Malachi 2 · Verse 10

Malachi 2:10

Have we not all one father? hath not one God created us? why do we deal treacherously every man against his brother, by profaning the covenant of our fathers?
Malachi 2:10, King James Version

Malachi 2:10 in other translations

BSBDo we not all have one Father? Did not one God create us? Why then do we break faith with one another so as to profane the covenant of our fathers?
WEBDon’t we all have one father? Hasn’t one God created us? Why do we deal treacherously every man against his brother, profaning the covenant of our fathers?
ASVHave we not all one father? hath not one God created us? why do we deal treacherously every man against his brother, profaning the covenant of our fathers?
YLTHave we not all one father? Hath not our God prepared us? Wherefore do we deal treacherously, Each against his brother, To pollute the covenant of our fathers?
DARBYHave we not all one father? Hath not one God created us? Why do we deal unfaithfully every man against his brother, by profaning the covenant of our fathers?
BBEHave we not all one father? has not one God made us? why are we, every one of us, acting falsely to his brother, putting shame on the agreement of our fathers?
WebsterHave we not all one father? hath not one God created us? why do we deal treacherously every man against his brother, by profaning the covenant of our fathers?

What does Malachi 2:10 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Malachi 2:10-16
10-16. Reproof of those who contracted marriages with foreigners and repudiated their Jewish wives. 10. Have we not all one father?--Why, seeing we all have one common origin, "do we deal treacherously against one another" ("His brother" being a general expression implying that all are "brethren" and sisters as children of the same Father above (1Th 4:3-6), and so including the wives so injured)? namely, by putting away our Jewish wives, and taking foreign women to wife (compare Mal 2:14 and Mal 2:11; Ezr 9:1-9), and so violating "the covenant" made by Jehovah with "our fathers," by which it was ordained that we should be a people separated from the other peoples of the world (Ex 19:5; Le 20:24, 26; De 7:3). To intermarry with the heathen would defeat this purpose of Jehovah, who was the common Father of the Israelites in a peculiar sense in which He was not Father of the heathen. The "one Father" is Jehovah (Job 31:15; 1Co 8:6; Ep 4:6). "Created us": not merely physical creation, but "created us" to be His peculiar and chosen people (Psa 102:18; Is 43:1; 45:8; 60:21; Ep 2:10), [Calvin]. How marked the contrast between the honor here done to the female sex, and the degradation to which Oriental women are generally subjected!

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

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 10 Have we not all one Father? - From this to Mal 2:16 the prophet censures the marriages of Israelites with strange women, which the law had forbidden, Deu 7:3. And also divorces, which seem to have been multiplied for the purpose of contracting these prohibited marriages. - Newcome. Why do we deal treacherously - Gain the affections of the daughter of a brother Jew, and then profane the covenant of marriage, held sacred among our fathers, by putting away this same wife and daughter! How wicked, cruel, and inhuman!

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Malachi 2:10-17
Corrupt practices are the fruit of corrupt principles; and he who is false to his God, will not be true to his fellow mortals. In contempt of the marriage covenant, which God instituted, the Jews put away the wives they had of their own nation, probably to make room for strange wives. They made their lives bitter to them; yet, in the sight of others, they pretend to be tender of them. Consider she is thy wife; thy own; the nearest relation thou hast in the world. The wife is to be looked on, not as a servant, but as a companion to the husband. There is an oath of God between them, which is not to be trifled with. Man and wife should continue to their lives' end, in holy love and peace. Did not God make one, one Eve for one Adam? Yet God could have made another Eve. Wherefore did he make but one woman for one man? It was that the children might be made a seed to serve him. Husbands and wives must live in the fear of God, that their seed may be a godly seed. The God of Israel saith that he hateth putting away. Those who would be kept from sin, must take heed to their spirits, for there all sin begins. Men will find that their wrong conduct in their families springs from selfishness, which disregards the welfare and happiness of others, when opposed to their own passions and fancies. It is wearisome to God to hear people justify themselves in wicked practices. Those who think God can be a friend to sin, affront him, and deceive themselves. The scoffers said, Where is the God of judgement? but the day of the Lord will come.

Matthew Henry, 1706 · public domain

Malachi 2:10 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.

