Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Malachi 2:7
For the priest’s lips should keep knowledge, and they should seek the law at his mouth: for he [is] the messenger of the LORD of hosts.
7. For ] And in all this he only fulfilled his duty, for such in life and doctrine ought the priest, as the messenger of Jehovah to the people, to be.
messenger ] See Introduction ch. 1. p. 13.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
For the priests lips should keep knowledge – o He assigns the reason for what he had just said, the law of truth was in his mouth; they had done what it was their duty to do; as in Ecclesiasticus it is said of Aaron (Ecclesiasticus 45:17), God gave unto him His commandments, and authority in the statutes of judgments, that he should teach Jacob the testimonies, and inform Israel in His laws. So Paul requires of Titus to ordain such overseers, as shall be able to Tit 1:9, exhort by sound doctrine and to convince gainsayers. Wherefore Ambrose calls the Bible, which contains the law of God, the book of priests, as specially belonging to them, to be specially studied by them. Jerome notes that he says keep, not give forth, that they should speak seasonably, and give their fellow-servants meat in due season.
For he is the messenger (or angel) of the Lord of hosts – Malachi gives to the priest the title which belongs to the lowest order of the heavenly spirits, as having an office akin to theirs; as Haggai does to the prophet, Hag 2:11. as an extraordinary messenger of God; and Paul tells the Galatians Gal 4:14, ye received me as an angel of God, as Christ Jesus; and Christ, by John, speaks to the leaders of the seven congregations, good or bad, or of mixed good and bad, as the angels Rev 1:20 of those churches.
Since in the heavenly hierarchy the order of angels is the lowest, and in the eucharistical hierarchy the order of the priesthood is the highest , most truly is the priest of God called angel, i. e., messenger, because he intervenes between God and man, and announces the things of God to the people; and, therefore, were the Urim and Thummim placed on the priests breastplate of judgment, that we might learn, that the priest ought to be learned, a herald of divine truth. Much more in the New Testament. Who, as it were in a day, can form one of earth, to be the defender of truth, to stand with angels, to give glory with archangels, to transmit the sacrifices to the altar above, to be partaker of the priesthood of Christ, to reform the thing formed, and present the image, to re-create for the world above, to be a god and make men partakers of the divine nature? 2Pe 1:4. The priesthood is enacted on earth, but is ranked with the heavenly ranks. Very rightly. For not man, not angel, not archangel, not any other created power, but the Paraclete Himself hath ordained this office, and persuaded them, while yet abiding in the flesh, to conceive the ministry of the angels. Wherefore, he who is consecrated as priest, ought to be pure, as if he stood among the heavenly powers. , The throne of the priesthood is placed in the heavens, and he is entrusted with ministering things of heaven. Who saith this? The King of heaven Himself. For He saith, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth, shall be bound in heaven, and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth, shall be loosed in heaven. So the priest standeth in the middle between God and human nature, bringing down to us divine benefits, and transmitting thither our supplications.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Mal 2:7
For the priests lips should keep knowledge.
The priests lips should keep knowledge
There exists a broad and general analogy between the priesthood of the Levitical, and the ministry of the evangelical dispensations, an analogy sufficiently distinct and well-defined to enable us to argue from the one to the other in several most important particulars.
I. The nature of the knowledge which is required. When we speak of human knowledge we are perplexed by its variety and expansiveness. Where are we to find the precise boundaries of the knowledge which the priests lips should keep? To a vigorous mind, all nature, and all history, and all philosophy, and every region of thought and imagination will be one vast storehouse of materials for the service of the Lords temple. But some precise knowledge is here indicated, as specifically belonging to the priest; a professional knowledge, essential to the due discharge of his office. Surely it must be a knowledge of Gods truth, revealed in holy scripture: the knowledge of Christian doctrine in all its parts and proportions, as propounded by God to the faith of men for their salvation. This is the nucleus around which all his knowledge is to cluster, the centre to which all his other attainments are to converge. This knowledge has a twofold character. It is intellectual, and it is experimental: it is attained by the ordinary operations of the mind, and by the experience of the heart. The Christian minister must be one who rightly divideth the word of truth; one who has the nice and accurate skill to adjust the several portions of Gods truth in their right places and due connections; to build symmetrically as a wise master-builder, and not merely to say what is true, but what is true in its own place and proportion. And this is not a skill which is attained by every one. The priests knowledge must be experimental; i.e. learned by a feeling sense of the religious wants and cravings of the human heart. A further and higher teaching is required to give the true knowledge of the Gospel; it is an inward feeling of their adaptation to the wants of human nature, and a personal experience of their power upon his own heart. This is the real secret of ministerial strength. There is another branch of know ledge no less essential to the due discharge of the ministerial office–a knowledge of human nature. The hearts and consciences of men are the materials upon which the Christian ministers labour is to be expended. He will study his own heart as the best guide to the knowledge of the hearts of others. The most eminently successful ministers have been most proficient in this knowledge.
