Malachi 4 · Verse 1

Malachi 4:1

For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.
Malachi 4:1, King James Version

Malachi 4:1 in other translations

BSB“For behold, the day is coming, burning like a furnace, when all the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble; the day is coming when I will set them ablaze,” says the LORD of Hosts. “Not a root or branch will be left to them.”
WEB“For behold, the day comes, burning like a furnace, when all the proud and all who work wickedness will be stubble. The day that comes will burn them up,” says the LORD of Armies, “so that it will leave them neither root nor branch.
ASVFor, behold, the day cometh, it burneth as a furnace; and all the proud, and all that work wickedness, shall be stubble; and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith Jehovah of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.
YLTFor, lo, the day hath come, burning as a furnace, And all the proud, and every wicked doer, have been stubble, And burnt them hath the day that came, Said Jehovah of Hosts, That there is not left to them root or branch,
DARBYFor behold, the day cometh, burning as a furnace; and all the proud and all that work wickedness shall be stubble; and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith Jehovah of hosts, so that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.
BBEFor see, the day is coming, it is burning like an oven; all the men of pride and all who do evil will be dry stems of grass: and in the day which is coming they will be burned up, says the Lord of armies, till they have not a root or a branch.
WebsterFor behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the LORD of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.

What does Malachi 4:1 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown

Mal 4:1-6. God's Coming Judgment: Triumph of the Godly: Return to the law THE Best Preparation for Jehovah's Coming: Elijah's Preparatory Mission of Reformation.

1. the day cometh ... burn--(Mal 3:2; 2Pe 3:7). Primarily is meant the judgment coming on Jerusalem; but as this will not exhaust the meaning, without supposing what is inadmissible in Scripture--exaggeration--the final and full accomplishment, of which the former was the earnest, is the day of general judgment. This principle of interpretation is not double, but successive fulfilment. The language is abrupt, "Behold, the day cometh! It burns like a furnace." The abruptness imparts terrible reality to the picture, as if it suddenly burst on the prophet's view. all the proud--in opposition to the cavil above (Mal 3:15), "now we call the proud (haughty despisers of God) happy." stubble--(Ob 18; Mt 3:12). As Canaan, the inheritance of the Israelites, was prepared for their possession by purging out the heathen, so judgment on the apostates shall usher in the entrance of the saints upon the Lord's inheritance, of which Canaan is the type--not heaven, but earth to its utmost bounds (Psa 2:8) purged of all things that offend (Mt 13:41), which are to be "gathered out of His kingdom," the scene of the judgment being that also of the kingdom. The present dispensation is a spiritual kingdom, parenthetical between the Jews' literal kingdom and its antitype, the coming literal kingdom of the Lord Jesus. neither root nor branch--proverbial for utter destruction (Am 2:9).

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

Adam Clarke's Commentary

Introduction

God's awful judgments on the wicked, Mal 4:1. Great blessedness of the righteous, Mal 4:2, Mal 4:3. The prophet then, with a solemnity becoming the last of the prophets, closes the Sacred Canon with enjoining the strict observance of the law till the forerunner already promised should appear, in the spirit of Elijah, to introduce the Messiah, and begin a new and everlasting dispensation, Mal 4:4-6. Verse 1 Behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven - The destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans. And all the proud - This is in reference to Mal 3:15 of the preceding chapter. The day that cometh shall burn them up - Either by famine, by sword, or by captivity. All those rebels shall be destroyed. It shall leave them neither root nor branch - A proverbial expression for total destruction. Neither man nor child shall escape.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Malachi 4:1-3
Here is a reference to the first and to the second coming of Christ: God has fixed the day of both. Those who do wickedly, who do not fear God's anger, shall feel it. It is certainly to be applied to the day of judgment, when Christ shall be revealed in flaming fire; to execute judgment on the proud, and all that do wickedly. In both, Christ is a rejoicing Light to those who serve him faithfully. By the Sun of Righteousness we understand Jesus Christ. Through him believers are justified and sanctified, and so are brought to see light. His influences render the sinner holy, joyful, and fruitful. It is applicable to the graces and comforts of the Holy Spirit, brought into the souls of men. Christ gave the Spirit to those who are his, to shine in their hearts, and to be a Comforter to them, a Sun and a Shield. That day which to the wicked will burn as an oven, will to the righteous be bright as the morning; it is what they wait for, more than those that wait for the morning. Christ came as the Sun, to bring, not only light to a dark world, but health to a distempered world. Souls shall increase in knowledge and spiritual strength. Their growth is as that of calves of the stall, not as the flower of the field, which is slender and weak, and soon withers. The saints' triumphs are all owing to God's victories; it is not they that do this, but God who does it for them. Behold another day is coming, far more dreadful to all that work wickedness than any which is gone before. How great then the happiness of the believer, when he goes from the darkness and misery of this world, to rejoice in the Lord for evermore!

