1:1 MASAH DEVAR YHVH EL YISRA-EL BE YAD MAL'ACHI
מַשָּׂא דְבַר יְהוָה אֶל יִשְׂרָאֵל בְּיַד מַלְאָכִי
KJ (King James translation): The burden of the word of the LORD to Israel by Malachi.
BN (BibleNet translation):The burden of the word of YHVH to Yisra-El, in the hand of Mal'achi.
The inference is that the speaker's real name remains unknown; he is simply an oracle, literally "a messenger", a person speaking the word of YHVH. Given the nature of the cult, and the significance of the word, it is extremely implausible that a person would have been given that name as a birthname; indeed, the religious authorities would likely have refused to bestow the blessing over the new-born baby on the 8th day, at the rite of circumcision. But that it should be a Prophetic title, in the same way that Yesha-Yahu etc were - that I think we can take as given. We should see the Guilds of Prophets as the Yeshivot of their day, named for their location today, named for their Rosh Yeshivah then.
1:2 AHAVTI ET'CHEM AMAR YHVH VA AMARTEM BA MAH AHAVTANU HA LO ACH ESAV LE YA'AKOV NE'UM YHVH VA AHAV ET YA'AKOV
אָהַבְתִּי אֶתְכֶם אָמַר יְהוָה וַאֲמַרְתֶּם בַּמָּה אֲהַבְתָּנוּ הֲלוֹא אָח עֵשָׂו לְיַעֲקֹב נְאֻם יְהוָה וָאֹהַב אֶת יַעֲקֹב
KJ: I have loved you, saith the LORD. Yet ye say, Wherein hast thou loved us? Was not Esau Jacob's brother? saith the LORD: yet I loved Jacob.
BN: "I have loved you", says YHVH. But you say, "In what way have you loved us?" "Was Esav not Ya'akov's brother?" says YHVH; "yet I loved Ya'akov."
BA MAH: The evidence of history is not strong in support of the divine statement, though the epoch of Mal'achi's was probably one of the better ones: just returned from exile and captivity in Bavel, rebuilding Yeru-Shala'im with support from the principal superpower in the region...
ESAV: It is not obvious how Ya'akov having Esav for a brother in any way affects the validity of the response to the divine statement. Or is this simply his way of saying that, yes, bad things have happened, but you need to focus on the good things. Unlikely to convince anybody if it is.
1:3 VE ET ESAV SAN'ETI VA ASIM ET HARAV SHEMAMAH VE ET NACHALATO LETANOT MIDBAR
וְאֶת עֵשָׂו שָׂנֵאתִי וָאָשִׂים אֶת הָרָיו שְׁמָמָה וְאֶת נַחֲלָתוֹ לְתַנּוֹת מִדְבָּר
KJ: And I hated Esau, and laid his mountains and his heritage waste for the dragons of the wilderness.
BN: And I hated Esav, and I rendered his mountains desolate, and I gave his heritage to the jackals of the wilderness.
HARAV: Mount Se'ir, in Edom.
The first of Mal'achi's major failures as a Prophet! Edom will eventually become Idumea in Latin, ruled by the dynasty of King Herod, at the worst moment of all in Jewish history (before the Holocaust, obviously) - the destruction of the Second Temple, and of Yeru-Shala'im, the end, for nearly two thousand years, of Jewish hegemony in the Yishuv.
1:4 KI TO'MAR EDOM RUSHASHNU VE NASHUV VE NIVNEH CHARAVOT KOH AMAR YHVH TSEVA'OT HEMAH YIVNU VA ANI EHEROS VE KAR'U LAHEM GEVUL RISH'AH VE HA AM ASHER ZA'AM YHVH AD OLAM
כִּי תֹאמַר אֱדוֹם רֻשַּׁשְׁנוּ וְנָשׁוּב וְנִבְנֶה חֳרָבוֹת כֹּה אָמַר יְהוָה צְבָאוֹת הֵמָּה יִבְנוּ וַאֲנִי אֶהֱרוֹס וְקָרְאוּ לָהֶם גְּבוּל רִשְׁעָה וְהָעָם אֲשֶׁר זָעַם יְהוָה עַד עוֹלָם
KJ: Whereas Edom saith, We are impoverished, but we will return and build the desolate places; thus saith the LORD of hosts, They shall build, but I will throw down; and they shall call them, The border of wickedness, and, The people against whom the LORD hath indignation for ever.
