Malachi 1 · Verse 7

Malachi 1:7

Ye offer polluted bread upon mine altar; and ye say, Wherein have we polluted thee? In that ye say, The table of the Lord is contemptible.

Malachi 1:7, King James Version

Malachi 1:7 in other translations

BSB	By presenting defiled food on My altar. But you ask, ‘How have we defiled You?’ By saying that the table of the LORD is contemptible.
WEB	You offer polluted bread on my altar. You say, ‘How have we polluted you?’ In that you say, ‘The LORD’s table is contemptible.’
ASV	Ye offer polluted bread upon mine altar. And ye say, Wherein have we polluted thee? In that ye say, The table of Jehovah is contemptible.
YLT	Ye are bringing nigh on Mine altar polluted bread, And ye have said: ‘In what have we polluted Thee?' In your saying: ‘The table of Jehovah--it is despicable,'
DARBY	Ye offer polluted bread upon mine altar; and ye say, Wherein have we polluted thee? In that ye say, The table of Jehovah is contemptible.
BBE	You put unclean bread on my altar. And you say, How have we made it unclean? By your saying, The table of the Lord is of no value.
Webster	Ye offer polluted bread upon my altar? and ye say, In what have we polluted thee? In that ye say, The table of the LORD is contemptible.

What does Malachi 1:7 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown

7. ye offer, &c.--God's answer to their challenge (Mal 1:6), "Wherein have we despised?" polluted bread--namely, blemished sacrifices (Mal 1:8, 13, 14; De 15:21). So "the bread of thy God" is used for "sacrifices to God" (Le 21:8). polluted thee--that is, offered to thee "polluted bread." table of the Lord--that is, the altar (Eze 41:22) (not the table of showbread). Just as the sacrificial flesh is called "bread." contemptible--(Mal 1:12, 13). Ye sanction the niggardly and blemished offerings of the people on the altar, to gain favor with them. Darius, and probably his successors, had liberally supplied them with victims for sacrifice, yet they presented none but the worst. A cheap religion, costing little, is rejected by God, and so is worth nothing. It costs more than it is worth, for it is worth nothing, and so proves really dear. God despises not the widow's mite, but he does despise the miser's mite [Moore].

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

Adam Clarke's Commentary

Verse 7 Ye offer polluted bread - The priests, probably to ingratiate themselves with the people, took the refuse beasts, etc., and offered them to God; and thus the sacrificial ordinances were rendered contemptible.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Malachi 1:6-14

We may each charge upon ourselves what is here charged upon the priests. Our relation to God, as our Father and Master, strongly obliges us to fear and honour him. But they were so scornful that they derided reproof. Sinners ruin themselves by trying to baffle their convictions. Those who live in careless neglect of holy ordinances, who attend on them without reverence, and go from them under no concern, in effect…

Read the full comment on Malachi 1:6-14 →

Malachi 1:7 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.

מַגִּישִׁ֤יםma.gi.Shim[you are] bringing nearH5066

עַֽל\־'al-onH5921

מִזְבְּחִי֙miz.be.Chialtar myH4196

לֶ֣חֶםLe.chemfoodH3899

מְגֹאָ֔לme.go.'AldefiledH1351

וַאֲמַרְתֶּ֖םva.'a.mar.Temand you sayH559

בַּמֶּ֣הba.Meh<in> how?H4100

גֵֽאַלְנ֑וּךָge.'al.Nu.khahave we defiled youH1351

בֶּאֱמָרְכֶ֕םbe.'e.ma.re.Khemby saying youH559

שֻׁלְחַ֥ןshul.Chan[the] table ofH7979

יְהוָ֖הYah.wehYahwehH3068

נִבְזֶ֥הniv.Zeh[is] despicableH959

הֽוּא\׃Hu'itH1931

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

Cross references for Malachi 1:7

Malachi 1:12
But ye have profaned it, in that ye say, The table of the Lord is polluted; and the fruit thereof, even his meat, is contemptible.
1 Corinthians 11:27-32
Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup. For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body. For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep. …
1 Corinthians 10:21
Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils: ye cannot be partakers of the Lord’s table, and of the table of devils.
Malachi 1:8
And if ye offer the blind for sacrifice, is it not evil? and if ye offer the lame and sick, is it not evil? offer it now unto thy governor; will he be pleased with thee, or accept thy person? saith the Lord of hosts.
1 Samuel 2:15-17
Also before they burnt the fat, the priest’s servant came, and said to the man that sacrificed, Give flesh to roast for the priest; for he will not have sodden flesh of thee, but raw. And if any man said unto him, Let them not fail to burn the fat presently, and then take as much as thy soul desireth; then he would answer him, Nay; but thou shalt give it me now: and if not, I will take it by force. Wherefore the sin of the young men was very great before the Lord: for men abhorred the offering of the Lord.
Leviticus 2:11
No meat offering, which ye shall bring unto the Lord, shall be made with leaven: for ye shall burn no leaven, nor any honey, in any offering of the Lord made by fire.
Leviticus 21:6
They shall be holy unto their God, and not profane the name of their God: for the offerings of the Lord made by fire, and the bread of their God, they do offer: therefore they shall be holy.
Deuteronomy 15:21
And if there be any blemish therein, as if it be lame, or blind, or have any ill blemish, thou shalt not sacrifice it unto the Lord thy God.
Ezekiel 41:22
The altar of wood was three cubits high, and the length thereof two cubits; and the corners thereof, and the length thereof, and the walls thereof, were of wood: and he said unto me, This is the table that is before the Lord.
1 Corinthians 11:21-22
For in eating every one taketh before other his own supper: and one is hungry, and another is drunken. What? have ye not houses to eat and to drink in? or despise ye the church of God, and shame them that have not? What shall I say to you? shall I praise you in this? I praise you not.

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

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

Ye offer, etc. or, Bring unto my, etc. polluted.
Le 2:11, 21:6; De 15:21
The table.
12; 1Sa 2:15-17; Eze 41:22; 1Co 10:21; 11:21,22,27-32

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

Context

Malachi 1:6
A son honoureth his father, and a servant his master: if then I be a father, where is mine honour? and if I be a master, where is my fear? saith the Lord of hosts unto you, O priests, that despise my name. And ye say, Wherein have we despised thy name?
Malachi 1:7
Ye offer polluted bread upon mine altar; and ye say, Wherein have we polluted thee? In that ye say, The table of the Lord is contemptible.
Malachi 1:8
And if ye offer the blind for sacrifice, is it not evil? and if ye offer the lame and sick, is it not evil? offer it now unto thy governor; will he be pleased with thee, or accept thy person? saith the Lord of hosts.

Read all of Malachi 1

Malachi 1:7 in other languages

Spanish Reina-Valera 1909	Que ofrecéis sobre mi altar pan inmundo. Y dijisteis: ¿En qué te hemos amancillado? En que decís: La mesa de Jehová es despreciable.
French Bible J.N. Darby 1885	Vous présentez sur mon autel du pain souillé, et vous dites: En quoi t’avons-nous profané? En ce que vous dites: La table de l’ Éternel est méprisable.
German Elberfelder 1871	Die ihr unreines Brot auf meinem Altar darbringet und doch sprechet: Womit haben wir dich verunreinigt? Damit, daß ihr saget: Der Tisch Jehovas ist verächtlich.
Latin Clementine Vulgate	Offertis super altare meum panem pollutum, et dicitis: In quo polluimus te? in eo quod dicitis: Mensa Domini despecta est.