וְעַתָּה אֲלֵיכֶם הַמִּצְוָה הַזֹּאת הַכֹּהֲנִים
KJ (King James translation): And now, O ye priests, this commandment is for you.
BN (BibleNet translation): And now, this commandment is for you, the Kohanim.
Yehudit syntax is often convoluted, but rarely quite like this verse. Literally it should translate as "And now, on you, this commandment, the Kohanim". It seems at first to be informal, theatrical, slangy; but the tone of the next verses corrects that false impression.
In this verse it is unclear whether Mal'achi is speaking as himself, or as the mouthpiece of the deity, and indeed whether that is or is not the same thing. The next verse is entirely clear.
2:2 IM LO TISHME'U VE IM LO TASIYMU AL LEV LATET KAVOD LISHMI AMAR YHVH TSEVA'OT VE SHILACHTI VACHEM ET HA ME'ARAH VE AROTI ET BIRCHOTEYCHEM VE GAM AROTIYHA KI EYNEYCHEM SAMIM AL LEV
KJ: If ye will not hear, and if ye will not lay it to heart, to give glory unto my name, saith the LORD of hosts, I will even send a curse upon you, and I will curse your blessings: yea, I have cursed them already, because ye do not lay it to heart.
BN: "If you do not pay close attention, and if you do not lay it to heart, to pay proper respect to my name," says YHVH, the Lord of the Hosts of the Heavens, "then I will send the curse upon you, and I will curse your blessings; indeed, I have cursed them already, because you do not lay it to heart...
HA ME'ARAH: "The", not "a": so we need to deduce what specific curse is intended. The opposing of curses with blessings suggests Yehoshu'a at Mounts Eyval and Gerizim... though ME'ARAH, and the verb AROTI which follows, are not the ones used there.
אִם לֹא תִשְׁמְעוּ וְאִם לֹא תָשִׂימוּ עַל לֵב לָתֵת כָּבוֹד לִשְׁמִי אָמַר יְהוָה צְבָאוֹת וְשִׁלַּחְתִּי בָכֶם אֶת הַמְּאֵרָה וְאָרוֹתִי אֶת בִּרְכוֹתֵיכֶם וְגַם אָרוֹתִיהָ כִּי אֵינְכֶם שָׂמִים עַל לֵב
KJ: If ye will not hear, and if ye will not lay it to heart, to give glory unto my name, saith the LORD of hosts, I will even send a curse upon you, and I will curse your blessings: yea, I have cursed them already, because ye do not lay it to heart.
BN: "If you do not pay close attention, and if you do not lay it to heart, to pay proper respect to my name," says YHVH, the Lord of the Hosts of the Heavens, "then I will send the curse upon you, and I will curse your blessings; indeed, I have cursed them already, because you do not lay it to heart...
HA ME'ARAH: "The", not "a": so we need to deduce what specific curse is intended. The opposing of curses with blessings suggests Yehoshu'a at Mounts Eyval and Gerizim... though ME'ARAH, and the verb AROTI which follows, are not the ones used there.
Nor is it easy, because it looks like Mal'achi is playing word-games again, as he did at least twice in the last chapter, neologising to meet his needs (all good poets do it!). If the word does indeed mean "curse", then the root should be ARUR (ארור), with two Reyshes, as in the curses bestowed on the serpent and the primordial Man in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3:14 for the serpent, 3:17 for Adam). But there is only one Reysh here, so we have at the very least to seek an alternate explanation.
Two other roots offer themselves, MA'AR (מאר) and OR (אר), the former meaning "bitterness", the latter "light". And oddly, all three will enlighten us about the intention of this verse, seeming to confirm that Mal'achi knew exactly what he was saying.
MA'AR first. The root of the name Mir-Yam of course, Mosheh and Aharon's sister, we find it in Leviticus 13:51 and 14:44 as MAM'ERET, a symptom of the plague, and poetically in Ezekiel 28:24 as MAM'IR, the pricking of a thorn sufficient to cause sharp pain. So perhaps we can deduce from this what will be the nature of the curse.
But there is also OR, which occurs far too frequently to require referencing, except in one very specific usage. The light, as Leonard Cohen once beautifully expressed it, needs a crack to get through, and Yesha-Yahu knew this long before Leonard, for he uses it (Isaiah 11:8) to mean "a den of vipers" - the sort of serpents that found them cursed in Eden. In his case the full hole rather than the mere crack, but the pun is constructed in exactly the same way as Mal'achi's ME'ARAH here - ME'URAT TSIPH'ONI (מְאוּרַ֣ת צִפְעוֹנִ֔י).
