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THE MESSAGE
Malachi 2:15
Bible Study Resources
Concordances:
- Nave'sDictionaries:
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- DailyParallel Translations
Didn’t God make them one and give them a portion of spirit? What is the one seeking? Godly offspring. So watch yourselves carefully, so that no one acts treacherously against the wife of his youth.
And did not he make one? yet had he the residue of the spirit: and wherefore one? that hee might seeke a godly seed: therefore take heed to your spirit, and let none deale treacherously against the wife of his youth.
And did not he make one? Yet had he the residue of the spirit. And wherefore one? That he might seek a godly seed. Therefore take heed to your spirit, and let none deal treacherously against the wife of his youth.
Did he not make them one, with a portion of the Spirit in their union? And what was the one God seeking? Godly offspring. So guard yourselves in your spirit, and let none of you be faithless to the wife of your youth.
But not one has done so who has a remnant of the Spirit. And why the one? He was seeking a godly offspring. Be careful then about your spirit, and see that none of you deals treacherously against the wife of your youth.
God made husbands and wives to become one body and one spirit for his purpose—so they would have children who are true to God. So be careful, and do not break your promise to the wife you married when you were young.
But not one has done so who has a remnant of the Spirit. And what did that one do while seeking a godly offspring? Take heed then to your spirit, and let no one deal treacherously against the wife of your youth.
And did not hee make one? yet had hee abundance of spirit: and wherefore one? because he sought a godly seede: therefore keepe your selues in your spirit, & let none trespasse against the wife of his youth.
"But not one has done so who has a remnant of the Spirit. And what did that one do while he was seeking a godly offspring? Take heed then to your spirit, and let no one deal treacherously against the wife of your youth.
But not one has done so, even one who has a remnant of the Spirit. And what did that one do while he was seeking a godly seed? Be careful then to keep your spirit, and let no one deal treacherously against the wife of your youth.
Has not the LORD made them one, having a portion of the Spirit? And why one? Because He seeks godly offspring. Therefore guard yourselves in your spirit and do not break faith with the wife of your youth.
Didn't God create you to become like one person with your wife? And why did he do this? It was so you would have children, and then lead them to become God's people. Don't ever be unfaithful to your wife.
And hasn't he made [them] one [flesh] in order to have spiritual blood-relatives? For what the one [flesh] seeks is a seed from God. Therefore, take heed to your spirit, and don't break faith with the wife of your youth.
And did not one make [them]? and the remnant of the Spirit was his. And wherefore the one? He sought a seed of God. Take heed then to your spirit, and let none deal unfaithfully against the wife of his youth,
God wants husbands and wives to become one body and one spirit. Why? So that they would have holy children and protect that spiritual unity. Don't cheat on your wife. She has been your wife from the time you were young.
Did not he make them one? And the rest of the spirits are his also. And therefore a man seeks one offspring from God. Therefore take heed to your spirit, and let none deal treacherously against the wife of his youth.
Didn't God make you one body and spirit with her? What was his purpose in this? It was that you should have children who are truly God's people. So make sure that none of you breaks his promise to his wife.
Did not one God make them? But a remnant of the spirit is his. And what does the one God desire? An offspring of God. You must be attentive to your spirit, and you must not be unfaithful to the wife of your youth.
And has He not made you one? Yet the vestige of the Spirit is in him. And what of the one? He was seeking a seed of God. Then guard your spirit, and do not deal treacherously with the wife of your youth.
And did he not make one, although he had the residue of the Spirit? And wherefore one? He sought a godly seed. Therefore take heed to your spirit, and let none deal treacherously against the wife of his youth.
â¢â¢â¢ Three dots are used where it is no longer possible to be certain of the true sense of the Hebrew words, and for this reason no attempt has been made to put them into Basic English. So give thought to your spirit, and let no one be false to the wife of his early years.
Did he not make one, although he had the residue of the Spirit? Why one? He sought a godly seed. Therefore take heed to your spirit, and let none deal treacherously against the wife of his youth.
And not one hath done so who had exuberance of spirit! For what seeketh the one? a seed given of God. Therefore take heed to your spirit, and let none deal treacherously against the wife of his youth.
And did not he make one? yet had he aboundaunce of spiritie: And wherfore one? Because he sought a godly seede: therefore kepe your selues in your spirite, and let none transgresse against the wyfe of his youth.
And did he not do well? and there was the residue of his spirit. But ye said, What does God seek but a seed? But take ye heed to your spirit, and forsake not the wife of thy youth.
