For the priest’s lips should keep knowledge, and they should seek the law at his mouth; for he is the messenger of Yahweh of Armies.
Parallel Translations
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For the priest’s lips should keep knowledge, and they should seek the law at his mouth; for he is the messenger of Yahweh of Armies.
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For the priest’s lips should keep knowledge, and they should seek the law at his mouth: for he is the messenger of the LORD of hosts.
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For the priest's lips should keep knowledge, and they should seek the law at his mouth; for he is the messenger of the LORD of hosts.
Cross-references (23)
Passages linked to Malachi 2:7 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- 2 Timothy 2:24-25 The Lord’s servant must not quarrel, but be gentle toward all, able to teach, patient, in gentleness correcting those who oppose him: perhaps God may give them repentance leading to a full knowledge of the truth,
- Leviticus 10:11 You are to teach the children of Israel all the statutes which Yahweh has spoken to them by Moses.”
- Deuteronomy 21:5 The priests the sons of Levi shall come near, for them Yahweh your God has chosen to minister to him, and to bless in Yahweh’s name; and according to their word shall every controversy and every assault be decided.
- 2 Corinthians 5:20 We are therefore ambassadors on behalf of Christ, as though God were entreating by us: we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.
- Ezra 7:10 For Ezra had set his heart to seek Yahweh’s law, and to do it, and to teach statutes and ordinances in Israel.
- John 13:20 Most certainly I tell you, he who receives whomever I send, receives me; and he who receives me, receives him who sent me.”
- John 20:21 Jesus therefore said to them again, “Peace be to you. As the Father has sent me, even so I send you.”
- Acts 16:17 Following Paul and us, she cried out, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to us a way of salvation!”
- 1 Thessalonians 4:8 Therefore he who rejects this doesn’t reject man, but God, who has also given his Holy Spirit to you.
- 2 Chronicles 30:22 Hezekiah spoke encouragingly to all the Levites who had good understanding in the service of Yahweh. So they ate throughout the feast for the seven days, offering sacrifices of peace offerings, and making confession to Yahweh, the God of their fathers.
- Nehemiah 8:2-8 Ezra the priest brought the law before the assembly, both men and women, and all who could hear with understanding, on the first day of the seventh month. He read from it before the wide place that was in front of the water gate from early morning until midday, in the presence of the men and the women, and of those who could understand. The ears of all the people were attentive to the book of the law. Ezra the scribe stood on a pulpit of wood, which they had made for the purpose; and beside him stood Mattithiah, Shema, Anaiah, Uriah, Hilkiah, and Maaseiah, on his right hand; and on his left hand, Pedaiah, Mishael, Malchijah, Hashum, Hashbaddanah, Zechariah, and Meshullam. Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people (for he was above all the people), and when he opened it, all the people stood up. Then Ezra blessed Yahweh, the great God. All the people answered, “Amen, Amen,” with the lifting up of their hands. They bowed their heads, and worshiped Yahweh with their faces to the ground. Also Jeshua, Bani, Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodiah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, Pelaiah, and the Levites, caused the people to understand the law; and the people stayed in their place. They read in the book, in the law of God, distinctly; and they gave the sense, so that they understood the reading.
- Deuteronomy 17:8-11 If there arises a matter too hard for you in judgment, between blood and blood, between plea and plea, and between stroke and stroke, being matters of controversy within your gates, then you shall arise, and go up to the place which Yahweh your God chooses. You shall come to the priests who are Levites and to the judge who shall be in those days. You shall inquire, and they shall give you the verdict. You shall do according to the decisions of the verdict which they shall give you from that place which Yahweh chooses. You shall observe to do according to all that they shall teach you. According to the decisions of the law which they shall teach you, and according to the judgment which they shall tell you, you shall do. You shall not turn away from the sentence which they announce to you, to the right hand, nor to the left.
- Deuteronomy 24:8 Be careful in the plague of leprosy, that you observe diligently and do according to all that the Levitical priests teach you. As I commanded them, so you shall observe to do.
- 2 Chronicles 17:8-9 and with them the Levites, even Shemaiah, Nethaniah, Zebadiah, Asahel, Shemiramoth, Jehonathan, Adonijah, Tobijah, and Tobadonijah, the Levites; and with them Elishama and Jehoram, the priests. They taught in Judah, having the book of Yahweh’s law with them. They went about throughout all the cities of Judah and taught among the people.
- Isaiah 44:26 who confirms the word of his servant, and performs the counsel of his messengers; who says of Jerusalem, ‘She will be inhabited;’ and of the cities of Judah, ‘They will be built,’ and ‘I will raise up its waste places;’
- Jeremiah 15:19 Therefore Yahweh says, “If you return, then I will bring you again, that you may stand before me; and if you take out the precious from the vile, you will be as my mouth. They will return to you, but you will not return to them.
