Malachi 3:10 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Malachi 3:10
Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.
to go or come (in a wide variety of applications) · verb, hiphil imperative, 2nd person masculine plural
tithes
הַֽמַּעֲשֵׂ֜רha.ma.'a.Ser
H4643
a tenth · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
storehouse
הָאוֹצָ֗רha.'o.Tzar
H214
a depository · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
meat
טֶ֙רֶף֙te.ref
H2964
something torn · noun, common masculine singular absolute
house
בֵּ֣יתbeit
H1004
a house (in the greatest variation of applications · noun, common masculine singular construct
prove
וּבְחָנ֤וּנִיu.ve.cha.Nu.ni
H974
to test (especially metals) · conjunction + verb, qal imperative, 2nd person masculine plural + pronominal suffix
herewith
בָּזֹ֔אתba.Zot
H2063
this (often used adverb) · preposition + demonstrative particle
saith
אָמַ֖ר'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
צְבָא֑וֹתtze.va.'ot
H6635
a mass of persons (or figuratively · noun, common feminine plural absolute
open
אֶפְתַּ֣ח'ef.Tach
H6605
to open wide (literally or figuratively) · verb, qal imperfect, 1st person common singular
windows
אֲרֻבּ֣וֹת'a.ru.Bot
H699
a lattice · noun, common feminine plural construct
heaven
הַשָּׁמַ֔יִםha.sha.Ma.yim
H8064
the sky (as aloft · definite article + noun, common masculine plural absolute
out
וַהֲרִיקֹתִ֥יva.ha.ri.ko.Ti
H7324
to pour out (literally or figuratively) · conjunction + verb, hiphil sequential perfect, 1st person common singular
blessing
בְּרָכָ֖הbe.ra.Khah
H1293
benediction · noun, common feminine singular absolute
enough
דָֽיDai
H1767
enough (as noun or adverb) · noun, common 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
2 Corinthians 9:6-8 But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully.
Matthew 6:33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
Proverbs 3:9-10 Honour the LORD with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase:
Psalms 37:3 Trust in the LORD, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed.
Deuteronomy 28:12 The LORD shall open unto thee his good treasure, the heaven to give the rain unto thy land in his season, and to bless all the work of thine…
Leviticus 27:30 And all the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land, or of the fruit of the tree, is the LORD’s: it is holy unto the LORD.
Nehemiah 13:10-13 And I perceived that the portions of the Levites had not been given them: for the Levites and the singers, that did the work, were fled ever…
Nehemiah 12:44 And at that time were some appointed over the chambers for the treasures, for the offerings, for the firstfruits, and for the tithes, to gat…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Malachi 3:7-12
We have here God's controversy with the men of that generation, for deserting his service and robbing him - wicked servants indeed, that not only run away from their Master, but run away with their Master's goods.
I. They had run away from their Master, and quitted the work he gave them to do (Mal 3:7): You have gone away from my ordinances and have not kept them. The ordinances of God's worship were the business which as servants they must mind, the talents which they must trade with, and the trust which was committed to them to keep; but they went away from them, grew weary of them, and withdrew their neck from that yoke; they deviated from the rule that God had prescribed to them, and bet…
(Pro 3:9-10).
storehouse-- (Ch2 31:11, Margin; compare Ch1 26:20; Neh 10:38; Neh 13:5, Neh 13:12).
prove me . . . herewith--with this; by doing so. Test Me whether I will keep My promise of blessing you, on condition of your doing your part (Ch2 31:10).
pour . . . out--literally, "empty out": image from a vessel completely emptied of its contents: no blessing being kept back.
windows of heaven-- (Kg2 2:7).
