THE burden of the word of the Lord to Israel by Malachi . ] Whereas there is nothing elsewhere spoken of this Prophet in Canonical Scripture , it hath given occasion of several conjectures concerning him . His name being interpreted signifying , my Angel , or my Messenger , hath made a a See the Prologue to Mal. in Bi● . Mag. some to think , that he was an Angel appearing in form of a man , for the delivery of Gods Message to the People of that time . But this opinion by b b Hierom. Praesat . in Mal. some ancient Christians of great authority entertain'd , is by others that followed , deservedly rejected , as having no solid grounds . If any will make any inference from the derivation of the name , he may rather think him design'd as a c c Chr. à Castro . man of holy , Angelical , qualities , or in office resembling an Angel , rather then a natural Angel . A man therefore he is taken to be ; but who is that man ? An ancient Jewish d d See Abarbinel in Mal. è Talmud M●gillah , c. 1. p. 15. Doctor would make him the same with Mordecai , but having no ground for it , is not by others followed . That wherein e e Idem , and Kimchi . R. Solom . in cap. II. 10 . Ch. à Castro . more of them agree , and among them the Chalde Paraphrast also , is , that he was the same with Esdras , to which divers Christians also seem to encline . f f Ribera . But the Arguments brought to prove it , on examination are no way convincing : and therefore the truer and more probable g g R. Ab. Ezra . Kimchi . R. Tanch . Abarbinel . opinion is , that he was a distinct Prophet , call'd by this name Malachi ; a name well agreeing to , and attesting his function , as a Prophet sent by God in his message . He prophesied after the return of the Jews from the Babylonish captivity , and the rebuilding of the Temple , and was the last of the Prophets that God sent to them , leaving them for the future to expect the coming of Christ and to long after it , for farther manifestation of his will . Of Christ and his forerunner John Baptist , he most evidently prophesied , and till their coming God left them for directions to the Law of Moses , Chap. IV. 4 . The Authority of his Prophecy is asserted in the New Testament , where it is cited , Matth. XI . 10 . Mark I. 2 . Luk. I. 16 . and VII . 27 . Rom. IX . 13 . and elsewhere . h h R. Tanchum . The Tradition of the Jews is , that Prophecy remained among them 40 years under the second Temple : in which time Haggai and Zachary , and Malachi prophesied : of which Malachi was the last : and so his Prophecy concludes the Books of the Prophets ; it ends with the Promise of him , with the history of whom the Gospel begins , viz. John the Baptist , and his preaching Repentance .

His Prophecy is here called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , Massa , The burden of the word of the Lord , by which name Prophecy is i i Za●h . IX . 1 . and XII . 1 . elsewhere often called , and usually glossed where it occurs , a burdensome Prophecy , such as denounces heavy things . k k Drusius on Nah. I. 1 . But I suppose this nicety , as concerning the signification of burden , and burdensomeness is not to be insisted on in the Interpretation of the word . My ground is , because the Israelites seem reproved for so using or understanding it , Jerem. XXIII . 34 . &c. As for the Prophet and the Priest and the People that shall say , The burden of the Lord , I will even punish that man and his house . Thus shall ye say every one to his neighbour , and every one to his brother what hath the Lord answered ? and what hath the Lord spoken ? And the burden of the Lord shall ye mention no more , for every mans word shall be his burden : for ye have perverted the words of the living God , &c. Here seems a prohibition for taking the word in that sense : The occasion of which , according to the exposition of divers of the best l l R. D. Kimchi . R. Tanchum . Abarbinel . Jewish Interpreters was thus . Whereas the word Massa ( taken from a m m 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 root that signifies to bear , carry , take up , and the like ) is of ambiguous signification ; and signifies ( among the rest ) sometimes a burden , sometimes what is born , or carried , or delivered from one to another , whether n n Genes. XlIII . 34 . thing , or word , and so was used for a Prophecy or Message from God , ( as often in Scripture ) and for other speech or doctrine ( as Prov. XXXIII . 1 . ) the Jews looking on the Messages received from God , and delivered to them by the Prophets , as things grievous and burdensome , when they enquired of the Prophets concerning them , used this word , and meant it in the worst sense , in scoff , or contempt of them . God therefore seeing the evil meaning of their hearts ( though otherwise their language seemed to be such as was usual for signifying that which they enquired after , and to have no harm in it ) discovers their hypocrisy to the Prophet , and charges them with perverting his word in their use of it , and therefore forbids them any more so to abuse it , but if they would enquire of the Prophet to do it in other words , viz. what hath the Lord answered ? or what hath the Lord spoken ? which was as much as was by that word meant , when it was used by the Prophets , and should have been meant by them when they used it , but was perverted and abused by them to another meaning . Hence taking directions we conceive that here ( as in other places ) the word is not strictly to be taken in the harsh signification of a grievous or heavy burden , but rather as a burden ( if we may take the word in a gentler sense ) or Message o o See R. Sol. and the rest . taken or received from God to be delivered to the People . That it doth not alwaies import heavy or burdensome words or messages may appear by its use , Zach. XII . 1 . where it is prefixed to the promises of good things to Israel , not heavy things against them : as likewise Lament. II. 14 . where the pretended Prophecies of their false Prophets are called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Masseoth shav , which is rendred false burdens ; whereas they appear to have spoken to them not heavy but pleasing and flattering things , as he there complains that they did not discover their iniquities : so that both real and pretended Prophecies are so called whatsoever they contained .