- Jeremiah 18:18 Then they said, “Come! Let’s devise plans against Jeremiah; for the law won’t perish from the priest, nor counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophet. Come, and let’s strike him with the tongue, and let’s not give heed to any of his words.”
- Haggai 1:13 Then Haggai, Yahweh’s messenger, spoke Yahweh’s message to the people, saying, “I am with you,” says Yahweh.
- Haggai 2:11-13 “Yahweh of Armies says: Ask now the priests concerning the law, saying, ‘If someone carries holy meat in the fold of his garment, and with his fold touches bread, stew, wine, oil, or any food, will it become holy?’ ” The priests answered, “No.” Then Haggai said, “If one who is unclean by reason of a dead body touch any of these, will it be unclean?” The priests answered, “It will be unclean.”
- Malachi 3:1 “Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me; and the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, behold, he comes!” says Yahweh of Armies.
- Isaiah 42:19 Who is blind, but my servant? Or who is as deaf as my messenger whom I send? Who is as blind as he who is at peace, and as blind as Yahweh’s servant?
- Galatians 4:14 That which was a temptation to you in my flesh, you didn’t despise nor reject; but you received me as an angel of God, even as Christ Jesus.
- Numbers 27:21 He shall stand before Eleazar the priest, who shall inquire for him by the judgment of the Urim before Yahweh. At his word they shall go out, and at his word they shall come in, both he and all the children of Israel with him, even all the congregation.”
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain What the Prophet has said of the first priests…
What the Prophet has said of the first priests he extends now to the whole Levitical tribe, and shows that it was a perpetual and unchangeable law as to the priesthood. He had said that Levi had been set over the Church, not to apply to himself the honor due to God, but to stand in his own place as the minister of God, and the teacher of the chosen people. The same thing he now confirms, declaring it as a general truth that the lips of the priest ought to retain knowledge, as though he had said, that they were to be the store-house from which the food of the Church was to be drawn. God then did appoint the priests over his chosen people, that the people might seek their food from them as from a store-room, according to what we find to be the case with a master of a family, who has his store of wine and his store of provisions. As then the food of a whole family is usually drawn out from places where provisions are laid up, so the Prophet makes use of this similitude, — that God has deposited knowledge with the priests, so that the mouth of every priest might be a kind of store-house, so to speak, from which the people are to seek knowledge and the rule of a religious life: Keep knowledge then shall the lips of the priest, and the law shall they seek from his mouth
He shows how it is to be kept; the priests are not to withhold it, but the whole Church is to enjoy the knowledge of which they are the keepers. They shall then seek or demand the law from his mouth.
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Law may be taken simply for truth; but the Prophet no doubt alludes here to the doctrine of Moses, the only true fountain of all knowledge. We indeed know that God included in his law whatever was necessary for the welfare of his Church; nor was there anything added by the Prophets. Our Prophet then so includes every truth in the word, תורה, ture, law, that he might at the same time show that it was laid up in what Moses has taught.
He says in the last place, that the priest is the messenger of Jehovah. He briefly defines here what the priesthood is, even an embassy which God commits to men, that they may be his interpreters in teaching and ruling the Church. What then is a priest? A messenger of God, and his interpreter. It hence follows that the office of teaching cannot be separated from the priesthood; for it is a monstrous thing when any one boasts himself to be a priest, when he is no teacher. The Prophet then draws an argument from the definition itself, when he says that a priest is a messenger of God. Then follows the contrast when he says
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain He is as the treasure house of God’s word,…
He is as the treasure house of God’s word, and ought to give to everyone according to their necessity, and not to reserve it for himself.
Showing that whosoever doth not declare God’s will, is not his messenger, and Priest.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Mal 2:7 For the priest’s lips should keep knowledge,…
Mal 2:7 For the priest’s lips should keep knowledge, and they should seek the law at his mouth: for he [is] the messenger of the LORD of hosts.