II. The importance of this knowledge. This is evident from the nature of the case. The minister is a messenger: he must be conversant with all things essential to a clue execution of his commission. He is a teacher; and the people are to seek the law at his mouth: he must therefore be competent to expound it. He is a referee in cases of doubt and difficulty; he must be skilled to deal with every such case which may come before him. He is the depositary of the treasure of the Gospel; he must be able to dispense it with faithfulness. There are, at times, some special reasons why the Christian minister should be a scribe well-instructed unto the kingdom of heaven. Times which demand, if not a higher tone of piety, at least a higher standard of knowledge. There are some peculiar features in the present circumstances and position of the Church. The Christian ministry must take up a commanding position whence it may direct and control the progress of society. (W. Nicholson, M. A.)
A ministers responsibility
Even strong and fearless Martin Luther confessed that he often trembled as he entered the pulpit. He could stand before kings and rulers without fear; but the responsibility of dealing with souls, and perhaps settling their destiny forever by his message, was to him so serious that he was wont to speak of that awful place the pulpit. Have none of us been betrayed into that cold officialism which speaks strongly in the pulpit, and acts coldly out of the pulpit? Have none of us acted the inconsistency of making the pulpit holy ground and all outside common? (A. J. Gordon, D. D.)
An unobtrusive minister
I remember once riding on a coach, remarked the late C. H. Spurgeon, when the coachman observed to me he knew a certain minister (I will not say of what church) who, for the last six months, had been in the habit of riding up and down on the box of his coach with him; and, says he, he is a good sort of man, sir, a sort of man I like. Well, what sort of a man is he? I asked. Well, you see, sir, he replied, he is a minister: and I like him because he never intrudes his religion, sir. I never heard him say a word, that would make me believe him a religious man, the whole six months he has ridden with me, sir! I am afraid there are plenty of Christians of that sort: I am afraid the religion of such is not of much worth. They never intrude their religion; I think the reason it is so unobtrusive, is, that they have not any to intrude; for true godliness is one of the most intrusive things in the world. It is fire; and if you put fire down in your study, and give it most earnest admonition never to burn, you will find, while you are administering your sage advice, that a conflagration has commenced.
The duty of the Church in modern times
Did the conception of the Jewish priesthood given in this verse date from its original institution; was it part of the Mosaic legislation, or does it merely represent the ideal of the priesthood after the captivity? What does the prophet mean by knowledge, and what by law? Is it the ceremonial law only? Or, is the priest enjoined to instruct the Jews of the restoration in the law of moral conduct? An honest view of Scripture history requires us to make the wider and more comprehensive answer to these questions. With the pious Jew there was no divorce between religion and morality. And the Jewish priesthood was not only a sacrificing, it was also a teaching priesthood. Compare the Jewish priesthood with that of ancient Greece. The Greek religion knew nothing of instruction, or of preaching, in connection with temples or festivals. At first sight, Malachis words appear better suited to describe the prophet than the priest. But in truth, the priesthood, as an ideal, contained in itself the prophetic office as well. It is observable that the existence of organised prophetical schools in Israel appears just at those periods when the priesthood had ceased to be a witness to the truth. It was thus in the days of Samuel. The dearest desire of Samuels heart was to win Israel back to God, and teach them true worship as well as true morality. When David is on the throne, national order is restored, the worship of God has a permanent centre, and the law of God–moral and ceremonial–is authoritatively set forth and enforced, then the prophetical schools fall into the background, or even cease, and the prophetic office itself becomes an occasional and extraordinary channel of Gods grace. Later on, when religion and morality were in danger of extinction, under Elijah and Elisha the prophetical schools gained their moral and religious importance. But neither then did they imply any opposition to the ceremonial law. The true priest and the true prophet are at one. A right view of the Jewish priesthood is of importance toward a just estimate of the Christian ministry. You destroy the moral grandeur of the Jewish priest if you obliterate his prophetical function: and you miss the Divine ideal of the Christian ministry, if you see in it only a school of prophets, and forget that it is a teaching priesthood, with a fixed succession and a covenanted grace. None can deny the fact, that the Christian ministry has, to a very high degree, remembered and fulfilled its mission as a teaching priesthood, as a witness for the righteousness of God. But while we admire the powerful