And did he not make one, although he had the residue of the spirit? And wherefore one? He sought a godly seed. Therefore take heed to your spirit, and let none deal treacherously against the wife of his youth.
Did he not make one, although he had the residue of the Spirit? Why one? He sought a godly seed. Therefore take heed to your spirit, and let none deal treacherously against the wife of his youth.
Whether oon made not, and residue of spirit is his? and what sekith oon, no but the seed of God? Therfore kepe ye youre spirit, and nyle thou dispise the wijf of thi yongthe;
And did he not make one, although he had the residue of the Spirit? And why one? He sought a godly seed. Therefore take heed to your spirit, and let none deal treacherously against the wife of his youth.
And did he not make one? Yet had he the residue of the spirit. And why one? That he might seek a godly seed. Therefore take heed to your spirit, and let none deal treacherously against the wife of his youth.
No one who has even a small portion of the Spirit in him does this. What did our ancestor do when seeking a child from God? Be attentive, then, to your own spirit, for one should not be disloyal to the wife he took in his youth.
But did He not make them one, Having a remnant of the Spirit? And why one? He seeks godly offspring. Therefore take heed to your spirit, And let none deal treacherously with the wife of his youth.
Didn't the Lord make you one with your wife? In body and spirit you are his. And what does he want? Godly children from your union. So guard your heart; remain loyal to the wife of your youth.
Has not the Lord made them one in flesh and spirit? And what does He desire but God-like children? Be careful then in your spirit, and stay faithful to the wife you married when you were young.
Did not one God make her? Both flesh and spirit are his. And what does the one God desire? Godly offspring. So look to yourselves, and do not let anyone be faithless to the wife of his youth.
Now was it not, One, who made you who had, the residue of the spirit? What, then, of that One? He was seeking a godly seed. Therefore should ye take heed to your spirit, and, with the wife of thy youth, do not thou deal treacherously.
Did not one make her, and she is the residue of his spirit? And what doth one seek, but the seed of God? Keep then your spirit, and despise not the wife of thy youth.
Has not the one God made and sustained for us the spirit of life? And what does he desire? Godly offspring. So take heed to yourselves, and let none be faithless to the wife of his youth.
And He did not make one [only], And He hath the remnant of the Spirit. And what [is] the one [alone]! He is seeking a godly seed. And ye have been watchful over your spirit, And with the wife of thy youth, None doth deal treacherously.
So dyd not the one, & yet had he an excellent sprete. What dyd then the one? He sought the sede promised of God. Therfore loke well to youre sprete, & let no man despyse ye wife of his youth.
Contextual Overview
Bible Verse Review
from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge
did: Genesis 1:27, Genesis 2:20-24, Matthew 19:4-6, Mark 10:6-8, 1 Corinthians 7:2
residue: or, excellency
the spirit: Genesis 2:7, Job 27:3, Ecclesiastes 12:7, John 20:22
That he: Genesis 24:3-7, Genesis 24:44, Genesis 26:34, Genesis 26:35, Genesis 27:46, Genesis 28:2-4, Deuteronomy 7:4, Ezra 9:4, Nehemiah 13:24, Jeremiah 2:21, 1 Corinthians 7:14, Ephesians 6:4, 1 Timothy 3:4, 1 Timothy 3:5, 1 Timothy 3:11, 1 Timothy 3:12, Titus 1:6
godly seed: Heb. seed of God, Genesis 6:2, Hosea 1:10, Acts 3:25, 2 Corinthians 6:18
take: Malachi 2:14, Proverbs 4:23, Proverbs 6:25, Proverbs 7:25, Matthew 5:28, Matthew 5:29, Matthew 15:19, James 1:14, James 1:15
treacherously: or, unfaithfully
Reciprocal: Genesis 5:2 - Male Genesis 29:27 - week Leviticus 18:18 - to vex her Leviticus 21:15 - profane Deuteronomy 4:15 - Take ye Deuteronomy 17:17 - multiply wives Judges 8:30 - many wives Judges 19:1 - a concubine 2 Chronicles 22:3 - his mother Ezra 9:2 - the holy seed Proverbs 5:18 - rejoice Ecclesiastes 9:9 - with the wife Isaiah 6:13 - so the holy Joel 1:8 - the husband Malachi 2:10 - why 2 Corinthians 6:14 - unequally
Cross-References
By the seventh day God had finished his work. On the seventh day he rested from all his work. God blessed the seventh day. He made it a Holy Day Because on that day he rested from his work, all the creating God had done. This is the story of how it all started, of Heaven and Earth when they were created.