Ver. 7. For the priest’s lips should keep knowledge] How else should he be instant in lip feeding? how should his lips present it unless they preserve it? How should he make others wise, unless he be wise himself? Dan 12:3. The Pope brags of an infallibility, and pleads this text for it; avouching that he knows all things knowable, and hath all wisdom and skill locked up in scrinio pectoris, in the cabinet of his breast. But what will they say of sundry of their popes that have been manifest heretics? John XXIII was accused, in the Council of Constance, for denying the resurrection of the body and everlasting life. And of all their popes we may safely say, as the Venetian ambassadors did; when the Pope laid his hand upon his breast and said, Hic est arca Noae, Lo, here is Noah’s ark (meaning that he was the Church virtual, and was enriched in all knowledge and in all utterance), one of them presently replied, that in Noah’s ark there were unclean beasts as well as clean; and so left him further to apply. The priest’s lips indeed should keep knowledge. But those of Malachi’s times had forsaken the way, and caused many to stumble, Mal 2:8. How this was we shall see when we come to it. Meanwhile, we may take notice, that non libro sacerdotis, sed labro; non codice, sed corde, conservatur scientia; knowledge should be kept, not in the priest’s book, but in his bosom, as a storehouse; neither should it lie low or long there, but sit upon his lips, that all may have benefit by it. For the manifestation of the Spirit is given to profit also, 1Co 12:7. And it was death for the priest to enter into the sanctuary without his golden bells about him, that he might be heard by all. A minister must be both able and apt to teach (διδακτικος, Greg. Pastor.). Praedicationis officium suscipit quisquis ad sacerdotium accedit, saith Gregory. He is no minister that is no preacher. Nor can he be a preacher that is not stored with knowledge of God’s will and people’s duty. See Mat 13:32. {See Trapp on "Mat 13:32"} Walter, surnamed Malclerk, was surely no fit man to be Bishop of Carlisle; as he was by evil and corrupt means, A. D. 1223. "If the blind lead the blind, both will fall into the ditch," Mat 15:14; but the blind guides will lie lowermost, and have the worst of it. Varro complained of the Roman priests, that they were ignorant of many things about their own rites and religions. Mucius Scaevola (being their high priest) derived Pontifex of Posse and facere to be able to do. This derivation pleased not Varro; but it intimated that such should both be able and active to teach the people knowledge. It was a witty observation of a bishop, who was called in his time the gulf of learning, that Doceo, to teach, governs two accusative cases; according to that Isa 28:9 "Whom shall I teach knowledge?" Ministers, saith he, must have whom to teach and what to teach, viz. knowledge; and must, therefore, give attendance to reading, that they may the better to exhortation and doctrine, 1Ti 4:13, that they may feed the people with knowledge and understanding, Jer 3:15.
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And they should seek the law at his mouth] As at an oracle; they should depend upon the ministry, as the people hung upon our Saviour’s lips, Luk 19:48; as David went into the sanctuary to be resolved of his doubt, Psa 73:17, though himself were a prophet; and as Cornelius was appointed by the angel to send for Peter for further information. But what must men seek at the minister’s mouth? The law, the sincere milk of God’s word, the mind of Christ, the testimony of Jesus, 1Pe 2:2 1Co 2:16 non nugas et fabulas, saith Bernard, not trifles and fables, not strong lines and strains of wit, but the simple and plain words of God. Non Oratorum filii sumus sed Piscatorum, We are not speakers to men but fishermen, said Nazianzen. Ministers are not to study so much to please as to profit, to tickle men’s ears as to work upon their hearts. They must not so paint the window, as to keep out the light; nor so put the sword of the Spirit into a velvet scabbard, that it cannot prick and pierce the heart. Let them handle and set out the law as skilfully and adornedly as they can; but still remember that it must be dispensed, sancte magis quam scite, solide potius quam floride, with fear and reverence, rather than with wit and dalliance. If in King Edward IV’s days a citizen in Cheapside was executed as a traitor for saying he would make his son heir to the crown (though he only meant his own house, having a crown for the sign), more dangerous it must needs be to wit wanton it with the majesty of God. Loquamur verba scripturae, utamur sermone Spiritus Sancti, &c. Let us speak Scripture language, let us use the speech of the Holy Spirit, and not go about to correct the Divine wisdom and eloquence with our sophistry and vain babbling. To the ears of that which St Peter calls the hidden man of the heart, the plain song always makes the best music, 1Pe 3:4. If heaven’s door may be opened to it by a key of iron, it cares not for a key of gold. A sermon works not upon the heart as it is thus elegant or admirable, but as well fraught with testimonies of Holy Scripture (that most powerful rhetoric), it is an instrument of God appointed to such an end. Let the people hear often, This is the law, this is ipsum Dei verbum, the very word of God; show Scripture for what you deliver, and that will carry it. But ut drachmam auri sine imagine principis, sic verba hortantis sine authoritate Dei contemnunt homines (Lipsius). The law carrieth a majesty in it; and if Cicero dares to say that the law of the twelve tables did exceed all the libraries of philosophers, both in weight of authority and worth of matter, how much rather is this true of the law of God! Wherefore as Aeschines said of an orator’s, so let a minister’s discourse and the law be unisons; and let the people ask the priests concerning the law, as they did, Hag 2:11, and not be like tidlings, {a} that will not eat their milk unless it be in a silver dish; but account it a singular happiness to live under those lips (however thick, a thin lip is a sign of eloquence, Job 12:20), which both keep knowledge and utter it (χρη το αυτο φθεγγεσθαι τον ρητορα και τον νομον).
