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InterlinearVerse GEN EXO LEV NUM DEU JOB JOS JDG RUTH 1 SAM 2 SAM PSA AMOS HOS 1 KI 2 KI 1 CHR 2 CHR PROV ECC SNG JOEL MIC ISA ZEP HAB JER LAM YNA (JNA) NAH OBA DAN EZE EZRA EST NEH HAG ZEC MAL LAO GES LES ESG DNG 2 PS TOB JDT WIS SIR BAR LJE PAZ SUS BEL MAN 1 MAC 2 MAC 3 MAC 4 MAC YHN (JHN) MARK MAT LUKE ACTs YAC (JAM) GAL 1 TH 2 TH 1 COR 2 COR ROM COL PHM EPH PHP 1 TIM TIT 1 PET 2 PET 2 TIM HEB YUD (JUD) 1 YHN (1 JHN) 2 YHN (2 JHN) 3 YHN (3 JHN) REV
Mal 3 V2 V3 V4 V5 V6 V7 V8 V9 V10 V11 V12 V13 V14 V15 V16 V17 V18
OET (OET-LV) Here_I am_about_to_send messenger_of_my and_he_will_make_clear a_way before_me and_suddenly he_will_come to temple_of_his the_master whom you(pl) are_seeking and_the_messenger_of the_covenant whom you(pl) are_delighting there he_is_about_to_come YHWH he_says hosts.
OET (OET-RV) “Listen, I’m about to send my messenger and he’ll prepare the path ahead of me. Then the master who you’re all looking for will suddenly come to his temple, yes, the messenger who you are all happy about—the party to the agreement—he’ll come,” says army-commander Yahweh.
2:17 is a transitional verse. In 2:10–16 Malachi and the LORD listed ways that the priests and people had been unfaithful. In 2:17, the focus becomes the LORD’s response to this unfaithfulness. So it seems best to consider 2:17 as the beginning of a new section, rather than as the end of the preceding section.
Notice also that this verse contains Malachi’s typical structure for beginning a new section:
a statement by the LORD,
a question challenging the LORD’s statement,
and then the development of the theme of the section.
See note 6 in “Literary structure and recurring features in Malachi” in the Introduction.
“Behold, I will send My messenger, who will prepare the way before Me.
“Listen. I send my messenger who will prepare the way before I come.
“Be warned. I will send my messenger and he will get things ready for my coming.
Behold: The Hebrew word hinneh which the BSB translates as Behold has the same function here as in 2:3a. It directs the reader’s attention to the statement that follows. This particle recurs later in this verse in 3:1e where it is translated as “see,” again highlighting an important statement.
I will send My messenger: This foretells an event which had not yet happened. See also Isaiah 40:3; Mark 1:2.
My messenger: The prophetic reference here is to John the Baptist. However you should not make this information explicit in your translation. See also Malachi 4:5, where the messenger is identified figuratively with Elijah the prophet.
who will prepare the way before Me: The purpose of the messenger’s coming was to get people ready for the arrival of the Lord. The messenger would tell them how to live in a way that would please the Lord.
The Hebrew expression which the BSB translates as prepare the way before Me is used here in a figurative way.“Clearing the way before Yahweh’s epiphany means removing the “obstacles” of self-interest, spiritual lethargy, and evil behavior embedded in the people of God.” Hill (1998), page 267. In those times the roads were rough. It was sometimes necessary for messengers to go ahead of a king and prepare the road so that it would be possible for him to pass. In some languages this figure of speech may not be clear. If that is true in your language, it may be necessary to make the meaning more explicit. For example:
to prepare people for my coming like men prepare the road for a king
before Me: That is, before the Lord.
Then the Lord whom you seek
Then the Lord, the one you(plur) are looking/waiting for,
Then your(plur) Lord, about whom you(plur) say, ‘Where is he?,’
the Lord whom you seek: This is a reference to the coming Messiah—Jesus Christ.Alden (1985), Merrill (1994), page 431.
the Lord: The Hebrew word here is ʾadon, not yhwh. So make sure you use your normal translation of Lord here, not your term for Yahweh.
will suddenly come to His temple—
will appear suddenly in his temple.
the Messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight—
The messenger whom you(plur) yearn/long to see, will proclaim my covenant.
This messenger for whom you(plur) look eagerly will come and announce my covenant with you(plur).
the Messenger of the covenant: It is important to decide to whom the Messenger of the covenant here refers: There are two possible interpretations:
The Messenger of the covenant is the Lord in 3:1b. That is, it refers to the Messiah—Jesus Christ.
The Messenger of the covenant is the same person referred to as “my messenger” in 3:1a, and so refers to John the Baptist.Merrill (1994), pages 431–433.
It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1).
