Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the LORD of hosts. Ver. 1. _Behold, I will send my messenger_] It is well obs... [ Continue Reading ]
But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he [is] like a refiner's fire, and like fullers' soap: Ver. 2. _But who may abide the day of his coming?_] The prophet Isaiah asketh "Who shall declare his generation?" Isaiah 53:8, that is, the mystery of his incar... [ Continue Reading ]
And he shall sit [as] a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the LORD an offering in righteousness. Ver. 3. _And he shall sit as a refiner_] _i.e._ He shall stick to the work, and not start from it, "till h... [ Continue Reading ]
Then shall the offering of Judah and Jerusalem be pleasant unto the LORD, as in the days of old, and as in former years. Ver. 4. _Then shall the offerings of Judah and Jerusalem_] That is, of the Latin Church, and of Rome, saith Ribera. A partial fancy of a Popish interpreter boldly propounded, bar... [ Continue Reading ]
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... [ Continue Reading ]
For I [am] the LORD, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed. Ver. 6. _For I am the Lord, I change not_] I am Jehovah. This is God's proper and incommunicable name. It imports three things: 1. That God is of himself. This Plato acknowledged, calling God το ον, and το ον οντως. Jul... [ Continue Reading ]
Even from the days of your fathers ye are gone away from mine ordinances, and have not kept [them]. Return unto me, and I will return unto you, saith the LORD of hosts. But ye said, Wherein shall we return? Ver. 7. _Even from the days of your fathers, ye are gone away from mine ordinances_] The mor... [ Continue Reading ]
Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings. Ver. 8. _Will a man rob God?_] Adam pillage Elohim? frail weak man seek to supplant (so the Septuagint render it) the great and mighty God? Giant-like boldness! Cacus met with his match when... [ Continue Reading ]
Ye [are] cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, [even] this whole nation. Ver. 9. _Ye are cursed with a curse_] Vulgate: Ye are cursed with penury and scarcity of victuals, according to Deuteronomy 28:23, &c., and so great was this people's poverty, that they were forced for food to sell not t... [ Continue Reading ]
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]. Ver. 10. _Bring ye all the tithe... [ Continue Reading ]
And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, saith the LORD of hosts. Ver. 11. _And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes_] Caterpillars, cankerworms, and such hurtful crea... [ Continue Reading ]
And all nations shall call you blessed: for ye shall be a delightsome land, saith the LORD of hosts. Ver. 12. _And all nations shall call you blessed_] viz. For the abundance of outward comforts and commodities, by the which the nations measured man's happiness, saying, "Blessed is the people that... [ Continue Reading ]
Your words have been stout against me, saith the LORD. Yet ye say, What have we spoken [so much] against thee? Ver. 13. _Your words have been stout against me_] Or, re-enforced, or strongly confirmed. _Superant me verba vestra,_ so some have rendered it. By your hard and hateful words you have been... [ Continue Reading ]
Ye have said, It [is] vain to serve God: and what profit [is it] that we have kept his ordinance, and that we have walked mournfully before the LORD of hosts? Ver. 14. _Ye have said, It is vain to serve God_] Vulgate: He is vain that serves God. Ye are idle, ye are idle, said Pharaoh to the Israeli... [ Continue Reading ]
And now we call the proud happy; yea, they that work wickedness are set up; yea, [they that] tempt God are even delivered. Ver. 15. _And now we call the proud happy_] Such as, boiling and swelling with spite and spleen against God and his people, deal arrogantly and insolently, doing wickedly with... [ Continue Reading ]
Then they that feared the LORD spake often one to another: and the LORD hearkened, and heard [it], and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the LORD, and that thought upon his name. Ver. 16. _Then they that feared the Lord, &c._] Then, when all flesh had corrupted their... [ Continue Reading ]
And they shall be mine, saith the LORD of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him. Ver. 17. _And they shall be mine_] By peculiar right: _Et suum cuique pulchrum:_ we all affect and admire our own things most. God chooseth th... [ Continue Reading ]
Then shall ye return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not. Ver. 18. _Then shall ye return and discern_] You wicked blasphemers, that have slandered God's housekeeping, and brought up an evil report of his providence and justice... [ Continue Reading ]