that . . . not . . . room enough, &c.--literally, "even to not . . . sufficiency," that is, either, as English Version. Or, even so as that there should be "not merely" "sufficiency" but superabundance [JEROME, MAURER]. GESENIUS not so well translates, "Even to a failure of suffi…
Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse,.... Or "treasury" (e); for there were places in the temple where the tithe was put, and from thence distributed to the priests and Levites, for the support of their families, as they wanted. There were the tithe or tenth part of all eatable things paid to the Levites, and out of this another tithe was paid by the Levites to the priests; and there was another tithe, which some years the owners ate themselves at Jerusalem, and in others gave them to the poor; and these were called the first tithe, the tithe out of the tithe, the second tithe, and the poor's tithe; though they are commonly reduced to three, and are called first, and second, and third…
The Church Fathers
Listen, then, impious one. You know that everything belongs to God; you will not give the Creator of all things something of his own? The Lord God is not in want; he does not demand recompense but honor. He does not require you to pay back something of yours. He asks the firstfruits and tithes, and do you refuse? Avaricious one, what would you do if he had taken nine-tenths for himself and left you the tithes? Surely this already happened when the meager harvest failed because rain was withdrawn or when hail struck your vintage or frost killed it. Why does this happen, greedy calculator? The nine-tenths were taken from you because you refused to pay tithes. The fact remains, of course, that you did not give, but God exacted it. This is our Lord's exceedingly just practice. If you deny him the tithes, you are brought down to it. As it is written, "Thus speaks the Lord: 'Tithes of your field and the firstfruits of your land are with you. I see you, and you think you are deceiving me. Within, in your treasure and in your house, there will be plunder.' " You will give to a wicked soldier what you are unwilling to give to the priest. " 'Be converted even now,' says the Lord almighty, 'that I may open to you the floodgates of heaven and pour out my blessing to you; and the fruits of your land shall not be spoiled, nor shall the vine in your field grow weak, and all nations shall call you blessed.' " God is always ready to do good, but the wickedness of humanity prevents it, because he wishes that everything can be given him from the Lord God but is unwilling to offer anything of what he seems to possess. Now suppose God should say, "Of course you are mine, man, for I made you. Mine is the earth that you cultivate, mine the seeds you sow. The animals that you work are mine; mine are the rain and showers, the blasts of the winds are mine, mine is the heat of the sun. Since all the elements of life are mine, you who only put your hands to them deserve merely tithes." Now, although almighty God kindly feeds us and gives an ample reward to man for his little labor, he claims only tithes for himself and gives the whole to us.
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
Firmament — From the Vulgate firmamentum, which is used as the translation of the Hebrew raki’a. This word means simply “expansion.” It denotes the space or expanse like an arch appearing immediately above us.…
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…
Tithe — A tenth of the produce of the earth consecrated and set apart for special purposes. The dedication of a tenth to God was recognized as a duty before the time of Moses. Abraham paid tithes to…
Window — Properly only an opening in a house for the admission of light and air, covered with lattice-work, which might be opened or closed (2 Kings 1:2; Acts 20:9). The spies in Jericho and Paul at Damascus…
Blessing · CONTINGENT UPON OBEDIENCE — CONTINGENT UPON OBEDIENCE
Condescension Of God · 6:1-9; — 6:1-9;
Malachi · Reproves God’s people for their impietyMal 1;2; — Reproves God’s people for their impietyMal 1;2;
Tithes · 31:11,12; — 31:11,12;
Treasure-Houses · Chambers provi — Chambers provi
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 3:10
10. Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it
10. Adducite omnes decimas (vel, totas) ad domum thesauri (vel, ad repositorium,) et sit cibus in domo mea; et probate me nunc in hoc, dicit Iehova exercituum, annon aperiam vobis fenestras coelorum, depromam vobis benedictionem, ut non sit sufficientia (vel, ut non sit modus sufficientiae.)
He at length declares that they profited nothing by contending with God, but that a better way was open to them, that is, to re…
Mal 3:10. "Bring ye all the tithe into the treasure-house, that there may be consumption in my house, and prove me now herewith, saith Jehovah of hosts, if I do not open you the sluices of heaven, and pour you out a blessing to superabundance. Mal 3:11. And I will rebuke the devourer for you, that he may not destroy the fruit of your ground; and your vine will not miscarry in the field, saith Jehovah of hosts. Mal 3:12. And all nations will call you blessed; for ye will be a land of good pleasure, saith Jehovah of hosts." In Mal 3:10 the emphasis lies upon kol: the whole of the tithe they are to bring, and not merely a portion of it, and so defraud the Lord; for the tithe was paid to Jehovah…
Put me to the test! The divine invitation to test the Lord offers the restoration community an opportunity to prove his faithfulness to his covenant promises.
