3:1 HINENI SHOL'E'ACH MAL'ACHI U PHINAH DERECH LEPHANAI U PHIT'OM YAV'O EL HEYCHALO HA ADON ASHER ATEM MEVAKSHIM U MAL'ACH HA BERIT ASHER ATEM CHAPHETSIM HINEH VA AMAR YHVH TSEVA'OT
הִנְנִי שֹׁלֵחַ מַלְאָכִי וּפִנָּה דֶרֶךְ לְפָנָי וּפִתְאֹם יָבוֹא אֶל הֵיכָלוֹ הָאָדוֹן אֲשֶׁר אַתֶּם מְבַקְשִׁים וּמַלְאַךְ הַבְּרִית אֲשֶׁר אַתֶּם חֲפֵצִים הִנֵּה בָא אָמַר יְהוָה צְבָאוֹת
KJ: Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the LORD of hosts.
BN: Behold, I am sending my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me. And the Lord, who you are seeking, will suddenly appear at his Temple. And the messenger of the covenant, who you desire, behold, he is is coming. So says YHVH, the Lord of the Hosts of the Heavens.
HINENI: See my note at Mal'achi 2:3.
SHOL'E'ACH: Present tense, not future; the messenger is Mal'achi himself, declaring himself, by name indeed.
ADON: Not Adonai; this is the title of a secular lord, not of a deity, though it is being applied here to the deity.
MAL'ACHI: Christian ideloogy of course requires this to be a prediction of Jesus, or at the very least of John the Baptist, but in fact it is simply this Prophet explaining himself and his reason for making this drashah (for which, see my note to Ezra 10:16). And if he is also prophesying a future "mesenger", a) a messenger is neither a Moshi'a nor a Mashiyach, but Mal'achi the Prophet; and b) the man who will fulfil these specified purposes will be named Ezra - presumably Mal'achi was aware of the preparation of the Torah that was under way at that time, being made ready for presentation in Nehemiah 8; one more aide for us in dating his prophecies.
3:2 U MI MECHALKEL ET YOM BO'O U MI HA OMED BE HERA'OTO KI HU KE ESH METSAREPH U CHE VORIT MECHABSIM
KJ: But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he is like a refiner's fire, and like fullers' soap:
BN: But who will provide sustenance on the day that he comes ? And who will be the one to stand up for his arrival? For he is like a Refiner's fire, and like Fullers' soap:
MECHALKEL: Complex word; worth following the links at the link to see its multiple usages - always to do with sustaining, but anything from the Vishnu role in the Hindu trimurti which is reflected in the second verse of the Amidah (click here), to a father making daily provision for his family, to keeping a king in power.
MAL'ACHI: Christian ideloogy of course requires this to be a prediction of Jesus, or at the very least of John the Baptist, but in fact it is simply this Prophet explaining himself and his reason for making this drashah (for which, see my note to Ezra 10:16). And if he is also prophesying a future "mesenger", a) a messenger is neither a Moshi'a nor a Mashiyach, but Mal'achi the Prophet; and b) the man who will fulfil these specified purposes will be named Ezra - presumably Mal'achi was aware of the preparation of the Torah that was under way at that time, being made ready for presentation in Nehemiah 8; one more aide for us in dating his prophecies.
3:2 U MI MECHALKEL ET YOM BO'O U MI HA OMED BE HERA'OTO KI HU KE ESH METSAREPH U CHE VORIT MECHABSIM
וּמִי מְכַלְכֵּל אֶת יוֹם בּוֹאוֹ וּמִי הָעֹמֵד בְּהֵרָאוֹתוֹ כִּי הוּא כְּאֵשׁ מְצָרֵף וּכְבֹרִית מְכַבְּסִים
KJ: But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he is like a refiner's fire, and like fullers' soap:
BN: But who will provide sustenance on the day that he comes ? And who will be the one to stand up for his arrival? For he is like a Refiner's fire, and like Fullers' soap:
MECHALKEL: Complex word; worth following the links at the link to see its multiple usages - always to do with sustaining, but anything from the Vishnu role in the Hindu trimurti which is reflected in the second verse of the Amidah (click here), to a father making daily provision for his family, to keeping a king in power.
METSAREPH... MECHABSIM: Why is the Refiner singular but the Fullers plural? And what does he mean by them? The Refiner is straightforward - the process of melting metals like gold and silver, for which click here. As to the Fullers - ah, we are in Yesha-Yahu territory again, Isaiah 7:3 to be precise, when "YHVH said to Yesha-Yahu: 'Go down now to meet Achaz, you and She'ar-Yashuv your son, at the end of the conduit of the upper pool, in the highway at the Fullers' Field.'" And when they got there, prophecies that the war the king is waging will fail, and himself be replaced by a new king, a king who will follow YHVH, the most famous of all prophecies in the Christian world, that (verse 14, KJ version) "Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel." Immanuel being the hymn of praise, not the Messiah's name, which anyway wasn't Jesus, but Chizki-Yahu (Hezekiah). From all of which, Mal'achi's intention now is self-evident.
The Fullers' Field itself has caused much dispute among the scholars as to what, and where, it was. The place is mentioned again in Isaiah 36:2, at the time of Sennacherib: "Then the king of Ashur sent Rav-Shakeh from Lachish to Yeru-Shala'im, to king Chizki-Yahu, with a great army. And he stood by the conduit of the upper pool on the highway at Fullers' Field", which is virtually a quote from 2 Kings 18:17. The continuation of Isaiah 36 likewise mirrors 2 Kings 18:26, which tells us that "Then Eliakim son of Hilkiah, and Shebna and Joah said to the field commander, 'Please speak to your servants in Aramaic, since we understand it. Don't speak to us in Yehudit in the hearing of the people on the wall" - which at the very least tells us that the conduit in Fullers' Field was very close to the wall, though at which point of the wall remains unknown.
As to your question: "what on earth is a Fuller anyway", the Worshipful Company of Clothworkers in the United Kingdom grew out of the amalgamation of three separate craft-guilds, all connected with the wool trade, the Shearmen, the Fullers and the Dyers - the Fullers took the raw cloth from the weaver, cleansed it, then thickened it; a process that involved soaking it, treading it like wine inside the vat, using grease-absorbent earth to cleanse it, then scouring it with either teasel or thistle-heads, in order to remove any loose particles and raise a nap. The material was then passed to the Shearmen, who cut the raised fibres, so that the final cloth was even and smooth. And the Shearman passed it to the Dyers, who gave the outcome colour.
3:3 VE YASHAV METSAREPH U METAHER KESEPH VE TIHAR ET BENEY LEVI VE ZIKAK OTAM KA ZAHAV VE CHA KASEPH VE HAYU LA YHVH MAGIYSHEI MINCHAH BITSDAKAH
KJ: And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the LORD an offering in righteousness.
