Malachi 3:5 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Malachi 3:5
And I will come near to you to judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against false swearers, and against those that oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow, and the fatherless, and that turn aside the stranger from his right, and fear not me, saith the LORD of hosts.
to approach (causatively · conjunction + verb, qal sequential perfect, 1st person common singular
judgment
לַמִּשְׁפָּט֒la.mish.Pat
H4941
properly · preposition with the article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
swift
מְמַהֵ֗רme.ma.Her
H4116
properly · verb, piel active participle, masculine singular absolute
witness
עֵ֣ד'ed
H5707
concretely · noun, common masculine singular absolute
sorcerers
בַּֽמְכַשְּׁפִים֙bam.kha.she.Fim
H3784
properly · preposition with the article + verb, piel active participle, masculine plural absolute
adulterers
וּבַמְנָ֣אֲפִ֔יםu.vam.Na.'a.Fim
H5003
to commit adultery · conjunction + preposition with the article + verb, piel active participle, masculine plural 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
James 5:8-9 Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh.
Hebrews 13:4 Marriage is honourable in all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge.
Deuteronomy 5:11 Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain: for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.
James 5:4 Behold, the hire of the labourers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth: and the cries of them which…
Deuteronomy 27:19 Cursed be he that perverteth the judgment of the stranger, fatherless, and widow. And all the people shall say, Amen.
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…
Galatians 5:19-21 Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,
Jeremiah 7:9-10 Will ye steal, murder, and commit adultery, and swear falsely, and burn incense unto Baal, and walk after other gods whom ye know not;
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Malachi 3:1-6
The first words of this chapter seem a direct answer to the profane atheistical demand of the scoffers of those days which closed the foregoing chapter: Where is the God of judgment? To which it is readily answered, "Here he is; he is just at the door; the long-expected Messiah is ready to appear; and he says, For judgment have I come into this world, for that judgment which you have so impudently bid defiance to." One of the rabbin says that the meaning of this is, That God will raise up a righteous King, to set things in order, even the king Messiah. And the beginning of the gospel of Christ is expressly said to be the accomplishment of this promise, with which the Old Testament concludes,…
I . . . come near . . . to judgment--I whom ye challenged, saying, "Where is the God of judgment?" (Mal 2:17). I whom ye think far off, and to be slow in judgment, am "near," and will come as a "swift witness"; not only a judge, but also an eye-witness against sorcerers; for Mine eyes see every sin, though ye think I take no heed. Earthly judges need witnesses to enable them to decide aright: I alone need none (Psa 10:11; Psa 73:11; Psa 94:7, &c.).
sorcerers--a sin into which the Jews were led in connection with their foreign idolatrous wives. The Jews of Christ's time also practised sorcery (Act 8:9; Act 13:6; Gal 5:20; JOSEPHUS [Antiquities, 20.6; Wars of the Jews, 2.12.23]). It shall be…
And I will come near to you to judgment,.... And so will manifestly appear to be the God of judgment they asked after, Malachi 2:17 this is not to be understood of Christ's coming to judgment at the last day, but of his coming to judge and punish the wicked Jews at the time of Jerusalem's destruction; for the same is here meant, who is spoken of in the third person before, and who will not be afar off; there will be no need to inquire after him, when he will come he will be near enough, and too near for them:
and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers; not only a judge, but a witness; so that there will be no delay of judgment, or protracting or evading it, for want of witnesses of…
The Church Fathers
(Verse 5) And I will come to you in judgment, and I will be a swift witness against sorcerers and adulterers, and perjurers, and those who oppress the hired worker, the widow, and the fatherless, and those who thrust aside the sojourner: they have not feared me, says the Lord of hosts. LXX: And I will come to you in judgment, and I will be a swift witness against evildoers, and against adulterers, and against those who swear falsely by my name. And those who cheat hired workers of their wages, and oppress widows, and orphaned children, and pervert the justice due to foreigners, and those who do not fear me, says the Lord Almighty. And I will approach, he says, to you in judgment, and I will be a swift witness. How great is the fear of judgment, when he himself is witness and judge. He is a witness against all wrongdoers and adulterers, for these crimes are committed in secret and therefore are brought to light, so that they may not remain hidden for long. After the wrongdoers come the adulterers: after the adulterers come the perjurers: after the perjurers come those who falsely accuse for the payment of a hireling, and they refuse to repay for the labor of their work that they owe. Widows and orphans are also understood to be falsely accused, and they oppress the stranger and foreigner, or at least the catechumen, who has not yet become a citizen of the city of Christ. And if they have not done all these things, it is enough for them to be punished, because they did not fear the Lord. Therefore, we should not consider perjury, not giving wages to the laborer, slandering the widow and the orphan, and oppressing the foreigner and the stranger as light sins: which are compared to wickedness, sorceries, and adultery. We understand this both according to history and according to metaphor, so that what was said at that time to the rulers of the Jews may now be said to the rulers of the Churches.