BN: Which is why Edom complains, "We are beaten down, but we will return, and rebuild the ruined places". But thus says YHVH, the Lord of the Hosts of the Heavens: "They will build, but I will destroy them again; and men will call them 'the edge of wickedness', and 'the people against whom YHVH will remain indignant for ever'.
YHVH TSEVA'OT: Any lingering doubts that the Yehudim were still pantheists at the time of the return from exile are set aside in the opening verses of this book. Mal'achi's YHVH is not yet the Omnideity, but still only the chief of the Yehudan Olympus, surrounded by his Tseva'ot, his "hosts" - stars, comets, planets and moons.
1:5 VE EYNEYCHEM TIR'EYNAH VE ATEM TOMRU YIGDAL YHVH ME'AL LIGVUL YISRA-EL
וְעֵינֵיכֶם תִּרְאֶינָה וְאַתֶּם תֹּאמְרוּ יִגְדַּל יְהוָה מֵעַל לִגְבוּל יִשְׂרָאֵל
KJ: And your eyes shall see, and ye shall say, The LORD will be magnified from the border of Israel.
BN: And your eyes shall see, and you will say, "May YHVH be exalted even beyond the borders of Yisra-El".
YIGDAL: Impossible to ignore two major pieces of liturgy that utilise this word, The "Yigdal", constructed as a song out of Maimonides' "Thirteen Principles of Faith", and the opening word of the Kaddish - which uses it in the Hitpa'el form, Yitgadal.
1:6 BEN YECHABED AV VE EVED ADONAV VE IM AV ANI AYEH CHEVODI VE IM ADONIM ANI AYEH MORA'I AMAR YHVH TSEVA'OT LACHEM HA KOHANIM BOZEY SHEMI VA AMARTEM BAMEH VAZIYNU ET SHEMECHA
בֵּן יְכַבֵּד אָב וְעֶבֶד אֲדֹנָיו וְאִם אָב אָנִי אַיֵּה כְבוֹדִי וְאִם אֲדוֹנִים אָנִי אַיֵּה מוֹרָאִי אָמַר יְהוָה צְבָאוֹת לָכֶם הַכֹּהֲנִים בּוֹזֵי שְׁמִי וַאֲמַרְתֶּם בַּמֶּה בָזִינוּ אֶת שְׁמֶךָ
KJ: A son honoureth his father, and a servant his master: if then I be a father, where is mine honour? and if I be a master, where is my fear? saith the LORD of hosts unto you, O priests, that despise my name. And ye say, Wherein have we despised thy name?
BN: "A son honours his father, and a servant his master. If I am a father, where is my honouring, and if I am a master, where is the fear of me?" So says YHVH, the Lord of the Hosts of the Heavens, to you the Kohanim, "who despise my name". And you reply, "in what way have we despised your name?"
ADONIM: Interesting to find that in the plural! And it is definitely the deity who is plural here, not the "sons" - that would be rendered as ADONEYCHEM, the same as LACHEM later in the sentence.
BOZEY SHEMI: The placing of quotation marks is difficult throughout Mal'achi, as it is not always obvious - the same was true in the methodology of Zechar-Yah - whether he is putting words into the mouth of the deity, as his "messenger", or offering a quotation from the scriptures (which had not yet been written down in his day, so this is unlikely anyway) or simply expressing his own thought and/or opinion. On this occasion the transition from statement to apparent quotation-message comes in mid-sentence, and would be grammatically inaccurate if it is not a quotation - if it were Mal'achi speaking, rather than quoting, he would say "who despise his name". The next verse is even more complex, because he has YHVH debating with the Kohanim, himself spokespersoning both sides, and then one side quoting the other back at them.