BN: And he will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the Beney Levi, and refine them like gold and silver; and they shall be offerings to YHVH, offerings of righteousness.
VE HAYU: A subtle distinction between my translation and the standard, based on the verb; it parallels VA YASHAV at the opening of the verse, and therefore refers to the BENEY LEVI themselves, and not to any offerings they might make; they are themselves the offerings, and the point is that acceptance of the life, duties, responsibilities and ethical role-modeling that is requisite of a Beney Levi, is itself a form of sacrifice - of "making sacred" as well as "giving something up".
3:4 VE ARVAH LA YHVH MINCHAT YEHUDAH VIYRU-SHALA'IM KIYMEY OLAM U CHE SHANIM KADMONIYOT
KJ: Then shall the offering of Judah and Jerusalem be pleasant unto the LORD, as in the days of old, and as in former years.
BN: Then the offering of Yehudah and Yeru-Shala'im will be pleasing to YHVH, as in the days of old, and as in ancient times.
OLAM...KADMONIYOT: Olam really means "eternally", where Kadmoniyot specifically realtes to "days of yore"; I wonder if there is an implied criticism in using both: the Olam suggesting how the rituals were intended to be forever, but perhaps that perfection is beyond human capabilty, so at least let's get back to what they were at the best of previous times. Having said which, see verse 7, where the Olam becomes the Kadmoniyot, in the sense of "plus ça change".
וְיָשַׁב מְצָרֵף וּמְטַהֵר כֶּסֶף וְטִהַר אֶת בְּנֵי לֵוִי וְזִקַּק אֹתָם כַּזָּהָב וְכַכָּסֶף וְהָיוּ לַיהוָה מַגִּישֵׁי מִנְחָה בִּצְדָקָה
KJ: And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the LORD an offering in righteousness.
BN: And he will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the Beney Levi, and refine them like gold and silver; and they shall be offerings to YHVH, offerings of righteousness.
VE HAYU: A subtle distinction between my translation and the standard, based on the verb; it parallels VA YASHAV at the opening of the verse, and therefore refers to the BENEY LEVI themselves, and not to any offerings they might make; they are themselves the offerings, and the point is that acceptance of the life, duties, responsibilities and ethical role-modeling that is requisite of a Beney Levi, is itself a form of sacrifice - of "making sacred" as well as "giving something up".
3:4 VE ARVAH LA YHVH MINCHAT YEHUDAH VIYRU-SHALA'IM KIYMEY OLAM U CHE SHANIM KADMONIYOT
וְעָרְבָה לַיהוָה מִנְחַת יְהוּדָה וִירוּשָׁלִָם כִּימֵי עוֹלָם וּכְשָׁנִים קַדְמֹנִיּוֹת
KJ: Then shall the offering of Judah and Jerusalem be pleasant unto the LORD, as in the days of old, and as in former years.
BN: Then the offering of Yehudah and Yeru-Shala'im will be pleasing to YHVH, as in the days of old, and as in ancient times.
OLAM...KADMONIYOT: Olam really means "eternally", where Kadmoniyot specifically realtes to "days of yore"; I wonder if there is an implied criticism in using both: the Olam suggesting how the rituals were intended to be forever, but perhaps that perfection is beyond human capabilty, so at least let's get back to what they were at the best of previous times. Having said which, see verse 7, where the Olam becomes the Kadmoniyot, in the sense of "plus ça change".
3:5 VE KARAVTI ALEYCHEM LA MISHPAT VE HAYIYTI ED MEMAHER BA MECHASHPHIM U VA MENA'APHIM U VA NISHBA'IM LA SHAKER U VE OSHKEI SECHAR SACHIR ALMANAH VE YATOM U MATEI GER VE LO YER'E'UNI AMAR YHVH TSEVA'OT
וְקָרַבְתִּי אֲלֵיכֶם לַמִּשְׁפָּט וְהָיִיתִי עֵד מְמַהֵר בַּמְכַשְּׁפִים וּבַמְנָאֲפִים וּבַנִּשְׁבָּעִים לַשָּׁקֶר וּבְעֹשְׁקֵי שְׂכַר שָׂכִיר אַלְמָנָה וְיָתוֹם וּמַטֵּי גֵר וְלֹא יְרֵאוּנִי אָמַר יְהוָה צְבָאוֹת
KJ: And I will come near to you to judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against false swearers, and against those that oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow, and the fatherless, and that turn aside the stranger from his right, and fear not me, saith the LORD of hosts.
BN: "And I will approach you for judgment; and I will be swift to bear witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against those who swear false oaths, and against those who cheat the hired labourer, the widow and the orphans of their wages, and who turn away the stranger, and have no respect for me," so says YHVH, the Lord of the Hosts of the Heavens.
KARAVTI: As one "approaches the bench" in a court of law; the phrase takes us back to the OHEL YA'AKOV in 2:12, where both the offerings and the judgements were under chastisement.
MECHASHPHIM: From the root KASHAPH, and worth looking at Gesenius on this, because he has numerous examples of this word in both Syriac and Aramaic, which were the lingua prima of Mal'achi's day, and so its meaning in that language would have been apparent to his listeners. Those examples include Acts 4:32 (31 in most English versions) and 13:1 (he is referring to his Greek translation; I believe he intends 12:5 and/or 12:12 in our English versions), as well as Philippians 1:4, all of which use it to mean "to pray", and regard that prayer as a positive. But Yehudit only ever uses it for sorcery or the worshipping of false gods, or in the sense that Mala'chi has already accused, of insincere prayer - cf Exodus 7:11 and 22:17, Deuteronomy 18:10, Jeremiah 27:9, 2 Kings 9:22 et al. So again we can see that Mal'achi is playing carefully with his words, using the bilingual meaning to attack the insincere prayers of the Beney Aharon, rendering that insincerity the same as worshipping idols or practicing sorcery; the Exodus 7:11 especially, where the "priests" of the Pharaoh are called "sorcerers", even though they are doing precisely the same thing as Mosheh.
MENA'APHIM: As at 2:14, Mal'achi is echoing the Prophet Hoshe'a, using adultery by a spouse as a parallel for infidelity to the deity. Jeremiah 3:8 also uses it in this way, as does Ezekiel 23:37.
NISHBA'IM: From the root SHAV'A, meaning "an oath", as in Be'er Sheva.
YER'E'UNI: I have rendered this as "respect" rather than "fear" on this occasion, and wonder if the two are not interchangeable throughout the Tanach. (There is of course a difference between "respect demanded" by a person in power, and "respect given" by a person of their own accord, because they feel it).