AROTI: So we have to ask the same question here, and come up with the same answer. Yes, it means "to curse", yes it is MA'AR, which is the plague and the sharp thorn, and yes it is from the root OR, and yes he is calling the Kohanim "a nest of vipers".
But see also verse 10, where yet a different verb is used for "to curse".
2:3 HINENI GO'ER LACHEM ET HA ZER'A VE ZERIYTI PHERESH AL PENEYCHEM PERESH CHAGEYCHEM VE NAS'A ET'CHEM ELAV
הִנְנִי גֹעֵר לָכֶם אֶת הַזֶּרַע וְזֵרִיתִי פֶרֶשׁ עַל פְּנֵיכֶם פֶּרֶשׁ חַגֵּיכֶם וְנָשָׂא אֶתְכֶם אֵלָיו
KJ: Behold, I will corrupt your seed, and spread dung upon your faces, even the dung of your solemn feasts; and one shall take you away with it.
BN: "You will see, I will take it out on your posterity, and I will smear your faces with dung, the very dung left behind by the beasts you sacrificed for your festivals; and you shall be carried away in it...
HINENI: The word comes in two very different forms in the Tanach. The most common is the response of the "called" to a summons from the deity - cf Av-Raham at Genesis 22:1, Mosheh in Exodus 3:4, or Yesha-Yahu at Isaiah 6:8, and many others; but this is the ringing of the alert-bell, so to speak, the notice of an announcement of a proclamation by the deity - cf Genesis 9:9 for the declaration of the Covenant. This is the deity saying "I am here", rather than the human saying "Here I am".
ZER'A: Is usually understod to be "descendants", as in human seed, but this refers to the sacrifices, so it may be that the first fruits of the harvest are intended, along with the cattle who are clearly dirtying the ramp up to the altar - a commonplace, I should imagine, though the Tanach tends to avoid mentioning it (and maybe the burning incense wasn't just to appease the inflamed nostils of the deity, but to sweeten the appalling stench of animal excrement).
ZERIYTI: As a homophone this connects with ZER'A, but in fact it is a completely different root with a completely different meaning... Mal'achi, like most of the Prophets, simply cannot resist these endless puns and word-games.
VE NAS'A ET'CHEM ELAV: I think this really is as crude and vulgar as it sounds. As noted above, the approach to the sacrificial altar in the Temple was a ramp, and sheep and cattle were led along it, as beasts at any abattoir must be, to reach the place where the slaughter will take place. So Mal'achi envisages it as a downward slope, and fantasises the Kohanim slipping on the muck as they descend at the end of the ceremonies, backside-skiing their ways to the ground.
2:4 VIYDA'TEM KI SHILACHTI ALEYCHEM ET HA MITSVAH HA ZOT LIHEYOT BERIYTI ET LEVI AMAR YHVH TSEVA'OT
וִידַעְתֶּם כִּי שִׁלַּחְתִּי אֲלֵיכֶם אֵת הַמִּצְוָה הַזֹּאת לִהְיוֹת בְּרִיתִי אֶת לֵוִי אָמַר יְהוָה צְבָאוֹת
KJ: And ye shall know that I have sent this commandment unto you, that my covenant might be with Levi, saith the LORD of hosts.
BN: "And you should know that I have sent this instruction to you, so that my covenant with Levi may be sustained." So says YHVH, the Lord of the Hosts of the Heavens.
LEVI: See the link.
2:5 BERIYTI HAYETAH ITO HA CHAYIM VE HA SHALOM VA ETNEM LO MOR'A VA YIYRA'ENI U MIPNEY SHEMI NICHAT HU
בְּרִיתִי הָיְתָה אִתּוֹ הַחַיִּים וְהַשָּׁלוֹם וָאֶתְּנֵם לוֹ מוֹרָא וַיִּירָאֵנִי וּמִפְּנֵי שְׁמִי נִחַת הוּא
KJ: My covenant was with him of life and peace; and I gave them to him for the fear wherewith he feared me, and was afraid before my name.
BN: "My covenant was with him for life and peace; and I gave them to him that he might know fear; and he feared me, and stood in awe of my name...
