Malachi 1 · Verse 3

Malachi 1:3

And I hated Esau, and laid his mountains and his heritage waste for the dragons of the wilderness.
Malachi 1:3, King James Version

Malachi 1:3 in other translations

BSBbut Esau I have hated, and I have made his mountains a wasteland and left his inheritance to the desert jackals.”
WEBbut Esau I hated, and made his mountains a desolation, and gave his heritage to the jackals of the wilderness.”
ASVbut Esau I hated, and made his mountains a desolation, and gave his heritage to the jackals of the wilderness.
YLTIs not Esau Jacob's brother? --an affirmation of Jehovah, And I love Jacob, and Esau I have hated, And I make his mountains a desolation, And his inheritance for dragons of a wilderness.
DARBYand I hated Esau; and made his mountains a desolation, and gave his inheritance to the jackals of the wilderness.
BBEAnd Esau was hated, and I sent destruction on his mountains, and gave his heritage to the beasts of the waste land.
WebsterAnd I hated Esau, and laid his mountains and his heritage waste for the dragons of the wilderness.

What does Malachi 1:3 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
3. hated--not positively, but relatively; that is, did not choose him out to be the object of gratuitous favor, as I did Jacob (compare Lu 14:26, with Mt 10:37; Ge 29:30, 31; De 21:15, 16). laid his mountains ... waste--that is, his territory which was generally mountainous. Israel was, it is true, punished by the Chaldeans, but Edom has been utterly destroyed; namely, either by Nebuchadnezzar [Rosenmuller], or by the neighboring peoples, Egypt, Ammon, and Moab [Josephus, Antiquities, 10.9,7; Maurer], (Jr 49:18). dragons--jackals [Moore] (compare Is 34:13). Maurer translates, "Abodes of the wilderness," from an Arabic root "to stop," or "to abide." English Version is better.

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 3 And I hated Esau - I have shown him less love; Gen 29:30, Gen 29:31. I comparatively hated him by giving him an inferior lot. And now, I have not only laid waste the dwelling-place of the Edomites, by the incursions of their enemies; but (Mal 1:4) they shall remain the perpetual monuments of my vengeance. On the subject of loving Jacob and hating Esau, see the notes on Genesis 27 (note), and Rom 9:13 (note). Let it be remembered, 1. That there is not a word spoken here concerning the eternal state of either Jacob or Esau. 2. That what is spoken concerns merely their earthly possessions. And, 3. That it does not concern the two brothers at all, but the posterity of each.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Malachi 1:1-5

All advantages, either as to outward circumstances, or spiritual privileges, come from the free love of God, who makes one to differ from another. All the evils sinners feel and fear, are the just recompence of their crimes, while all their hopes and comforts are from the unmerited mercy of the Lord. He chose his people that they might be holy. If we love him, it is because he has first loved us; yet we all are…

Read the full comment on Malachi 1:1-5 →

Malachi 1:3 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

וְאֶת\־ve.'Etand <obj.>H853
עֵשָׂ֖ו'e.SavEsauH6215
שָׂנֵ֑אתִיsa.Ne.tiI hatedH8130
וָאָשִׂ֤יםva.'a.Simand I have madeH7760
אֶת\־'et-<obj.>H853
הָרָיו֙ha.Ravmountains hisH2022
שְׁמָמָ֔הshe.ma.Maha wasteH8077
וְאֶת\־ve.'Etand <obj.>H853
נַחֲלָת֖וֹna.cha.la.Toinheritance hisH5159
לְתַנּ֥וֹתle.ta.Notfor jackals ofH8577
מִדְבָּֽר\׃mid.Bar[the] wildernessH4057

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Malachi 1:3

  • Obadiah 1:10

    For thy violence against thy brother Jacob shame shall cover thee, and thou shalt be cut off for ever.

  • Joel 3:19

    Egypt shall be a desolation, and Edom shall be a desolate wilderness, for the violence against the children of Judah, because they have shed innocent blood in their land.

  • Ezekiel 35:3-4

    And say unto it, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, O mount Seir, I am against thee, and I will stretch out mine hand against thee, and I will make thee most desolate. I will lay thy cities waste, and thou shalt be desolate, and thou shalt know that I am the Lord.