3:6 KI ANI YHVH LO SHANIYTI VE ATEM BENEY YA'AKOV LO CHELIYTEM
כִּי אֲנִי יְהוָה לֹא שָׁנִיתִי וְאַתֶּם בְּנֵי יַעֲקֹב לֹא כְלִיתֶם
KJ: For I am the LORD, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.
BN: "For I am YHVH, the immutable. And you are the Beney Ya'akov, who still have some perfecting to be done...
LO SHANIYTI: The Olam of verse 4, which will transition into the Kadmoniyot of verse 4 in the next verse.
CHELIYTEM: KJ is not wrong (a dozen other translations use simular vocabulary), because the root KALAH can mean "consume" (cf Ezekiel 13:13, Nachum 1:8, 2 Chronicles 12:12), but mostly it means ""bringing something to completion" (Jeremiah 4:27, Nehemiah 9:31), which takes us back to verse 4, and the reason why I commented on it as I did: "perhaps... perfection is beyond human capabilty". That is certainly one of the ways in which Mal'achi is using it here. "One of", because there are two very precise usages of the root, and he could have chosen several others for "consume" or "completion" - LEHASHLIM, LEMAL'E, LIGMOR... But he chose KALAH, and...
KALAH: just happens to be the accompanying word for the CHATAN, the former the bride, the latter the groom - the vowers of a fidelitous marriage. LECHA DODI LIKRAT KALAH... I wonder if Shlomo Alkabetz was thinking of Mal'achi when he wrote it?
Worth looking at Nehemiah 13:27, and especially my note there, to see how Nechem-Yah also carefully chooses his vocabulary to make double-points, but in his case deliberately avoiding the use of CHATAN, and for the very same reason that Mal'achi does choose it here: the divine covenant requires mutual acceptance, not one-sidedness.
3:7 LEMIYMEY AVOTEYCHEM SARTEM ME CHUKAI VE LO SHEMARTEM SHUVU ELAI VE ASHUVAH ALEYCHEM AMAR YHVH TSEVA'OT VA AMARTEM BA MEH NASHUV
KJ: Even from the days of your fathers ye are gone away from mine ordinances, and have not kept them. Return unto me, and I will return unto you, saith the LORD of hosts. But ye said, Wherein shall we return?
BN: "Since the days of your ancestors you have turned aside from my laws, and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you," so says YHVH, the Lord of the Hosts of the Heavens. But you say, "For what purpose should we return?"
CHUKAI: I feel a need to explain the difference between MITSVOT, MISHPATIM and CHUKIM, only the latter of which appears here, but the three have to be taken as a whole... and maybe EDOT and TOROT and even AVODAH as well... but it is very complex. There are large numbers of books and websites that tackle the subject, but I am going to hyperlink to one specific, which seems to me to get the full picture about as clearly as anyone I have yet read: click here. The Rabbi Hirsch from whom the essay takes its definitions was Samson Raphael Hirsch of Berlin; click here. And for those who just want a brief explanation, Rabbi Hirsch offers the following:
לְמִימֵי אֲבֹתֵיכֶם סַרְתֶּם מֵחֻקַּי וְלֹא שְׁמַרְתֶּם שׁוּבוּ אֵלַי וְאָשׁוּבָה אֲלֵיכֶם אָמַר יְהוָה צְבָאוֹת וַאֲמַרְתֶּם בַּמֶּה נָשׁוּב
KJ: Even from the days of your fathers ye are gone away from mine ordinances, and have not kept them. Return unto me, and I will return unto you, saith the LORD of hosts. But ye said, Wherein shall we return?
BN: "Since the days of your ancestors you have turned aside from my laws, and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you," so says YHVH, the Lord of the Hosts of the Heavens. But you say, "For what purpose should we return?"
CHUKAI: I feel a need to explain the difference between MITSVOT, MISHPATIM and CHUKIM, only the latter of which appears here, but the three have to be taken as a whole... and maybe EDOT and TOROT and even AVODAH as well... but it is very complex. There are large numbers of books and websites that tackle the subject, but I am going to hyperlink to one specific, which seems to me to get the full picture about as clearly as anyone I have yet read: click here. The Rabbi Hirsch from whom the essay takes its definitions was Samson Raphael Hirsch of Berlin; click here. And for those who just want a brief explanation, Rabbi Hirsch offers the following:
1) Torot are doctrines concerning God, the world, humanity and Israel.
2) Mishpatim require acting justly toward other humans.
3) Chukim demand showing justice toward plants, animals and our own selves.
4) Mitzvot consist of the obligation to love all beings.
5) Edot are symbolic acts that convey essential truths and lessons.
6) Avoda refers to commandments, such as prayer, that address our inner religious life.
But it really is much more complex than that, which is why I have different links for each of the three keywords, above.
And then there is the concept of Teshuvah, which is grammatically the "return", the "coming back" that is described here, but it is also the much deeper spiritual "truth and reconciliation" process that is required in order to bestow Kavanah upon the act of returning, rendering it thereby sincere, a genuine commitment. Click here for as thorough an explication as you are likely to find anywhere.
3:8 HA YIKB'A ADAM ELOHIM KI ATEM KOV'IM OTI VA AMARTEM BA MEH KEVA'ANUCHA HA MA'ASER VE HA TERUMAH
KJ: Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings.
BN: "Will a man deceive the gods? Yet you deceive me. But you say, 'In what way have we deceived you?' In tithes and offerings...
YIKB'A: Or perhaps, "will a man put a rounded crown on the head of his god?". And how on Earth do I get that alternate translation? Probably by the landing of a piece of meteroritic rock fromouter space, on Earth, in the earliest days of the planet's existence. The root is KAB'A, which of course we know of from many such rocks all over Arabia, but none more famous than the one at Mecca, unless we count the one on the summit of Mount Mor-Yah in Yeru-Shala'im, today the centrepiece of the Shrine of Omar, also known as "The Dome of the Rock", but in Mal'achi's day the centrepiece of the Temple itself.
3:8 HA YIKB'A ADAM ELOHIM KI ATEM KOV'IM OTI VA AMARTEM BA MEH KEVA'ANUCHA HA MA'ASER VE HA TERUMAH
הֲיִקְבַּע אָדָם אֱלֹהִים כִּי אַתֶּם קֹבְעִים אֹתִי וַאֲמַרְתֶּם בַּמֶּה קְבַעֲנוּךָ הַמַּעֲשֵׂר וְהַתְּרוּמָה
KJ: Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings.
BN: "Will a man deceive the gods? Yet you deceive me. But you say, 'In what way have we deceived you?' In tithes and offerings...