moral influence of the English clergy upon English morality, yet the very nature of this success helps to throw into stronger relief what appear to be its shortcomings. It may be seriously questioned whether the teaching of the Christian ministry has not tended to be too partial in its bearing upon Christian morals. The relation of the individual soul to God, the duty of man to himself and to his Maker,–these have naturally formed the principal theme of pulpit exhortation. But in that large field of duty which has regard to our fellow-men, it can hardly be said that the teaching, of divines has been equally forcible and instructive. It may be feared that the Sunday sermon often gives little practical guidance for the toiling millions around us. The Sunday teaching must not be an alien from the duties of the week, nor leave out three parts of life. The type of character the Church tends to form is the foundation for the highest virtues and widest usefulness. It aims at making a man more devout towards God, mindful of the unseen and spiritual, self-controlled and master of the passions, true and tender in his home, forgiving to his enemy, generous to the sick and poor. These virtues are never out of date. Our religion as set forth in our Divine Exemplar, or in the teachings of His apostles, shows no one-sidedness. The New Testament sets the relative duties as high as the personal. Religion is there made to consist very largely in justice and benevolence. The principles of Christian conduct remain the same; but their application varies–love of God, self-denial, love of neighbour; and these based upon the doctrines of the cross; exemplified by the life of Christ; lit up with the hope of glory. Let me indicate some of the questions which demand the religious treatment of the Christian teacher.
1. The subject of amusements.
2. The ethics of dress.
3. Relation to the fine arts, painting, sculpture, music, the drama. Or–
4. The laws concerning marriage and divorce.
5. Or consider the painful questions which arise out of the intensified vices of modern society; drunkenness, prostitution, bribery, commercial fraud.
I do not fear that the Church will lose in spirituality or humility, by addressing herself to problems like these. (E. L. Hicks.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Those forementioned excellent priests did so teach, and so live, forasmuch as they did well consider it was their duty to be well acquainted with, and to have a great insight into, the law of God.
The priests lips should keep knowledge; it is that their office binds them to; it is the duty of all Gods people to know his law, but the priests duty to know it more than others, Lev 10:11, for they were to teach Israel, Deu 33:10.
And they, the people of Israel, should seek the law at his mouth; in difficult cases, in controversies, &c., the people were to consult and advise with the priests, and inquire what the law said in the case.
For he is the messenger, interpreter, ambassador, or legate, of the Lord of hosts with the people, lieger among them, and who therefore ought to be advised with about his Lords mind.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
7. In doing so (Mal2:6) he did his duty as a priest, “for,” c.
knowledgeof the law,its doctrines, and positive and negative precepts (Lev 10:10Lev 10:11; Deu 24:8;Jer 18:18; Hag 2:11).
the lawthat is, itstrue sense.
messenger of . . . Lordtheinterpreter of His will; compare as to the prophets, Hag1:13. So ministers are called “ambassadors of Christ”(2Co 5:20); and the bishops ofthe seven churches in Revelation, “angels” or messengers(Rev 2:1; Rev 2:8;Rev 2:12; Rev 2:18;Rev 3:1; Rev 3:7;Rev 3:14; compare Ga4:14).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
For the priest’s lips should keep knowledge,…. Or “shall keep knowledge”, as the Septuagint and Vulgate Latin versions; or “do keep knowledge”, as the Arabic version; and so the Syriac version, “for the lips of the priest drop knowledge”; all this is true of Christ our great High Priest; for as it was predicted of him, that his lips should keep knowledge, so they have kept it, and do keep it; not concealing it, but preserving it, and communicating it freely and openly; as he did to his disciples and followers when here on earth, and by them to others; and still does by his Spirit, giving to men the knowledge of themselves and state; the knowledge of himself, and the way of salvation by him, and of the truths of the Gospel:
and they should seek the law at his mouth; not the law of Moses, but the doctrine of grace, and any wholesome instruction and advice; which he is greatly qualified to give, being the wonderful Counsellor: it may be rendered, “they shall seek”, or “do seek”; and which has been fulfilled, especially in the Gentiles, and in the isles that waited for his law or doctrine, Isa 11:10:
for he [is] the messenger of the Lord of hosts; or “angel” w; he is the Angel of God’s presence, and of the covenant, Isa 63:9 Mal 3:1 which name he has from being sent, for he came not of himself, but his Father sent him; he was sent as a priest to atone for the sins of his people, and to be their Saviour; and as a prophet, to instruct and teach them; and therefore they should seek to him for knowledge, and attend his word and ordinances, and implore his spirit and grace.