הֲל֨וֹאha.Lo'¿ notH3808
אָ֤ב'av[does] a fatherH1
אֶחָד֙'e.ChadoneH259
לְכֻלָּ֔נוּle.khu.La.nu[belong] to all of usH3605
הֲל֛וֹאha.Lo'¿ notH3808
אֵ֥ל'elGodH410
אֶֽחָ֖ד'e.ChadoneH259
בְּרָאָ֑נוּbe.ra.'A.nudid he create usH1254
מַדּ֗וּעַma.Du.a'why?H4069
נִבְגַּד֙niv.Gaddo we deal treacherouslyH898
אִ֣ישׁ'isheachH376
בְּאָחִ֔יוbe.'a.Chivwith brother hisH251
לְחַלֵּ֖לle.cha.Lelto profaneH2490
בְּרִ֥יתbe.Rit[the] covenant ofH1285
אֲבֹתֵֽינוּ\׃'a.vo.Tei.nuancestors ourH1

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

Cross references for Malachi 2:10

  • Psalms 100:3

    Know ye that the Lord he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.

  • Malachi 2:11

    Judah hath dealt treacherously, and an abomination is committed in Israel and in Jerusalem; for Judah hath profaned the holiness of the Lord which he loved, and hath married the daughter of a strange god.

  • 1 Corinthians 8:6

    But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him.

  • Ephesians 4:6

    One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.

  • Isaiah 63:16

    Doubtless thou art our father, though Abraham be ignorant of us, and Israel acknowledge us not: thou, O Lord, art our father, our redeemer; thy name is from everlasting.

  • Isaiah 64:8

    But now, O Lord, thou art our father; we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand.

  • Matthew 3:9

    And think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham.

  • Micah 7:2-6

    The good man is perished out of the earth: and there is none upright among men: they all lie in wait for blood; they hunt every man his brother with a net. That they may do evil with both hands earnestly, the prince asketh, and the judge asketh for a reward; and the great man, he uttereth his mischievous desire: so they wrap it up. The best of them is as a brier: the most upright is sharper than a thorn hedge: the day of thy watchmen and thy visitation cometh; now shall be their perplexity. Trust ye not in a friend, put ye not confidence in a guide: keep the doors of thy mouth from her that lieth in thy bosom. …

  • Malachi 2:14-15

    Yet ye say, Wherefore? Because the Lord hath been witness between thee and the wife of thy youth, against whom thou hast dealt treacherously: yet is she thy companion, and the wife of thy covenant. 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.

  • Acts 7:26

    And the next day he shewed himself unto them as they strove, and would have set them at one again, saying, Sirs, ye are brethren; why do ye wrong one to another?

  • Isaiah 44:2

    Thus saith the Lord that made thee, and formed thee from the womb, which will help thee; Fear not, O Jacob, my servant; and thou, Jesurun, whom I have chosen.

  • Jeremiah 9:4-5

    Take ye heed every one of his neighbour, and trust ye not in any brother: for every brother will utterly supplant, and every neighbour will walk with slanders. And they will deceive every one his neighbour, and will not speak the truth: they have taught their tongue to speak lies, and weary themselves to commit iniquity.

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

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

Context

  • Malachi 2:9

    Therefore have I also made you contemptible and base before all the people, according as ye have not kept my ways, but have been partial in the law.

  • Malachi 2:10

    Have we not all one father? hath not one God created us? why do we deal treacherously every man against his brother, by profaning the covenant of our fathers?

  • Malachi 2:11

    Judah hath dealt treacherously, and an abomination is committed in Israel and in Jerusalem; for Judah hath profaned the holiness of the Lord which he loved, and hath married the daughter of a strange god.

Read all of Malachi 2

Malachi 2:10 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909
¿No tenemos todos un mismo padre? ¿No nos ha criado un mismo Dios? ¿Por qué menospreciaremos cada uno á su hermano, quebrantando el pacto de nuestros padres?
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885
N’y a-t-il pas pour nous tous un seul père? Un seul ✶Dieu ne nous a-t-il pas créés? Pourquoi agissons-nous perfidement chacun envers son frère, en profanant l’alliance de nos pères?
German
Elberfelder 1871
Haben wir nicht alle einen Vater? Hat nicht ein Gott uns geschaffen? Warum handeln wir treulos einer gegen den anderen, indem wir den Bund unserer Väter entweihen?
Latin
Clementine Vulgate
Numquid non pater unus omnium nostrum? numquid non Deus unus creavit nos? quare ergo despicit unusquisque nostrum fratrem suum, violans pactum patrum nostrorum?