1:7 MAGIYSHIM AL MIZBECHI LECHEM MEGO'AL VA AMARTEM BA MEH GE'ALNUCHA BE EMRACHEM SHULCHAN YHVH NIVZEH HU
KJ: Ye offer polluted bread upon mine altar; and ye say, Wherein have we polluted thee? In that ye say, The table of the LORD is contemptible.
BN: "You offer polluted bread on my altar. And you say, 'In what way have we polluted you?' And even in saying that you render the table of YHVH contemptible...
1:8 VE CHI TAGISHUN IVER LIZBO'ACH EYN RA VE CHI TAGIYSHU PIS'E'ACH VE CHOLEH EYN RA HAKRIYVEHU NA LE PHECHATECHA HA YIRTSECHA O HA YIS'A PHANEYCHA AMAR YHVH TSEVA'OT
KJ: And if ye offer the blind for sacrifice, is it not evil? and if ye offer the lame and sick, is it not evil? offer it now unto thy governor; will he be pleased with thee, or accept thy person? saith the LORD of hosts.
BN: "And when you offer the blind for sacrifice, it is no evil! And when you offer the lame and sick, it is no evil! Lay it now before your Governor; will he be happy with you? Will he accept you?" So says YHVH, the Lord of the Hosts of the Heavens.
LIZBO'ACH: It is not obvious what Mal'achi means by this; it seems unlikely that the Kohanim were practising eugenics by physically sacrificing the lame and blind, so is the intention an ironic attack on their simply ignoring them, the lack of empathy and compassion? The next verse appears to confirm this by calling for prayers for empathy and compassion from the deity.
מַגִּישִׁים עַל מִזְבְּחִי לֶחֶם מְגֹאָל וַאֲמַרְתֶּם בַּמֶּה גֵאַלְנוּךָ בֶּאֱמָרְכֶם שֻׁלְחַן יְהוָה נִבְזֶה הוּא
KJ: Ye offer polluted bread upon mine altar; and ye say, Wherein have we polluted thee? In that ye say, The table of the LORD is contemptible.
BN: "You offer polluted bread on my altar. And you say, 'In what way have we polluted you?' And even in saying that you render the table of YHVH contemptible...
1:8 VE CHI TAGISHUN IVER LIZBO'ACH EYN RA VE CHI TAGIYSHU PIS'E'ACH VE CHOLEH EYN RA HAKRIYVEHU NA LE PHECHATECHA HA YIRTSECHA O HA YIS'A PHANEYCHA AMAR YHVH TSEVA'OT
וְכִי תַגִּשׁוּן עִוֵּר לִזְבֹּחַ אֵין רָע וְכִי תַגִּישׁוּ פִּסֵּחַ וְחֹלֶה אֵין רָע הַקְרִיבֵהוּ נָא לְפֶחָתֶךָ הֲיִרְצְךָ אוֹ הֲיִשָּׂא פָנֶיךָ אָמַר יְהוָה צְבָאוֹת
KJ: And if ye offer the blind for sacrifice, is it not evil? and if ye offer the lame and sick, is it not evil? offer it now unto thy governor; will he be pleased with thee, or accept thy person? saith the LORD of hosts.
BN: "And when you offer the blind for sacrifice, it is no evil! And when you offer the lame and sick, it is no evil! Lay it now before your Governor; will he be happy with you? Will he accept you?" So says YHVH, the Lord of the Hosts of the Heavens.
LIZBO'ACH: It is not obvious what Mal'achi means by this; it seems unlikely that the Kohanim were practising eugenics by physically sacrificing the lame and blind, so is the intention an ironic attack on their simply ignoring them, the lack of empathy and compassion? The next verse appears to confirm this by calling for prayers for empathy and compassion from the deity.