YIKB'A: Or perhaps, "will a man put a rounded crown on the head of his god?". And how on Earth do I get that alternate translation? Probably by the landing of a piece of meteroritic rock fromouter space, on Earth, in the earliest days of the planet's existence. The root is KAB'A, which of course we know of from many such rocks all over Arabia, but none more famous than the one at Mecca, unless we count the one on the summit of Mount Mor-Yah in Yeru-Shala'im, today the centrepiece of the Shrine of Omar, also known as "The Dome of the Rock", but in Mal'achi's day the centrepiece of the Temple itself.
How does the root get from this to "deceit"? Probably from KOV'A, which is a head-covering, the name taken from the military helmet, which, like a meteoric rock, was mostly round, sat on the top of the head, and was sharply pointed. And then, this is how language evolves; once the KAB'A had become the KOV'A, the idea of a "covering" sprouted, and things that "cover" may also "cover up", in the sense of being "deceitful". Or maybe Mankind merely tries to "conceal" things from his gods.
But then, in the King James and other versions, how does the root get from this to "robbery"? The only place in the entire Tanach where it is used with anything like this meaning is Proverbs 22:23, and actually it isn't. Verse 21 uses AL TIGZAL for "do not rob", and KAB'A in verse 23 is the deity taking back, through reparations, or "damages" in today's parlance.
ADAM: So perhaps it is the reference to Adam that misled the King James translators, thinking that Adam was not "Humankind" in general behaving "deceitfully", but an allusion to Adam "stealing" the fruit from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil in Genesis 3. And they may have been doubly misled by ME'ERAH in the next verse - see my note there.
ADAM: So perhaps it is the reference to Adam that misled the King James translators, thinking that Adam was not "Humankind" in general behaving "deceitfully", but an allusion to Adam "stealing" the fruit from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil in Genesis 3. And they may have been doubly misled by ME'ERAH in the next verse - see my note there.
HA MA'ASER VE HA TERUMAH: This refers back to 1:7/13, where "polluted bread" was offered on the altar, and instead of the firstborn lambs only lame and blind mutton.
3:9 BA ME'ERAH ATEM NE'ARIM VE OTI ATEM KOV'IM HA GOY KULO
KJ: Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation.
BN: "You are cursed with the curse. Because you deceive me, you, everyone, this entire nation...
Where the previous verse took us to Mal'achi 1:7/13, this has exactly the same follow-up as there - see 1:14 - and no question there that the complaint is "deceit", not "robbery".
3:9 BA ME'ERAH ATEM NE'ARIM VE OTI ATEM KOV'IM HA GOY KULO
בַּמְּאֵרָה אַתֶּם נֵאָרִים וְאֹתִי אַתֶּם קֹבְעִים הַגּוֹי כֻּלּוֹ
KJ: Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation.
BN: "You are cursed with the curse. Because you deceive me, you, everyone, this entire nation...
Where the previous verse took us to Mal'achi 1:7/13, this has exactly the same follow-up as there - see 1:14 - and no question there that the complaint is "deceit", not "robbery".
ME'ERAH: See my notes at Mal'achi 2:2, and then see 2:10.
3:10 HAVIY'U ET KOL HA MA'ASER EL BEIT HA OTSAR VIYHI TEREPH BE VEITI U VE CHANUNI NA BA ZOT AMAR YHVH TSEVA'OT IM LO EPHTACH LACHEM ET ARUBOT HA SHAMAYIM VA HARIYKOTI LACHEM BERACHAH AD BELI DAI
הָבִיאוּ אֶת כָּל הַמַּעֲשֵׂר אֶל בֵּית הָאוֹצָר וִיהִי טֶרֶף בְּבֵיתִי וּבְחָנוּנִי נָא בָּזֹאת אָמַר יְהוָה צְבָאוֹת אִם לֹא אֶפְתַּח לָכֶם אֵת אֲרֻבּוֹת הַשָּׁמַיִם וַהֲרִיקֹתִי לָכֶם בְּרָכָה עַד בְּלִי דָי
KJ: Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.
BN (literal translation): "Bring your entire tithe into the store-house, that there may be food in my house, and convince me with it," says YHVH, the Lord of the Hosts of the Heavens, "convince me to open the windows of the heavens, and pour out a blessing for you - though of course, in such a case, there will not be sufficient space to receive it...
TEREPH is an interesting choice of vocabulary, with its connotations of Teraphim, which are false idols, but more specifically of TREYF, which is precisely the sort of food they should not be bringing to the storehouse of the deity, and which all the tithed food certainly is, if the animals brought for slaughter were lame and blind (cf Exodus 12:5, 29:1, Leviticus 5:15...).
CHANUNI: The root is in fact BACHAN, which has to do with "testing", "examining", "proving by trial" as in a laboratory experiment. Isaiah 32:14 has BACHAN as the name of a watchtower on the Hill of Ophel in Yeru-Shala'im itself, possibly the one listed at Nehemiah 3:26/27; but the listeners are going to hear a very different CHANUN in this verse, and which will then be endorsed by the phrase that follows it, because CHANUN is the divine "graciousness", companion to the divine RACHUM or "compassion" in the great hymn that defines the attributes of the deity. The names Hannah, Joanna and Anne all stem from this root.
But is there perhaps something even more obscure to us, but to the listeners at the time rather more direct, "concealed" somewhat "deceitfully" in these lines. BACHAN, as in the Isaiah reference above, is usually translated as a watchtower, but it may also be translated as the citadel, which stood right there on the summit of Mount Ophel, and whose commander at this time, according to Nehemiah 7:2, was a man named CHANAN-YAH. I wonder if he was in the audience on the occasion of this harangue?
HARIYKOTI LACHEM BERACHAH: A blessing poured from the window of the heavens can only be the Yevarechecha, to which Mal'achi has already alluded (see my notes to 2:5 and 2:9), and will again, and even more explicitly, in verse 20, below. And of course it is precisely the blessing of the Kohanim, the objects of this divine critique.
All of which might lead to a rather different understanding of this verse:
BN ("concealed" translation): "Bring everything you have illicitly gathered into the store-house, so that there can be treyf and teraphim in the temple, and win the grace and compassion of the commander of the citadel by that means...
IM LO EPHTACH...AD BELI DAI: And that alternate reading may then help us understand the otherwise incomprehensible, and twice-used, negative: the Yevarechecha is not going to happen.
BN ("concealed" translation, cont): ... says YHVH, the Lord of the Hosts of the Heavens. " because, as things currently stand, I have no intention of opening the window of the heavens, or pouring out a blessing, just so you can go on stuffing yourselves ad nauseam..."
AD BELI DAI: Literally, word-by-word, "until... without ... enough".