w , Sept; “angelus”, V. L. Pagninus, Montanus, Junius & Tremellius, Cocceius, Burkius.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
What the Prophet has said of the first priests he extends now to the whole Levitical tribe, and shows that it was a perpetual and unchangeable law as to the priesthood. He had said that Levi had been set over the Church, not to apply to himself the honor due to God, but to stand in his own place as the minister of God, and the teacher of the chosen people. The same thing he now confirms, declaring it as a general truth that the lips of the priest ought to retain knowledge, as though he had said, that they were to be the store-house from which the food of the Church was to be drawn. God then did appoint the priests over his chosen people, that the people might seek their food from them as from a store-room, according to what we find to be the case with a master of a family, who has his store of wine and his store of provisions. As then the food of a whole family is usually drawn out from places where provisions are laid up, so the Prophet makes use of this similitude, — that God has deposited knowledge with the priests, so that the mouth of every priest might be a kind of store-house, so to speak, from which the people are to seek knowledge and the rule of a religious life: Keep knowledge then shall the lips of the priest, and the law shall they seek from his mouth (220)
He shows how it is to be kept; the priests are not to withhold it, but the whole Church is to enjoy the knowledge of which they are the keepers. They shall then seek or demand the law from his mouth.
Law may be taken simply for truth; but the Prophet no doubt alludes here to the doctrine of Moses, the only true fountain of all knowledge. We indeed know that God included in his law whatever was necessary for the welfare of his Church; nor was there anything added by the Prophets. Our Prophet then so includes every truth in the word, תורה, ture, law, that he might at the same time show that it was laid up in what Moses has taught.
He says in the last place, that the priest is the messenger of Jehovah. He briefly defines here what the priesthood is, even an embassy which God commits to men, that they may be his interpreters in teaching and ruling the Church. What then is a priest? A messenger of God, and his interpreter. It hence follows that the office of teaching cannot be separated from the priesthood; for it is a monstrous thing when any one boasts himself to be a priest, when he is no teacher. The Prophet then draws an argument from the definition itself, when he says that a priest is a messenger of God. Then follows the contrast when he says
(220) The verbs, as here rendered, are future: but being preceded by כי, many consider them as declaring what ought to be: and they are thus rendered by Drusius, Dathius, Newcome, and Henderson, “should keep,” or “ought to keep,” etc. We find the future thus used when preceded by ה, “whether,” in Eze 34:2; and when preceded by no particle, as in Mal 1:6, where the version ought clearly to be, —
A son should honor a father, And a servant, his Lord.
This use of the future, as designating a duty or obligation, is much more frequent in Hebrew than what is commonly supposed. — Ed.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(7) Comp. Deu. 33:10.
Keep.Not as in a repository, but rather, observe (Zec. 3:7)i.e., speak in accordance with the knowledge of God, as revealed in the Law.
Messenger.Literally, angel. (See Note on Mal. 3:1.)
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
7. This conduct of Levi corresponded to the divine purpose concerning the priests, who as messengers of Jehovah of hosts should speak and live the truth continually. Marti, following Boehme, considers Mal 2:7 an interpolation, because (1) it is not needed after Mal 2:6; (2) it interrupts the connection between Mal 2:6 and Mal 2:8, and thus weakens the contrast between the conduct of Levi and that of the present priests; (3) 7b contains two peculiarities: (a) in Mal 2:5-6 Jehovah is the speaker, in 7b he is referred to in the third person; (b) the term “messenger of Jehovah” denotes in Malachi a being other than the priests (Mal 3:1). He considers the verse made up of elements taken from Mal 2:6 and Mal 2:8. The reasons are not conclusive.
Should keep knowledge The knowledge of Jehovah (compare Isa 11:2), which is a clear insight into his moral character and into the requirements which are the outgrowth of this character (compare Hos 2:20; Hos 4:1). This the priests should possess in order that they may instruct others.
And they should seek the law at his mouth They, the people. It should be their privilege to consult the priests. Law is equivalent to instruction in the law or in the will of Jehovah.
For he is the messenger A causal clause belonging to the two preceding clauses. His position as a messenger of Jehovah makes it imperative for him to possess the knowledge of Jehovah, and should inspire the people to go to him for advice. In Hag 1:13, the prophets are called messengers of Jehovah, and in Mal 3:1, the term is applied to a messenger par excellence, but it does not follow that one and the same author could not apply it here to the priests; in a very real sense the priests were the messengers of Jehovah, for their commission was to make known his will and law.