PHECHATECHA: Interesting word, generally translated as "governor". We will see multiple alternatives in all five books of the period, (this, Chagai and Zechar-Yah, Ezra and Nechem-Yah). Some of the variations are probably Yehudit versus Aramaic, but they are nonetheless too many to be just that, so we have to assume that some are simply the writer not knowing the correct word (Nechem-Yah especially is a regular culprit in this regard); other of the variations are probably sloppiness on the part of the Masoretes who added the pointing at a later date,and didn't bother to check their own texts for consistency - a regular problem throughout the Tanach. So we have:
APHARSATCHAY'E: in Ezra 4:9, which is probably Farsi (Persian). PACHAT IN 5:3 and 6, 6:6, 7 and 13, as well as Chagai 1:1 and 14, 2:2 and 21, and Nehemiah 3:7; PHECHAH in Ezra 5:14, which Nehemiah 5:18 and 12:26 render as PECHAH, though he also renders it as PECHAM in Nehemiah 5:14, differently at the start of the verse from the end; and then he uses the word Tirshat'a for the same position on numerous occasions (eg 7:65). And then there is the plural, which is PACHOT in Nehemiah 5:15, but PHACHAVOT when he uses it in 8:6, and then PACHAVOT in Nehemiah 2:7 and 9; this latter definitely a Masoretic sloppiness. And then there are SAR in Zechariah 7:2, and ALUPHEY in Zechariah 12:5, and what may be a name rather than a title, but probably both, which is PACHAT MO-AV in Ezra 8:4 and many other places.
1:9 VE ATAH CHALU NA PENEY EL VIYCHANENU MI YEDCHEM HAYETAH ZOT HA YIS'A MI KEM PANIM AMAR YHVH TSEVA'OT
וְעַתָּה חַלּוּ נָא פְנֵי אֵל וִיחָנֵנוּ מִיֶּדְכֶם הָיְתָה זֹּאת הֲיִשָּׂא מִכֶּם פָּנִים אָמַר יְהוָה צְבָאוֹת
KJ: And now, I pray you, beseech God that he will be gracious unto us: this hath been by your means: will he regard your persons? saith the LORD of hosts.
BN: "And now, I implore you, entreat the favour of El, that he may extend his mercy toward us. What has happened is your own fault. But will he even accept any of your petitions?" So says YHVH, the Lord of the Hosts of the Heavens.
EL: The Ouranos of the Kena'ani pantheon, and presumably the father of YHVH too, though we are never told that explicitly at any point of the Tanach. But the significance here is not that anyway; it is the prophet Mal'achi, speaking in what is supposed to be YHVH's voice, telling his people to go pray to El for forgiveness for their sins, not as an alternative to following YHVH, but because El is the final authority in the pantheon of the deities, YHVH merely the senior figure at the Round Table.
1:10 MI GAM BACHEM VE YISGOR DELATAYIM VE LO TA'IYRU MIZBECHI CHINAM EYN LI CHEPHETS BACHEM AMAR YHVH TSEVA'OT U MINCHAH LO ERTSEH MI YEDCHEM
מִי גַם בָּכֶם וְיִסְגֹּר דְּלָתַיִם וְלֹא תָאִירוּ מִזְבְּחִי חִנָּם אֵין לִי חֵפֶץ בָּכֶם אָמַר יְהוָה צְבָאוֹת וּמִנְחָה לֹא אֶרְצֶה מִיֶּדְכֶם
KJ: Who is there even among you that would shut the doors for nought? neither do ye kindle fire on mine altar for nought. I have no pleasure in you, saith the LORD of hosts, neither will I accept an offering at your hand.
BN: "Is there even a single one amongst you who would shut the doors, so that you do not kindle a fire on my altar in vain! I take no pleasure from you," says YHVH, the Lord of the Hosts of the Heavens, "nor will I accept an offering at your hand...