For he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts] Heb. the angel, {See Trapp on "Mal 1:1"} and so the Septuagint and Vulgate render it. His office is as to stand before God and praise him, so to carry messages from him to his people, and to be in his stead, 2Co 5:20. Knowest thou not, saith Chrysostom, who the minister is? He is God’s angel; he speaketh not of himself; if thou despisest, thou despisest not him, but God that sent him. And to the same purpose Ambrose: The minister is God’s angel, to set forth the kingdom of Christ and eternal life: non specie tibi aestimandus sed munere; he is not, therefore, to be judged of by his outside, but by his office. Those Sodomites that sought to abuse the angels are thrown forth for an example (προκεινται), suffering the vengeance of eternal fire, Jdg 1:7. Behold, Christ himself hath assured us that Sodomy itself is not a heavier sin, nor more severely punished in hell, than the despising or abusing of a minister in the faithful discharge of his duty. We should, therefore, welcome such with trembling, as the men of Bethlehem did Samuel, and as Cornelius did Peter. "Comest thou peaceably?" said the Bethlemites, as suspecting the purpose of some judgment. "Now therefore are we all here present before God" (not only before thee, said Cornelius), "to hear all things that are commanded thee of God," Act 10:33. If Ahab had been like well affected as these good souls, he would never have asked Elijah that absurd question, Art thou he that troubleth Israel? Alas, what had the righteous prophet done more than what by his office (as God’s ambassador or messenger) he was bound to do? he taxed their sin, he foretold the judgment; he deserved it not, he inflicted it not; yet he smarts, and they are guilty. As if some fond people should accuse the herald or the trumpet as the cause of their war; or as some ignorant peasant, when he sees his fowls bathing in his pond, should cry out of them, as the causes of foul weather. Saith a divine, It is a good thing to stand in awe of God’s angels, and with reverence to receive their message, howsoever distasteful unto us; considering they are but messengers.
{a} A pampered or spoiled child; a darling, pet; a young, delicate, or puny child or animal, needing special care; a weakling, ‘dilling’. ŒD
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain Those forementioned excellent priests did so teach, and so…
Those forementioned excellent priests did so teach, and so live, forasmuch as they did well consider it was their duty to be well acquainted with, and to have a great insight into, the law of God.
The priest’s lips should keep knowledge; it is that their office binds them to; it is the duty of all God’s people to know his law, but the priest’s duty to know it more than others, Lev 10:11, for they were to teach Israel, Deu 33:10.
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And they, the people of Israel, should seek the law at his mouth; in difficult cases, in controversies, &c., the people were to consult and advise with the priests, and inquire what the law said in the case.
For he is the messenger, interpreter, ambassador, or legate, of the Lord of hosts with the people, lieger among them, and who therefore ought to be advised with about his Lord’s mind.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain For the priest's lips should keep knowledge,.... Or "shall…
For the priest's lips should keep knowledge,.... Or "shall keep knowledge", as the Septuagint and Vulgate Latin versions; or "do keep knowledge", as the Arabic version; and so the Syriac version, "for the lips of the priest drop knowledge"; all this is true of Christ our great High Priest; for as it was predicted of him, that his lips should keep knowledge, so they have kept it, and do keep it; not concealing it, but preserving it, and communicating it freely and openly; as he did to his disciples and followers when here on earth, and by them to others; and still does by his Spirit, giving to men the knowledge of themselves and state; the knowledge of himself, and the way of salvation by him, and of the truths of the Gospel:
and they should seek the law at his mouth; not the law of Moses, but the doctrine of grace, and any wholesome instruction and advice; which he is greatly qualified to give, being the wonderful Counsellor: it may be rendered, "they shall seek", or "do seek"; and which has been fulfilled, especially in the Gentiles, and in the isles that waited for his law or doctrine, Isa 11:10,
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for he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts; or "angel" (w); he is the Angel of God's presence, and of the covenant, Isa 63:9 Mal 3:1 which name he has from being sent, for he came not of himself, but his Father sent him; he was sent as a priest to atone for the sins of his people, and to be their Saviour; and as a prophet, to instruct and teach them; and therefore they should seek to him for knowledge, and attend his word and ordinances, and implore his spirit and grace.
(w) Sept; "angelus", V. L. Pagninus, Montanus, Junius & Tremellius, Cocceius, Burkius.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain Should keep knowledge - It is this that their…
Should keep knowledge - It is this that their office binds them to; it is the duty of all God's people to know his law, but the priest's duty to know it more than others. And they - The people.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Mal 2:7-9. For the priest’s lips should keep knowledge…
Mal 2:7-9. For the priest’s lips should keep knowledge — Preserve and store up, so as to distribute it. It is his duty to understand the meaning of the law of God: and people ought to resort to him for instruction in any difficulty that arises concerning the sense of it. For he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts — He is appointed to declare God’s will unto the people, and to enforce upon them obedience to it. But ye are departed out of the way — Ye act in a quite different manner from that which was the original design of your office, and which those observed who were first instituted into it. Ye have caused many to stumble at the law — You have either perverted the sense of the law, or encouraged others to break it by your bad example; ye have corrupted the covenant of Levi — By your evil practices you have broken or rendered void that covenant: by your not performing that part of the covenant which the tribe of Levi was bound to perform, you have disengaged me from performing my part, or fulfilling those promises which I had engaged to make good to them on the performance of certain conditions on their side. Therefore have I also made — Or rather, will make, (a future event being evidently foretold,) you contemptible and base — The indignities which the priests were to receive in the times of Antiochus, seem to be here intended. According as ye have not kept my ways — Have not been careful to walk in them. But have been partial in the law — Or, accepted faces, or persons, in the law, as the Hebrew signifies, that is, have wrested the sense of the law in favour, or to please great men, or to serve some unworthy design of particular persons. When we inquire into “the reasons of the contempt of the clergy,” ought we to forget this?
