to be or come (causatively · verb, hiphil active participle, masculine plural absolute
polluted
מְגֹאָ֔לme.go.'Al
H1351
to soil or (figuratively) desecrate · verb, pual passive participle, masculine singular absolute
bread
לֶ֣חֶםLe.chem
H3899
food (for man or beast) · noun, common masculine singular absolute
altar
מִזְבְּחִי֙miz.be.Chi
H4196
an altar · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix
say
וַאֲמַרְתֶּ֖םva.'a.mar.Tem
H559
to say (used with great latitude) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential perfect, 2nd person masculine plural
polluted
גֵֽאַלְנ֑וּךָge.'al.Nu.kha
H1351
to soil or (figuratively) desecrate · verb, piel perfect, 1st person common plural + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular
say
בֶּאֱמָרְכֶ֕םbe.'e.ma.re.Khem
H559
to say (used with great latitude) · preposition + verb, qal infinitive construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine plural
table
שֻׁלְחַ֥ןshul.Chan
H7979
a table (as spread out) · noun, common masculine singular construct
LORD
יְהוָ֖הYah.weh
H3068
Jehovah · proper noun, a title
contemptible
נִבְזֶ֥הniv.Zeh
H959
to disesteem · verb, niphal active participle, masculine singular absolute
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
Malachi 1:12 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.
1 Corinthians 10:21 Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils: ye cannot be partakers of the Lord’s table, and of the table of devils.
1 Corinthians 11:27-32 Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.
Malachi 1:8 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;…
1 Samuel 2:15-17 Also before they burnt the fat, the priest’s servant came, and said to the man that sacrificed, Give flesh to roast for the priest; for he w…
Leviticus 2:11 No meat offering, which ye shall bring unto the LORD, shall be made with leaven: for ye shall burn no leaven, nor any honey, in any offering…
Leviticus 21:6 They shall be holy unto their God, and not profane the name of their God: for the offerings of the LORD made by fire, and the bread of their…
Deuteronomy 15:21 And if there be any blemish therein, as if it be lame, or blind, or have any ill blemish, thou shalt not sacrifice it unto the LORD thy God.
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…
ye offer, &c.--God's answer to their challenge (Mal 1:6), "Wherein have we despised?"
polluted bread--namely, blemished sacrifices (Mal 1:8, Mal 1:13-14; Deu 15:21). So "the bread of thy God" is used for "sacrifices to God" (Lev 21:8).
polluted thee--that is, offered to thee "polluted bread."
table of the Lord--that is, the altar (Eze 41:22) (not the table of showbread). Just as the sacrificial flesh is called "bread."
contemptible-- (Mal 1:12-13). Ye sanction the niggardly and blemished offerings of the people on the altar, to gain favor with them. Darius, and probably his successors, had liberally supplied them with victims for sacrifice, yet they presented none but the worst. A ch…
Ye offer polluted bread upon mine altar,.... Which some understand of the shewbread, mention being afterwards made of a "table", as Jerom; who observes that it was made of wheat, which the priests themselves sowed, reaped, ground, and baked, and so could take what they would out of it: as for their sowing it, it does not seem likely that they should be employed in such service, whatever may be said for their reaping; since the sheaf of the first fruits was reaped by persons deputed from the sanhedrim (w); though of the reaping of that for the shewbread, I find no mention made; but as for grinding, sifting, kneading, and making it into loaves, and baking it, and taking it out of the oven, and…
The Church Fathers
(Verse 7) To you, O priests, who despise my name, and you say: 'How have we despised your name?' You offer on my altar defiled bread, and you say: 'How have we defiled you?' By saying that the table of the Lord is despised. LXX: You, O priests, who despise my name, and you say: 'How have we despised your name?' You offer on my altar polluted bread, and you say: 'How have we polluted it?' By saying that the table of the Lord is despised ÷ and what remains, you have despised ÷ But what follows: And what remains you have despised, we have marked with an obelus, because it is not found in the Hebrew, and it has been added from the following verses. To you, therefore, O priests, who despise my name, this discourse is directed: you who have returned from Babylon, fearful of past servitude, should have turned to the Lord with a full heart. And not only do you not do this, but imitating Cain, you respond with arrogant words against God, and you ask Him whom hidden things do not deceive, and it is said: Wherein have we despised thy name? (Gen. IV) so that with the impudence of dissimulation, you may cover the wound of conscience. Do you want to know in what way you despise my name? You offer on my altar polluted bread: that is, the bread of offering, which according to Hebrew traditions, you yourselves should sow, you yourselves should reap, you yourselves should grind, you yourselves should cook. And now you take whatever you please from the midst, and with a reckless voice you respond, and you say, in what way do we pollute them, or you? For while the sacraments are violated, he himself, of whom they are sacraments, is violated. But we can interpret this in the following way: In what you say, the Lord's table has been despised, referring to the fact that, when they returned from Babylon and the temple had not yet been rebuilt, they dwelled in huts and in the ruins of the ancient city. They only built an altar, but it did not have the same glory as the previous one, and they believed that the sanctity of the religious practice was lacking because there was no ambition for construction. We have drawn thin lines to highlight the spiritual explanation that must be imprinted. He reproaches the divine word to bishops, as well as to neglectful priests and deacons, whether because we are of the priestly and royal lineage, or because all those who are baptized in Christ…
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
Altar — (Heb. mizbe’ah, from a word meaning “to slay”), any structure of earth (Ex. 20:24) or unwrought stone (20:25) on which sacrifices were offered. Altars were generally erected in conspicuous places…
Altar Of Burnt Offering, The · Nothing polluted or defective to be offered on — Nothing polluted or defective to be offered on
Hypocrisy · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Infidelity · 1:12; — 1:12;
Prayer, Answers To · Denied to those who: Offer unworthy service to God — Denied to those who: Offer unworthy service to God
Presumption · .In reviling God — .In reviling God
Table · .Of the altar — .Of the altar
Unbelief · 5:12-14; — 5:12-14;
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).
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…
defiled the sacrifices?: Ritual uncleanness or contamination disqualified an object or person from being in the ceremonies of worship to the Lord. The defilement in this case resulted from ignoring the laws concerning acceptable animal sacrifices (Lev 22:17-25; Deut 15:21).