CHINAM: The same complaint that we heard from Yesha-Yahu and Yechezke-El and... actually, all the Prophets, and Jesus will add his voice to the refrain, and the concept of Munafiqun in the Qu'ran (Surah 63) will echo it in Islam. Hypocricy. Why should the deity accept sacrifices or petitions from people who are not keeping his commandments, or only pretending to keep them, going through the motions without "kavanah", which is both "intensity" and "sincerity"? The same complaint that we will hear from Nechem-Yah when he returns to Yeru-Shala'im in chapter 13 of his book, expecting to find the sworn covenant in process of implementation, and finding something rather different in its place.
1:11 KI MI MIZRACH SHEMESH VE AD MEVO'O GADOL SHEMI BA GOYIM U VE CHAL MAKOM MUKTAR MUGASH LISHMI U MINCHAH TEHORAH KI GADOL SHEMI BA GOYIM AMAR YHVH TSEVA'OT
כִּי מִמִּזְרַח שֶׁמֶשׁ וְעַד מְבוֹאוֹ גָּדוֹל שְׁמִי בַּגּוֹיִם וּבְכָל מָקוֹם מֻקְטָר מֻגָּשׁ לִשְׁמִי וּמִנְחָה טְהוֹרָה כִּי גָדוֹל שְׁמִי בַּגּוֹיִם אָמַר יְהוָה צְבָאוֹת
KJ: For from the rising of the sun even unto the going down of the same my name shall be great among the Gentiles; and in every place incense shall be offered unto my name, and a pure offering: for my name shall be great among the heathen, saith the LORD of hosts.
BN: "For from the rising of the sun, right up until it sets, my name shall be great among the nations of the world; and everywhere incense shall be burned in my name, and a pure offering: for my name shall be great among the Gentiles, saith YHVH the Lord of the Hosts of the Heavens...
Is this the source of the only verse that anyone ever remembers of Laurence Binyon's poem "For The Fallen", recited in every commemoration service in the Anglo-Saxon world on Remembrance Sunday, November 11th? Click here for the full poem.
GOYIM: See the link.
MUGASH: The root actually means "to touch", and is used for "approaching", or "drawing near", even if you don't actually come so close as to touch (Genesis 27:21 for both meanings, Numbers 8:19 for the latter), so it is not obvious how this gets to be the appropriate verb for burning or sprinkling incense (we use incense as a means of approaching the deity? perhaps), nor indeed which of the two is taking place here. I have gone for "burning" rather than "sprinkling" because it appears to be the follow-on from the "fires kindled in vain" of the previous verse, but also because it accompanies the MINCHAH TEHORAH mentioned next.
1:12 VE ATEM MECHALELIM OTO BE EMARCHEM SHULCHAN ADONAI MEGO'AL HU VE NIYVO NIVZEH ACHLU
KJ: But ye have profaned it, in that ye say, The table of the LORD is polluted; and the fruit thereof, even his meat, is contemptible.
BN: "But you profane it when you say, 'The table of YHVH is polluted, and its fruit, and its food as well, is contemptible'...
MECHALELIM: To profane something is to deconsecrate it, the opposite of the purpose of sacrifice at the altar; the word here is also used for cursing, which is a different form of profanation. I wonder if Mala'chi is also playing with words here, echoing HALLEL in MECHALELIM, HALLEL being one of the most sacred moments in the ceremonies in the Temple, the word-play coming from the fact that the Chet (ח) in MECHALELIM and the Hey (ה) in HALLEL are remarkably easy to mistake, one for the other.
NIYVO...NIVZEH ACHLU: Needs more work! (which is a cowardly way of saying: "I don't understand what he is saying here". Because surely it is the deity who is complaining the table is polluted; or perhaps the Kohanim have been blaming the diety for the failure of their sacrifices to bring the rewards they are requesting: they pray for rain, and the drought continues; they pray for peace, and the enemy launches another assault. All the fault of the deity.)
