V. 1. This is the burden that the Lord speaks against Israel through Malachi.
The summa of this prophet is that he rejects the synagogue and describes it as contemptible, as it were, as an old hag, which is now
should be abandoned. Therefore, almost all the words that are spoken here in the name of the Lord express a kind of weariness, lind the Lord is fed up, as it were disgusted with their ceremonies, which he has certainly held.
*) Although the Zwickau manuscripts do not contain the interpretation of the prophet Malachi, and the Altenburg manuscript breaks off with the thirteenth chapter of the prophet Zechariah, it can be concluded that this interpretation also belongs to the same cycle of lectures as the previous prophets, and that it immediately followed the prophet Zechariah, thus belongs to the year 1526. Only the Hall manuscript, apart from the Wittenberg edition, also brings the explanation of this prophet. Our writing is printed for the first time in the Latin Wittenberg edition (1552), tonr. IV, toi. 6586, then in the Erlanger, tom. XXVIII, x>. 289, and finally in the Weimar, vol. XIII, p. 676, with the Haitian manuscript (complete) in the form of notes. In 1555, our writing was translated into German by Stephan Agricola and included in the German Wittenberger (1556), vol. VIII, p. 5626. From there it passed into the Altenburger, vol. VII, p. 701; into the Leipziger, vol. VIII, p, 621 and Walch, vol. VI, 3586. We have replaced Agricola's good but outdated translation with a new one. The Erlanger also cites a single edition of a German translation (Agricola's?), which is found in the library in Berlin: "Der Prophet Maleachi. Mart. Luth. Wittemberge. Printed at Magdeburgh by Hans Walther."
until the time 1) of Elijah [Cap. 4, 5]. But they kept them for their own profit and advantage, not out of a fair but out of a stingy heart, considering God's honor as nothing. The whole matter, therefore, is this, that both the people and the priests defiled the ceremonies of God. The belly is the most powerful idol in every religion. Unbelief is the cause of avarice, which the prophet punishes the most here. Israel was then to some extent gathered from the remnants and brought back to Jerusalem, although the kingdom of Israel was not restored, and at that time all the tribes were mixed together.
V. 2. 3.2 ) I love you, says the Lord. So you say: With what do you love us?
He begins with the advancement [of his goodness], as if he wanted to give valet to the people, who resent and do not recognize the grace of God. And such licks were the listeners of the prophets. God always seems weak in His people and cares little for them, but He wants our strength to be hidden in Him, and the weaker we are, the more powerful He wants to be in us. Thus Paul says 2 Cor. 12:10, "When I am weak, then I am strong." As if he wanted to say, I put my strength in God, and so I succumb in weakness, and triumph in weakness. This is felt by the spirit, not by the flesh, which rather feels that the world succumbs. Thus the prophets told the people that they had a gracious God. On the other hand, the people, when they saw the adversities and that they were in a bad way, thought that God was very far from them. Thus the flesh judges that God is far away when it lacks good, and again it does not recognize God's good will toward it and does not suffer the trials, but despairs. But God lets His own sink, yet not sink. He says [Ps. 55, 22]: "He will not leave the righteous forever in restlessness"; likewise Proverbs 11, 8: "The Lord will not leave the righteous forever in restlessness.
1) Wittenberger: Dsnrn instead of äism. The Weimar one has improved this.
2) These verse numbers are missing in the Weimar.
right is delivered from adversity, and the wicked comes in his place." Therefore, these are words of faith and spirit, when God says: "I love you", I am favorable to you, I am a merciful Father to you. These must be looked at, not what is before the eyes. But the unbelievers, yes, even the saints, say ill protracted temptations: Where is your former mercy? etc. And the prophets are considered liars.
Is not Esau Jacob's brother? saith the Lord; yet have I loved Jacob, and hated Esau, and made his mountains waste, and his inheritance a desolation to the dragon.
