Malachi 2 · Verse 3

Malachi 2:3

Behold, I will corrupt your seed, and spread dung upon your faces, even the dung of your solemn feasts; and one shall take you away with it.
Malachi 2:3, King James Version

Malachi 2:3 in other translations

BSBBehold, I will rebuke your descendants, and I will spread dung on your faces, the waste from your feasts, and you will be carried off with it.
WEBBehold, I will rebuke your offspring, and will spread dung on your faces, even the dung of your feasts; and you will be taken away with it.
ASVBehold, I will rebuke your seed, and will spread dung upon your faces, even the dung of your feasts; and ye shall be taken away with it.
YLTLo, I am pushing away before you the seed, And have scattered dung before your faces, Dung of your festivals, And it hath taken you away with it.
DARBYBehold, I will rebuke your seed, and spread dung upon your faces, the dung of your feasts; and they shall take you away with it.
BBESee, I will have your arm cut off, and will put waste on your faces, even the waste from your feasts; and you will be taken away with it.
WebsterBehold, I will corrupt your seed, and spread dung upon your faces, even the dung of your solemn feasts; and one shall take you away with it.

What does Malachi 2:3 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
3. corrupt, &c.--literally, "rebuke," answering to the opposite prophecy of blessing (Mal 3:11), "I will rebuke the devourer." To rebuke the seed is to forbid its growing. your--literally, "for you"; that is, to your hurt. dung of ... solemn feasts--The dung in the maw of the victims sacrificed on the feast days; the maw was the perquisite of the priests (De 18:3), which gives peculiar point to the threat here. You shall get the dung of the maw as your perquisite, instead of the maw. one shall take you away with it--that is, ye shall be taken away with it; it shall cleave to you wherever ye go [Moore]. Dung shall be thrown on your faces, and ye shall be taken away as dung would be, dung-begrimed as ye shall be (1Ki 14:10; compare Jr 16:4; 22:19).

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

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 3 Behold, I will corrupt your seed - So as to render it unfruitful. Newcome translates, - "I will take away from you the shoulder." This was the part that belonged to the priest, Lev 7:32; Deu 18:3. Spread dung upon your faces - Instead of receiving a sacrifice at your hands, I will throw your offerings back into your faces. Here God shows his contempt for them and their offerings.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Malachi 2:1-9

What is here said of the covenant of priesthood, is true of the covenant of grace made with all believers, as spiritual priests. It is a covenant of life and peace; it assures all believers of all happiness, both in this world and in that to come. It is an honour to God's servants to be employed as his messengers. The priest's lips should not keep knowledge from his people, but keep it for them. The people are all…

Read the full comment on Malachi 2:1-9 →

Malachi 2:3 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.

הִנְנִ֨יhi.Nihere IH2005
גֹעֵ֤רgo.'Er[am] about to rebukeH1605
לָכֶם֙la.Khemof you
אֶת\־'et-<obj.>H853
הַזֶּ֔רַעha.Ze.ra'the offspringH2233
וְזֵרִ֤יתִיve.ze.Ri.tiand I will spreadH2219
פֶ֙רֶשׁ֙fe.reshdungH6569
עַל\־'al-onH5921
פְּנֵיכֶ֔םpe.nei.Khemfaces yourH6440
פֶּ֖רֶשׁPe.resh[the] dung ofH6569
חַגֵּיכֶ֑םcha.gei.Khemfestivals yourH2282
וְנָשָׂ֥אve.na.Sa'and someone will carry awayH5375
אֶתְכֶ֖ם'et.Khem<obj.> youH853
אֵלָֽיו\׃'e.Lavwith itH413

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

Cross references for Malachi 2:3

  • Nahum 3:6

    And I will cast abominable filth upon thee, and make thee vile, and will set thee as a gazingstock.

  • 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.

  • Joel 1:17

    The seed is rotten under their clods, the garners are laid desolate, the barns are broken down; for the corn is withered.

  • 1 Kings 14:10

    Therefore, behold, I will bring evil upon the house of Jeroboam, and will cut off from Jeroboam him that pisseth against the wall, and him that is shut up and left in Israel, and will take away the remnant of the house of Jeroboam, as a man taketh away dung, till it be all gone.

  • Exodus 29:14

    But the flesh of the bullock, and his skin, and his dung, shalt thou burn with fire without the camp: it is a sin offering.

  • Job 20:7

    Yet he shall perish for ever like his own dung: they which have seen him shall say, Where is he?

  • Psalms 83:10

    Which perished at En–dor: they became as dung for the earth.

  • 1 Corinthians 4:13

    Being defamed, we intreat: we are made as the filth of the world, and are the offscouring of all things unto this day.

  • 1 Samuel 2:29-30

    Wherefore kick ye at my sacrifice and at mine offering, which I have commanded in my habitation; and honourest thy sons above me, to make yourselves fat with the chiefest of all the offerings of Israel my people? Wherefore the Lord God of Israel saith, I said indeed that thy house, and the house of thy father, should walk before me for ever: but now the Lord saith, Be it far from me; for them that honour me I will honour, and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed.

  • Jeremiah 8:2

    And they shall spread them before the sun, and the moon, and all the host of heaven, whom they have loved, and whom they have served, and after whom they have walked, and whom they have sought, and whom they have worshipped: they shall not be gathered, nor be buried; they shall be for dung upon the face of the earth.

  • 2 Kings 9:36-37

    Wherefore they came again, and told him. And he said, This is the word of the Lord, which he spake by his servant Elijah the Tishbite, saying, In the portion of Jezreel shall dogs eat the flesh of Jezebel: And the carcase of Jezebel shall be as dung upon the face of the field in the portion of Jezreel; so that they shall not say, This is Jezebel.

  • Luke 14:35

    It is neither fit for the land, nor yet for the dunghill; but men cast it out. He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.

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

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
I will.
Joe 1:17
corrupt. or reprove. spread. Heb. scatter.
9; 1Sa 2:29,30; 1Ki 14:10; 2Ki 9:36,37; Job 20:7; Ps 83:10
Jer 8:2; Na 3:6; Lu 14:35; 1Co 4:13
one shall take you away with it. or, it shall take you awayto it.

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

Context

  • Malachi 2:2

    If ye will not hear, and if ye will not lay it to heart, to give glory unto my name, saith the Lord of hosts, I will even send a curse upon you, and I will curse your blessings: yea, I have cursed them already, because ye do not lay it to heart.

  • Malachi 2:3

    Behold, I will corrupt your seed, and spread dung upon your faces, even the dung of your solemn feasts; and one shall take you away with it.

  • Malachi 2:4

    And ye shall know that I have sent this commandment unto you, that my covenant might be with Levi, saith the Lord of hosts.

Read all of Malachi 2

Malachi 2:3 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909
He aquí, yo os daño la sementera, y esparciré el estiércol sobre vuestros rostros, el estiércol de vuestras solemnidades, y con él seréis removidos.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885
Voici, je vais flétrir vos semences, et je répandrai de la fiente sur vos visages, la fiente de vos fêtes, et on vous emportera avec elle.
German
Elberfelder 1871
Siehe, ich schelte euch die Saat und streue euch Mist in das Angesicht, den Mist eurer Feste, und man wird euch zu ihm hintragen.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate
Ecce ego projiciam vobis brachium, et dispergam super vultum vestrum stercus solemnitatum vestrarum, et assumet vos secum.