Malachi 2:15

And did not he make one? Yet had he the residue of the spirit. And wherefore one? That he might seek a godly seed. Therefore take heed to your spirit, and let none deal treacherously against the wife of his youth.

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
make	עָשָׂ֗ה 'a.Sah	H6213	to do or make · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
one	אֶחָ֣ד 'e.Chad	H259	properly · cardinal number, feminine singular absolute
residue	וּשְׁאָ֥ר u.she.'Ar	H7605	a remainder · conjunction + noun, common masculine singular construct
spirit	ר֙וּחַ֙ Ru.ach	H7307	wind · noun, common feminine singular absolute
one	הָֽאֶחָ֔ד ha.'e.Chad	H259	properly · definite article + cardinal number, feminine singular absolute
seek	מְבַקֵּ֖שׁ me.va.Kesh	H1245	to search out (by any method · verb, piel active participle, masculine singular absolute
godly	אֱלֹהִ֑ים 'E.lo.Him	H430	gods in the ordinary sense · noun, common masculine plural absolute
seed	זֶ֣רַע Ze.ra'	H2233	seed · noun, common masculine singular construct
heed	וְנִשְׁמַרְתֶּם֙ ve.nish.mar.Tem	H8104	properly · conjunction + verb, niphal sequential perfect, 2nd person masculine plural
spirit	בְּר֣וּחֲכֶ֔ם be.Ru.cha.Khem	H7307	wind · preposition + noun, common feminine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine plural
treacherously	יִבְגֹּֽד yiv.God	H898	to cover (with a garment) · verb, qal jussive, 3rd person masculine singular
wife	וּבְאֵ֥שֶׁת u.ve.'E.shet	H802	a woman · conjunction + preposition + noun, common feminine singular construct
youth	נְעוּרֶ֖יךָ ne.'u.Rei.kha	H5271	(only in plural collectively or emphatic form) youth · noun, common masculine plural 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

Matthew 19:4-6 And he answered and said unto them, Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female,
Malachi 2:14 Yet ye say, Wherefore? Because the LORD hath been witness between thee and the wife of thy youth, against whom thou hast dealt treacherously…
Mark 10:6-8 But from the beginning of the creation God made them male and female.
Genesis 1:27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
Genesis 2:20-24 And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help mee…
1 Timothy 3:11-12 Even so must their wives be grave, not slanderers, sober, faithful in all things.
1 Corinthians 7:14 For the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband: else were your children unclea…
2 Corinthians 6:18 And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Malachi 2:10–end

Corrupt practices are the genuine fruit and product of corrupt principles; and the badness of men's hearts and lives is owing to some loose atheistical notions which they have got and which they govern themselves by. Now, in these verses, we have an instance of this; we here find men dealing falsely with one another, and it is because they think falsely of their God. Observe, I. How corrupt their practices were. In general, they dealt treacherously every man against his brother, Mal 2:10. It cannot be expected that he who is false to his God should be true to his friend. They had dealt treacherously with God in his tithes and offerings, and had defrauded him, and thus conscience was debauche…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Malachi 2:15

MAURER and HENGSTENBERG explain the verse thus: The Jews had defended their conduct by the precedent of Abraham, who had taken Hagar to the injury of Sarah, his lawful wife; to this Malachi says now, "No one (ever) did so in whom there was a residue of intelligence (discriminating between good and evil); and what did the one (Abraham, to whom you appeal for support) do, seeking a godly seed?" His object (namely, not to gratify passion, but to obtain the seed promised by God) makes the case wholly inapplicable to defend your position. MOORE (from FAIRBAIRN) better explains, in accordance with Mal 2:10, "Did not He make (us Israelites) one? Yet He had the residue of the Spirit (that is, His is…

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John Gill on Malachi 2:15

And did not he make one?.... That is, did not God make one man, and out of his rib one woman? did he not make man, male and female? did he not make one pair, one couple, only Adam and Eve, whom he joined together in marriage? or rather, did he not make one woman only, and brought her to Adam to be his wife? which shows that his intention and will were, that one man should have but one wife at a time; the contrary to which was the then present practice of the Jews: Yet had he the residue of the spirit; it was not for want of power that he made but one woman of Adam's rib, and breathed into her the breath of life, or infused into her a human soul or spirit; he could have made many women at th…

The Church Fathers

For in the Gospel of Matthew he says, "Whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causes her to commit adultery." He also is deemed equally guilty of adultery who marries a woman put away by her husband. The Creator, however, except on account of adultery, does not put asunder that which he himself joined together, the same Moses in another passage enacting that he who had married after violence to a damsel should thenceforth not have it in his power to put away his wife. Now if a compulsory marriage contracted after violence shall be permanent, how much rather shall a voluntary one, the result of an agreement! This has the sanction of the prophet: "You shall not forsake the wife of your youth." Thus you have Christ following spontaneously the tracks of the Creator everywhere, both in permitting divorce and in forbidding it. You find him also protecting marriage, in whatever direction you try to escape. He prohibits divorce when he will have the marriage inviolable; he permits divorce when the marriage is spotted with unfaithfulness. You should blush when you refuse to unite those whom even your Christ has united, and repeat the blush when you disunite them without the good reason why your Christ would have them separated.
— Tertullian, AGAINST MARCION 4.34

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

Malachi — Messenger or angel, the last of the minor prophets, and the writer of the last book of the Old Testament canon (Mal. 4:4, 5, 6). Nothing is known of him beyond what is contained in his book of…
Divorce · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Husband · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Husbands · Duty of, to wives: To be faithful to them — Duty of, to wives: To be faithful to them
Marriage · Designed for: Raising up godly seed — Designed for: Raising up godly seed
Polygamy · Forbid — Forbid
Watchfulness · 36:18-21; — 36:18-21;

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 2:15

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Malachi 2:10–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Malachi 2:15

John Gill on Malachi 2:15

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Malachi 2:15

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Malachi 2:10–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Malachi 2:15

John Gill on Malachi 2:15

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

John Calvin on Malachi 2:15

Keil & Delitzsch on Malachi 2:13-16

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Malachi 2:14