With an example he proves the love of God towards the people. Remember, he says, how I have preserved you in the midst of the tribulations which the Assyrians, Babylonians and others have stirred up against you; but Esau, who had the same claim to love because he was Jacob's brother, I have not loved nor preserved. But Jacob I have loved from the beginning and still to this day. From this you should certainly have known that I love you, even though love is mixed with cross and covered under it. If you look at the matter from the outside only, you will judge that Esau was loved more by God because he had dominion and was more powerful than Jacob. But all of God's works begin in weakness and are completed in power. If you are weak, wait; this weakness is a test of faith, whether you will trust in God or in your strength. Esau fell and was not raised up again, but even though Jacob fell from time to time, he was raised up again, which is a sign of my love for him. And he was raised up by his adversaries, by the kings of the Gentiles, Cyrus, Darius etc. This did not happen to Esau, with whom it is now finished. Jerusalem did not become a dwelling place of dragons like the land of the Edomites. For the remnant of the poor people remained in the land of Judah, that they might cultivate it, that it should not become a desolation; kings and priests were preserved etc.
V. 4. and if Edom would say: We are ruined, but we will rebuild the wilderness; thus saith the Lord of hosts; If they build, I will destroy.
1) They shall not hope to be rebuilt as you are rebuilt, though you were destroyed before, that you may see that I love you, not the children of Esau (Esauitas). These will hinder the kings of the Persians, but they are favorable to you, as they have shown you favor by restoring to you the sacred utensils, releasing you, building with you, because I willed it. And yet, because of a little persecution, you say that I do not love you.
V. 4. 5. And shall be called the condemned border, and a people against whom the Lord is angry for ever. Your eyes shall see this, and shall say, The Lord is glorious in the borders of Israel.
There will be no end to the desolation of Edom. It is indeed a wretched building that the Lord destroys, whether it is physical or spiritual. Thus Christ says [Matth. 15, 13.]: "All plants, which my heavenly Father has not planted, are cut off." But this is called the destruction of the kingdom, when everything is in confusion, and there is no order; only the yeast of the people remains, and everything stands miserable. This is how it is in Edom. Although people will dwell there, God will not be with them, nor will there be worship, but sin and wickedness will remain, and the wrath of God will rest on them. The 137th Psalm, v. 7, says: "Remember the children of Edom in the day of Jerusalem" etc., that is, as they did Jerusalem etc. Whereas in the borders of Israel the Lord was glorious, he dwelt among them, and his worship was among them, and there were borders of godliness which the Lord loved. Here is the temple, the priests, the prophets. You see therefore, he says, that the Lord is still glorious among you. The sign of the presence of God is the presence of the Word of God and the right use of the sacraments.
1) This section is missing from the Wittenberg and is inserted by the Weimar edition from the Hall manuscript.
V. 6 A son shall honor his father (honorat), and a servant his lord. Am I then father, where is my honor? Am I lord, where do they fear me? saith the Lord of hosts.
Now he nurses all ingratitude, contempt and neglect of God, who loves them, but especially the stinginess of the priests, by which they have harmed the honor of God, which is his knowledge and obedience to his word. But he gives the proof by a similitude: in nature it is so, that a son honors his father and a servant his master. But if nature does this, and it is so among men, how much more is it necessary that this should be done to me, who am God the Lord, and the most almighty and gracious Father of you all? And it is also a conclusion from the lesser to the greater (argumentum a minori). "A son honors," that is, he tends to honor or is to honor. "Am I" Adonim, that is, "lords." So it is written in Hebrew, indicating the mystery of the divine Trinity, or it is done for the sake of reverence, because God is the Lord of all lords.
To you priests who despise my name. Thus you say: With what do we despise your name?
Paul says [Rom. 2, 24.]: "In the same way God's name is blasphemed" etc. But this happens in a twofold way, namely through teaching and life. The greater blasphemy, however, is in ungodly teaching, where the name of God is added to the lie. But the prophet speaks mildly here and says: You despise, since he speaks of doctrine. The other blasphemy happens with the life and the works, when we bite among ourselves, are hopeful, are devoted to avarice etc. And the whole world, of course, has the name of God in its mouth, but it is a blasphemy and a confluence of blasphemies, and this prayer: "Hallowed be thy name," should make this life bitter and burdensome for us. You priests, then, who should glorify me before all, you more than others despise my name, and by false teaching make my name blasphemed, - and yet you want to defend yourselves and not be thought unjust.