ITO: a prepositional pronoun of this sort must lead back to the last named accusative noun, which in this case was Levi; but YHVH has never made a specific covenant with Levi - or has he? The text that provides the answer to this is Numbers 25:6-13, a rather shocking story that fits the message of the Books of the Return from Exile to perfection: Mosheh and the Habiru are camped at Shitim in Mo-Av and the men have taken to "whoring" with the local women - "whoring" being sex with the women as part of the rites of worship of their gods and goddesses, especially Ba'al Pe'or. Mosheh, on YHVH's order, instructs the judges to bring every one of the men to trial, and pronounce the death penalty; when one of the men turns up with his Midyanite girlfriend, Pinchas, the son of El-Azar and grandson of Aharon, doesn't wait for the judges; he picks up his javelin and spears both of them, for which (Numbers 25:11) YHVH announces that:
"BN: Pinchas ben El-Azar, the grandson of Aharon the priest, has turned my wrath away from the Beney Yisra-El, in that he was very concerned for my sake among them, that I would not consume the Beney Yisra-El in my jealousy."and in verses 12 and 13 bestows on him "ET BERIYTI SHALOM - my covenant of peace...
And it shall be to him, and to his seed after him, the covenant of an everlasting priesthood; because he was concerned for his god, and made atonement for the Beney Yisra-El."Precisely the words used in the verse we are investigating: "his seed" meaning the tribe of Levi. So the Levitical priesthood is established in the form that Nechem-Yah will "introduce" amongst his reforms - see Nehemiah 7:64 - and we can once again see the extent to which the "ancient" Torah was in fact a decidedly contemporary creation by the returnees from exile, to provide retroactive validation for their theological requirements.
MOR'A: More games with homophones, and actually it's the same game, because once again it employs the root OR, "light". The ostensible root here is YER'A, which means "fear", but we are invited to hear the word MORAH, which is a teacher, connected with TORAH, which is the Law, both of those latter from OR = "light". And just to confirm that it is entirely intentional, the next verse will begin with that very word.
ETNEM: Why the plural, when he only made one covenant. Because it was a covenant of "life" and "peace", and they are definitely plural. And how can we know that this was the reason? Because the Yevarechecha, the Priestly Blessing, the one given by the descendants of Aharon in Temple times, is followed by a prayer, still recited daily to this day, which is effectively the congregation saying thank you for the blessing, and affirming its desire for the blessing to be fulfilled. It also provides the final blessing of the Amidah, likewise central to worship in Temple times. It is known from its opening phrase as "Sim Shalom Tovah". In full:
“Establish peace, goodness, blessing, graciousness, kindness and compassion upon us and upon all your people Yisra-El. Bless us, our father, all of us as one, with the light of your countenance, for with the light of your countenance you gave us, Lord our god, the Torah of life and a love of kindness, righteousness, blessing, compassion, life and peace. And may it be good in your eyes to bless your people Yisra-El, in every season and in every hour with your peace. Blessed are you, Lord, who blesses his people Yisra-El with peace.”
I have underlined the key words, but note also the likely reason why Mal'achi has been playing so many games with the word OR - it isn't just the root of TORAH, but the whole point of the Yevarechecha itself. Light. Glorious, creative sunlight (albeit with the power to bring drought and skin cancer).
2:6 TORAT EMET HAYETAH BE PHIYHU VE AVLAH LO NIMTS'A VISPHATAV BE SHALOM U VE MIYSHOR HALACH ITI VE RABIM HESHIV ME AVON
תּוֹרַת אֱמֶת הָיְתָה בְּפִיהוּ וְעַוְלָה לֹא־נִמְצָא בִשְׂפָתָיו בְּשָׁלוֹם וּבְמִישׁוֹר הָלַךְ אִתִּי וְרַבִּים הֵשִׁיב מֵעָוֹן
KJ: The law of truth was in his mouth, and iniquity was not found in his lips: he walked with me in peace and equity, and did turn many away from iniquity.
BN: "The true Torah was in his mouth, and no unrighteousness was found on his lips. He walked with me in peace and uprightness, and he turned many away from iniquity."
TORAT EMET: Has become a standard idiom in Talmudic Judiasm, though we cannot be certain that it would have meant the same in the pre-Talmudic Judaism of Mal'achi's time. Hundreds of essays and responsa have been written on the subject, of which a number are collected here.
2:7 KI SIPHTEY KOHEN YISHMERU DA'AT VE TORAH YEVAKSHU MI PIYHU KI MAL'ACH YHVH TSEVA'OT HU
כִּי־שִׂפְתֵי כֹהֵן יִשְׁמְרוּ־דַעַת וְתוֹרָה יְבַקְשׁוּ מִפִּיהוּ כִּי מַלְאַךְ יְהוָה־צְבָאוֹת הוּא
KJ: 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.
