11<\/strong>. the holiness of the Lord<\/em> ] Comp. Lev 11:44<\/span>; 1Th 4:7<\/span>. This is better than sanctuary of the Lord<\/em>, R.V. margin. Comp. , LXX.<\/p>\n which he loved<\/em> ] In like manner Almighty God is said to love righteousness<\/em> and judgment<\/em>. Psa 11:7<\/span>; Psa 33:5<\/span>; Isa 61:8<\/span>.<\/p>\n the daughter of a strange god<\/em> ] “As those who acknowledge, worship and serve the true God are called His sons and daughters<\/em> (Deu 32:19<\/span>), so they that worshipped any strange god are, by like reason, here called the daughters of that god. Hence the Jews say, ‘He that marrieth a heathen woman is as if he made himself son-in-law to an idol’.” Pocock.<\/p>\n Treacherously has Judah dealt; an abomination is committed in Israel – <\/B>The prophet, by the order of the words, emphasizes the treachery and the abomination. This have they done; the very contrary to what was required of them as the people of God. He calls the remnant of Judah by the sacred name of the whole people, of whom they were the surviving representatives. The word abomination is a word belonging to the Hebrew, and is used especially of things offensive to, or separating from, Almighty God; idolatry, as the central dereliction of God, and involving offences against the laws of nature, but also all other sins, as adultery, which violate His most sacred laws and alienate from Him.<\/P> Hath profaned the holiness of the Lord which He loved – <\/B>, in themselves, who had been separated and set apart by God to Himself as a Exo 19:6<\/span>. holy nation. Jer 2:3<\/span>. Israel was holiness to the Lord. The Lord is holy, perfect holiness; His name, holy; all things relating to Him, holy; His law, covenant and all His ordinances and institutions holy; Israel, His special people, an holy people; the temple and all things therein consecrated to Him, holy; Jerusalem, the city of the great God, holy; yea, the whole and of His inheritance, holy; so that whosoever doth not observe those due respects which to any of these belong, may be said to have profaned the holiness which He loved.<\/P> Unlawful marriages and unlawful lusts were in themselves a special profanation of that holiness. The high priest was to Lev 21:14-15<\/span>, take a virgin of his own people to wife, and not to profane his seed among the people. The priests who married stranqe wives, defiled the priesthood and the covenant of the priesthood Neh 13:29<\/span>. The marriage with idolatresses brought, as one consequence, the profanation by their idolatries. The prohibition is an anticipation of the fuller revelation in the Gospel, that 1Co 6:15-20<\/span> the body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, and so, that sins against the body are profanations of the temple of God. As those who acknowledge, worship and serve the true God are called His Deu 32:19<\/span>; 2Co 6:18<\/span> sons and daughters, so they that worshiped any strange god are, by like reason, here called the daughters of that god. Hence, the Jews say, He that marrieth a pagan woman is, as if he made himself son-in-law to an idol. <\/P> Hath married the daughter of a strange god – <\/B>And so he came into closest relation with idols and with devils.<\/P> <\/p>\n Mal 2:11<\/span><\/p>\n And hath married the daughter of a strange god.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p>\n Unholy marriages<\/strong><\/p>\n The Jews were commanded to keep themselves separate from the heathen nations around them (Deu 7:2<\/span>; Deu 7:4<\/span>). This was necessary that they might maintain their position as custodians of a peculiar revelation, and as abiding witnesses of the existence of the true God. But they often disobeyed this requirement, and formed idolatrous connections. This evil was now prevalent. Nehemiah and Ezra sought to remove this evil, and now Malachi strongly condemns it.<\/p>\n 1. <\/strong>They marry women who sacrifice their noblest feelings for wealth.<\/p>\n 2. <\/strong>Who have bound themselves upon the altar of fashion.<\/p>\n 3. <\/strong>Who sacrifice their holiest impulses for pleasure.<\/p>\n 4. <\/strong>Who are devoted to the <\/strong>triumphs of ambition.<\/p>\n Christians should not violate their union with Jehovah to unite themselves with idolaters. To do so, even under the most plausible circumstances, is–<\/p>\n (1)<\/strong> To disobey a Divine command.<\/p>\n (2)<\/strong> To lose the Divine blessing.<\/p>\n (3)<\/strong> To incur the Divine displeasure.<\/p>\n 1. <\/strong>When they join themselves with popular customs which have emanated from the spirit of idolatry.<\/p>\n 2. <\/strong>When they embrace false and erroneous systems of religion.<\/p>\n 3. <\/strong>When they associate themselves freely with unholy religionists. God requires His people to separate themselves from all the fascinating forms of evil. All unholy unions are as breaches of a marriage covenant, or as marriage with an idolater. They are a voluntary preference of evil to God.<\/p>\n 1. <\/strong>Literally. It will result in–<\/p>\n (1)<\/strong> Domestic unhappiness.