In Mal 2:8 the prophet returns to the priests of his own day; they have completely lost sight of their high calling.
Ye are departed out of the way R.V., “turned aside.” From the way in which they should have walked as priests and successors of Levi (compare Mal 2:6-7). They no longer walk with Jehovah in peace and righteousness (see on Mal 2:6).
Ye have caused many to stumble at the law R.V., “in the law.” They made the law a stumbling-block both by their false exposition of it and by destroying its authority through their disregard of it in their own lives. A sad contrast to the conduct of Levi, who turned “many away from unrighteousness.”
Ye have corrupted Or, destroyed.
Levi Here with the article, the Levi; used perhaps to express the idea that the covenant was not with Levi as an individual, but with the house of Levi, the Levite in a collective sense the Levites. This covenant (see on Mal 2:5) they have made of no effect, they have failed to meet their own obligations, and thus they have made it impossible for Jehovah to do his share.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
The Prophet is commissioned again in these verses, to follow up his former reproofs. The low and impoverished state of the Church, in the ordinances, which rightly used to lead to Christ, are real blessings; but if abused, to keep from Christ, become curses; these effects are said to be induced by their perversion. Then persons also are made contemptible. And it should seem also, from what is here said of their partial administration of the law, that they had forgotten their common relationship in Abraham. Hence the expostulation, have we not all one Father? Alas! how many evils spring out of one, even a departure from God!
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Mal 2:7 For the priest’s lips should keep knowledge, and they should seek the law at his mouth: for he [is] the messenger of the LORD of hosts.
Ver. 7. For the priest’s lips should keep knowledge] How else should he be instant in lip feeding? how should his lips present it unless they preserve it? How should he make others wise, unless he be wise himself? Dan 12:3 . The Pope brags of an infallibility, and pleads this text for it; avouching that he knows all things knowable, and hath all wisdom and skill locked up in scrinio pectoris, in the cabinet of his breast. But what will they say of sundry of their popes that have been manifest heretics? John XXIII was accused, in the Council of Constance, for denying the resurrection of the body and everlasting life. And of all their popes we may safely say, as the Venetian ambassadors did; when the Pope laid his hand upon his breast and said, Hic est arca Noae, Lo, here is Noah’s ark (meaning that he was the Church virtual, and was enriched in all knowledge and in all utterance), one of them presently replied, that in Noah’s ark there were unclean beasts as well as clean; and so left him further to apply. The priest’s lips indeed should keep knowledge. But those of Malachi’s times had forsaken the way, and caused many to stumble, Mal 2:8 . How this was we shall see when we come to it. Meanwhile, we may take notice, that non libro sacerdotis, sed labro; non codice, sed corde, conservatur scientia; knowledge should be kept, not in the priest’s book, but in his bosom, as a storehouse; neither should it lie low or long there, but sit upon his lips, that all may have benefit by it. For the manifestation of the Spirit is given to profit also, 1Co 12:7 . And it was death for the priest to enter into the sanctuary without his golden bells about him, that he might be heard by all. A minister must be both able and apt to teach ( , Greg. Pastor.). Praedicationis officium suscipit quisquis ad sacerdotium accedit, saith Gregory. He is no minister that is no preacher. Nor can he be a preacher that is not stored with knowledge of God’s will and people’s duty. See Mat 13:32 . See Trapp on “ Mat 13:32 “ Walter, surnamed Malclerk, was surely no fit man to be Bishop of Carlisle; as he was by evil and corrupt means, A. D. 1223. “If the blind lead the blind, both will fall into the ditch,” Mat 15:14 ; but the blind guides will lie lowermost, and have the worst of it. Varro complained of the Roman priests, that they were ignorant of many things about their own rites and religions. Mucius Scaevola (being their high priest) derived Pontifex of Posse and facere to be able to do. This derivation pleased not Varro; but it intimated that such should both be able and active to teach the people knowledge. It was a witty observation of a bishop, who was called in his time the gulf of learning, that Doceo, to teach, governs two accusative cases; according to that Isa 28:9 “Whom shall I teach knowledge?” Ministers, saith he, must have whom to teach and what to teach, viz. knowledge; and must, therefore, give attendance to reading, that they may the better to exhortation and doctrine, 1Ti 4:13 , that they may feed the people with knowledge and understanding, Jer 3:15 .
