literally one officiating · definite article + noun, common masculine plural absolute
commandment
הַמִּצְוָ֥הha.mitz.Vah
H4687
a command · definite article + noun, common feminine 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
Jeremiah 13:13 Then shalt thou say unto them, Thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will fill all the inhabitants of this land, even the kings that sit upon David…
Hosea 5:1 Hear ye this, O priests; and hearken, ye house of Israel; and give ye ear, O house of the king; for judgment is toward you, because ye have…
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? s…
Lamentations 4:13 For the sins of her prophets, and the iniquities of her priests, that have shed the blood of the just in the midst of her,
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Malachi 2:1-9
What was said in the foregoing chapter was directed to the priests (Mal 1:6): Thus saith the Lord of hosts to you, O priests! that despise my name. But the crimes there charged upon them they were guilty of as sacrificers, and for those they might think it some excuse that they offered what the people brought, and therefore that, if they were not so good as they should be, it was not their fault, but the people's; and therefore here the corruptions there complained of are traced to the source and spring of them - the faults the priests were guilty of as teachers of the people, as expositors of the law and the lively oracles; and this is a part of their office which still remains in the hands…
And now, O ye priests,.... That despised and profaned the name of the Lord; that suffered such corrupt and illegal sacrifices to be brought and offered up:
this commandment is for you: of giving glory to the name of God; of taking care of his worship; of teaching the people knowledge, and directing them in the way in which they should walk; as follows:
John Calvin on Malachi 2:1-2
Malachi 2:1, 2
1. And now, O ye priests, this commandment is for you.
1. Et nunc ad vos praeceptum hoc, O sacerdotes, --
2. If ye will not hear, and if ye will not lay it to heart, to give glory unto my name, saith the LORD of hosts, I will even send a curse upon you, and I will curse your blessings: yea, I have cursed them already, because ye do not lay it to heart.
2. Si non audieritis et non posueritis super cor, ut detis gloriam nomini meo, dicit Iehova exercituum, mittam (copula hic abundat) in vos maledictionem et maledicam benedictionibus vestris, atque etiam maledixi eam (est mutatio numeri, pro eas,) quia non ponitis super cor.
Though the priests did not sin alone, yet it is n…
The rebuke administered to the priests for their wicked doings is followed by an announcement of the punishment which they will bring upon themselves in case they should not observe the admonition, or render to the Lord the reverence due to His name when discharging the duties of their office. Mal 2:1. "And now, ye priests, this commandment comes to you. Mal 2:2. If ye do not hear and lay it to heart, to give glory to my name, saith Jehovah of hosts, I send against you the curse and curse your blessings, yea I have cursed them, because ye will not lay it to heart. Mal 2:3. Behold I rebuke your arm, and scatter dung upon your face, the dung of your feasts, and they will carry you away to it.…
The Church Fathers
In which place, dearest brother, we must consider, for the sake of the faith and the religion of the sacerdotal office which we discharge, whether the account can be satisfactory in the day of judgment for a priest of God, who maintains, and approves, and acquiesces in the baptism of blasphemers, when the Lord threatens, and says, "And now, O ye priests, this commandment is for you: if ye will not hear, and if ye will not lay it to heart to give glory unto my name, saith the Lord Almighty, I will even send a curse upon you, and I will curse your blessings." Does he give glory to God, who communicates with the baptism of Marcion? Does he give glory to God, who judges that remission of sins is granted among those who blaspheme against God? Does he give glory to God, who affirms that sons are born to God without, of an adulterer and a harlot? Does he give glory to God, who does not hold the unity and truth that arise from the divine law, but maintains heresies against the Church? Does he give glory to God, who, a friend of heretics and an enemy to Christians, thinks that the priests of God, who support the truth of Christ and the unity of the Church, are to be excommunicated? If glory is thus given to God, if the fear and the discipline of God is thus preserved by His worshippers and His priests, let us cast away our arms; let us give ourselves up to captivity; let us deliver to the devil the ordination of the Gospel, the appointment of Christ, the majesty of God; let the sacraments of the divine warfare be loosed; let the standards of the heavenly camp be betrayed; and let the Church succumb and yield to heretics, light to darkness, faith to perfidy, hope to despair, reason to error, immortality to death, love to hatred, truth to falsehood, Christ to Antichrist!
(Chapter 2, verses 1, 2.) Woe to the deceitful one who has a male in his flock and makes a vow, sacrificing something weak to the Lord. For I am a great king, says the Lord of hosts, and my name is feared among the nations. + And now, to you, O priests, I give this command: If you will not listen and if you will not set it on your heart to give glory to my name, says the Lord of hosts, I will send poverty upon you and curse your blessings, yes, I have cursed them, because you have not set it on your heart. LXX: And cursed is the one who is powerful and has a male in his flock, and his vow is upon him, and he sacrifices a weakling to the Lord. For I am a great King, says the Lord Almighty, and my name is renowned among the nations. And now I have this command for you, O priests. If you do not listen and if you do not set your heart to give glory to my name, says the Lord Almighty, I will send a curse on you, and I will curse your blessings. Indeed, I have already cursed them, because you have not set your heart to honor me. This which is written, and I will scatter your blessing, is added in the Septuagint, and is not found in Hebrew. Whatever the human mind can find to excuse its sin and defend itself with false satisfaction, this divine word, foreseeing it, rebukes and condemns. And the meaning is, because you offer the blind and the lame and the sick, and this is not from your own, but from robberies and spoils and the tears of the miserable, and moreover you say, we offer what we have from labor and poverty: therefore I say generally, that your own conscience may accuse you. Certainly you hide poverty and the injustice of captivity, and the weakness of your family affairs: listen to what I say: Cursed is the deceitful one who has a male in his flock, and making a vow he sacrifices an inferior one to the Lord. If you do not have a male, the curse does not harm you. By saying this, he shows that they have what is best and offer what is worst. Therefore, priests, this commandment is for you, you have done what is wicked in contempt of me. But because I prefer the repentance of a sinner to death, I say even now: If you refuse to listen and understand, so as to give glory to my name, which is terrible among the nations, I will send a true plague to you, so that you will not lie; but, compelled by the lack of all things, you will say that you do not possess…