1:13 VE AMARTEM HINEH MATLA'AH VE HIPACHTEM OTO AMAR YHVH TSEVA'OT VA HAV'ETEM GAZUL VE ET HA PIS'E'ACH VE ET HA CHOLEH VA HAV'ETEM ET HA MINCHAH HA ERTSEH OTAH MI YEDCHEM AMAR YHVH
KJ: Ye said also, Behold, what a weariness is it! and ye have snuffed at it, saith the LORD of hosts; and ye brought that which was torn, and the lame, and the sick; thus ye brought an offering: should I accept this of your hand? saith the LORD.
BN: "You also said, 'See how wearying it all is!', and you have huffed and puffed at it". So says YHVH, the Lord of the Hosts of the Heavens. "And you have brought what was taken by violence, and the lame, and the sick; thus do you bring the offering. Should I accept this at your hand?" says YHVH.
MATLA'AH: Really this is two words, MAH and TELA'AH, conjoined to make an entirely new word. MAH conveys the "how" part. TELA'AH can be found at Exodus 18:8 and Numbers 20:14 as "toil" and "labour". The root is ALAH, which seems to me to be Mal'achi playing with keywords yet again - a Kohen makes Aliyah to the altar when he is offering incense and sacrifice.
HIPACHTEM: Very onomatopoeic, which I have tried to retain in my translation. "Disdainfully sneer" and "sniff contemptuously" are among the alternatives I have encountered.
PIS'E'ACH: I think this note should go earlier, when the lame were first mentioned - Pesach and immolation are the note samech break
1:14 VE ARUR NOCHEL VE YESH BE EDRO ZACHAR VE NODER VE ZOVE'ACH MASHCHAT LADONAI KI MELECH GADOL ANI AMAR YHVH TSEVA'OT U SHEMI NOR'A VA GOYIM
KJ: But cursed be the deceiver, which hath in his flock a male, and voweth, and sacrificeth unto the Lord a corrupt thing: for I am a great King, saith the LORD of hosts, and my name is dreadful among the heathen.
BN: "Then cursed be the deceiver, who has a male in his flock, and pledges it, but then sacrifices a blemished ram to the Lord. For I am a great King," says YHVH, the Lord of the Hosts of the Heavens, "and my name elicits fear among the nations of the world."
NODER: As in Kol Nidre - a vow or a pledge.
And now read the New Living translation (click here) which, I have to admit it, gets the tone of this far better than I have managed, even if some of its "translation" is rather more "paraphrasing the original in English". I would not like to have been the Kohen on the other end of Mal'achi's diatribe, in any version, but especially this one.
1:12 VE ATEM MECHALELIM OTO BE EMARCHEM SHULCHAN ADONAI MEGO'AL HU VE NIYVO NIVZEH ACHLU
וְאַתֶּם מְחַלְּלִים אוֹתוֹ בֶּאֱמָרְכֶם שֻׁלְחַן אֲדֹנָי מְגֹאָל הוּא וְנִיבוֹ נִבְזֶה אָכְלוֹ
KJ: But ye have profaned it, in that ye say, The table of the LORD is polluted; and the fruit thereof, even his meat, is contemptible.
BN: "But you profane it when you say, 'The table of YHVH is polluted, and its fruit, and its food as well, is contemptible'...
MECHALELIM: To profane something is to deconsecrate it, the opposite of the purpose of sacrifice at the altar; the word here is also used for cursing, which is a different form of profanation. I wonder if Mala'chi is also playing with words here, echoing HALLEL in MECHALELIM, HALLEL being one of the most sacred moments in the ceremonies in the Temple, the word-play coming from the fact that the Chet (ח) in MECHALELIM and the Hey (ה) in HALLEL are remarkably easy to mistake, one for the other.