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain For the priest’s lips should keep knowledge - o…
For the priest’s lips should keep knowledge - o “He assigns the reason for what he had just said, the law of truth was in his mouth; they had done what it was their duty to do; as in Ecclesiasticus it is said of Aaron (Ecclesiasticus 45:17), ‘God gave unto him His commandments, and authority in the statutes of judgments, that he should teach Jacob the testimonies, and inform Israel in His laws.’ So Paul requires of Titus to ordain such overseers, as shall be able to Tit 1:9, ‘exhort by sound doctrine and to convince gainsayers.’ Wherefore Ambrose calls the Bible, which contains the law of God, ‘the book of priests,’ as specially belonging to them, to be specially studied by them. Jerome notes that he says keep, not ‘give forth,’ that they should speak seasonably, and give their fellow-servants meat in due season.”
For he is the messenger (or angel) of the Lord of hosts - Malachi gives to the priest the title which belongs to the lowest order of the heavenly spirits, as having an office akin to theirs; as Haggai does to the prophet, Hag 2:11. as an extraordinary “messenger” of God; and Paul tells the Galatians Gal 4:14, “ye received me as an angel of God, as Christ Jesus;” and Christ, by John, speaks to the leaders of the seven congregations, good or bad, or of mixed good and bad, as “the angels Rev 1:20 of those churches.”
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“Since in the heavenly hierarchy the order of angels is the lowest, and in the eucharistical hierarchy the order of the priesthood is the highest” , “most truly is the priest of God called angel, i. e., messenger, because he intervenes between God and man, and announces the things of God to the people; and, therefore, were the Urim and Thummim placed on the priest’s breastplate of judgment, that we might learn, that the priest ought to be learned, a herald of divine truth.” Much more in the New Testament. “Who, as it were in a day, can form one of earth, to be the defender of truth, to stand with angels, to give glory with archangels, to transmit the sacrifices to the altar above, to be partaker of the priesthood of Christ, to reform the thing formed, and present the image, to re-create for the world above, to be a god and make men partakers of the divine nature?” 2Pe 1:4. “The priesthood is enacted on earth, but is ranked with the heavenly ranks. Very rightly. For not man, not angel, not archangel, not any other created power, but the Paraclete Himself hath ordained this office, and persuaded them, while yet abiding in the flesh, to conceive the ministry of the angels. Wherefore, he who is consecrated as priest, ought to be pure, as if he stood among the heavenly powers.” , “The throne of the priesthood is placed in the heavens, and he is entrusted with ministering things of heaven. Who saith this? The King of heaven Himself. For He saith, ‘Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth, shall be bound in heaven, and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth, shall be loosed in heaven.’ So the priest standeth in the middle between God and human nature, bringing down to us divine benefits, and transmitting thither our supplications.”
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain The angel, viz., the minister and messenger. (Challoner) ---…
The angel, viz., the minister and messenger. (Challoner) --- Priests must administer the sacraments, and likewise instruct the people, being God’s messengers. (Worthington) --- The Jews were well acquainted with the law, Jeremias xviii. 18. --- The priests had to decide most intricate cases, Deuteronomy xvii. 9., and xxxiii. 9. (Calmet) --- The sentence of the high priest was received like that of an angel. (Diodorus Sic. xl. apud Phol.) --- If such science was required under the old law, how much more is necessary in Christian priests, whose mysteries and duties are so much more important! (Calmet) --- Ignoratio scripturarum ignoratio Christi est. ["Ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ."] (St. Jerome in Isaias & hic.)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain In doing so (Mal 2:6) he did his duty…
In doing so (Mal 2:6) he did his duty as a priest, "for," &c.
knowledge--of the law, its doctrines, and positive and negative precepts (Lev 10:10-11; Deu 24:8; Jer 18:18; Hag 2:11).
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the law--that is, its true sense.
messenger of . . . Lord--the interpreter of His will; compare as to the prophets, Hag 1:13. So ministers are called "ambassadors of Christ" (Co2 5:20); and the bishops of the seven churches in Revelation, "angels" or messengers (Rev 2:1, Rev 2:8, Rev 2:12, Rev 2:18; Rev 3:1, Rev 3:7, Rev 3:14; compare Gal 4:14).