Matthew Henry, 1706 · public domain

Malachi 4:1 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.

כִּֽי\־ki-forH3588
הִנֵּ֤הhi.Nehhere!H2009
הַיּוֹם֙hai.yOmthe dayH3117
בָּ֔אBa'[is] comingH935
בֹּעֵ֖רbo.'ErburningH1197
כַּתַּנּ֑וּרka.ta.Nurlike <the> furnaceH8574
וְהָי֨וּve.ha.Yuand they will beH1961
כָל\־khol-allH3605
זֵדִ֜יםze.Dimarrogant [people]H2086
וְכָל\־ve.kholand everyH3605
עֹשֵׂ֤ה'o.Seh[one who] doesH6213
רִשְׁעָה֙rish.'Ah<of> wickednessH7564
קַ֔שׁKashstubbleH7179
וְלִהַ֨טve.li.Hatand it will set ablazeH3857
אֹתָ֜ם'o.Tam<obj.> themH853
הַיּ֣וֹםhai.Yomthe dayH3117
הַבָּ֗אha.Ba'<the> comingH935
אָמַר֙'a.Marhe saysH559
יְהוָ֣הYah.wehYahwehH3068
צְבָא֔וֹתtze.va.'otof hostsH6635
אֲשֶׁ֛ר'a.SherthatH834
לֹא\־lo'-notH3808
יַעֲזֹ֥בya.'a.Zoit will leaveH5800
לָהֶ֖םla.Hemfor them
שֹׁ֥רֶשׁSho.reshrootH8328
וְעָנָֽף\׃ve.'a.Nafand branchH6057

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

Cross references for Malachi 4:1

  • 2 Thessalonians 1:8

    In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ:

  • 2 Peter 3:7

    But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.

  • Malachi 3:2

    But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he is like a refiner’s fire, and like fullers’ soap:

  • Isaiah 47:14

    Behold, they shall be as stubble; the fire shall burn them; they shall not deliver themselves from the power of the flame: there shall not be a coal to warm at, nor fire to sit before it.

  • Isaiah 5:24

    Therefore as the fire devoureth the stubble, and the flame consumeth the chaff, so their root shall be as rottenness, and their blossom shall go up as dust: because they have cast away the law of the Lord of hosts, and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.

  • Obadiah 1:18

    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.

  • Malachi 3:15

    And now we call the proud happy; yea, they that work wickedness are set up; yea, they that tempt God are even delivered.

  • Zephaniah 1:18

    Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the Lord’s wrath; but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy: for he shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land.

  • Job 18:16

    His roots shall be dried up beneath, and above shall his branch be cut off.

  • Joel 2:1

    Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain: let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of the Lord cometh, for it is nigh at hand;

  • Isaiah 2:12-17

    For the day of the Lord of hosts shall be upon every one that is proud and lofty, and upon every one that is lifted up; and he shall be brought low: And upon all the cedars of Lebanon, that are high and lifted up, and upon all the oaks of Bashan, And upon all the high mountains, and upon all the hills that are lifted up, And upon every high tower, and upon every fenced wall, …

  • Malachi 4:5

    Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord:

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

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
1 God's judgment on the wicked;
2 and his blessing on the good.
4 He exhorts to the study of the law;
5 and tells of Elijah's coming and office.

the day.
5; 3:2; Eze 7:10; Joe 2:1,31; Zep 1:14; Zec 14:1; Lu 19:43; 21:20
2Pe 3:7
shall burn.
Ps 21:9,10; Na 1:5,6; Zep 1:18; Mt 3:12; 2Th 1:8
and all the.
3:15,18; Ex 15:7; Ps 119:119; Isa 2:12-17; 5:24; 40:24; 41:2; 47:14
Ob 1:18; Na 1:10
that it.
Job 18:16; Am 2:9

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

Context

  • Malachi 4:1

    For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.

  • Malachi 4:2

    But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall.

Read all of Malachi 4

Malachi 4:1 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		PORQUE he aquí, viene el día ardiente como un horno; y todos los soberbios, y todos los que hacen maldad, serán estopa; y aquel día que vendrá, los abrasará, ha dicho Jehová de los ejércitos, el cual no les dejará ni raíz ni rama.
German
Elberfelder 1871		Denn siehe, der Tag kommt, brennend wie ein Ofen; und es werden alle Übermütigen und jeder Täter der Gesetzlosigkeit zu Stoppeln werden; und der kommende Tag wird sie verbrennen, spricht Jehova der Heerscharen, so daß er ihnen weder Wurzel noch Zweig lassen wird.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Ecce enim dies veniet succensa quasi caminus: et erunt omnes superbi et omnes facientes impietatem stipula: et inflammabit eos dies veniens, dicit Dominus exercituum, quæ non derelinquet eis radicem et germen.