for you say, "Wherewithal do we blaspheme thy name?" It is truly a frightening and dangerous thing that when someone is in a wrong choice, he not only blasphemes the name of the Lord, but also does not want to desist, and only protects his sect even more. The originator of a sect is converted to the truth with great difficulty or never. So they do not want to be accused of despising God, since they teach the glory of God and serve God most diligently, namely their God, who is their belly. But he answers, "By this you despise my name,
V. 7: That ye sacrifice unclean bread upon mine altar.
They had a commandment about the shewbread, Ex 24:8 and Ex 25:30, 1) that they should be changed every Sabbath. They also had a commandment about the nature of the food. These were sometimes unclean because of their ingredients (materiam), sometimes because they were obtained by fraud and robbery. 2) And the priests taught that everything was pure, whatever was sacrificed, and however it might be. "Ye say," saith he, "the Lord's table is despised." These were not the words of the priests, but their sentiments. For to teach and believe that any sacrifices are pure, is just as if they said, The table of the Lord is nothing, and it is despised. For so they said for the sake of their gain: It matters not what things thou offerest, for thus hath the Lord commanded, But appear not empty before me," Ex. 23:15. And the people guarded their poverty by using the words of Haggai, namely, [Cap. 1:6.
1) In the editions: 1^6 vit. 24. 6t 26. But 3 Mos. 26 there is nothing about Schaubroden. Therefore the old translator has omitted the second place.
2) This seems to us to be the sense of the words: proptsr kranÜ6w 6t rapinsrn. The Hallic manuscript offers: Hnsnstouns ox vitiosa panik Historia, ant ^uis 6x rsxinm erst, 6t 1rsnä6 kseerdotum, hui äixorunt non 6886 poooslnm, 81 (MI8 oüerret 6X male Huaesitis, ut pspa, qui seoepit ex U8uri8. The bread became impure sometimes because of the defective nature of the bread material, or because it came from robbery, or by the deceit of the priests, who said that it was not sinful for someone to offer something of ill gotten things, as also the pope accepted that which came from usury.
much sown, but little brought in". The surest way to become rich is to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and then, says Christ [Matth. 6, 33.], all these things will fall to you. But we turn it around by seeking first money and possessions, and after that we want to hang on to the kingdom of God. But Christ must first be a beggar. First must come God's word and that which is God's. By the way, what Christ does not get, the fiscus takes. 3) And if God did not suffer deceit in ceremonies, He will suffer it much less in love. Also you speak, he says to the people:
V. 8. 9.4 ) And if you sacrifice one blind, it need not be called evil etc.
That is blaspheming God and the Law.
Bring it to your prince.
This is a conclusion from the lesser to the greater: a merchant will not accept a bright one that is only a little damaged, and God should accept that which is not filled to him? Do we not fear and honor GOtt in such a way, as if He were a mute idol? Bring something like this to your prince. What matter if he will be gracious to you, and if you will please him? And zero you ask God to be merciful to you for the sake of these horrible sacrifices. Moreover, you defend your godless nature: of course, this is how you will propitiate God! And now we certainly see everything full of deceit and avarice in the world.
V. 10: Who is there among you who can shut a door?
That is, God would have you have someone among you to shut the doors of the temple, so that you would not sacrifice in vain. So Isaiah Cap. 1, 12. says: "When you come in to appear before me, who will demand this from your hands?" etc. It would be better to refrain from praying than to pray evil. It is evil to take only the semblance of worship; before the divine majesty all must be done earnestly.
3) Hnoä non toliit 0dri8tu8, No" toUit Ü80N8. Luther renders this thus: "What you deprive Christ of, you shall have brought together brother Veiten, the lansquenets."
4) These verse numbers are missing in the Weimar.
V. 11. But from the going forth of the sun even unto the going down shall my name be glorified etc.
I will begin a new thing, he says, which shall please me. The name of the Lord is great, not because it is written with large letters, but by being praised, thanked, and commended for being merciful etc., namely, when it is esteemed great and gloriously praised. But this he opposes to the contempt of the name of God, of which he said above [v. 6. You Jews, he says, despise my name, but the Gentiles will esteem it great. Further, the name of the Lord is not held glorious by our works, but by the praise of the grace of God and His goodness and mercy.