NIYVO...NIVZEH ACHLU: Needs more work! (which is a cowardly way of saying: "I don't understand what he is saying here". Because surely it is the deity who is complaining the table is polluted; or perhaps the Kohanim have been blaming the diety for the failure of their sacrifices to bring the rewards they are requesting: they pray for rain, and the drought continues; they pray for peace, and the enemy launches another assault. All the fault of the deity.)
1:13 VE AMARTEM HINEH MATLA'AH VE HIPACHTEM OTO AMAR YHVH TSEVA'OT VA HAV'ETEM GAZUL VE ET HA PIS'E'ACH VE ET HA CHOLEH VA HAV'ETEM ET HA MINCHAH HA ERTSEH OTAH MI YEDCHEM AMAR YHVH
וַאֲמַרְתֶּם הִנֵּה מַתְּלָאָה וְהִפַּחְתֶּם אוֹתוֹ אָמַר יְהוָה צְבָאוֹת וַהֲבֵאתֶם גָּזוּל וְאֶת הַפִּסֵּחַ וְאֶת הַחוֹלֶה וַהֲבֵאתֶם אֶת הַמִּנְחָה הַאֶרְצֶה אוֹתָהּ מִיֶּדְכֶם אָמַר יְהוָה
KJ: Ye said also, Behold, what a weariness is it! and ye have snuffed at it, saith the LORD of hosts; and ye brought that which was torn, and the lame, and the sick; thus ye brought an offering: should I accept this of your hand? saith the LORD.
BN: "You also said, 'See how wearying it all is!', and you have huffed and puffed at it". So says YHVH, the Lord of the Hosts of the Heavens. "And you have brought what was taken by violence, and the lame, and the sick; thus do you bring the offering. Should I accept this at your hand?" says YHVH.
MATLA'AH: Really this is two words, MAH and TELA'AH, conjoined to make an entirely new word. MAH conveys the "how" part. TELA'AH can be found at Exodus 18:8 and Numbers 20:14 as "toil" and "labour". The root is ALAH, which seems to me to be Mal'achi playing with keywords yet again - a Kohen makes Aliyah to the altar when he is offering incense and sacrifice.
HIPACHTEM: Very onomatopoeic, which I have tried to retain in my translation. "Disdainfully sneer" and "sniff contemptuously" are among the alternatives I have encountered.
PIS'E'ACH: I think this note should go earlier, when the lame were first mentioned - Pesach and immolation are the note samech break
1:14 VE ARUR NOCHEL VE YESH BE EDRO ZACHAR VE NODER VE ZOVE'ACH MASHCHAT LADONAI KI MELECH GADOL ANI AMAR YHVH TSEVA'OT U SHEMI NOR'A VA GOYIM
וְאָרוּר נוֹכֵל וְיֵשׁ בְּעֶדְרוֹ זָכָר וְנֹדֵר וְזֹבֵחַ מָשְׁחָת לַאדֹנָי כִּי מֶלֶךְ גָּדוֹל אָנִי אָמַר יְהוָה צְבָאוֹת וּשְׁמִי נוֹרָא בַגּוֹיִם
KJ: But cursed be the deceiver, which hath in his flock a male, and voweth, and sacrificeth unto the Lord a corrupt thing: for I am a great King, saith the LORD of hosts, and my name is dreadful among the heathen.
BN: "Then cursed be the deceiver, who has a male in his flock, and pledges it, but then sacrifices a blemished ram to the Lord. For I am a great King," says YHVH, the Lord of the Hosts of the Heavens, "and my name elicits fear among the nations of the world."
NODER: As in Kol Nidre - a vow or a pledge.
And now read the New Living translation (click here) which, I have to admit it, gets the tone of this far better than I have managed, even if some of its "translation" is rather more "paraphrasing the original in English". I would not like to have been the Kohen on the other end of Mal'achi's diatribe, in any version, but especially this one.
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