Malachi 1:6 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Malachi 1:6
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?
a son (as a builder of the family name) · noun, common masculine singular absolute
honoureth
יְכַבֵּ֥דye.kha.Bed
H3513
to be heavy · verb, piel imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
father
אָ֖ב'av
H1
father · noun, common masculine singular absolute
servant
וְעֶ֣בֶדve.'E.ved
H5650
a servant · conjunction + noun, common masculine singular absolute
master
אֲדֹנָ֑יו'a.do.Nav
H113
sovereign · noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
father
אָ֣ב'av
H1
father · noun, common masculine singular absolute
honour
כְבוֹדִ֡יkhe.vo.Di
H3519
properly · noun, common both genders singular construct + pronominal suffix, 1st person masculine singular
master
אֲדוֹנִ֣ים'a.do.Nim
H113
sovereign · noun, common masculine plural absolute
fear
מוֹרָאִ֜יmo.ra.'I
H4172
fear · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix
saith
אָמַ֣ר'a.Mar
H559
to say (used with great latitude) · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
LORD
יְהוָ֣הYah.weh
H3068
Jehovah · proper noun, a title
hosts
צְבָא֗וֹתtze.va.'ot
H6635
a mass of persons (or figuratively · noun, common feminine plural absolute
priests
הַכֹּֽהֲנִים֙ha.ko.ha.Nim
H3548
literally one officiating · definite article + noun, common masculine plural absolute
despise
בּוֹזֵ֣יbo.Zei
H959
to disesteem · verb, qal active participle, masculine plural construct
name
שְׁמִ֔יshe.Mi
H8034
an appellation · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix
say
וַאֲמַרְתֶּ֕םva.'a.mar.Tem
H559
to say (used with great latitude) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential perfect, 2nd person masculine plural
despised
בָזִ֖ינוּva.Zi.nu
H959
to disesteem · verb, qal perfect, 1st person common plural
name
שְׁמֶֽךָshe.Me.kha
H8034
an appellation · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Luke 6:46 And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?
Isaiah 1:2 Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth: for the LORD hath spoken, I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against m…
John 13:13-17 Ye call me Master and Lord: and ye say well; for so I am.
Exodus 20:12 Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.
1 Peter 2:17-19 Honour all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honour the king.
1 Peter 1:17 And if ye call on the Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man’s work, pass the time of your sojourning here in…
Hosea 12:8 And Ephraim said, Yet I am become rich, I have found me out substance: in all my labours they shall find none iniquity in me that were sin.
Malachi 3:13-14 Your words have been stout against me, saith the LORD. Yet ye say, What have we spoken so much against thee?
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Malachi 1:6–end
The prophet is here, by a special commission, calling the priests to account, though they were themselves appointed judges, to call the people to an account. Let the rulers in the house of God know that there is one above them, who will reckon with them for their mal-administrations. Thus saith the Lord of hosts to you, O priests! Mal 1:6. God will have a saying to unfaithful ministers; and it concerns those who speak from God to his people to hear and heed what he says to them, that they may save themselves in the first place, otherwise how should they help to save those that hear them? It is a severe, and no doubt a just reproof, that is here given to the priests, for the profanation of th…
Turning from the people to the priests, Jehovah asks, whereas His love to the people was so great, where was their love towards Him? If the priests, as they profess, regard Him as their Father (Isa 63:16) and Master, let them show the reality of their profession by love and reverential fear (Exo 20:12; Luk 6:46). He addresses the priests because they ought to be leaders in piety to the rest of the people, whereas they are foremost in "despising His name."
Wherein have we despised, &c.--The same captious spirit of self-satisfied insensibility as prompted their question (Mal 1:2), "Wherein hast Thou loved us?" They are blind alike to God's love and their own guilt.
John Gill on Malachi 1:6
A son honoureth his father, and a servant his master,.... Or, "will honour", or "should honour"; it is their duty to do so, both according to the laws of God and man; and so the Targum,
"lo concerning a son it is said (or commanded) that be should honour his father; and of a servant, that he should fear (or show reverence) before his master;''
see Exodus 20:12,
if then I be a Father; as he was the Father of his divine and eternal Son; the Father of spirits, angels, and the souls of men; the Father of all men by creation; and the Father of all mercies to them in providence, as he was to Israel; and, besides, was their Father by national adoption, as he was not to other people; and to many…
And again in another place He maketh known that He employeth every kind of benefit and help towards them, and that He took and brought nigh unto them every cause for fear and love, but that they would neither fear nor love Him. "If I be Lord, where are those who fear Me? And if I be Father, why do ye not honour Me?" Therefore they should either have feared [Him] as Lord, or have honoured [Him] as Father.
Be obedient to your bishop and obey him as your spiritual father. Sons love and slaves fear. "If I am a father," he says, "where is my honor? And if I am a master, where is my fear?" In your case one man combines in himself many titles to your respect. He is at once monk, bishop and uncle. But the bishops also should know themselves to be priests, not lords. Let them render to the clergy the honor that is their due that the clergy may offer to them the respect which belongs to bishops.
And indeed Balaam the prophet, when he had corrupted Israel by Baal-peor, suffered punishment; and Caiaphas at last was his own murderer; and the sons of Sceva, endeavoring to cast out demons, were wounded by them and fled away in an unseemly manner; and the kings of Israel and of Judah, when they became impious, suffered all sorts of punishments. It is therefore evident how bishops and presbyters, also falsely so called, will not escape the judgment of God. For it will be said to them even now: "O you priests that despise my name, I will deliver you up to the slaughter, as I did Zedekiah and Ahab, whom the king of Babylon fried in a frying pan," as says Jeremiah the prophet.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Formalism · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Hypocrisy · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Servants · Duties of, to masters: To honour them — Duties of, to masters: To honour them
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
John Calvin on Malachi 1:6-8
Malachi 1:6-8
6. 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?
6. Filius honorat patrem, et servus dominum suum; et si pater ego, ubi honor meus? et si dominus ego, ubi timor mei? dicit Iehova exercituum ad vos, O sacerdotes, qui contemnitis nomen meum: et dixistis, In quo contempsimus nomen tuum?
7. 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.
7. Qui offertis super altare meum panem pollutu…
The condemnation of that contempt of the Lord which the priests displayed by offering bad or blemished animals in sacrifices, commences with the following verse. Mal 1:6. "A son honoureth the father, and a servant his master. And if I am a father, where is my honour? and if I am a master, where is my fear? saith Jehovah of hosts to you, ye priests who despise my name, and yet say, Wherein have we despised Thy name? Mal 1:7. Ye who offer polluted bread upon my altar, and yet say, Wherewith have we polluted thee? In that ye say, The table of Jehovah, it is despised. V.8. And if ye offer what is blind for sacrifice, it is no wickedness; and if ye offer what is lame and diseased, it is no wicked…
Malachi’s second message affirms the Lord’s role as God and Father of Israel; he alone deserves true worship. The first part (1:6-14) shows how the Israelites had dishonored God in spite of his fatherly care and masterly power. The second part (2:1-9) warns the priests of Judah against sacrificing sick and defective animals and faults them for not teaching God’s instructions (2:6-8).
1:6 shown contempt for my name: God’s name is his reputation or character (cp. Ezek 36:19-24). The Judeans were showing how little they thought of God by giving him worthless offerings.