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 7. This conduct of Levi corresponded to the divine…
7. This conduct of Levi corresponded to the divine purpose concerning the priests, who as messengers of Jehovah of hosts should speak and live the truth continually. Marti, following Boehme, considers Mal_2:7 an interpolation, because (1) it is not needed after Mal_2:6; (2) it interrupts the connection between Mal_2:6 and Mal_2:8, and thus weakens the contrast between the conduct of Levi and that of the present priests; (3) 7b contains two peculiarities: (a) in Mal_2:5-6 Jehovah is the speaker, in 7b he is referred to in the third person; (b) the term “messenger of Jehovah” denotes in Malachi a being other than the priests (Mal_3:1). He considers the verse made up of elements taken from Mal_2:6 and Mal_2:8. The reasons are not conclusive.
Should keep knowledge — The knowledge of Jehovah (compare Isa_11:2), which is a clear insight into his moral character and into the requirements which are the outgrowth of this character (compare Hos_2:20; Hos_4:1). This the priests should possess in order that they may instruct others.
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And they should seek the law at his mouth — They, the people. It should be their privilege to consult the priests. Law is equivalent to instruction in the law or in the will of Jehovah.
For he is the messenger — A causal clause belonging to the two preceding clauses. His position as a messenger of Jehovah makes it imperative for him to possess the knowledge of Jehovah, and should inspire the people to go to him for advice. In Hag_1:13, the prophets are called messengers of Jehovah, and in Mal_3:1, the term is applied to a messenger par excellence, but it does not follow that one and the same author could not apply it here to the priests; in a very real sense the priests were the messengers of Jehovah, for their commission was to make known his will and law.
In Mal_2:8 the prophet returns to the priests of his own day; they have completely lost sight of their high calling.
Ye are departed out of the way — R.V., “turned aside.” From the way in which they should have walked as priests and successors of Levi (compare Mal_2:6-7). They no longer walk with Jehovah in peace and righteousness (see on Mal_2:6).
Ye have caused many to stumble at the law — R.V., “in the law.” They made the law a stumbling-block both by their false exposition of it and by destroying its authority through their disregard of it in their own lives. A sad contrast to the conduct of Levi, who turned “many away from unrighteousness.”
Ye have corrupted — Or, destroyed.
Levi — Here with the article, the Levi; used perhaps to express the idea that the covenant was not with Levi as an individual, but with the house of Levi, the Levite in a collective sense —the Levites. This covenant (see on Mal_2:5) they have made of no effect, they have failed to meet their own obligations, and thus they have made it impossible for Jehovah to do his share.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 7. For] And in all this he only fulfilled…
7. For] And in all this he only fulfilled his duty, for such in life and doctrine ought the priest, as the messenger of Jehovah to the people, to be.
messenger] See Introduction ch. 1. p. 13.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (7) Comp. Deu_33:10.
(7) Comp. Deu_33:10.
Keep.—Not as in a repository, but rather, observe (Zec_3:7)—i.e., speak in accordance with the knowledge of God, as revealed in the Law.
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Messenger.—Literally, angel. (See Note on Mal_3:1.)
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain For the priest"s lips should keep knowledge. It was…
For the priest"s lips should keep knowledge. It was the priest"s duty to study the Law and to teach it faithfully, as it is said of Aaron, in Ecc 45:17, "He gave unto him his commandments, and authority in the statutes of judgments, that he should teach Jacob the testimonies, and inform Israel in his laws." The law, here and vers 6, 8, means system of teaching, or the torah. At his month. The priest was the appointed interpreter of the Law. (see Lev_10:11 Deu_17:9-11 Deu_33:10; and the note on Hag_2:11) He is the messenger of the Lord. He announces God"s will to men, explaining the Law to meet the varied circumstances which occur in daily life; he intervenes between God and man, offering man"s worship to the Lord. So Haggai (Hag_1:13) is called "the Lord"s messenger," or angel. Some see here an allusion to Malachi"s own name or office. (see Introduction, comp. Deu_21:5 2Ch_17:9)
Reasonable expectations of God"s ministers.
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"The priest"s lips should keel knowledge." The ideal priest is here characterized, not by ceremonial exactitude, but by moral integrity. Sacrificing is not so essential as religious knowledge, sound learning, and wholesome teaching. The proper expectation of God"s ministers is that they will tell God"s will to the people, not only because they know it, but even more because they keep it. In our religious teachers we look for adequacy of knowledge, and adequacy of experience.
