MAL 4:5 Interlinear View

SIL Open Translator’s Notes:

Section 4:1–6: One day the LORD will come and judge all people

In the Hebrew text these verses are still part of chapter 3 and are numbered 3:19–24. Some English translations follow that Hebrew verse numbering, but in this book, the notes follow the more common English convention. It is recommended that you follow the numbering system of the versions used most in your area.

4:5a

Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet

¶ “Listen^(plur). I Yahweh will certainly send the prophet Elijah to you^(plur)

Behold: As in 2:3a, 3:1a, 3:1e and 4:1a, the Hebrew word hinneh is again used to emphasize that the things the LORD stated next would definitely happen. This meant that the people of Israel needed to immediately change the way they behaved towards him.

Some ways to signal this urgency in English are:

Listen.

Be alert.

Be watchful.

I will send you Elijah the prophet: Although this mentions Elijah, it is actually a prophecy about John the Baptist (see Matthew 11:13–14). He was the messenger whose coming had already been predicted in Malachi 3:1. He would be like Elijah.

Elijah the prophet: Elijah was a well-known prophet in Israel. He lived a long time before Malachi. He never died but was taken up into heaven in a whirlwind. The people of Israel expected that he would return to the earth one day. See 1 Kings chapters 17–19, 1 Kings chapter 21; 2 Kings chapters 1 and 2, especially 2 Kings 2:1–11.

4:5b

before the coming of the great and awesome Day of the LORD.

before that dreadful and awesome day when all people will be judged, the day of Yahweh.
He will come before that great day when I Yahweh will come to judge people, the day that people should fear,
before that awesome day when I Yahweh will come and my judging them will terrify them.

the great and awesome Day of the LORD: This is the day which other prophets referred to simply as “the day of the LORD.”“The Day of the Lord, which (the prophets) announce as the day of judgement, commenced with the appearance on earth of Christ…and Christ himself declared that he had come into the world for judgement (John 9:39)…the judgement of separating the believing from the ungodly, to give eternal life to those who believe on His name, and to bring death and condemnation to unbelievers” (Keil and Delitzsch, page 474). For example, see Amos 5:18, 5:20; Joel 1:15, 2:1, 3:14; Isaiah 13:6, 13:9; Zephaniah 1:7.

Elsewhere in Malachi, this same day has been referred to in other ways. For example: “the day of His coming” (3:2), “the day” (4:1), “the day is coming” (4:1), “the day I am preparing” (4:3).

In this verse the LORD himself is speaking. In some languages it may be necessary to use a first person pronoun to indicate this. For example:

the day when I, the LORD, will judge.

great: This day is described as great because it is uniquely important. It is the day when the LORD will finally judge all people.

awesome: The day is described as awesome because it will cause terror and intense fear in human beings. Other words which could be used in English are “dreadful,” “terrifying,” or “fearsome.”

uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor

הִנֵּ֤ה

(hinnēh)

See how you translated this expression in [4:1](../04/01.md). Alternate translation (ending with a period): [Pay attention to what I am about to say]

Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / metonymy

לִ⁠פְנֵ֗י בּ֚וֹא

(li⁠fənēy bōʼ)

Malachi is using the phrase to the face to represent what is in front of someone or something. Here, the thing is a day that is described as though it were a person who is coming, so what is in front of the day is there before the day arrives. Therefore, to the face of the coming of means “before the coming of” the day. If it would be helpful in your language, you could use an equivalent expression from your language or state the meaning plainly. Alternate translation: [before the coming of]

Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / 123person

י֣וֹם יְהוָ֔ה הַ⁠גָּד֖וֹל וְ⁠הַ⁠נּוֹרָֽא

(yōm yəhvāh ha⁠ggādōl və⁠ha⁠nnōrāʼ)

Yahweh is speaking about himself in the third person. If it would be helpful in your language, you could translate this in the first person. Alternate translation: [my great and fearsome day]

OET-LV English word order (‘Reverse’ interlinear)

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.

OET interlinear MAL 4:5

Hebrew word order

Section 4:1–6: One day the LORD will come and judge all people

4:5a

4:5b

OET-LV English word order (‘Reverse’ interlinear)