3:11 VE GA'ARTI LACHEM BA OCHEL VE LO YASHCHIT LACHEM ET PERI HA ADAMAH VE LO TESHAKEL LACHEM HA GEPHEN BA SADEH AMAR YHVH TSEVA'OT
וְגָעַרְתִּי לָכֶם בָּאֹכֵל וְלֹא יַשְׁחִת לָכֶם אֶת פְּרִי הָאֲדָמָה וְלֹא תְשַׁכֵּל לָכֶם הַגֶּפֶן בַּשָּׂדֶה אָמַר יְהוָה צְבָאוֹת
KJ: And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, saith the LORD of hosts.
BN: "And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast its fruit before time in the field," says YHVH, the Lord of the Hosts of the Heavens.
GA'ARTI: Cf Genesis 37:10, Ruth 2:16, Jeremiah 29:27; Psalm 106:9, many others. The question with all of them relates to LACHEM here: is this a transitive or an intransitive verb, and is it therefore the Kohanim who are being rebuked for doing the devouring, or someone else who is doing it against the Kohanim, as the KJ translation suggests. The Genesis text has VA YIG'AR BO, Ruth 2:16 LO TIG'ARU VAH, Jeremiah 29:27 BE YIRME-YAHU, and Psalm 106:9 has VA YIG'AR BE YAM SUPH, all four using the preposition BE for the object of rebuke, where this uses LE for the Kohanim (LACHEM) but BE for those who do the devouring (BA OCHEL).
So apparently the Kohanim may be getting some exoneration here, or at least a defense of mitigating circumstances. Though who exactly is doing the devouring is not stated - I am presuming he means that it is those who bring the lame and blind sheep for sacrifice who are responsible, as they are the ones who will then take it home for dinner - as per 1:14. Nonetheless, the responsibility lies with the Kohanim to determine what is acceptable and what is "blemished", so they are at fault for letting it go to sacrifice - see my note to Tereph at verse 10.
But then, take a look at the NIV translation (click here), which seems to have taken its cue from Gesenius, whose paragraph on GA'AR regards this verse as complimentary to the one at Psalm 106:9 cited above - the assumption of the previous verse being that the Kohanim have now sorted out the issues to the point that the deity is ready to Yevarech again, and just as he "rebuked the Red Sea and it was dried up" in the Psalm, so now it is the locusts and other parasites who are devouring the crops who will be rebuked and prevented, and the dryness of the summer heat that causes the grapes to fall off the vine unripened that he will interfere to prevent. The verse that follows certainly endorses this reading, but in my view this verse is transitional, because Mal'achi is both rebuking the Kohanim for their continuing practices, but also wanting to encourage them to change them with a description of their rewards.
But then, take a look at the NIV translation (click here), which seems to have taken its cue from Gesenius, whose paragraph on GA'AR regards this verse as complimentary to the one at Psalm 106:9 cited above - the assumption of the previous verse being that the Kohanim have now sorted out the issues to the point that the deity is ready to Yevarech again, and just as he "rebuked the Red Sea and it was dried up" in the Psalm, so now it is the locusts and other parasites who are devouring the crops who will be rebuked and prevented, and the dryness of the summer heat that causes the grapes to fall off the vine unripened that he will interfere to prevent. The verse that follows certainly endorses this reading, but in my view this verse is transitional, because Mal'achi is both rebuking the Kohanim for their continuing practices, but also wanting to encourage them to change them with a description of their rewards.
3:12 VE ISHRU ET'CHEM KOL HA GOYIM KI TIHEYU ATEM ERETS CHEPHETS AMAR YHVH TSEVA'OT
KJ: And all nations shall call you blessed: for ye shall be a delightsome land, saith the LORD of hosts.
BN: "And all the nations shall call you happy, for you shall be a rich and fertile land," says YHVH, the Lord of the Hosts of the Heavens.
ISHRU: Innumerable of the Psalms include, even commence with, the word ASHREY, which has multiple meanings, rather like the multivalent SHALOM - happiness and wealth being the two most common, and both of them attributable to fertility - the wealth coming from the PERI HA ADAMAH, the "fruits of the earth" referred to in the previous verse, the happiness in part at least coming from the children, and the grand-children, who are the personal fertility. The goddess of fertility was named Asherah, or amongst the Beney Yisra-El Sarah.
CHEPHETS: The word came up in the previous chapter (2:17), and there it definitely warranted its customary translation as "delightful". Here it is rather more symbolic, whence "rich and fertile land". Cf 1 Samuel 15:22 (I couldn't resist placing this one first! Mal'achi would be proud of me!), Psalm 1:2 (which is one of the ASHREY Psalms as well) and 16:3, 1 Kings 10:13, et al.
וְאִשְּׁרוּ אֶתְכֶם כָּל הַגּוֹיִם כִּי תִהְיוּ אַתֶּם אֶרֶץ חֵפֶץ אָמַר יְהוָה צְבָאוֹת
KJ: And all nations shall call you blessed: for ye shall be a delightsome land, saith the LORD of hosts.
BN: "And all the nations shall call you happy, for you shall be a rich and fertile land," says YHVH, the Lord of the Hosts of the Heavens.
ISHRU: Innumerable of the Psalms include, even commence with, the word ASHREY, which has multiple meanings, rather like the multivalent SHALOM - happiness and wealth being the two most common, and both of them attributable to fertility - the wealth coming from the PERI HA ADAMAH, the "fruits of the earth" referred to in the previous verse, the happiness in part at least coming from the children, and the grand-children, who are the personal fertility. The goddess of fertility was named Asherah, or amongst the Beney Yisra-El Sarah.
CHEPHETS: The word came up in the previous chapter (2:17), and there it definitely warranted its customary translation as "delightful". Here it is rather more symbolic, whence "rich and fertile land". Cf 1 Samuel 15:22 (I couldn't resist placing this one first! Mal'achi would be proud of me!), Psalm 1:2 (which is one of the ASHREY Psalms as well) and 16:3, 1 Kings 10:13, et al.
As to these fanciful promises, sadly the opposite turns out to be the truth: the nations will look at the Beney Yisra-El making the desert bloom, as they will look at the successful Shylocks on the Rialto, and you can fill in the remainder of this sentence, and the consequent history, for yourself.
samech break
3:13 CHAZKU ALAI DIVREYCHEM AMAR YHVH VA AMARTEM MAH NIDBARNU ALEYCHA
KJ: Your words have been stout against me, saith the LORD. Yet ye say, What have we spoken so much against thee?
BN: "You have spoken out strongly against me," says YHVH. "And yet you say, 'What have we ever said against you?'...
3:14 AMARTEM SHAV AVOD ELOHIM U MAH BETS'A KI SHAMARNU MISHMARTO VE CHI HALACHNU KEDORANIT MIPNEY YHVH TSEVA'OT
KJ: Ye have said, It is vain to serve God: and what profit is it that we have kept his ordinance, and that we have walked mournfully before the LORD of hosts?
