Malachi 3:15

And now we call the proud happy; yea, they that work wickedness are set up; yea, they that tempt God are even delivered.

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
call	מְאַשְּׁרִ֣ים me.'a.she.Rim	H833	to be straight (used in the widest sense · verb, piel active participle, masculine plural absolute
proud	זֵדִ֑ים ze.Dim	H2086	arrogant · adjective, masculine plural absolute
happy	אָשַׁר ʼâshar	H833	to be straight (used in the widest sense
work	עֹשֵׂ֣י 'o.Sei	H6213	to do or make · verb, qal active participle, masculine plural construct
wickedness	רִשְׁעָ֔ה rish.'Ah	H7564	wrong (especially moral) · noun, common feminine singular absolute
up	נִבְנוּ֙ niv.Nu	H1129	to build (literally and figuratively) · verb, niphal perfect, 3rd person common plural
tempt	בָּחֲנ֛וּ ba.cha.Nu	H974	to test (especially metals) · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person common plural
God	אֱלֹהִ֖ים 'E.lo.Him	H430	gods in the ordinary sense · noun, common masculine plural absolute
delivered	וַיִּמָּלֵֽטוּ vai.yi.ma.Le.tu	H4422	properly · conjunction + verb, niphal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural

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 12:1-2 Righteous art thou, O LORD, when I plead with thee: yet let me talk with thee of thy judgments: Wherefore doth the way of the wicked prosper…
Job 21:7-15 Wherefore do the wicked live, become old, yea, are mighty in power?
Malachi 2:17 Ye have wearied the LORD with your words. Yet ye say, Wherein have we wearied him? When ye say, Every one that doeth evil is good in the sig…
Malachi 4:1 For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day tha…
Job 22:23 If thou return to the Almighty, thou shalt be built up, thou shalt put away iniquity far from thy tabernacles.
Matthew 4:6-7 And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in…
Numbers 14:22-23 Because all those men which have seen my glory, and my miracles, which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have tempted me now these t…
Esther 5:10 Nevertheless Haman refrained himself: and when he came home, he sent and called for his friends, and Zeresh his wife.

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

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Malachi 3:13–end

Among the people of the Jews at this time, though they all enjoyed the same privileges and advantages, there were men of very different characters (as ever were, and ever will be, in the world and in the church), like Jeremiah's figs, some very good and others very bad, some that plainly appeared to be the children of God and others that as plainly discovered themselves to be the children of the wicked one. There are tares and wheat in the same field, chaff and corn in the same floor; and here we have an account of both. I. Here is the angry notice God takes of the impudent blasphemous talk of the sinners in Zion and his just resentments of it. Probably there was a club of them that were in…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Malachi 3:15

And now--Since we who serve Jehovah are not prosperous and "the proud" heathen flourish in prosperity, we must pronounce them the favorites of God (Mal 2:17; Psa 73:12). set up--literally, "built up": metaphor from architecture (Pro 24:3; compare Gen 16:2, Margin; Gen 30:3, Margin.) tempt God--dare God to punish them, by breaking His laws (Psa 95:9).

John Gill on Malachi 3:15

And now we call the proud happy,.... Or "therefore now" (q); since this is the case, that the worshippers of God are not regarded, and there is nothing got by serving him; they that are proud and haughty, that neither fear God nor regard men, are the happy persons; even presumptuous sinners, as the word (r) signifies, that stretch out their hands against God, and strengthen themselves against the Almighty; these enjoy all worldly happiness, while they that serve the Lord are mourning in sackcloth, and are in the utmost distress. The Targum explains it of the ungodly, and as it is explained in the following clause: yea, they that work wickedness are set up: or "built up" (s); or "seeing, bec…

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John Calvin on Malachi 3:15

Malachi 3:15 15. And now we call the proud happy; yea, they that work wickedness are set up; yea, they that tempt God are even delivered. 15. Et nunc nos beatos dicimus superbos; etiam aedificantur qui faciunt iniquitatem, etiam tentant Deum et liberantur. This verse is connected with the last, for the force of these words, "We have walked sorrowfully before God and have carefully kept his precepts," does not fully appear, except this clause be added -- that they saw in the meantime that the proud flourished and had their delights, as though they said, "We strive to deserve well of God by our services; he overlooks all our religious acts, and pours as it were all his bounty on our enemies…

The Church Fathers

(Verse 15) Therefore now we call the arrogant blessed, for they who practice wickedness are built up and they have tested God, and they have escaped. LXX: And now we call the arrogant blessed. Yes, they who work wickedness are built up; yes, they tempted God and escaped. Therefore, we call those arrogant individuals blessed, who boast against God and hurl impious blasphemies. Indeed, they have been successful and enjoy prosperity even after their crimes and blasphemies. They have tested God, whether they resist Him or not, and have been saved. They consider worldly health and happiness to be salvation, and therefore they are deceived by errors. We can understand this about the heretics Marcion and Valentinus, and others who do not accept the Old Testament and speak against the Creator of the world, that they make progress in their impiety and have many partners in crime. Those who are scandalized by them, but persevere in the Church, and are ignorant of the reasons for God's judgment, weave together the words of the prophets.
— Jerome, Commentary on Malachi

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

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;

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 3:15

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Malachi 3:13–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Malachi 3:15

John Gill on Malachi 3:15

John Calvin on Malachi 3:15

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Malachi 3:15

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Malachi 3:13–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Malachi 3:15

John Gill on Malachi 3:15

John Calvin on Malachi 3:15

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Keil & Delitzsch on Malachi 3:13-15

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Malachi 3:15