BN: For the priest's lips should guard and role-model knowledge, and they should seek the law at his mouth; for he is the messenger of YHVH, the Lord of the Hosts of the Heavens.
A message about messages and messengers from a man whose name means messenger. I have not placed this verse in quotation marks, because it seems to me that this is Mal'achi interjecting his commentary, rather than simply conveying his message.
YISHMERU: Sometimes it is impossible not to engage with theology, despite the determination of TheBibleNet to remain as secular as possible. Not here though, because my translation is decidedly theological, a recognition that being "SHOMER" is not simply about keeping/observing the laws oneself, but serving as a "light unto the nations", which is to say a role-model. "Keep", as in the King James translation, simply does not convey the entirety of this fundamental principle.
2:8 VE ATEM SARTEM MIN HA DERECH HICHSHALTEM RABIM BA TORAH SHICHATEM BERIT HA LEVI AMAR YHVH TSEVA'OT
וְאַתֶּם סַרְתֶּם מִן הַדֶּרֶךְ הִכְשַׁלְתֶּם רַבִּים בַּתּוֹרָה שִׁחַתֶּם בְּרִית הַלֵּוִי אָמַר יְהוָה צְבָאוֹת
KJ: But ye are departed out of the way; ye have caused many to stumble at the law; ye have corrupted the covenant of Levi, saith the LORD of hosts.
BN: "But you have turned aside from the path. You have caused many to stumble in the Law. You have corrupted the covenant of Levi." So says YHVH, the Lord of the Hosts of the Heavens.
SHICHATEM: From the same root that gives SHECHITAH, the sacrificial slaughter of animals for food; so really "corrupted" is not strong enough; the intention is "butchered" - and of course, yet again, he has chosen his word deliberately, because his pincipal complaint against the priesthood was the nature of the sacrifices - see especially Mal'achi 1:8; almost as though he is accusing them of taking a lamed and blinded Torah to the altar, and slaughtering it there (is the word "almost" needed in this sentence?).
2:9 VE GAM ANI NATATI ET'CHEM NIVZIM U SHEPHALIM LE CHOL HA AM KE PHI ASHER EYNCHEM SHOMRIM ET DERACHAI VE NOS'IM PANIM BA TORAH
וְגַם אֲנִי נָתַתִּי אֶתְכֶם נִבְזִים וּשְׁפָלִים לְכָל הָעָם כְּפִי אֲשֶׁר אֵינְכֶם שֹׁמְרִים אֶת דְּרָכַי וְנֹשְׂאִים פָּנִים בַּתּוֹרָה
KJ: Therefore have I also made you contemptible and base before all the people, according as ye have not kept my ways, but have been partial in the law.
BN: "And in addition I have made you objects of contempt and derision before all the people, to the precise degree that you have failed to follow and role-model my path, to the extent that you have sneered at my law...
NIVZIM: And after the "butchery" of the previous verse - the word-games go on and on! - is this rooted in the Yehudit BAZAH (בזה), or the Aramaic Baz'a (בזא), which are homophones, though different in meaning. The Yehudit, which is obviously the principal intention, is used here in the Niphil or passive form, and appears in the active form in Numbers 15:31, and again at Psalms 22:25 and 102:18, while Isaiah 53:3 has it in the same passive form as here. And the Aramaic word that sounds the same? Something that has been "divided" or "torn", a land that has been "cut in pieces" - cf Isaiah 18:2.
SHEPHALIM: The lowlands of Kena'an are known as the Shephelah, from the same root. Anything low, whether physically or metaphorically - Ecclesiastes 10:5/6 may have been in Mala'chi's mind, though no doubt he would have preferred an allusion to Daniel 5:19, but alas it wasn't written yet.
NOS'IM PANIM: Those PANIM again - Yevarechecha (see my notes to verse 5) is all about YHVH "turning his face" to shine on us, and evil only happens when he "turns his face aside" for a moment (HISTIR PANAV - see my note to Exodus 3:6). But this is the descendants of Aharon turning their faces in the wrong direction, by being two-faced.