BN: "You have said, 'It is vain to serve Elohim', and, 'What profit is there in keeping his laws and marching in funereal procession before YHVH, the Lord of the Hosts of the Heavens?'...
SHAV: Strange word, Yehudit not Aramit, despite the Aleph ending; and strange because the Aleph is both silent and necessary - the nature of Yehudit grammar would make this incorrectly (and meaninglessly) Sha'u if there were not a silent final Aleph to alert you.
But translating it is more difficult, because there is also CHAVAL, which is used in Ecclesiastes 1:2, the famous phrase "vanity of vanities says the preacher", which infers an egotism or narcissism: "What real value is there for a man in all the gains he makes beneath the sun?" as the Sefaria version renders the phrase that follows. SHAV is "vain" in the sense of pointless, lacking in reward, a waste-time not even a pastime let alone a fill-time.
3:13 CHAZKU ALAI DIVREYCHEM AMAR YHVH VA AMARTEM MAH NIDBARNU ALEYCHA
חָזְקוּ עָלַי דִּבְרֵיכֶם אָמַר יְהוָה וַאֲמַרְתֶּם מַה נִּדְבַּרְנוּ עָלֶיךָ
KJ: Your words have been stout against me, saith the LORD. Yet ye say, What have we spoken so much against thee?
BN: "You have spoken out strongly against me," says YHVH. "And yet you say, 'What have we ever said against you?'...
3:14 AMARTEM SHAV AVOD ELOHIM U MAH BETS'A KI SHAMARNU MISHMARTO VE CHI HALACHNU KEDORANIT MIPNEY YHVH TSEVA'OT
אֲמַרְתֶּם שָׁוְא עֲבֹד אֱלֹהִים וּמַה בֶּצַע כִּי שָׁמַרְנוּ מִשְׁמַרְתּוֹ וְכִי הָלַכְנוּ קְדֹרַנִּית מִפְּנֵי יְהוָה צְבָאוֹת
KJ: Ye have said, It is vain to serve God: and what profit is it that we have kept his ordinance, and that we have walked mournfully before the LORD of hosts?
BN: "You have said, 'It is vain to serve Elohim', and, 'What profit is there in keeping his laws and marching in funereal procession before YHVH, the Lord of the Hosts of the Heavens?'...
SHAV: Strange word, Yehudit not Aramit, despite the Aleph ending; and strange because the Aleph is both silent and necessary - the nature of Yehudit grammar would make this incorrectly (and meaninglessly) Sha'u if there were not a silent final Aleph to alert you.
But translating it is more difficult, because there is also CHAVAL, which is used in Ecclesiastes 1:2, the famous phrase "vanity of vanities says the preacher", which infers an egotism or narcissism: "What real value is there for a man in all the gains he makes beneath the sun?" as the Sefaria version renders the phrase that follows. SHAV is "vain" in the sense of pointless, lacking in reward, a waste-time not even a pastime let alone a fill-time.
AVOD: Why is not the infinitive, LA'AVOD?
HALACHNU KEDORANIT: Is this KE DORANIT, the KE meaning "as" or "like", or is there a root KADAR from which some kind of gerundive has been derived? The answer lies in the opening letter, which is a Kuph, not a Kaph - "as" or "like" would require a Kaph. But listeners might not know that, and so, given Mal'achi's propensity of homophonous word-games, we have to explore both.
And there is a word, or actually a name, DORON, a small version of which might well be just "like" a DORANIT; it would mean "gift from the deity", precisely the reward that is on offer here.
And there is a root, or at last there is a foreign word which entered the Yehudit language, even if it never entered deeply enough to become a well-used root: "I am black, but comely, o you daughters of Yeru-Shala'im, as the tents of Kedar, as the curtains of Shelomoh" (Songs of Songs 1:5). From which the sense of things very dark, like mourning clothes.
I have absolutely no doubt that Mal'achi wants his listener to hear both of these.
3:15 VE ATAH ANACHNU ME'ASHRIM ZEDIM GAM NIVNU OSEY RISH'AH GAM BACHANU ELOHIM VA YIMALETU
וְעַתָּה אֲנַחְנוּ מְאַשְּׁרִים זֵדִים גַּם נִבְנוּ עֹשֵׂי רִשְׁעָה גַּם בָּחֲנוּ אֱלֹהִים וַיִּמָּלֵטוּ
KJ: And now we call the proud happy; yea, they that work wickedness are set up; yea, they that tempt God are even delivered.
BN: And now we make the proud happy; even those who plot wickedness are esteemed; even those who tempt Elohim are allowed to get away with it.
ANACHNU: No, this is Mal'achi again, in his own voice, extemporising commentary on the divine message; the gods only use the first person plural royally or when we speaking of the pantheon. ELOHIM in the accusative later in the verse confirms this.
ME'ASHRIM: Hiphil form or Pi'el? Because the first letter is an Aleph it could be either, though Hiphil would then require it to be MA'ASHRIM; neither, however, yields a translation as "call", which is the standard. Hiphil makes the most sense to me, the causative "we make happy".
BACHANU: See my note to CHANUNI at verse 10; this comes from the same root.
Two options for what now follows:
Two options for what now follows:
a) at this point Mal'achi's delivery of his "message" ends, and the final section describes the positive response of the Kohanim, and then Mal'achi's (the deity's through Mal'achi) response to that response.
b) at this point of Mal'achi's futuristic fantasy of YHVH bestowing his blessing upon the reformed priesthood and sincerely encovenanted Beney Yisra-El, Mal'achi imagines the positive response of the Kohanim, and encourages it by describing the deity's equally positive response.
b) is the more likely, but with one drawback - it would be an appeal to the proud, a way of making them happy, by letting them know their names would be added to the Scroll of Remembrance; which is precisely the opposite of what Mal'achi has just said in this verse.
3:16 AZ NIDBERU YIR'EY YHVH ISH ET RE'EHU VA YAKSHEV YHVH VA YISHM'A VA YIKATEV SEPHER ZIKARON LEPHANAV LE YIREY YHVH U LE CHOSHVEY SHEMO
KJ: Then they that feared the LORD spake often one to another: and the LORD hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the LORD, and that thought upon his name.
BN: Then they who feared YHVH consulted together; and YHVH listened, and heard, and a Scroll of Remembrance was set down before him, for those who feared YHVH, and who thought on his name.