<\/p>\n (2)<\/strong> A divided household.<\/p>\n (3)<\/strong> Ill-trained children–probably generations of evil-doers.<\/p>\n (4)<\/strong> Neglect of the true religion on the part of both.<\/p>\n One religion matching with another not seldom breeds an atheist, one of no religion at all.<\/p>\n 2. <\/strong>Spiritually. It will result in–<\/p>\n (1)<\/strong> Blindness in spiritual things.<\/p>\n (2)<\/strong> Loss of the Divine favour.<\/p>\n (3)<\/strong> Wandering in deceptive errors.<\/p>\n (4)<\/strong> Loss of religious influence.<\/p>\n (5)<\/strong> Being given up by God.<\/p>\n Learn to guard against uniting ourselves with anything that will separate us from God. An evil association has often been a devils chain, binding the soul to everlasting wretchedness. (W. Osborne Lilley.<\/em>)<\/p>\n Verse 11<\/span>. Daughter of a strange god.<\/B><\/I>] Of a man who worships an idol.<\/P> <\/p>\n Judah:<\/B> though Judah only is named, yet the rest of the returned captives are included. <\/P> Dealt treacherously:<\/B> see Mal 2:10<\/span>. <\/P> An abomination; <\/B>such treachery is a very abominable thing, God and all good men abhor it, and yet here it is committed in Israel, who are Gods peculiar people, and above others should have been holy. <\/P> And in Jerusalem; <\/B>under the eye of the governors, the high priest and sanhedrim, nay, under the eye of God, who dwelt at Jerusalem; this could not but greatly provoke God. <\/P> Profaned the holiness of the Lord:<\/B> profanely violated the necessary cautionary law of marriage, confining Israel to marry within themselves, and not to endanger themselves and religion by joining affinity with idolaters, who would draw them and their children from the holy law, worship, and temple of God, which are the holiness that he loved. <\/P> Which he loved; <\/B>which he, i.e. Judah, once loved; so it was apostacy in Judah. Or which he<\/I>, i.e. the Lord, loved above all; so it is a neglect of a main duty, it is slighting what God so greatly loved. <\/P> And hath married the daughter of a strange god:<\/B> Ezr 9:1<\/span>; 10:2<\/span>, mentions what nations they were whose daughters were by these Jews taken for wives, they were idolatrous nations, and the women were idolatresses when the Jews did marry them. This was bad; but these Jews had wives before, and they cast them off, or else took in these strangers and despised their former wives: this is the treachery and abomination that is here committed. <\/P> <\/p>\n 11. dealt treacherously<\/B>namely,in respect to the Jewish wives who were put away (Mal2:14<\/span>; also Mal 2:10<\/span>; Mal 2:15<\/span>;Mal 2:16<\/span>). <\/P> profaned the holiness of . .. Lord<\/B>by ill-treating the Israelites (namely, the wives), whowere set apart as a people holy unto the Lord:<\/I> “the holyseed” (Ezr 9:2<\/span>; compare Jer2:3<\/span>). Or, “the holiness of the Lord” means His holyordinance and covenant (De 7:3<\/span>).But “which He loved,” seems to refer to the holy people,<\/I>Israel, whom God so gratuitously loved (Mal1:2<\/span>), without merit on their part (Ps47:4<\/span>). <\/P> married,<\/B> c. (Ezr 9:1<\/span>Ezr 9:2<\/span>; Ezr 10:2<\/span>;Neh 13:23<\/span>, &c.). <\/P> daughter of a strangegod<\/B>women worshipping idols: as the worshipper in Scripture isregarded in the relation of a child to a father (Jer2:27<\/span>).<\/P><\/p>\n Judah hath dealt treacherously<\/strong>,…. Not only every man against his brother, by being partial in the law; or against the women of their nation, by marrying others; or against their wives, by putting them away; but against Christ the Son of God by betraying and delivering him up into the hands of the Gentiles, to be mocked, and scourged, and crucified:<\/p>\n and an abomination is committed in Israel, and in Jerusalem<\/strong>; which was the taking of the true Messiah with wicked hands, condemning him and putting him to death, even the shameful and accursed death of the cross; which was done in the land of Israel, and in and near the city of Jerusalem:<\/p>\n for Judah hath profaned the holiness of the Lord, which he loved<\/strong>; Christ, who is the Lord’s Holy One, holiness itself, the most holy, and holiness to the Lord for his people; and who is his dear Son, the Son of his love, whom he loved from everlasting, continued to love in time amidst all his meanness, sorrows, and sufferings, and will love for evermore; him the Jews profaned by blaspheming him, falsely accusing him, and condemning him; by spitting upon him, buffeting, scourging, and crucifying him: some interpret this “holiness” of the soul of Judah, which was holy before the Lord, and loved, as the Targum; so Jarchi of Judah himself, or Israel, who was holiness to the Lord; and others of the holy place, the sanctuary, and all holy things belonging thereto; and others of the holy state of marriage, since it follows:<\/p>\n and hath married the daughter of a strange god<\/strong>; which the Targum paraphrases thus,<\/p>\n “and they were pleased to take to them wives, the daughters of the people;”<\/p>\n the Gentiles, such as Moabites, Ammonites, and the like: and this sense is followed by most interpreters, though the phrase seems rather to be expressive of idolatry; and so the Septuagint, Syriac, and Arabic versions interpret it of their being intent upon, and serving, strange gods; and as the Jews rejected the Son of God, and his word, ordinances, and worship, they had not the true God, nor did they worship him, but became guilty of idolatry; and besides, as they rejected the King Messiah from being their King, so they declared they had no king but Caesar, an idolatrous emperor, and joined with the idolatrous Gentiles in putting Christ to death, Joh 19:12<\/span>.