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
Sorcerer — From the Latin sortiarius, one who casts lots, or one who tells the lot of others. (See DIVINATION.) In Dan. 2:2 it is the rendering of the Hebrew mekhashphim, i.e., mutterers, men who professed to…
Wages — Rate of (mention only in Matt. 20:2); to be punctually paid (Lev. 19:13; Deut. 24:14, 15); judgements threatened against the withholding of (Jer. 22:13; Mal. 3:5; comp. James 5:4); paid in money…
Aliens · To be treated with justice — To be treated with justice
Employee · OPPRESSIONS OF — OPPRESSIONS OF
Employer · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Fatherless · God will: Punish those who oppress — God will: Punish those who oppress
Hireling · Not to be oppressed — Not to be oppressed
Labor · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Malachi · Fortells the coming of the Messiah — Fortells the coming of the Messiah
Master · SCRIPTURES RELATING TO MASTERS OF SERVANTS — SCRIPTURES RELATING TO MASTERS OF SERVANTS
Oaths · The Jews: Condemned for false — The Jews: Condemned for false
Oppression · God will — God will
Orphan · General scriptures concerning
false
לַשָּׁ֑קֶרla.Sha.ker
H8267
an untruth · preposition with the article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
swearers
וּבַנִּשְׁבָּעִ֖יםu.va.nish.ba.'Im
H7650
to seven oneself · conjunction + preposition with the article + verb, niphal active participle, masculine plural absolute
oppress
וּבְעֹשְׁקֵ֣יu.ve.'o.she.Kei
H6231
to press upon · conjunction + preposition + verb, qal active participle, masculine plural construct
hireling
שָׂ֠כִירSa.khir
H7916
a man at wages by the day or year · adjective, masculine singular absolute
wages
שְׂכַרse.kha.r.Sa-
H7939
payment of contract · noun, common masculine singular construct
widow
אַלְמָנָ֨ה'al.ma.Nah
H490
a widow · noun, common feminine singular absolute
fatherless
וְיָת֤וֹםve.ya.Tom
H3490
a bereaved person · conjunction + noun, common masculine singular absolute
aside
וּמַטֵּיu.ma.tei-
H5186
to stretch or spread out · conjunction + verb, hiphil active participle, masculine plural construct
stranger
גֵר֙ger
H1616
properly · noun, common masculine singular absolute
fear
יְרֵא֔וּנִיye.re.'U.ni
H3372
to fear · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person common plural + pronominal suffix
saith
אָמַ֖ר'a.Mar
H559
to say (used with great latitude) · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
LORD
יְהוָ֥הYah.weh
H3068
Jehovah · proper noun, a title
hosts
צְבָאֽוֹתtze.va.'ot
H6635
a mass of persons (or figuratively · noun, common feminine plural absolute
Malachi 3:5
5. And I will come near to you to judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against false swearers, and against those that oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow, and the fatherless, and that turn aside the stranger from his right, and fear not me, saith the Lord of hosts.
5. Et appropinquabo ad vos in judicium, et ero testis velox contra praestigiatores, (vel, divinos) et adulteros, et jurantes ad fallendum, et supprimentes mercedem mercenarii, viduae, et pupilli, (aut, viduam et pupillum,) et pervertentes peregrinum, et qui non timuerunt me, dicit Iehova.
Here the Prophet retorts the complaints which the Jews had pre…
Mal 3:5. "And I will draw near to you to judgment, and will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against those who swear for deceit, and those who press down the wages of the hireling, the widow and the orphan, and bow down the foreigner, and fear not me, saith Jehovah of hosts. Mal 3:6. For I Jehovah, I change not; and ye sons of Israel, ye are not consumed." The refining which the Lord will perform at His coming will not limit itself to the priests, but become a judgment upon all sinners. This judgment is threatened against those who wanted the judgment of God to come, according to Mal 2:17. To these the Lord will draw near to judgment, and rise up as a…
The words eager to witness suggest a legal proceeding in which God is both prosecuting attorney (accuser) and key witness (provider of evidence) against postexilic Judah. • Sorcerers practiced witchcraft, black magic, or fortune-telling for personal gain. • The coming day of God’s judgment would either purify the sinful Judeans (3:3) or destroy them (4:1-2).
Widows · God: Will witness against oppressors of — God: Will witness against oppressors of
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).