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2:10 HA LO AV ECHAD LE KULANO HA LO EL ECHAD BE RA'ANU MADU'A NIVGAD ISH BE ACHIV LECHALEL BERIT AVOTEYNU
הֲלוֹא אָב אֶחָד לְכֻלָּנוּ הֲלוֹא אֵל אֶחָד בְּרָאָנוּ מַדּוּעַ נִבְגַּד אִישׁ בְּאָחִיו לְחַלֵּל בְּרִית אֲבֹתֵינוּ
KJ: Have we not all one father? hath not one God created us? why do we deal treacherously every man against his brother, by profaning the covenant of our fathers?
BN: "Do we not all have one father? Has not one god created us? Why do we treat each other so badly, every man against his brother, profaning the covenant of our ancestors?..
AV: Interesting that he mentions the father, but not the mother. Patariarchalisation has commenced. We cannot imagine David, for example, leaving out the mother.
EL ECHAD: Note the use of the name El as a generalised term for "deity".
NIVGAD: See my note to verse 16.
LECHALEL: As noted at Malachi 1:12, this is really the "correct" verb for "to curse", though "to profane" is more precise in the context; this, rather than the verbs used at 2:2, above, for which see my notes.
2:11 BAGDAH YEHUDAH VE TO'EVAH NE'ESTAH VE YISRA-EL U VIYRU-SHALA'IM KI CHILEL YEHUDAH KODESH YHVH ASHER AHEV U VA'AL BAT EL NECHAR
KJ: Judah hath dealt treacherously, and an abomination is committed in Israel and in Jerusalem; for Judah hath profaned the holiness of the LORD which he loved, and hath married the daughter of a strange god.
BN: Yehudah has behaved apallingly, and an abomination has been committed in Yisra-El and in Yeru-Shala'im; because Yehudah has profaned the holiness of YHVH whom he loves, by taking the daughter of a foreign god for his wife.
Again hard to tell if this is the message being conveyed or the messenger extemporising. Interesting that Yehudah has taken a foreign wife, or married a strange god - Yehudah the nation, rather than the individual Yehudim on Ezra's name-and-shame list in 10:18 ff.
LECHALEL: As noted at Malachi 1:12, this is really the "correct" verb for "to curse", though "to profane" is more precise in the context; this, rather than the verbs used at 2:2, above, for which see my notes.
2:11 BAGDAH YEHUDAH VE TO'EVAH NE'ESTAH VE YISRA-EL U VIYRU-SHALA'IM KI CHILEL YEHUDAH KODESH YHVH ASHER AHEV U VA'AL BAT EL NECHAR
בָּגְדָה יְהוּדָה וְתוֹעֵבָה נֶעֶשְׂתָה בְיִשְׂרָאֵל וּבִירוּשָׁלִָם כִּי חִלֵּל יְהוּדָה קֹדֶשׁ יְהוָה אֲשֶׁר אָהֵב וּבָעַל בַּת אֵל נֵכָר
KJ: Judah hath dealt treacherously, and an abomination is committed in Israel and in Jerusalem; for Judah hath profaned the holiness of the LORD which he loved, and hath married the daughter of a strange god.
BN: Yehudah has behaved apallingly, and an abomination has been committed in Yisra-El and in Yeru-Shala'im; because Yehudah has profaned the holiness of YHVH whom he loves, by taking the daughter of a foreign god for his wife.
Again hard to tell if this is the message being conveyed or the messenger extemporising. Interesting that Yehudah has taken a foreign wife, or married a strange god - Yehudah the nation, rather than the individual Yehudim on Ezra's name-and-shame list in 10:18 ff.
BAGDAH: See my note to verse 16.
2:12 YACHRET YHVH LA ISH ASHER YA'ASENAH ER VE ONEH ME AHALEI YA'AKOV U MAGISH MINCHAH LA YHVH TSEVA'OT
יַכְרֵת יְהוָה לָאִישׁ אֲשֶׁר יַעֲשֶׂנָּה עֵר וְעֹנֶה מֵאָהֳלֵי יַעֲקֹב וּמַגִּישׁ מִנְחָה לַיהוָה צְבָאוֹת
KJ: The LORD will cut off the man that doeth this, the master and the scholar, out of the tabernacles of Jacob, and him that offereth an offering unto the LORD of hosts.
BN: YHVH will cut off any man who does this consciously, and he who delivers judgement on the matter from the tents of Ya'akov, and he who brings his offerings to YHVH, the Lord of the Hosts of the Heavens.
YACHRET: When a covenant is made, the verb used is CHERET, from the pre-alphabetic world when covenants were carved in stone with a chisel rather than drawn on parchment with a quill; and when the covenant is annulled, the people who made it are NICHRETAH.