Then God planted a garden in Eden, in the east. He put the Man he had just made in it. God made all kinds of trees grow from the ground, trees beautiful to look at and good to eat. The Tree-of-Life was in the middle of the garden, also the Tree-of-Knowledge-of-Good-and-Evil.
Did you use to make ends meet by stealing? Well, no more! Get an honest job so that you can help others who can't work.
Gill's Notes on the Bible
And did not he make one?.... That is, did not God make one man, and out of his rib one woman? did he not make man, male and female? did he not make one pair, one couple, only Adam and Eve, whom he joined together in marriage? or rather, did he not make one woman only, and brought her to Adam to be his wife? which shows that his intention and will were, that one man should have but one wife at a time; the contrary to which was the then present practice of the Jews:
Yet had he the residue of the spirit; it was not for want of power that he made but one woman of Adam's rib, and breathed into her the breath of life, or infused into her a human soul or spirit; he could have made many women at the same time; and as the Father of spirits, having the residue of them with him, or a power left to make as many as he pleased, he could have imparted spirits unto them, and given Adam more wives than one:
And wherefore one? what is the reason why he made but one woman, when he could have made ten thousand, or as many as he pleased? the answer is,
That he might seek a godly seed; or "a seed of God" d; a noble excellent seed; a legitimate offspring, born in true and lawful wedlock; see 1 Corinthians 7:14 a seed suitable to the dignity of human nature, made after the image of God, and not like that of brute beasts, promiscuous and uncertain:
Therefore take heed to your spirit; to your affections, that they do not go after other women, and be led thereby to take them in marriage, and to despise and divorce the lawful wife, as it follows:
and let none deal treacherously with the wife of his youth; by marrying another, or divorcing her: these words are differently rendered and interpreted by some; but the sense given seems to be the true one, and most agreeable to the scope of the place. Some render the first clause, "hath not one made?" e that is, did not the one God, who is the only living and true God, make one man or one woman? and then the sense is the same as before; or did not that one God make, constitute, and appoint, that the woman should be the man's companion, and the wife of his covenant, as in the latter part of the preceding verse Malachi 2:13? or, "did not one do?" f that is, so as we have done, take another wife besides the wife of his youth? and so they are the words of the people to the prophets, justifying their practice by example; by the example of Abraham, whom some of the Jewish writers think is intended by the "one", as in Isaiah 51:2. The Targum is,
"was not one Abraham alone, from whom the world was created?''
or propagated. Kimchi gives it as his own sense, in these words;
"Abraham, who was one, and the father of all that follow him in his faith, did not do as ye have done; for he did not follow his lust, nor even marry Sarah, but so that he might cause the seed of God to remain;''
yet he mentions it as his father's sense, that they are the words of the people to the prophet, expressed in a way of interrogation, saying, did not our father Abraham, who was one, do as we have done? who left his wife, and married Hagar his maid, though he had the residue or excellency of the spirit, and was a prophet; to whom the prophet replies, and what did that one seek? a godly seed; which is, as if it was said, when he married Hagar, it was to seek a seed, because he had no seed of Sarah his wife. A seed was promised him, in which all nations of the earth were to be blessed; he sought not to gratify his lust, but to obtain this seed, the Messiah, to whom the promises were made, as the apostle argues, Galatians 3:16 "he saith not, and to seeds as of many; but as of one, and to thy seed, which is Christ"; called here the "godly seed", or the "seed God" g, as some choose to render the words; that is, that seed which is God, who is a divine Person, God and man in one person; or which is of God, of his immediate production, without the help of a man; which the Jews call the seed that comes from another place, and which they use as a periphrasis of the Messiah. So on those words in Genesis 4:25, "she called his name Seth, for God hath appointed me another seed",
"says R. Tanchuma, in the name of R. Samuel, she has respect to that seed which comes from another place; and what is this? this is the King Messiah h.''
And the same Rabbi elsewhere i observes, on those words in
Genesis 19:32, "that we may preserve seed of our father",
"it is not written, that we may preserve a son of our father, but that we may preserve seed of our father; that seed which is he that comes from another place; and what is this? this is the King Messiah.''
