Sunday, December 11, 2022

Malachi 3:16-20, annotated

The bolded scriptural citation will take you to additional translations. The entire chapter is included to provide context. 

 

Information about the meaning the original Hebrew of what seem to be key words is provided in blue.  

 

Collections of or meditations on scriptures dealing with principles similar to those addressed in this scripture are hyperlinked after the information about the original Hebrew.

 

Excerpts collected in yellow  at the end of this post tell us something about God’s nature or our relationship to Him. 

 

Excerpts collected in green  at the end of this post tell us about something God wants us to do. 

 

Excerpts collected in red at the end of this post tell us about something God does not want us to do. 

Malachi 3:16-20  

Then those who feared Yahweh talked to one another about this, and Yahweh took note and listened; and a book of remembrance was written in his presence recording those who feared him and kept his name in mind. 'On the day when I act, says Yahweh Sabaoth, they will be my most prized possession, and I shall spare them in the way a man spares the son who serves him. Then once again you will see the difference between the upright person and the wicked one, between the one who serves God and the one who does not serve him.

Lo, the day is coming, blazing like an oven, when all the proud and all evildoers will be stubble, and the day that is coming will set them on fire, leaving them neither root nor branch, says the LORD of hosts. But for you who fear my name, there will arise the sun of justice with its healing rays.

 

fear = יָרֵא = yārē'  Blue Letter Bible  to fear, revere, be afraid; to stand in awe of, be awed; reverence, honour, respect; tremble for joy

 

speak = דָּבַר = dabarBlue Letter Bible  to speak, declare, converse, command, promise, warn, threaten, sing; to speak with one another, talk; answer; pronounce; teach; use (entreaties), utter; to lead, to guide; to direct a people; admonish; to speak kindly, console; to speak friendly, peaceably with anyone; to announce welfare

 

another = רֵעַ = rēaʿ  Blue Letter Bible  friend, companion, fellow, another person; intimate; fellow, fellow-citizen; associate; brother; any other person

 

took note = קָשַׁב = qashab. Blue Letter Bible to hear, be attentive, heed, incline (of ears), attend (of ears), hearken, pay attention, listen; give attention; to prick up the ears; regard

 

listened = שָׁמַע = šāmaʿ  Blue Letter Bible   listen to, obey; perceive by ear; to hear with attention or interest, listen to; give heed; to consent, agree; yield to; to obey, be obedient; to hear intelligently (often with implication of attention, obedience, etc.); to hear and answer


presence = פָּנִים = paniym   Blue Letter Bible  person; countenance; before and behind, toward, in front of; in the presence of, in the face of, at the face or front of; turned toward; turn one’s face toward; on account of; acts done with a solemn sense of presence; to stand before, i.e. wait upon, be in attendance on; to bow down before; in front of


kept…in mind = חָשַׁב = ḥāšaḇ  Blue Letter Bible  to think, plan, esteem, calculate, invent, make a judgment, imagine, count; to plait or interpenetrate, i.e. (literally) to weave or (generally) to fabricate; regard, value, compute, make account of, conceive, consider, forecast, hold, imagine, impute; meditate; to take to be so; think upon, consider, be mindful of

 

name = שֵׁם = šēm  Blue Letter Bible  name; reputation, fame, glory; honor, authority, character; renown, report

 

serves = עָבַד = ʿāḇaḏ  Blue Letter Bible   to work, serve; to labour, work, do work; to work for another, serve another by labour; to be worked, be tilled; to make oneself a servant; be bondmen, bond-service; bestow labor on; hard labor, fatigue; serve as subject

 

upright = צַדִּיק = ṣadîq Blue Letter Bible  lawful, righteous; righteous (in government); righteous (in conduct and character); righteous (as justified and vindicated by God); honest, virtuous, pious

 

wicked = רָשָׁע = rāšāʿ  Blue Letter Bible  guilty one, one guilty of crime; hostile to God; against God or man; morally wrong; ungodly; unrighteous 

 

Lo = δο = idou = ē-dü'  Blue Letter Bible to see; calling attention to what may be seen or heard; bidding the reader or hearer to attend to what is said; observe or consider; Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, An Intermediate Greek-English Lexicon  lo, behold, see here; Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, An Intermediate Greek-English Lexicon (alternate definition)   to see, perceive, behold;  to look at; to see mentally


coming = ρχομαι = erchomai  Blue Letter Bible  denoting either "to come, or to go," signifies the act, in contrast with heko, which stresses the arrival; to come from one place to another; to come into being, arise, come forth, show itself, find place or influence; to come to a thing; to go;  Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon  start, set out; come or go; to go a journey; any kind of motion 

blazing = καιομνη  Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon   kindle; to be smelted; set on fire, burn; make hot, of the sun; fever-heat; burn and destroy; waste with fire and sword; cauterize; burn or bake pottery

oven = κλβανος Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon  covered earthen vessel, wider at bottom than at top, wherein bread was baked by putting hot embers round it; potter's oven; funnel-shaped vessel, used for drawing water; underground channel or vaulted passage, in irrigation works; hollow, cavern in a rock

evildoers = ανομα Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon  lawless, impious; without God; illegal; unmusical

set them on fire = νψει  Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon  light up, kindle, to be kindled; inflame with anger, excite emotionally; to be lighted up

of hosts = παντοκρτωρ Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon almighty 

fear = φοβουμνοις  Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon    put to flight; terrify, alarm; to be seized with fear, be affrighted; to be afraid of one ; to be alarmed at a thing; fear to do, be afraid of doing; fear or fear about a thing

justice = δικαιοσνης Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon righteousness, justice; fulfilment of the Law; the business of a judge

healing = ασις Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon  healing, mode of healing, remedy; mending, repairs; cupellation, refining 

rays = πτρυξιν  Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon   wing of a bird; the tips of the wings; winged creature, bird; anything like a wing; feathery foliage; broad edge of a knife or hunting-spear; anything that covers or protects like wings

 

Scriptures addressing similar principles are collected at:

Wisdom Principles--God Sees and Understands all 

 

Wisdom Principles--God is a Refuge for Those Who Love Him 

 

Wisdom Principles--God’s Ways Give Security 

 

Wisdom Principles--Ill Gotten Gains Do Not Last 

 

Wisdom Principles--God Loves Humility and Hates Pride 

 

Wisdom Principles--Rely on God, not Material Power or Wealth 

 

Wisdom Principles--We Must Make Real Effort/Sacrifice to receive all that God offers, But It Is Well Worth It 

 

Wisdom Principles--There are Folks Who Love Evil         

 

What this scripture tells us about God’s nature or our relationship to Him: 

Yahweh took note and listened; and a book of remembrance was written in his presence recording those who feared him

they will be my most prized possession

I shall spare them in the way a man spares the son who serves him

the proud and all evildoers will be stubble, and the day that is coming will set them on fire, leaving them neither root nor branch

But for you who fear my name, there will arise the sun of justice with its healing rays.

 

What this scripture tells us to do:

feared Yahweh talked to one another about this

feared him 

kept his name in mind

serves him.

upright person 

serves God 

fear my name

 

What this scripture tells us to not do:

wicked

does not serve him

the proud

evildoers

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