YA'ASENAH ER: Might that just happen to be another usage of the root OR = "light"? The intention, though they did not yet have the concept, is that he does it "consciously", though I am intrigued by the King James interpretation.
VE ONEH: The root is LA'ANOT = "to answer", but the answer is coming from the "OHEL YA'AKOV", which is where the elders and the judges met for their equivalent of the Druze kalweh in the days before there was a Sanhedrin or a Beit Din - see my notes at Exodus 33:7.
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2:13 VE ZOT SHENIT TA'ASU KASOT DIM'AH ET MIZBACH YHVH BECHI VA ANAKAH ME EYN OD PENOT EL HA MINCHAH VE LAKACHAT RATSON MI YEDCHEM
KJ: And this have ye done again, covering the altar of the LORD with tears, with weeping, and with crying out, insomuch that he regardeth not the offering any more, or receiveth it with good will at your hand.
BN: And secondly you do this: you cover the altar of YHVH with tears, with weeping, and with sighing, to such a degree that he pays no further attention to your offering, refusing to accept it from your hand.
This especially was Yesha-Yahu's (Isaiah's) message in his book: that even when the Yehudim do everything they are supposed to do, they do it without the proper Kavanah, which is as much about the lack of fastidiousness, of intensity, as it is the lack of sincerity - they keep, but automaton-like, so the role-modelling is absent. Munafiqun in the Moslem world.
2:14 VA AMARTEM AL MAH AL KI YHVH HE'ID BEYNCHA U VEYN ESHET NE'UREYCHA ASHER ATAH BAGADETAH BAH VE HI CHAVERTECHA VE ESHET BERIYTECHA
KJ: Yet ye say, Wherefore? Because the LORD hath been witness between thee and the wife of thy youth, against whom thou hast dealt treacherously: yet is she thy companion, and the wife of thy covenant.
BN: And yet you go on asking "For what?" Because YHVH has been a witness between you and the wife of your youth, who you have treated egregiously badly, even though she is your companion, even though she is the wife of your covenant.
AL MAH: Is not the same as MADU'A, which we saw in verse 10, and which definitely means "why?". AL MAH becomes LA MAH in modern Ivrit, and it is used as a synonym for "why?"; but the intention is more "for what purpose", which is about outcomes, where "why?" is about pre-reasons.
BAGADETAH: See my note to verse 16.
2:13 VE ZOT SHENIT TA'ASU KASOT DIM'AH ET MIZBACH YHVH BECHI VA ANAKAH ME EYN OD PENOT EL HA MINCHAH VE LAKACHAT RATSON MI YEDCHEM
וְזֹאת שֵׁנִית תַּעֲשׂוּ כַּסּוֹת דִּמְעָה אֶת מִזְבַּח יְהוָה בְּכִי וַאֲנָקָה מֵאֵין עוֹד פְּנוֹת אֶל הַמִּנְחָה וְלָקַחַת רָצוֹן מִיֶּדְכֶם
KJ: And this have ye done again, covering the altar of the LORD with tears, with weeping, and with crying out, insomuch that he regardeth not the offering any more, or receiveth it with good will at your hand.
BN: And secondly you do this: you cover the altar of YHVH with tears, with weeping, and with sighing, to such a degree that he pays no further attention to your offering, refusing to accept it from your hand.
This especially was Yesha-Yahu's (Isaiah's) message in his book: that even when the Yehudim do everything they are supposed to do, they do it without the proper Kavanah, which is as much about the lack of fastidiousness, of intensity, as it is the lack of sincerity - they keep, but automaton-like, so the role-modelling is absent. Munafiqun in the Moslem world.
2:14 VA AMARTEM AL MAH AL KI YHVH HE'ID BEYNCHA U VEYN ESHET NE'UREYCHA ASHER ATAH BAGADETAH BAH VE HI CHAVERTECHA VE ESHET BERIYTECHA
וַאֲמַרְתֶּם עַל מָה עַל כִּי יְהוָה הֵעִיד בֵּינְךָ וּבֵין אֵשֶׁת נְעוּרֶיךָ אֲשֶׁר אַתָּה בָּגַדְתָּה בָּהּ וְהִיא חֲבֶרְתְּךָ וְאֵשֶׁת בְּרִיתֶךָ
KJ: Yet ye say, Wherefore? Because the LORD hath been witness between thee and the wife of thy youth, against whom thou hast dealt treacherously: yet is she thy companion, and the wife of thy covenant.