The parallelism between 3:1b–c and 3:1d–e supports this interpretation. The phrase the Messenger of the covenant is a title or description of this person. See the general comment about poetic parallelisms below.Also in support of this interpretation is the fact that elsewhere in Scripture, “the angel of the LORD” is the LORD himself in human form. The Hebrew word malaḵ may mean either “messenger” or “angel.” NJPS translates “the angel of the covenant” and a number of French translations also translate using the word for “angel.” In Exodus 3:2, the LORD speaks to Moses as the “angel of the LORD,” and affirms again that he has a special relationship with his people and that he will deliver them. Possibly Malachi may have in mind Exodus 3:2, and other references to the angel of the LORD, when he refers to the LORD as the messenger/angel of the covenant. Keil and Delitzsch (1950), page 458; Baldwin (1972), page 243.
Messenger of the covenant: This person would proclaim the message about the covenant.
Messenger: The Hebrew word which the BSB translates as Messenger is the same word which occurred in 3:1a. It can refer to angels as well as human messengers. If it is possible to keep this ambiguity between “human messenger” and “angel” in your translation, do so. If that is not possible, you may wish to include a footnote saying that the words for “messenger” and “angel” are the same word in the original Hebrew text.
If you use a term for “messenger,” be careful not to use a word which would imply someone of low status, such as an errand boy or servant.
the covenant: Malachi was still referring primarily to the original covenantWhich covenant is referred to here? Unfortunately the commentators say little about this—Redditt doesn’t discuss it at all. Merrill seems to accept, without actually saying so, that it is the new covenant in view (and therefore presumably would agree with the GNT). Glazier-McDonald (1987 (1)) again doesn’t actually discuss it, but her description of the messenger as the “covenant-enforcer” seems to align with Keil and Delitzsch (1950). They alone discuss the question and see it as God’s covenant with Israel at Sinai. which the LORD made with the people of Israel at Mount Sinai. Scholars believe this for two reasons:
He had already talked about that covenant in chapter 1 and did not indicate here that he was talking about a different covenant.
His hearers/readers would have automatically thought of this covenant. It was the only covenant of which they were aware.
In some languages it may be more natural to combine 3:1b, 3:1c and 3:1d. For example:
Suddenly the Lord, whom you longingly expect, will come to his temple. It is he who is the messenger of the covenant.
The poetic parallelisms highlight this verse as an important climax in this section:
the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to His temple—
the Messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight—see, He is coming,
see, He is coming,”
Listen/Be-aware(plur), he is coming.”
see: See the note on 3:1a.
says the LORD of Hosts.
These are the words of Yahweh Sabaot.
Yahweh Sabaot has spoken.
This is what Yahweh Sabaot says to you(plur).
says the LORD of Hosts: The speech clause, says the LORD of Hosts (or “says the LORD”), occurs many times throughout the text. This emphasizes the fact that this is a direct message from the LORD. See note 1 in “Literary structure and recurring features in Malachi” in the Introduction.
the LORD of Hosts: This special title for the LORD occurs twenty-four times in Malachi. See the discussion of this term in the Key biblical terms in the book of Malachi section in the Introduction.
Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / idiom
הִנְנִ֤י שֹׁלֵחַ֙
here,I send
Behold me is an expression that people of this culture would commonly use to mean that they were about to do something. See how you translated the similar expression in [2:3](../02/03.md). Alternate translation: [Now I am about to send]
Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / metonymy
וּפִנָּה־דֶ֖רֶךְ לְפָנָ֑י
and,he_will_make_clear way before,,me
Yahweh is using the word face to mean his presence by association with the way people can see the face of someone who is present. Alternate translation: [and he will prepare the way for me to be present among you]
Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor
וּפִנָּה־דֶ֖רֶךְ לְפָנָ֑י
and,he_will_make_clear way before,,me
Yahweh is speaking of his coming as if it were a journey for which a way needed to be prepared. If it would be clearer in your language, you could state the meaning plainly. Alternate translation: [and he will get things ready for my coming]
Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor
הִנֵּה
see/lo/see!
Yahweh uses this word to get the people’s attention. See how you translated a similar use of this word in [1:13](../01/13.md). Alternate translation: [pay attention]
OET (OET-LV) Here_I am_about_to_send messenger_of_my and_he_will_make_clear a_way before_me and_suddenly he_will_come to temple_of_his the_master whom you(pl) are_seeking and_the_messenger_of the_covenant whom you(pl) are_delighting there he_is_about_to_come YHWH he_says hosts.
OET (OET-RV) “Listen, I’m about to send my messenger and he’ll prepare the path ahead of me. Then the master who you’re all looking for will suddenly come to his temple, yes, the messenger who you are all happy about—the party to the agreement—he’ll come,” says army-commander Yahweh.
Note: The OET-RV is still only a first draft, and so far only a few words have been (mostly automatically) matched to the Hebrew or Greek words that they’re translated from.
Acknowledgements: The Hebrew text, lemmas, and morphology are all thanks to the OSHB and some of the glosses are from Macula Hebrew.
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