I ADEQUACY OF KNOWLEDGE. In some countries, and in some ages, the sacred ministry has been the chief source of secular knowledge for the people. That is not the case now, and in civilized countries. But still God"s ministers need to be abreast, and to keep abreast, of all that is thought and known in their day, because to them is entrusted the work of conserving the Divine element in all knowledge, and the Divine relation to everything discovered. Unless ministers have adequate knowledge, they occupy a lower plane than the secular teachers, and fail to influence the higher range of students with Divine claims, truths, and principles. To put it in another way The ministry must be on the level of the people if it is to sympathize with them; but the ministry must be in intelligence and knowledge above the people, if it is to lift the people to higher things, Two points may be illustrated.
1. The ministers should gain knowledge as men can gain it.
2. The ministers should gain knowledge as spiritual men only can gain it. It is that spiritually acquired knowledge that is the minister"s true efficiency; and more especially that spiritual knowledge as it relates to the mysteries of the sacred Word.
II ADEQUACY OF EXPERIENCE. There is book knowledge, and there is experimental knowledge. It may be argued that for the common, everyday relations and duties of life, experience is a more valuable and practical teacher than books can be. It is certainly true that, for the ministry, experience is the essential thing. A man can only speak with power when "he has tasted and handled and felt the good word of life." The people have confidence in the teacher who has been taught of God in the discipline of life. What needs to be pointed out is that these two adequacies are not antagonistic, In their harmonious culture lies the true power. R.T.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain For the priests lips should keep knowledge.
Mal_2:7
For the priests lips should keep knowledge.
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The priests lips should keep knowledge
There exists a broad and general analogy between the priesthood of the Levitical, and the ministry of the evangelical dispensations, an analogy sufficiently distinct and well-defined to enable us to argue from the one to the other in several most important particulars.
I. The nature of the knowledge which is required. When we speak of human knowledge we are perplexed by its variety and expansiveness. Where are we to find the precise boundaries of the knowledge which the priests lips should keep? To a vigorous mind, all nature, and all history, and all philosophy, and every region of thought and imagination will be one vast storehouse of materials for the service of the Lords temple. But some precise knowledge is here indicated, as specifically belonging to the priest; a professional knowledge, essential to the due discharge of his office. Surely it must be a knowledge of Gods truth, revealed in holy scripture: the knowledge of Christian doctrine in all its parts and proportions, as propounded by God to the faith of men for their salvation. This is the nucleus around which all his knowledge is to cluster, the centre to which all his other attainments are to converge. This knowledge has a twofold character. It is intellectual, and it is experimental: it is attained by the ordinary operations of the mind, and by the experience of the heart. The Christian minister must be one who rightly divideth the word of truth; one who has the nice and accurate skill to adjust the several portions of Gods truth in their right places and due connections; to build symmetrically as a wise master-builder, and not merely to say what is true, but what is true in its own place and proportion. And this is not a skill which is attained by every one. The priests knowledge must be experimental; i.e. learned by a feeling sense of the religious wants and cravings of the human heart. A further and higher teaching is required to give the true knowledge of the Gospel; it is an inward feeling of their adaptation to the wants of human nature, and a personal experience of their power upon his own heart. This is the real secret of ministerial strength. There is another branch of know ledge no less essential to the due discharge of the ministerial office--a knowledge of human nature. The hearts and consciences of men are the materials upon which the Christian ministers labour is to be expended. He will study his own heart as the best guide to the knowledge of the hearts of others. The most eminently successful ministers have been most proficient in this knowledge.
II. The importance of this knowledge. This is evident from the nature of the case. The minister is a messenger: he must be conversant with all things essential to a clue execution of his commission. He is a teacher; and the people are to seek the law at his mouth: he must therefore be competent to expound it. He is a referee in cases of doubt and difficulty; he must be skilled to deal with every such case which may come before him. He is the depositary of the treasure of the Gospel; he must be able to dispense it with faithfulness. There are, at times, some special reasons why the Christian minister should be a scribe well-instructed unto the kingdom of heaven. Times which demand, if not a higher tone of piety, at least a higher standard of knowledge. There are some peculiar features in the present circumstances and position of the Church. The Christian ministry must take up a commanding position whence it may direct and control the progress of society. (W. Nicholson, M. A.)
A ministers responsibility
Even strong and fearless Martin Luther confessed that he often trembled as he entered the pulpit. He could stand before kings and rulers without fear; but the responsibility of dealing with souls, and perhaps settling their destiny forever by his message, was to him so serious that he was wont to speak of that awful place the pulpit. Have none of us been betrayed into that cold officialism which speaks strongly in the pulpit, and acts coldly out of the pulpit? Have none of us acted the inconsistency of making the pulpit holy ground and all outside common? (A. J. Gordon, D. D.)