<\/p>\n Sins Against God In Family Life<\/strong><\/p>\n Verses 11-16:<\/p>\n Treachery Of Racial Intermarriage<\/strong><\/p>\n Verse 11 charges <\/strong>that Judah and the whole nation of Israel and , the city of Jerusalem had dealt treacherously (deceitfully) with God, trying to cover up or justify their intermarriage with heathen, Gentiles, or other races, even divorcing their Jewish wives to do so; This is declared to be an unholy abomination, (as sin abhorred by the Lord) though Israel had tried to justify it with pious platitudes and sanctimonious tears, v. 13. Judah is accused of marrying the daughter of a strange god, literally marrying Gentiles who worshipped heathen gods, rejecting the true God, a thing forbidden in God’s law, op. cit., and Exo 20:1-5<\/span>; Deu 7:3<\/span>.<\/p>\n Verse 12 warns <\/strong>that the Lord will “cut off” the man (any man) or every man who dealt treacherously with his Jewish wife, putting’ her aside, or in an outer tent, while taking another wife, an heathen Gentile wife. The Lord would disapprove such intermarriage breaches of infidelity toward their covenant with God, whether they were master or scholar, teacher or pupil, priest or one of the common people of the nation of Israel. The phrase “out of the tabernacles of Jacob” seems to reinforce the idea that His judgment would fall upon His chosen people for their breach of covenant with the nation of Israel, not associated directly with the tabernacle worship. His offering of a sacrifice would not erase His guilt, Isa 1:11-15<\/span>.<\/p>\n Verse 13 <\/strong>relates that efforts of priests and laymen to atone for or justify their open marital infidelity by making spectacular sacrifices upon the altar of the Lord with tears, weeping, and crying, while still living treacherously with heathen wives, was not received of the Lord. Such sacrificial gifts would not buy God’s sanction of their moral wrong and breach of His covenant through their extra-marital and inter-marriage, in taking to themselves strange wives, heathen, or Gentile wives; Their sins were sure to “find them out,” Num 32:23<\/span>; Deu 7:3-4<\/span>. This was a second lapse into marriage infidelity. It had been corrected under Ezra once before, Neh 13:23-30<\/span>; Ezra 9; Ezra 1-10; Neh 13:5-6<\/span>.<\/p>\n Verse 14 cites <\/strong>the questions of the apostate priests, in protest against the Lord’s disapproval of the intermarriage treachery of the priests and laity of the nation of Israel, in setting aside their Jewish wives of their youth in sensual, carnal, seizure of heathen wives to satisfy their carnal lusts, Pro 2:17<\/span>. In doing this they committed two major sins: First, <\/strong>single marital partners or monogamy was the primary will of God from the beginning. This they were disregarding, Gen 2:24<\/span>; Mat 19:6<\/span>; 1 Corinthians 7; 1 Corinthians 10. They were often married as young as 13 years of age for the male, and the wife younger, Gen 31:49-50<\/span>; Pro 5:18<\/span>; Isa 54:6<\/span>. Second, <\/strong>God had specifically forbidden them from going in unto, or marrying the Philistines, Gentiles, or heathen races; In putting their covenant’ wives, companions of their youth away, for “strange wives,” they offended God, Lev 20:24<\/span>; Lev 20:26<\/span>; Deu 7:3-4<\/span>; Ezr 9:1-10<\/span>; Neh 13:23-30<\/span>.<\/p>\n Verse 15 rhetorically <\/strong>asks did not God make one? He did make Adam and Eve to be one flesh, didn’t He? Mat 19:6<\/span>. And did not that same God elect or call Israel to be one nation or race for a kingly lineage through the tribe of Judah, Gen 49:10<\/span>? He did! And did not God call Israel, as an holy, sanctified, and chosen nation to walk uprightly in personal and marital relations, as He directed, to bear His message and administer His house of worship until the Messiah should come? He did. Israel had, held, or possessed the residue of the spirit in leading her and protecting her, from Egypt’s post-passover journey until the redeemer came, appearing in the cloud of fire by day and by night, and in the shekinah light of the tabernacle and the temple, Exo 14:19<\/span>; 1Co 10:1<\/span>; 2Ch 5:13-14<\/span>; 2Ch 7:1-3<\/span>; Rom 8:14-15<\/span>. The verse ends by calling upon the priests and people of Israel to take heed or take control of their spirit (their attitude or disposition) of their behavior, and let not one among them with the covenant or sacred pledge with her or his God disobey, by setting her aside and taking a “strange wife,” an heathen wife, or wife of another race.