In every place incense shall be burned in my name, and a pure meat offering shall be offered.
1) For an understanding of this passage, compare St. Louis edition, Vol. XIX, 440.
have any defect shall serve the altar [Deut. 21, 17. ff.]. This is the new kingdom, of which God promises here that He will establish it, in which not carnal people are, but spiritual ones; "but whoever does not have the Spirit of Christ is not His" [Rom. 8, 9.]. Therefore the weak are carried in this kingdom, but only those who are not wholly without the Spirit. Those who have the Spirit of Christ, though few in number, are yet scattered throughout the world, and shine in all places through the gospel, which is everywhere, as lights in the world, that they may keep the word of life [Phil. 2:15 ff]. Incense and grain offerings were the noblest sacrifices among the Jews, which they also offered as the best in the service of idols in all valleys and under all green trees. We interpret the incense as the prayer. Therefore, the word and the prayer are the two sacrifices of the Christians. Prayer should be done with thanksgiving and praise. The sacrifice of Christians is pure because they are without guilt, washed away by the blood of Christ etc. The unbelievers do not sacrifice. Christians do not sacrifice anything weak, blind, lame, or reprehensible, but a righteous and acceptable sacrifice. If the heart is believing, sin is not imputed. Nor can this sacrifice be understood from the legal and Mosaic sacrifice, nor could it be done in any other place; but here he says, "in all places" and "among the Gentiles," who certainly could not all come to Jerusalem, and the Levitical priests would not have sufficed "in all places."
V. 12 But ye profane it, saying, The Lord's table is despised.
As he remembers the table, he speaks primarily of the loaves.
And his sacrifice is despised along with his food. 2)
More correctly [than in the Vulgate] it reads: And his shoot (or fruit) is despised along with his food. The table is as it were
2) Vulgate: Ht yuoä suxsrponitur eontsraptidilo 68t 6UM 1M6, HUI illuct äsvorat.
the tree, the food, as it were, the fruit. Under the law, the table sprouted new bread every Sabbath, and the former bread was the food of the priests. As if to say: You priests say that both the new and the old bread are despised. Because you say so, that is, teach, therefore you despise the sacrifice. Fire was not on the table, nor does the Hebrew say: sammt dem Fetter (cum igne). 1) The table was defiled either by a fault in the loaves or by a fault in those who ate them; but most of all by a fault in the doctrine of those who made no distinction between that which was unholy and that which was not.
V. 13. And ye say, Behold, it is but trouble.
That is, hardly with great difficulty have we obtained these loaves. If we had better ones, we would sacrifice them anyway. God is patient and merciful, but He does not like to be tempted and despised. Avarice always has its lids and pretexts. Likewise, God is patient in what concerns life and walk, but not equally with the corruption of doctrine.
1) In the Latin editions there is a dot before 6uin jZQS by mistake. The old translator has improved this.
And cast it to the winds, saith the Lord of hosts.
You have sought your benefit, you have sacrificed yourselves, not me. You are facing poverty, which you suffer through your fault, not mine, because you do not seek my honor first, but your gain.
And you sacrifice that which is robbed, lame and sick.
This is what the Prophet says about other sacrifices in which they sinned in the same way. Nowhere did they keep the teachings of God, and yet never recognize their sin. Where a false delusion has crept in, false works follow. They pretended to be poor, and were robbers, not openly, but by deceit. Behold, this is a twofold sin: Offering reprobate things, and teaching that they are not reprobate.
V. 14. 2) Cursed be the good man who has a male in his flock, and when he makes a vow, he offers an unfit one to the Lord etc.
This is the conclusion. "A little man", that is, a good one, without fault, a strong one etc. Debile his weak, that is, an unfit, a frail. Among the Jews, the name of the Lord actually reigned, but the Gentiles honored it more than the Jews. Therefore, the rejection of the Jews is not far off.
2) This verse number is missing in Weimar's.