SEPHER ZIKARON: This probably is not the Book of Life that is recalled in the liturgy from Rosh ha Shanah until Yom Kippur, and which appears in Exodus 32:32, Psalm 69:29 (28 in some versions) et al, though that may itself be an outcome of this one. This is the Book of the Recorder, which we know from 2 Samuel 8:16 and 20:24, 1 Kings 4:3, 2 Kings 18:18 and 37 et al; the king from Shelomoh's time onwards kept a special Scroll of Remembrance in which the names of the heroes, the high achievers, the important events, were memorialised and archived, something like the "Honour Roll" and "Honours Board" of today.
3:17 VE HAYU LI AMAR YHVH TSEVA'OT LA YOM ASHER ANI OSEH SEGULAH VE CHAMALTI ALEYHEM KA ASHER YACHMOL ISH AL BENO HA OVED OTO
KJ: And they shall be mine, saith the LORD of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him.
BN: "And they shall be mine," says YHVH, the Lord of the Hosts of the Heavens, "on the day that I take possession of my treasured property. And I will extend my mercy to him, as a man extends his mercy to his own son who serves him...
SEGULAH: I am unclear where KJ gets "jewels" from, though either 1 Chronicles 29:3 or Ecclesiastes 2:8 may provide the answer; in both cases the "property" is regarded as "treasure", though only gold and silver are mentioned, not jewels. These anyway are the general usage of the word; for its specific usage for Yisra-El as the "treasured property" of the deity see Exodus 19:5 or Deuteronomy 7:6, 14:2, 26:18. This is the word to keep in mind, rather than KADOSH, when speaking of the Jews as "the chosen people", though Deuteronomy 14:2 has both - and you can see the difference very easily from that verse.
3:16 AZ NIDBERU YIR'EY YHVH ISH ET RE'EHU VA YAKSHEV YHVH VA YISHM'A VA YIKATEV SEPHER ZIKARON LEPHANAV LE YIREY YHVH U LE CHOSHVEY SHEMO
אָז נִדְבְּרוּ יִרְאֵי יְהוָה אִישׁ אֶת רֵעֵהוּ וַיַּקְשֵׁב יְהוָה וַיִּשְׁמָע וַיִּכָּתֵב סֵפֶר זִכָּרוֹן לְפָנָיו לְיִרְאֵי יְהוָה וּלְחֹשְׁבֵי שְׁמוֹ
KJ: Then they that feared the LORD spake often one to another: and the LORD hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the LORD, and that thought upon his name.
BN: Then they who feared YHVH consulted together; and YHVH listened, and heard, and a Scroll of Remembrance was set down before him, for those who feared YHVH, and who thought on his name.
SEPHER ZIKARON: This probably is not the Book of Life that is recalled in the liturgy from Rosh ha Shanah until Yom Kippur, and which appears in Exodus 32:32, Psalm 69:29 (28 in some versions) et al, though that may itself be an outcome of this one. This is the Book of the Recorder, which we know from 2 Samuel 8:16 and 20:24, 1 Kings 4:3, 2 Kings 18:18 and 37 et al; the king from Shelomoh's time onwards kept a special Scroll of Remembrance in which the names of the heroes, the high achievers, the important events, were memorialised and archived, something like the "Honour Roll" and "Honours Board" of today.
3:17 VE HAYU LI AMAR YHVH TSEVA'OT LA YOM ASHER ANI OSEH SEGULAH VE CHAMALTI ALEYHEM KA ASHER YACHMOL ISH AL BENO HA OVED OTO
וְהָיוּ לִי אָמַר יְהוָה צְבָאוֹת לַיּוֹם אֲשֶׁר אֲנִי עֹשֶׂה סְגֻלָּה וְחָמַלְתִּי עֲלֵיהֶם כַּאֲשֶׁר יַחְמֹל אִישׁ עַל בְּנוֹ הָעֹבֵד אֹתוֹ
KJ: And they shall be mine, saith the LORD of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him.
BN: "And they shall be mine," says YHVH, the Lord of the Hosts of the Heavens, "on the day that I take possession of my treasured property. And I will extend my mercy to him, as a man extends his mercy to his own son who serves him...
SEGULAH: I am unclear where KJ gets "jewels" from, though either 1 Chronicles 29:3 or Ecclesiastes 2:8 may provide the answer; in both cases the "property" is regarded as "treasure", though only gold and silver are mentioned, not jewels. These anyway are the general usage of the word; for its specific usage for Yisra-El as the "treasured property" of the deity see Exodus 19:5 or Deuteronomy 7:6, 14:2, 26:18. This is the word to keep in mind, rather than KADOSH, when speaking of the Jews as "the chosen people", though Deuteronomy 14:2 has both - and you can see the difference very easily from that verse.
CHAMALTI ALEYHEM: Genesis 46:2 names CHAMUL as a son of Parets; see my notes at the link to his name. Exodus 2:6 and Deuteronomy 13:9 also use the word in the same sense, while 1 Samuel 15:3 makes a negative of it.
3:18 VE SHAVTEM U RE'IYTEM BEYN TSADIK LE RASH'A BEYN OVED ELOHIM LA ASHER LO AVADO
וְשַׁבְתֶּם וּרְאִיתֶם בֵּין צַדִּיק לְרָשָׁע בֵּין עֹבֵד אֱלֹהִים לַאֲשֶׁר לֹא עֲבָדוֹ
KJ: Then shall ye return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not.
BN: "Then you shall return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between he who serves Elohim and he who does not serve him...
SHAVTEM: Does this take us back to that odd SHAV in verse 14, which wasn't the same as the SHAV of TESHUVAH in verse 7, nor that of NISHBA'IM in verse 5 - all three connected now.
OVED...AVADO: So many time in the Tanach we have found ourselves wondering if the word was being used for "slavery", "service" or "worship"; and now, here, the latter two definitely in use simultaneously.
samech break
3:19 KI HINEH HA YOM BA BO'ER KA TANUR VE HAYU CHOL ZEDIM VE CHOL OSEH RISH'AH KASH VE LIHAT OTAM HA YOM HA BA AMAR YHVH TSEVA'OT ASHER LO YA'AZOV LAHEM SHORESH VE ANAPH
כִּי הִנֵּה הַיּוֹם בָּא בֹּעֵר כַּתַּנּוּר וְהָיוּ כָל זֵדִים וְכָל עֹשֵׂה רִשְׁעָה קַשׁ וְלִהַט אֹתָם הַיּוֹם הַבָּא אָמַר יְהוָה צְבָאוֹת אֲשֶׁר לֹא יַעֲזֹב לָהֶם שֹׁרֶשׁ וְעָנָף
KJ (4:1): For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the LORD of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.
BN: "For, behold, the day is coming, it burns like a furnace; and all the proud, and all who plot wickedness, shall be turned to stubble; and the day that is coming shall burn them up," says YHVH, the Lord of the Hosts of the Heavens, "which will leave them neither root nor branch...