<\/p>\n Verse 16 again <\/strong>quotes the Lord as stating that He “hateth,” continually hates or despises, one’s putting away the covenant-wife of his youth, one’s divorcing her, or setting her off as a slave, in a side tent, like heathen polygamists did. To “cover ones violence with his garment” is described as being a thing the Lord disapproves. It appears that the Jewish priesthood had tried to justify their marital infidelity, and that of many of Israel’s remnant who were intermarrying with the Gentiles, by saying that Moses their great law-giver sanctioned it. Yet, the Lord did not sanction it as a priority of His will, but as a permitted thing only, Deu 24:1<\/span>; Mat 19:6-9<\/span>; See also Deu 22:30<\/span>; Rth 3:9<\/span>; Eze 16:8<\/span>.<\/p>\n They are called upon to “take heed” or be on guard toward their spirit, attitude, or disposition in order that they deal not treacherously against either God or their own national family members.<\/p>\n The Prophet now explains how the Jews departed from the covenant of their fathers, and he exaggerates their sin and says, that abomination was done in Israel; as though he had said, that this perfidy was abominable. Some render the verb, בגד, begad, (227) transgressed, and so it is often taken in Hebrew: but as in the last verse the Prophet had said, נבגד, nubegad, “Why do we deal perfidiously every one with his brother?” I doubt not but that it is repeated here in the same sense. But as I have already stated, he shows the crime to be detestable, and says that it existed in Judah and in Jerusalem. God had indeed, as it is well known, preferred that tribe to others; and it was not a common favor that the Jews almost alone returned to their own country, while others nearly all remained in their dispersions. He adds Jerusalem, not for honor’s sake, but for greater reproach, as though he had said, that not only some of the race of Abraham were subject to this condemnation, but that even the Jews were so, who had been allowed to return to their own country, and that even the holy city rendered itself subject to this reproof, in which the temple was, the sanctuary of God, which was then alone the true one in the whole world. By these circumstances then does the Prophet enhance their crime. <\/p>\n But he immediately comes to particulars: Polluted, he says, has Judah the holiness of Jehovah, which he loved; (228) that is, because they individually indulged their lusts, and procured for themselves wives from heathen nations. <\/p>\n Some take, קדש, kodash, for the sanctuary or the temple; others for the keeping of the law; but I prefer to apply it to the covenant itself; and we might suitably take it in a collective sense, except the simpler meaning be more approved — that Judah polluted his separation. As to the Prophet’s object and the subject itself, he charges them here, I have no doubt, with profanation, because the Jews rendered themselves vile, though God had consecrated them to himself. They had then polluted holiness, even when they had been separated from the world; for they had disregarded so great an honor, by which they might have been pre-eminent, had they continued in their integrity. It may be also taken collectively, they have polluted holiness, that is, they have polluted that nation which has been separated from other nations: but as this exposition may seem hard and somewhat strained, I am inclined to think that what is here meant is that separation by which the Jews were known from other nations. But yet what I have stated may serve to remove whatever obscurity there may be. And that this holiness ought to be referred to that gratuitous election by which God had adopted the Jews as his peculiar people, is evident from what the Prophet says, that they married foreign wives. (229) <\/p>\n We then see the purpose of this passage, which is to show, — that the Jews were ungrateful to God, because they mingled with heathen nations, and knowingly and wilfully cast aside that glory by which God had adorned them by choosing them, as Moses says, to be to him a royal priesthood. (Exo 19:6<\/span>.) Holiness, we know, was much recommended to the Jews, in order that they might not abandon themselves to any of the pollutions of the heathens. Hence God had forbidden them under the law to take foreign wives, except they were first purified, as we find in Deu 21:11<\/span>; if any one wished to marry a captive, she was to have her head shaven and her nails pared; by which it was intimated, that such women were impure, and that their husbands would be contaminated, except they were first purified. And, yet it was not wholly a blameless thing, when one observed the law as to a captive: but it was a lust abominable to God, when they were not content with their own nation, and burnt in love with strange women. As however the Jews, like all mortals without exception, were inclined to corruptions, God purposed to keep them together as one people, lest the wife by her flatteries should draw the husband away from the pure and