BN: And yet you go on asking "For what?" Because YHVH has been a witness between you and the wife of your youth, who you have treated egregiously badly, even though she is your companion, even though she is the wife of your covenant.
AL MAH: Is not the same as MADU'A, which we saw in verse 10, and which definitely means "why?". AL MAH becomes LA MAH in modern Ivrit, and it is used as a synonym for "why?"; but the intention is more "for what purpose", which is about outcomes, where "why?" is about pre-reasons.
BAGADETAH: See my note to verse 16.
BERIYTECHA: Has two meanings here, both the covenant with YHVH and the marriage-contract.
ESHET BERIYTECHA: Where the previous verse was pure Yesha-Yahu, this is even purer Hoshe'a, which denounces the worship of gods other than YHVH, metaphorically comparing Yira-El's infidelity towards YHVH with the repeated infidelities of his own wife, which eventually drove him on to the road of prophesy.
2:15 VE LO ECHAD ASAH U SHE'AR RU'ACH LO U MAH HA ECHAD MEVAKESH ZER'A ELOHIM VE NISHMARTEM BE RUCHACHEM U VE ESHET NE'UREYCHA AL YIVGOD
KJ: And did not he make one? Yet had he the residue of the spirit. And wherefore one? That he might seek a godly seed. Therefore take heed to your spirit, and let none deal treacherously against the wife of his youth.
BN: And did he not make you as one, even while he retained the living spirit? And what is this one? It is the seeking of a divine seed. Therefore take heed to your living spirit, and do not treat the wife of your youth egregiously.
MEVAKESH ZER'A ELOHIM: This too is idiom, and therefore cannot be translated literally. The idea behind it, to use the Hollywood cliché, is that all marriages are made in Heaven.
NISHMARTEM: Yet again the root SHOMER.
BE RUCHACHEM: Is Mal'achi playing word-games again, BERUCHACHEM being homophonously "your blessing", which might be a description of a successful marriage; and if so, it explains why the use of the idiom previously. However, this is only a homophone; the Chet (ח) and Chaf (כ) are reversed.
NE'UREYCHA: The KJ on this occason is simply wrong. EYCHA is 2nd person singular, "you", very explicitly.
2:15 VE LO ECHAD ASAH U SHE'AR RU'ACH LO U MAH HA ECHAD MEVAKESH ZER'A ELOHIM VE NISHMARTEM BE RUCHACHEM U VE ESHET NE'UREYCHA AL YIVGOD
וְלֹא אֶחָד עָשָׂה וּשְׁאָר רוּחַ לוֹ וּמָה הָאֶחָד מְבַקֵּשׁ זֶרַע אֱלֹהִים וְנִשְׁמַרְתֶּם בְּרוּחֲכֶם וּבְאֵשֶׁת נְעוּרֶיךָ אַל יִבְגֹּד
KJ: And did not he make one? Yet had he the residue of the spirit. And wherefore one? That he might seek a godly seed. Therefore take heed to your spirit, and let none deal treacherously against the wife of his youth.
BN: And did he not make you as one, even while he retained the living spirit? And what is this one? It is the seeking of a divine seed. Therefore take heed to your living spirit, and do not treat the wife of your youth egregiously.
MEVAKESH ZER'A ELOHIM: This too is idiom, and therefore cannot be translated literally. The idea behind it, to use the Hollywood cliché, is that all marriages are made in Heaven.
NISHMARTEM: Yet again the root SHOMER.
BE RUCHACHEM: Is Mal'achi playing word-games again, BERUCHACHEM being homophonously "your blessing", which might be a description of a successful marriage; and if so, it explains why the use of the idiom previously. However, this is only a homophone; the Chet (ח) and Chaf (כ) are reversed.
NE'UREYCHA: The KJ on this occason is simply wrong. EYCHA is 2nd person singular, "you", very explicitly.
YIVGOD: See me note to verse 16.
2:16 KI SAN'E SHALACH AMAR YHVH ELOHEY YISRA-EL VE CHISAH CHAMAS AL LEVUSHO AMAR YHVH TSEVA'OT VE NISHMARTEM BERUCHACHEM VE LO TIVGODU
KJ: For the LORD, the God of Israel, saith that he hateth putting away: for one covereth violence with his garment, saith the LORD of hosts: therefore take heed to your spirit, that ye deal not treacherously.
BN: "For I hate sending anyone away," says YHVH, the god of Yisra-El. "But I also hate anyone who dirties his clothing with the consequences of violence," says YHVH, the Lord of the Hosts of the Heavens. Therefore take heed to your living spirit, that you do not behave egregiously.
