Malachi 2:9-11
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
9 I, therefore, have made you contemptible
and base before all the people,
For you do not keep my ways,
but show partiality in your instruction.
Marriage and Divorce
10 [a](A)Have we not all one father?
Has not one God created us?
Why, then, do we break faith with each other,
profaning the covenant of our ancestors?
11 (B)Judah has broken faith; an abominable thing
has been done in Israel and in Jerusalem.
Judah has profaned the Lord’s holy place, which he loves,
and has married a daughter of a foreign god.[b]
Footnotes
- 2:10–16 Intermarriage of Israelites with foreigners was forbidden according to Dt 7:1–4. After the exile, attempts were made to enforce this law (Ezr 9–10). Foreign marriages are here portrayed as a covenantal violation (v. 10). They were all the more reprehensible when they were accompanied by the divorce of Israelite wives (vv. 14–16), and God finds their sacrifices unacceptable (vv. 13–14). In Mk 10:2–12, Jesus forbids divorce; in Mt 19:3–12, this ideal is maintained with the provision that unlawful marriage may be grounds for divorce (see 1 Cor 7:10–16). You should be on guard, then, for your life: a warning of punishment for failure to obey God (cf. Dt 4:9; Jos 23:11; Jer 17:21).
- 2:11 Daughter of a foreign god: this unusual phrase connotes a woman who does not share the same father/creator (v. 10), since she does not share the same covenant.
Malachi 2:9-11
New International Version
9 “So I have caused you to be despised(A) and humiliated(B) before all the people, because you have not followed my ways but have shown partiality(C) in matters of the law.”(D)
Breaking Covenant Through Divorce
10 Do we not all have one Father[a]?(E) Did not one God create us?(F) Why do we profane the covenant(G) of our ancestors by being unfaithful(H) to one another?
11 Judah has been unfaithful. A detestable(I) thing has been committed in Israel and in Jerusalem: Judah has desecrated the sanctuary the Lord loves(J) by marrying(K) women who worship a foreign god.(L)
Footnotes
- Malachi 2:10 Or father
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