legitimate worship of God. And Moses tells us, that there was a crafty counsel given by Balsam when he saw that the people could not be conquered in open war; he at length invented this artifice, that the heathens should offer to them their wives and their daughters. It hence happened that the people provoked God’s wrath, as we find it recorded in Num 25:4<\/span>. <\/p>\n As then the Jews after their return had again lapsed into this corruption, it is not without reason that the Prophet so severely reproves them, and that he says, that by marrying strange women they had polluted holiness, or that separation, which was their great honor, as God had adopted them alone as his people; and he calls it a holiness which God loved. Thus their crime was doubled, because God had not only bound them to himself, but he had also embraced them gratuitously. For if the cause of the separation be enquired, whether they excelled other nations, or whether they had any worthiness or merit? the answer is, No; but God loved them freely. For by the word love, the Prophet means the mere kindness and bounty of God, with which he favored Abraham and his race, without regard to any worthiness or excellency. He therefore condemns them for this ingratitude, because they had not only departed from the covenant which the Lord had made with their fathers, but had also neglected and despised that gratuitous love, which ought to have softened even their iron hearts. For if God had found anything in them as a reason why he preferred them to other nations, they might have been more excusable, at least they might have extenuated their fault; but since God had adopted them as his peculiar people, though they were unworthy and wholly undeserving, they must surely have been extremely brutish, to have thus despised the gratuitous favor of God. Their baseness then is increased, as I have said, by this circumstance, — that so great a kindness of God did not turn their hearts to obedience. <\/p>\n At the end of the verse the Prophet makes known, as I have already stated, their profanation; they had married the daughters of another god. By way of reproach he calls them the daughters of a strange god. He might have simply said foreign daughters; but he intended here to imply a comparison between the God of Israel and idols: as though he had said, “Whence have these wives come to you? from idols. Ye ought then to have hated them as monsters: had you any religion in your heart, what but detestable to you must have been everything which may have come from idols? but your hearts have become attached to the daughters of false gods.” <\/p>\n And we find that this vice had been condemned by Moses, and branded with reproach, before the giving of the Law, when he said, that the human race had been corrupted, because the sons of God married the daughters of men, (Gen 6:2<\/span>,) even because the posterity of Seth, who were born of the holy family, degraded themselves and polluted that small portion, which was holy and consecrated to God, by mixing with the world; for the whole world had at that time departed from God, except the descendants of Seth. The Lord then had before the Law marked this lust with perpetual disgrace; but when the Law itself which ought to have been like a rampart, again condemned it, was it not a perverseness wholly inexcusable, when the wantonness of the people broke through all restraints? He then adds — <\/p>\n (227) It is בגדה in the feminine gender, because by Judah is meant the tribe or the family; so Ephraim is often regarded. See Hos 4:18<\/span>. We find here Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem mentioned; and probably because the purpose was to include the whole of the people, as some of Israel or of the ten tribes were among them. — Ed. <\/p>\n (228) This last clause has been variously explained: “whom,” i.e., Judah, “he loved,” or, “which,” i.e., holiness, “he loved,” or, “which he,” Judah “had loved.” The last seems the most natural construction according to the tenor of the passage, if אשר be a relative; for Judah is the subject in the sentence. Judah did in former times love and delight in that separating which God had made and appointed between his people and the heathen world. To say that God loved it seems an odd idea; but to say that Judah delighted in it was much to the purpose, and added it for the sake of enhancing the guilt of that generation. <\/p>\n Dathius gives this version, — <\/p>\n For he profanes Judah, the holiness of Jehovah, Who loves and marries a foreign wife. <\/p>\n But more suitable to the genius of the language would be this, — <\/p>\n For profaned has Judah the holiness of Jehovah, Because he has loved and married The daughter of a strange God. <\/p>\n The word אשר is often a conjunction as well as a relative; because, for, inasmuch as. See Gen 34:13<\/span>; Deu 30:16<\/span>; 1Sa 15:15<\/span>. — Ed. <\/p>\n (229) “The holiness of Jehovah,” i.e., the holiness required and enjoined by Jehovah. Most agree that what is meant is the separation from any alliance with heathens. See Deu 7:3<\/span>. Ezra mentions Israel as “the holy seed,” Ezr 9:2<\/span>. See also Jer 2:3<\/span>. Marckius, after Jerome and Cyril, takes this view, and so do Henry, Scott, Newcome, and Henderson. — Ed. <\/p>\n (11) For the same collocation of Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem, comp. Zec. 1:19<\/span>.