han gjort dem till ett?
Det som är kvar av ande[c]
tillhör honom.
Och varför till ett?
Han söker ättlingar
som hör Gud till.
Så ta hand om er ande
och var inte trolös
mot din ungdoms hustru.
16 (K) Jag hatar skilsmässa,
säger Herren, Israels Gud,
och att man höljer sig i våld
som i en klädnad,
säger Herren Sebaot.
Så var på er vakt i er ande
och var inte trolösa.
17 Ni tröttar ut Herren med era ord.
Ni frågar:
”Hur har vi tröttat ut honom?”
När ni säger:
”Den som gör det onda
är god i Herrens ögon,
och han gläder sig över dem”,
eller: ”Var är rättvisans Gud?”
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