An unobtrusive minister
I remember once riding on a coach, remarked the late C. H. Spurgeon, when the coachman observed to me he knew a certain minister (I will not say of what church) who, for the last six months, had been in the habit of riding up and down on the box of his coach with him; and, says he, he is a good sort of man, sir, a sort of man I like. Well, what sort of a man is he? I asked. Well, you see, sir, he replied, he is a minister: and I like him because he never intrudes his religion, sir. I never heard him say a word, that would make me believe him a religious man, the whole six months he has ridden with me, sir! I am afraid there are plenty of Christians of that sort: I am afraid the religion of such is not of much worth. They never intrude their religion; I think the reason it is so unobtrusive, is, that they have not any to intrude; for true godliness is one of the most intrusive things in the world. It is fire; and if you put fire down in your study, and give it most earnest admonition never to burn, you will find, while you are administering your sage advice, that a conflagration has commenced.
The duty of the Church in modern times
Did the conception of the Jewish priesthood given in this verse date from its original institution; was it part of the Mosaic legislation, or does it merely represent the ideal of the priesthood after the captivity? What does the prophet mean by knowledge, and what by law? Is it the ceremonial law only? Or, is the priest enjoined to instruct the Jews of the restoration in the law of moral conduct? An honest view of Scripture history requires us to make the wider and more comprehensive answer to these questions. With the pious Jew there was no divorce between religion and morality. And the Jewish priesthood was not only a sacrificing, it was also a teaching priesthood. Compare the Jewish priesthood with that of ancient Greece. The Greek religion knew nothing of instruction, or of preaching, in connection with temples or festivals. At first sight, Malachis words appear better suited to describe the prophet than the priest. But in truth, the priesthood, as an ideal, contained in itself the prophetic office as well. It is observable that the existence of organised prophetical schools in Israel appears just at those periods when the priesthood had ceased to be a witness to the truth. It was thus in the days of Samuel. The dearest desire of Samuels heart was to win Israel back to God, and teach them true worship as well as true morality. When David is on the throne, national order is restored, the worship of God has a permanent centre, and the law of God--moral and ceremonial--is authoritatively set forth and enforced, then the prophetical schools fall into the background, or even cease, and the prophetic office itself becomes an occasional and extraordinary channel of Gods grace. Later on, when religion and morality were in danger of extinction, under Elijah and Elisha the prophetical schools gained their moral and religious importance. But neither then did they imply any opposition to the ceremonial law. The true priest and the true prophet are at one. A right view of the Jewish priesthood is of importance toward a just estimate of the Christian ministry. You destroy the moral grandeur of the Jewish priest if you obliterate his prophetical function: and you miss the Divine ideal of the Christian ministry, if you see in it only a school of prophets, and forget that it is a teaching priesthood, with a fixed succession and a covenanted grace. None can deny the fact, that the Christian ministry has, to a very high degree, remembered and fulfilled its mission as a teaching priesthood, as a witness for the righteousness of God. But while we admire the powerful moral influence of the English clergy upon English morality, yet the very nature of this success helps to throw into stronger relief what appear to be its shortcomings. It may be seriously questioned whether the teaching of the Christian ministry has not tended to be too partial in its bearing upon Christian morals. The relation of the individual soul to God, the duty of man to himself and to his Maker,--these have naturally formed the principal theme of pulpit exhortation. But in that large field of duty which has regard to our fellow-men, it can hardly be said that the teaching, of divines has been equally forcible and instructive. It may be feared that the Sunday sermon often gives little practical guidance for the toiling millions around us. The Sunday teaching must not be an alien from the duties of the week, nor leave out three parts of life. The type of character the Church tends to form is the foundation for the highest virtues and widest usefulness. It aims at making a man more devout towards God, mindful of the unseen and spiritual, self-controlled and master of the passions, true and tender in his home, forgiving to his enemy, generous to the sick and poor. These virtues are never out of date. Our religion as set forth in our Divine Exemplar, or in the teachings of His apostles, shows no one-sidedness. The New Testament sets the relative duties as high as the personal. Religion is there made to consist very largely in justice and benevolence. The principles of Christian conduct remain the same; but their application varies--love of God, self-denial, love of neighbour; and these based upon the doctrines of the cross; exemplified by the life of Christ; lit up with the hope of glory. Let me indicate some of the questions which demand the religious treatment of the Christian teacher.
1. The subject of amusements.
2. The ethics of dress.
3. Relation to the fine arts, painting, sculpture, music, the drama. Or--
4. The laws concerning marriage and divorce.
5. Or consider the painful questions which arise out of the intensified vices of modern society; drunkenness, prostitution, bribery, commercial fraud.
I do not fear that the Church will lose in spirituality or humility, by addressing herself to problems like these. (E. L. Hicks.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 2:7 The priests had been entrusted with the sacred…
2:7 The priests had been entrusted with the sacred knowledge of God as revealed in the law of Moses. Through their role as teachers, they were guardians of God’s covenant with Israel (Deut 33:9-10). • messenger (Hebrew mal’ak): This may be a wordplay on the name Malachi (mal’aki). Usually this title was reserved for Hebrew prophets in the Old Testament, but Malachi ascribes prophetic duties to the priest, since the priests were to interpret God’s word.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.