<\/p>\n The holiness of the Lord.<\/strong>That is, their own holy nation (Deu. 7:6<\/span>; Deu. 14:2<\/span>; comp. Jer. 2:3<\/span>).<\/p>\n Daughter of a strange god<\/strong>i.e.<\/em>, one who worships a strange god, and such they were forbidden to marry (Exo. 24:16<\/span>; Deu. 7:3<\/span>; comp. 1Ki. 11:2<\/span>).<\/p>\n These are all so many striking expostulations to the same amount; showing the people, that both in their conduct towards each other in relative and social duties, as well as in their reverence to the Lord, they had shamefully gone back, and committed transgressions. But in the midst of all, as if to show man his total unworthiness, and the Lord’s own glory, Jehovah describeth himself under that endeared character, the Lord the God of Israel; that is, God in covenant; and therefore as such, he hateth putting away. This is the grand cause for which Israel indeed is not put away, after all his rebellions, and all his departures. See similar passages, Isa 42<\/span> the last verses with the first verses of Isa 43<\/span> . So again the close of Isa 43<\/span> with the opening verses of Isa 44<\/span> ; Eze 16:58<\/span> to the end Eze 36:31<\/span> to end.<\/p>\n Mal 2:11 Judah hath dealt treacherously, and an abomination is committed in Israel and in Jerusalem; for Judah hath profaned the holiness of the LORD which he loved, and hath married the daughter of a strange god.<\/p>\n Ver. 11. Judah hath dealt treacherously<\/strong> ] Judah, the confessor, as his name imports; Judah, that once ruled with God, and was faithful with the saints, Hos 11:12<\/span> ; Judah, in whom God was known, his name was great in Israel, Psa 76:1<\/span> . Prosper’s conceit was that Iudaei<\/em> Judah were so called because they received ius Dei,<\/em> the law from God’s mouth; whence Josephus calls the commonwealth of Israel Y , a God government. For to them pertained (among sundry other precious privileges recited, Rom 9:4-5 ) the covenants, that is, 1. The moral law in two tables. 2. The giving of the law, that is, the judicial law. 3. The service, that is, the ceremonial law, which was their gospel; whence Judaea is called the glorious land, Dan 11:41<\/span> (or the land of delights, or ornaments, as the Hebrew hath it), a pleasant land, or a land of desire, Jer 3:19<\/span> , because, as it is Eze 20:6<\/span> ; Eze 20:15<\/span> , it was the glory of all lands. Jerusalem, the metropolis, was not only the most famous of all the cities of the East, as Pliny confesseth it, but also of the whole world, si insignia Dei spectemus beneficia,<\/em> as one saith, if we consider God’s marvellous kindness showed to it in a strong city, as David hath it. But, as ingentia beneficia, flagitia, supplicia,<\/em> the greater the privileges of any place or people are the more heinous are their offences, and the more hideous their punishments; so it happened with this nation, so advanced, so obliged, so shamelessly, so lawlessly wicked. They were but newly returned from captivity, scarce yet warm in their nests, when they fell afresh to their old trade of treachery, doing wickedly with both hands earnestly. Abomination was committed in Israel and in Jerusalem, even such as God’s soul abhorred, and was ready to be loosened or disjointed from them, Jer 6:8<\/span> , because “in the land of uprightness they dealt unjustly, and would not behold the majesty of the Lord,” Isa 26:10<\/span> . Judah had profaned the holiness of the Lord, which he loved, that is, the very place that he had espied out for himself, and that was dedicated to his name and service, the holy and separate land, the isle, as it is called, Isa 20:6<\/span> (though part of the continent), because compassed about with God’s favour as with a shield, Psa 5:12<\/span> . In such a consecrated country to act their villany was no small aggravation of their wickedness; this made it swell like a toad in the eyes of the Almighty, it was an abomination. Filthiness in a cook, in a strumpet, is nothing so odious as in a pretended virgin. A nettle on the waste is better borne with than in a garden. To see the devil in hell is no wonder; but what makes he in paradise? England was anciently called the kingdom of God; it may much better be so called now that the gospel of the kingdom is preached among us. It was also called Albion, quasi Olbion<\/em> (happy or fortunate, the fortunate island, say some), or ab albis rupibus,<\/em> from the whiteness of the rocks. True it is, we were black all over with superstition; first Pagan, and theu Papagan; but Christ hath made us white again as snow in Salmon. And do we again sully and soil ourselves with sin’s filthiness, with that unclean kitchen stuff? do we profane the holiness of the Lord, which he loved, to drive him away from us by degrees, as those Jews did, Eze 8:9-11<\/span> ; sin is the leaven that defiles our passover, and urgeth God to pass away and depart from us; sin is the snuff that dims our candlestick, and threatens the removal of it. Let those that live in God’s good land, but not in God’s good laws (as Aristotle complained of his Athenians to like purpose, and as Seneca said to the Romans, that they were become more filthy since they had baths to wash in), look forward to the following verse, and tremble at that utter destruction there threatened to such, Disperdet Dominus, &c.