Now as Abraham had the promise of a son, and his wife was barren, he took the method he did that he might have one, the son of the promise, a type of the Messiah, and from whom he should spring; and this is sufficient to justify him in it: besides, he did not deal treacherously with Sarah his wife, for it was with her good will and by her authority he did this thing; but do you take heed to your spirit, that no one of you deal treacherously with the wife of his youth, to leave her, and marry the daughter of a strange God: and much the same sense Jarchi takes notice of as the Agadah, or the interpretation of their ancient Rabbins. Some render the words, "and not one does this"; that is, deals treacherously with the wife of his youth, that has the residue of the spirit, or the least spark of the Spirit of God in him; and how should anyone do it, seeking a godly seed? therefore take heed to your spirit, c. so De Dieu. But according to others the sense is,
"there is not one of you that does according to the law, whose spirit remains with him that is not mixed with the daughter of a strange god;''
which is Aben Ezra's note. But according to Abarbinel the sense is, not one only has done this, committed this evil, in marrying more and strange women; not some only, and the rest have the spirit with them, and keep it pure from this sin; so that a godly seed cannot be procreated from you; therefore take heed to your spirit.
d ×רע ××××× "semen Dei", Pagninus, Montanus, Calvin, Junius Tremellius, Piscator, Cocceius, Burkius. e ××× ××× ×¢×©× "nonue unus fecit?" V. L. Menochius, Tirinus. f "Et ne unus fecit?" Pagninus, Montanus "et unus ille (Abramus) ita egit?" Grotius; "annon unus hoc fecit?" Tigurine version; so Joseph Kimchi. g ×רע ××××× "semen Deus", Galatin. de Arcan. Cathol. Ver. l. 8. c. 2. p. 550. h Bereshit Rabba, sect. 23. fol. 20. 4. Midrash Ruth, fol. 36. 1. i Bereshit Rabba, sect. 51. fol. 46. 1. Midrash Ruth, fol. 35. 4.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible
And did not He - , God, of whom he had spoken as the witness between man and his wife, âmake one,â namely, Adam first, to mark the oneness of marriage and make it a law of nature, appointing âthat out of man (created in His own image and similitude), woman should take her beginning, and, knitting them together, did teach that it should never be lawful to put asunder those, whom He by matrimony had made one?â âBetween those two, and consequently between all other married, to be born from them, He willed that there should be one indivisible union, for Adam could be married to no other save Eve, since no other had been created by God, nor could Eve turn to any other man than Adam, since there was no other in the world. âInfringe not then this sanction of God, and unity of marriage, and degenerate not from your first parents, Adam and Eve.ââ âIf divorce had been good, Jesus says, God would not have made one man and one woman, but, having made one Adam, would have made two women, had He meant that he should cast out the one, bring in the other; but now by the mode of creation, He brought in this law, that each should have, throughout, the wife which he had from the beginning. This law is older than that about divorce, as much as Adam is older than Moses.â
Yet had he the residue of the spirit - Genesis 2:7, âthe breath of life, which He breathed into Adam, and man became a living soul.â All the souls, which God would ever create, are His, and He could have called them into being at once. Yet in order to designate the unity of marriage, He willed to create but one. So our Lord argues against divorce Matthew 19:4-6, âHave ye not read, that He which made them at the beginning, made them male and female?â They both together are called âone manâ Genesis 1:27, and, therefore, should be of one mind and spirit also, the unity of which they ought faithfully to preserve.
And wherefore one? - âSeeking a seed of God,â i. e., worthy of God, for from religious marriage, religious offspring may most be hoped from God; and by violating that law, those before the flood brought in a spurious, unsanctified generation, so that God in His displeasure destroyed them all. âAnd take heed to your spirit,â which ye too had from God, which was His, and which He willed in time to create. He closes, as he began, with an appeal to manâs natural feeling, âlet none deal treacherously against the wife of his youth.â
Clarke's Notes on the Bible
Verse Malachi 2:15. And did not he make one? — ONE of each kind, Adam and Eve. Yet had he the residue of the Spirit; he could have made millions of pairs, and inspired them all with living souls. Then wherefore one? He made one pair from whom all the rest might proceed, that he might have a holy offspring; that children being a marked property of one man and one woman, proper care might be taken that they should be brought up in the discipline of the Lord. Perhaps the holy or godly seed, ×רע ××××× zera Elohim, a seed of God, may refer to the MESSIAH. God would have the whole human race to spring from one pair, that Christ, springing from the same family, might in his sufferings taste death for every man; because he had that nature that was common to the whole human race. Had there been several heads of families in the beginning, Jesus must have been incarnated from each of those heads, else his death could have availed for those only who belonged to the family of which he was incarnated.
Take heed to your spirit — Scrutinize the motives which induce you to put away your wives.