KI SAN'E: I have translated this as though the phrase were used twice, in order to bring out what I believe is the full intention here; it doesn't quite make sense otherwise.
LEVUSHO...TIVGODU: The constant play on this word had to come to fruition eventually, though a reader of the KJ would not know it. LEVUSH is "clothing". The root of TIVGODU here, of NIVGAD in verse 10, BAGDAH in verse 11, BAGADETAH in verse 14, YIVGOD in verse 15, is BAGAD, meaning "to act fraudulently" or "perfidiously" (cf Exodus 21:8, 1 Samuel 14:33, Judges 9:23, Isaiah 21:2, et al), and used to mean "to spoil" (Isaiah 33:1); while BEGED, from what may be a completely different root, but spelled the same, is also "clothing". I say "may be", because clothing exists to hide the naked truth, and what else are deceit and perfidiousness, if not the same at a moral rather thana physical level?. Certainly this is the point behind Mal'achi's playing with the words throughout these verses.
2:16 KI SAN'E SHALACH AMAR YHVH ELOHEY YISRA-EL VE CHISAH CHAMAS AL LEVUSHO AMAR YHVH TSEVA'OT VE NISHMARTEM BERUCHACHEM VE LO TIVGODU
כִּי שָׂנֵא שַׁלַּח אָמַר יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל וְכִסָּה חָמָס עַל לְבוּשׁוֹ אָמַר יְהוָה צְבָאוֹת וְנִשְׁמַרְתֶּם בְּרוּחֲכֶם וְלֹא תִבְגֹּדוּ
KJ: For the LORD, the God of Israel, saith that he hateth putting away: for one covereth violence with his garment, saith the LORD of hosts: therefore take heed to your spirit, that ye deal not treacherously.
BN: "For I hate sending anyone away," says YHVH, the god of Yisra-El. "But I also hate anyone who dirties his clothing with the consequences of violence," says YHVH, the Lord of the Hosts of the Heavens. Therefore take heed to your living spirit, that you do not behave egregiously.
KI SAN'E: I have translated this as though the phrase were used twice, in order to bring out what I believe is the full intention here; it doesn't quite make sense otherwise.
LEVUSHO...TIVGODU: The constant play on this word had to come to fruition eventually, though a reader of the KJ would not know it. LEVUSH is "clothing". The root of TIVGODU here, of NIVGAD in verse 10, BAGDAH in verse 11, BAGADETAH in verse 14, YIVGOD in verse 15, is BAGAD, meaning "to act fraudulently" or "perfidiously" (cf Exodus 21:8, 1 Samuel 14:33, Judges 9:23, Isaiah 21:2, et al), and used to mean "to spoil" (Isaiah 33:1); while BEGED, from what may be a completely different root, but spelled the same, is also "clothing". I say "may be", because clothing exists to hide the naked truth, and what else are deceit and perfidiousness, if not the same at a moral rather thana physical level?. Certainly this is the point behind Mal'achi's playing with the words throughout these verses.
samech break
2:17 HOGA'TEM YHVH BE DIVREYCHEM VA AMARTEM BA MAH HOGA'NU BE EMARCHEM KOL OSEH RA TOV BE EYNEY YHVH U VAHEM HU CHAPHETS O AYEH ELOHEY HA MISHPAT
הוֹגַעְתֶּם יְהוָה בְּדִבְרֵיכֶם וַאֲמַרְתֶּם בַּמָּה הוֹגָעְנוּ בֶּאֱמָרְכֶם כָּל עֹשֵׂה רָע טוֹב בְּעֵינֵי יְהוָה וּבָהֶם הוּא חָפֵץ אוֹ אַיֵּה אֱלֹהֵי הַמִּשְׁפָּט
KJ: Ye have wearied the LORD with your words. Yet ye say, Wherein have we wearied him? When ye say, Every one that doeth evil isgood in the sight of the LORD, and he delighteth in them; or, Where is the God of judgment?
BN: You have wearied YHVH with your words. Yet you say, "In what way have we wearied him?" In that you say, "Every one who does evil is good in the sight of YHVH, and he delights in them". Or: "Where are the gods of justice?"
As per my introduction, the scroll of Mal'achi is a single, continuous script, not broken into chapters, which are an invention of the Christian translators later on. The flow from this verse into the first of the next chapter suggests that the chapter creators may have made an error on this occasion.
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