<\/em> And thereunto St Paul seemeth to allude, 1Co 3:17<\/span> “If any man defile the temple of God, him will God destroy.” <\/p>\n <\/p>\n And hath married the daughter of a strange god<\/strong> ] This is that particular sin whereby they had dealt treacherously against their brethren profaned the covenant, polluted the Church, and committed abomination in Israel; they had married with women of a strange worship, and joined in affinity with the people of those abominations, as holy Ezra phraseth it, Ezr 9:14<\/span> , and also setteth it forth for such a sin in those newly returned captives, as he thinks heaven and earth might well be ashamed of. A sin it is, flatly forbidden in both Testaments, Deu 7:8<\/span> 2Co 6:14<\/span> ; and reasons added: as, 1. Danger of defection, at least, from former forwardness; but most commonly of infection, as in Solomon, 1Ki 11:4 Neh 13:26<\/span> . What is the reason the Pope will not dispense in Spain and Italy if a Papist marry a Protestant, yet here he will, but in hope to draw more to them. See 1Ki 12:25<\/span> 2Ki 8:27<\/span> 2Ki 8:2<\/span> . Great inconvenience: as, 1. Of grief to the godly parents, Gen 26:35<\/span> ; Gen 27:36<\/span> Gen 27:2<\/span> . Ill education of children, who commonly take after the mother (as did most of those idolatrous kings of Judah), and follow the worse of the two sides, though it be the weaker, as the conclusion in a syllogism follows the weaker proposition. The birth, we say, followeth the belly; and most men, we see, do matrissare,<\/em> take after the mother in matters of religion. Hereunto might be added, that God’s service must by these unequal matches necessarily be hindered, if not altogether omitted (to gratify a froward Zipporah, or a mocking Michal), and the better party forced to see and hear that that cannot but grieve the Spirit of God. Besides danger of disloyalty, and a cursed posterity, as Edomites of the daughters of Heth. Here, then, I could join with that reverend contemplator in that holy wish of his (Dr Hall), that Manoah could speak so loud that all our Israelites might hear him: “Is there never a woman among the daughters of thy brethren, or among all God’s people, that thou goest to take a wife of the uncircumcised Philistines?” If religion be any other than a cipher, how dare we not regard it in our most important choices? how dare we yoke ourselves with any untamed heifer that beareth not Christ’s yoke? What mad work made that noble pair of naughty packs, Jezebel and Athaliah, in the kingdoms of Israel and Judah, the latter beginning her reign in the same year that the former perished, as Bucholcer observeth! And who knoweth not what a deal of mischief was done to the poor people of God in France, by Katherine de Medicis, Queenmother, with the advice and assistance of the Cardinal of Lorrain? Concerning which two it was said, <\/p>\n “ Non audet stygius Pluto tentare quod audet<\/p>\n Effraenis Monachus plenaque fraudis anus. ”<\/p>\n and an: Lev 18:24-30, Jer 7:10, Eze 18:13, Eze 22:11, Rev 21:8 <\/p>\n profaned: Exo 19:5, Exo 19:6, Lev 20:26, Deu 7:3-6, Deu 14:2, Deu 33:26-29, Psa 106:28, Psa 106:34-39, Jer 2:3, Jer 2:7, Jer 2:8, Jer 2:21, Jer 2:22 <\/p>\n loved: or, ought to love <\/p>\n and hath: Gen 6:1, Gen 6:2, Jdg 3:6, 1Ki 11:1-8, Ezr 9:1, Ezr 9:2, Ezr 9:12, Ezr 10:2, Neh 13:23-29, Hos 6:7, 2Co 6:14-18 <\/p>\n Reciprocal: Exo 21:8 – seeing Lev 21:15 – profane 1Ki 11:2 – Ye shall not go in Psa 26:6 – so will Psa 81:9 – strange Psa 144:7 – the hand Isa 48:8 – I knew Jer 3:20 – so have Jer 9:2 – an assembly Hos 5:7 – begotten Hos 7:8 – he hath Mal 2:10 – why Joh 8:41 – We be 1Co 7:39 – only<\/p>\n Mal 2:11. The tribe of Judah had nothing to do officially with the altar services, but those men became guilty with the priests by offering these inferior articles to be used as sacrifices. They also showed their greed for gain in all of theIr conduct as was seen in verse 10 of the preceding chapter. Married the daughter of a strange god. The last word is defined in the lexicon as meanIng “any deity.” The Jews never worshiped idols as that word is used after the captivity, but there are other kinds of gods whom one might worship. Paul says that covetousness is idolatry (Col 3:5), and the Jews were cer- tainly covetous. And Jesus compared mammon (a word meaning riches) to a god (Mat 6:24). Hence the god these Jews had married was doubtless the god of mammon or riches as we have seen by their attachment to their wealth.