  • Jeremiah 49:16-18

    Thy terribleness hath deceived thee, and the pride of thine heart, O thou that dwellest in the clefts of the rock, that holdest the height of the hill: though thou shouldest make thy nest as high as the eagle, I will bring thee down from thence, saith the Lord. Also Edom shall be a desolation: every one that goeth by it shall be astonished, and shall hiss at all the plagues thereof. As in the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighbour cities thereof, saith the Lord, no man shall abide there, neither shall a son of man dwell in it.

  • Ezekiel 36:14-15

    Therefore thou shalt devour men no more, neither bereave thy nations any more, saith the Lord God. Neither will I cause men to hear in thee the shame of the heathen any more, neither shalt thou bear the reproach of the people any more, neither shalt thou cause thy nations to fall any more, saith the Lord God.

  • Ezekiel 36:3-4

    Therefore prophesy and say, Thus saith the Lord God; Because they have made you desolate, and swallowed you up on every side, that ye might be a possession unto the residue of the heathen, and ye are taken up in the lips of talkers, and are an infamy of the people: Therefore, ye mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord God; Thus saith the Lord God to the mountains, and to the hills, to the rivers, and to the valleys, to the desolate wastes, and to the cities that are forsaken, which became a prey and derision to the residue of the heathen that are round about;

  • Jeremiah 51:37

    And Babylon shall become heaps, a dwellingplace for dragons, an astonishment, and an hissing, without an inhabitant.

  • Jeremiah 49:10

    But I have made Esau bare, I have uncovered his secret places, and he shall not be able to hide himself: his seed is spoiled, and his brethren, and his neighbours, and he is not.

  • Luke 14:26

    If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.

  • Ezekiel 25:13-14

    Therefore thus saith the Lord God; I will also stretch out mine hand upon Edom, and will cut off man and beast from it; and I will make it desolate from Teman; and they of Dedan shall fall by the sword. And I will lay my vengeance upon Edom by the hand of my people Israel: and they shall do in Edom according to mine anger and according to my fury; and they shall know my vengeance, saith the Lord God.

  • Obadiah 1:18-21

    And the house of Jacob shall be a fire, and the house of Joseph a flame, and the house of Esau for stubble, and they shall kindle in them, and devour them; and there shall not be any remaining of the house of Esau; for the Lord hath spoken it. And they of the south shall possess the mount of Esau; and they of the plain the Philistines: and they shall possess the fields of Ephraim, and the fields of Samaria: and Benjamin shall possess Gilead. And the captivity of this host of the children of Israel shall possess that of the Canaanites, even unto Zarephath; and the captivity of Jerusalem, which is in Sepharad, shall possess the cities of the south. And saviours shall come up on mount Zion to judge the mount of Esau; and the kingdom shall be the Lord’s.

  • Ezekiel 36:9

    For, behold, I am for you, and I will turn unto you, and ye shall be tilled and sown:

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
hated.
Ge 29:30,31; De 21:15,16; Lu 14:26
laid.
Isa 34:9-12; Jer 49:16-18; Eze 25:13,14; 36:3,4,7,9,14,15
Joe 3:19; Ob 1:10,18,19-21
the.
Isa 13:21,22; 34:13,14; 35:7; Jer 9:11; 51:37

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Malachi 1:2

    I have loved you, saith the Lord. Yet ye say, Wherein hast thou loved us? Was not Esau Jacob’s brother? saith the Lord: yet I loved Jacob,

  • Malachi 1:3

    And I hated Esau, and laid his mountains and his heritage waste for the dragons of the wilderness.

  • Malachi 1:4

    Whereas Edom saith, We are impoverished, but we will return and build the desolate places; thus saith the Lord of hosts, They shall build, but I will throw down; and they shall call them, The border of wickedness, and, The people against whom the Lord hath indignation for ever.

Read all of Malachi 1

Malachi 1:3 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909
Y á Esaú aborrecí, y torné sus montes en asolamiento, y su posesión para los chacales del desierto?
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885
et j’ai haï Ésaü, et j’ai fait de ses montagnes une désolation, et j’ai livré son héritage aux chacals du désert.
German
Elberfelder 1871
Esau aber habe ich gehaßt, und ich habe seine Berge zur Wüste gemacht und sein Erbteil für die Schakale der Steppe.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate
Esau autem odio habui, et posui montes ejus in solitudinem, et hæreditatem ejus in dracones deserti.