And they should seek the law at his mouth
For he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts
a A pampered or spoiled child; a darling, pet; a young, delicate, or puny child or animal, needing special care; a weakling, ‘dilling’. D
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
the priest’s lips, &c. This was the first duty of the priests, and was more important than their ceremonial duties. Reference to Pentateuch (Lev 10:11. Deu 17:11; Deu 33:10). App-92.
knowledge: i.e. esp. of the law.
they: i.e. the People; according to Deu 17:9-11.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
the priest’s: Lev 10:11, Deu 17:8-11, Deu 21:5, Deu 24:8, 2Ch 17:8, 2Ch 17:9, 2Ch 30:22, Ezr 7:10, Neh 8:2-8, Jer 15:19, Jer 18:18, Hag 2:11-13, 2Ti 2:24, 2Ti 2:25
the messenger: Mal 3:1, Isa 42:19, Isa 44:26, Hag 1:13, Joh 13:20, Joh 20:21, Act 16:17, 2Co 5:20, Gal 4:14, 1Th 4:8
Reciprocal: Exo 27:21 – Aaron Lev 13:2 – he shall Lev 13:3 – shall look Deu 17:9 – the priests Deu 19:17 – General Deu 27:14 – General Deu 31:9 – the priests 1Sa 14:36 – Then said the priest 2Ki 16:11 – built an altar 1Ch 23:4 – officers and judges 2Ch 15:3 – a teaching 2Ch 19:11 – all matters 2Ch 31:4 – the law 2Ch 35:3 – the Levites Ezr 7:25 – teach ye Neh 8:7 – caused Job 33:23 – a messenger Pro 5:2 – thy lips Pro 22:18 – fitted Ecc 5:6 – before Jer 5:5 – get me Eze 8:1 – and the Dan 11:33 – understand Hos 4:6 – because Zec 7:3 – speak Mat 2:4 – he demanded Mat 15:6 – Thus Mat 23:2 – General Mar 11:33 – We Luk 11:52 – for Luk 20:7 – that Rev 1:20 – The seven stars
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Mal 2:7. Tbe Lord then honored tbat tribe with being the custodian of the law. (See Lev 10:11; Deu 17:9.) With such a charge the priests were expected to be informed about the law and see that it was followed. Instead of doing so they had become indifferent and were encouraging the people in their formalities.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Mal 2:7-9. For the priests lips should keep knowledge Preserve and store up, so as to distribute it. It is his duty to understand the meaning of the law of God: and people ought to resort to him for instruction in any difficulty that arises concerning the sense of it. For he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts He is appointed to declare Gods will unto the people, and to enforce upon them obedience to it. But ye are departed out of the way Ye act in a quite different manner from that which was the original design of your office, and which those observed who were first instituted into it. Ye have caused many to stumble at the law You have either perverted the sense of the law, or encouraged others to break it by your bad example; ye have corrupted the covenant of Levi By your evil practices you have broken or rendered void that covenant: by your not performing that part of the covenant which the tribe of Levi was bound to perform, you have disengaged me from performing my part, or fulfilling those promises which I had engaged to make good to them on the performance of certain conditions on their side. Therefore have I also made Or rather, will make, (a future event being evidently foretold,) you contemptible and base The indignities which the priests were to receive in the times of Antiochus, seem to be here intended. According as ye have not kept my ways Have not been careful to walk in them. But have been partial in the law Or, accepted faces, or persons, in the law, as the Hebrew signifies, that is, have wrested the sense of the law in favour, or to please great men, or to serve some unworthy design of particular persons. When we inquire into the reasons of the contempt of the clergy, ought we to forget this?
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
2:7 For the priest’s {l} lips should keep knowledge, and they should seek the law at his mouth: for he [is] the {m} messenger of the LORD of hosts.
(l) He is as the treasure house of God’s word, and ought to give to everyone according to their need, and not to reserve it for himself.
(m) Showing that whoever does not declare God’s will, is not his messenger, and priest.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Priests should speak true knowledge and should be reliable sources of instruction (Heb. torah) because they are messengers of Yahweh. Levi contrasts with the priests of Malachi’s day, and Malachi ("my messenger") also contrasts with the priests of his day. Ezra was the great example of a faithful priest in postexilic Judaism (cf. Ezr 7:10; Ezr 7:25; Neh 8:9).
"As the life of a community depends upon the keeper of its water supply to guard that supply from loss or contamination, so the life of Israel depended upon its priests to preserve God’s written word and effectively to dispense it when ’men should seek’ it." [Note: Ibid., p. 314.]