<\/p>\n Mal 2:11-13. Judah hath profaned the holiness of the Lord which he loved As if he had said, This sin, says Lowth, implies the profanation of Gods holy people, which he set apart for his own worship and service; a profanation of the temple, when the priests who officiated there were guilty of the same crime; (see Mal 2:12;) and lastly, a profanation of that covenant God made with the Jews, Mal 2:10; God hath expressed a tender regard for these three sorts of holiness, and threatened severe punishments to those that break the laws made to preserve them. And hath married the daughter of a strange god That is, one who worships a strange god. For as gods were called fathers by their worshippers, (Jer 2:27,) therefore those who worshipped them might properly be called their children. The Lord will cut off the man that doeth this Will take him away by death; the master and the scholar Him that persuades and instructs others that these marriages are lawful, and him that follows such advice. The expression seems to comprehend both the priest and the people. The Hebrew is, he that wakes and he that answers. An instructer is described, (Isa 50:4,) as one that wakeneth the ear of his disciple. The meaning is, there shall be left neither any to teach nor any to learn. And him that offereth an offering Although he should make great offerings, yet that would avail him nothing if he continued in his sin, and did not put away his strange wife. Perhaps this might be intended chiefly of the priests, many of whom were guilty of this crime. And this have ye done Or, This also you have done: you have covered the altar of the Lord with tears, with weeping, and with groanings; so that no respect is now had to your offering, nor is any thing accepted from your hand. The priests not only had married strange wives, but also had divorced those of their own country whom they had married; with whose tears the altar was imbued, when these wives offered up their sacrifices to God, entreating him to give their husbands a better mind; whom God heard so effectually, that he would not accept the sacrifices of their husbands on account of the tears and just complaints of their wives. Houbigant. The complaints of the distressed, if made known to God in prayer, will be heard, and redress granted.<\/p>\n 2:11 Judah hath dealt treacherously, and an abomination is committed in Israel and in Jerusalem; for Judah hath profaned the holiness of the LORD which he loved, and hath married the {p} daughter of a strange god.<\/p>\n (p) They have united themselves in marriage with those that are of another religion.<\/p>\n The evidence of Judah’s treachery was that the Israelites were profaning (making common) Yahweh’s beloved sanctuary. This sanctuary may refer to the temple or His people. They did this by practicing idolatry. They had married pagan women who worshipped other gods (cf. 2Co 6:14-16). Yahweh’s son (Mal 2:10) had married foreign women that worshipped other gods and, like Solomon, had become unfaithful to Yahweh (cf. Exo 34:11-16; Deu 7:3-4; Jos 23:12-13; Ezr 9:1-2; Ezr 9:10-12; Neh 13:23-27).<\/p>\n Judah hath dealt treacherously, and an abomination is committed in Israel and in Jerusalem; for Judah hath profaned the holiness of the LORD which he loved, and hath married the daughter of a strange god. 11. the holiness of the Lord ] Comp. Lev 11:44; 1Th 4:7. This is better than sanctuary of the Lord, … Continue reading “Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Malachi 2:11”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23125","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-commentary"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23125","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23125"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23125\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23125"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23125"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23125"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
I. <\/strong>This evil may now be committed literally. Similar religious sympathies can alone form a true basis of connubial Union. Without religion marriage loses its sanctity, and is merely a convenient alliance, a worldly compact, a carnal revel. Every woman that is not truly devoted to God is a daughter of a strange god. She is under the influence of the god of this world. Christian men, for the sake of sensual and worldly considerations, sometimes marry such idolaters. They do so when–<\/p>\n
II. <\/strong>This evil may be committed spiritually. The souls union with Jehovah is often spoken of in the Scriptures as marriage. God expects us to unite ourselves with Him in the closest bends. From this celestial marriage spring all virtues and graces. But men have joined themselves to idols. The worship of strange gods has been most prolific in pernicious customs, degrading vices, and dangerous errors. Men marry the daughter of a strange god spiritually–<\/p>\n
III. <\/strong>This evil, whether committed literally or spiritually, will produce disastrous results.<\/p>\nFuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible <\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"