Malachi 1:4

impoverished Rather (with R.V. text, and so in Jeremiah 5:17), beaten down. "So Ephraim said of old -in the pride and stoutness of heart, The bricks are fallen down, but we will build with hewn stones: the sycomores are cut down, but we will change them into cedars." Isaiah 9:9-10." Pusey.

return and build This rendering is retained in R.V., but as there is no evidence that Edom was carried away captive -return and build" is, probably, according to a well-known Heb. idiom =-rebuild." (Comp. Ezekiel 26:8; Ezekiel 26:12-14.) This Israel -loved" of God had done, but Esau -hated" of Him should not do.

border i.e. land, or territory, as in Malachi 1:5 below. It is frequently rendered coasts, in A.V., e.g. 1 Samuel 11:3; 1 Samuel 11:7.

for ever For the subsequent history of Edom, as fulfilling this prediction, see reference to Obadiah in note on Malachi 1:3 above.