Incorrectly interpreted by Christians as a prophesy of the coming of their Messiah, which is why this and the following five verses are placed in a separate chapter in most Christian versions. Part of their problem lies in the word ANAPH, which is indeed a "branch", but is not the word NETSER, which is the small "shoot" that sprouts from the tree and which is the root from which NOTSRIM = "Christians" derives (see for example Isaiah 4:2, 11:1, 14:19, 60:21), nor is it TSEMACH, which is the word for the full "branch" that develops from the "shoot", and is the other word most often used by the Prophets for their Messianic statements - see for example Zechar-Yah 6:12.
3:20 VE ZARCHA LACHEM YIR'EI SHEMI SHEMESH TSEDAKAH U MARPH'E BICHNAPHEYHA VIYTSA'TEM U PHISHTEM KE EGLEI MARBEK
וְזָרְחָה לָכֶם יִרְאֵי שְׁמִי שֶׁמֶשׁ צְדָקָה וּמַרְפֵּא בִּכְנָפֶיהָ וִיצָאתֶם וּפִשְׁתֶּם כְּעֶגְלֵי מַרְבֵּק
KJ (4:2): But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall.
BN: "But to you who fear my name the sun of righteousness shall arise with healing in its wings; and you will go forth, and gambol like calves in their stall...
SHEMESH TSEDAKAH: This alludes, not to a future Messiah, but once again to that most ancient prayer the Yevarechecha, which calls on the deity to "turn your face to shine on us" - see verse 10. Mal'achi's point being that, when the Yehudim become shomrim of kavanah, precisely this will be the reward; but how can they expect such a reward if they do not do what merits it?
Christianity passes this on to a future Messiah, who will do it for humanity; Mal'achic proto-Judaism throws the responsibiity into the laps of every human individual, and requires each to do it for himself.
3:21 VE ASOTEM RESHA'IM KI YIHEYU EPHER TACHAT KAPOT RAGLEYCHEM BA YOM ASHER ANI OSEH AMAR YHVH TSEVA'OT
וְעַסּוֹתֶם רְשָׁעִים כִּי יִהְיוּ אֵפֶר תַּחַת כַּפּוֹת רַגְלֵיכֶם בַּיּוֹם אֲשֶׁר אֲנִי עֹשֶׂה אָמַר יְהוָה צְבָאוֹת
KJ (4:3): And ye shall tread down the wicked; for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I shall do this, saith the LORD of hosts.
BN: "And you shall tread down the wicked; for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day that I do this," says YHVH, the Lord of the Hosts of the Heavens.
ASOTEM: Picking up the image of the stubbled corn earlier.
ANI OSEH: Is this an unfinished clause? Are we supposed to read the word SEGULAH, as in verse 17?
pey break
3:22 ZICHRU TORAT MOSHEH AVDI ASHER TSIVIYTI OTO VE CHOREV AL KOL YISRA-EL CHUKIM U MISHPATIM
זִכְרוּ תּוֹרַת מֹשֶׁה עַבְדִּי אֲשֶׁר צִוִּיתִי אוֹתוֹ בְחֹרֵב עַל כָּל יִשְׂרָאֵל חֻקִּים וּמִשְׁפָּטִים
KJ (4:4): Remember ye the law of Moses my servant, which I commanded unto him in Horeb for all Israel, with the statutes and judgments.
BN: "Remember the Torah of Mosheh my servant, which I instructed him to implement on Chorev for all Yisra-El, both its statutes and its ordinances...
TORAT: Again we are left wondering whether he means Law as a generality, rooted in the Mosaic, or the Torah itself, the text as we have it now; it depends on the dating of these verses: had Ezra and his commission completed the writing yet, or was it still in progress? We know that Mal'achi was living and preaching in Yeru-Shala'im at around that time, but we do not know precisely enough to be certain. In all likelihood it was still in preparation, and these lines are part of the preparing of the people for its first reading - for which see Nehemiah 8.
CHOREV: Not Sinai, which is the range.
CHUKIM U MISHPATIM: See my notes at verse 7.
3:23 HINEH ANOCHI SHOLE'ACH LACHEM ET ELI-YAH HA NAV'I LIPHNEY BO YOM YHVH HA GADOL VE HA NOR'A
KJ (4:5): Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD:
BN: "Behold, I will send you Eli-Yah the prophet before the great and terrible day of YHVH comes...
ELI-YAH: Not John the Baptist! Definitely not Jesus. And note that he too has a Yah name that has not yet been masculinised; in the Book of Kings, which the Ezraic commission will only complete after the Torah has been finished (or perhaps it was later even than that), he will become Eli-Yahu.
3:24 VE HESHIV LEV AVOT AL BANIM VE LEV BANIM AL AVOTAM PEN AV'O VE HIKEYTI ET HA ARETS CHEREM
KJ (4:6): And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.
BN: "And he will turn the hearts of the fathers towards their children, and the hearts of the children towards their fathers; lest I come and smite the Earth with a curse."
HESHIV: Yet another variant of that word SHAV; see my note at verse 18.
3:23 HINEH ANOCHI SHOLE'ACH LACHEM ET ELI-YAH HA NAV'I LIPHNEY BO YOM YHVH HA GADOL VE HA NOR'A
הִנֵּה אָנֹכִי שֹׁלֵחַ לָכֶם אֵת אֵלִיָּה הַנָּבִיא לִפְנֵי בּוֹא יוֹם יְהוָה הַגָּדוֹל וְהַנּוֹרָא
KJ (4:5): Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD:
BN: "Behold, I will send you Eli-Yah the prophet before the great and terrible day of YHVH comes...
ELI-YAH: Not John the Baptist! Definitely not Jesus. And note that he too has a Yah name that has not yet been masculinised; in the Book of Kings, which the Ezraic commission will only complete after the Torah has been finished (or perhaps it was later even than that), he will become Eli-Yahu.
3:24 VE HESHIV LEV AVOT AL BANIM VE LEV BANIM AL AVOTAM PEN AV'O VE HIKEYTI ET HA ARETS CHEREM
וְהֵשִׁיב לֵב אָבוֹת עַל בָּנִים וְלֵב בָּנִים עַל אֲבוֹתָם פֶּן אָבוֹא וְהִכֵּיתִי אֶת הָאָרֶץ חֵרֶם
KJ (4:6): And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.
BN: "And he will turn the hearts of the fathers towards their children, and the hearts of the children towards their fathers; lest I come and smite the Earth with a curse."
HESHIV: Yet another variant of that word SHAV; see my note at verse 18.
CHEREM: Which is a very different form of "curse" than the ME'ERAH of verse 9. The CHEREM is, or rather was, the full "excommunication" - click here for more on this.