The word therefore being of such latitude , we need not here press its signification of what is burdensom , but in its larger notion looking on it , take it as sufficient for the meaning of what is here delivered , that it is the p p The Vision of the Word of the Lord . Syr. Arab. The Prophecy of the Word of the Lord . Another Arab. message or import of the word of the Lord : a Prophecy from him received , and by his commission delivered by the hand or ministery of Malachi , to Israel . Which Name , as before the division of the two Kingdoms of Judah and Israel , it was common to the twelve Tribes , though afterwards it became a peculiar title to the ten Tribes : so here it is given to the two Tribes , and to all of the other who join'd themselves to them in their return from Babylon . These having had late experience of Gods great favor in turning their captivity , and restoring them to their own Land , and again settling his worship among them , should have been very careful in reforming their waies , and sincere in their obedience : but it was otherwise . Many enormities , and actions contrary to Gods Law , and displeasing to him , and signs of their great ingratitude to him , and unmindfulness of his benefits , were found among them : for which therefore , seeking still their good , he sends this his Prophet to reprove them , and to exhort them to repentance ; and for the comfort of the godly among them , to give them assurance of the coming of the promised Messiah in his due time , to set all things right for their good : as will in order appear in what follows of this Prophecy , which thus begins ,

2 I have loved you , saith the Lord : yet ye say , Wherein hast thou loved us ? was not Esau Jacobs brother ? saith the Lord : yet I loved Jacob.

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

I have loved you , saith the Lord . ] Here seems intimated a reproof of Israel for their great ingratitude and unkindness to the Lord , whilst he tells them , that certainly they ought to have loved him , since that he had first loved them , and ought therefore to have found gratefull returns of love from them : but how contrary behaviour he found from them , he shews in that Question , which he saies , that instead of a ready acknowledgment of his love they were ready to put ; implying little less then an absolute denyal of his kindness , Yet ye say , wherein hast thou loved us ? So that he sees it necessary by a particular instance or proof in the next words , to make evident wherein he had shewed his love to them . Was not , &c.

The scope and sense will be much the same , if with q q Chald. Paraph. and Arab. Vers. MS. R. D. Kimchi . R. Tanchum . others we interpret those words , yet ye say , by , And if ye say , wherein , &c. it will still intimate their ingratitude , and that they were ready so to say ; and that it was necessary to prevent or answer that perverse Question , by confirming by that instance given what he had said , I have loved you , viz. with greater love then ordinary , and shewed to you greater tokens of love then to others . Another learned r r Abarb. Jew reads the Question put something differently : not wherein , as if they utterly denied Gods love to them , which was manifest to all , but wherefore hast thou loved us ? as if they should intimate that there was some reason for it , why he should love them ; viz. in requital of their Father Abraham's love to him ; so that it was not a free love and mercy to them , but a love ( as it were ) of debt , due to them for Abraham's sake , and then the instance given shews how perverse this thought of theirs was . For if it had been only so much love as was due in requital of Abraham's love to him , why then had not Esau , who was descended as well of Abraham as Jacob , had as much right to it , and as great a share in it as Jacob ; his posterity , as they . Whereas by Gods loving Jacob , and hating Esau his twin-brother , 't was made manifest that there was more in it then so ; and that his peculiar love of Jacob , and especial favors to his posterity , were not for Abraham's desert alone , but of free grace and mercy to them , and therefore deserved all possible returns of love , gratitude , and obedience from them . This he makes to be the meaning and connexion of the words , which though in his way it may seem plain , yet is there no need to leave the former interpretation for it .

Was not Esau Jacob's brother ? saith the Lord ; yet I loved Jacob , and I hated Esau. ] This the Lord gives as an instance of his free love to the Israelites , the posterity of Jacob , that whereas Esau and Jacob were twin-brothers , one as well as the other descended from Abraham , both sons of Isaac , by one mother , twins , born at the same time , yet he loved one , and did not love , or hated , the other , and so derived that love and hatred to their posterity , and accordingly shewed to them the tokens and effects thereof . The Apostle S. Paul in Rom. IX . 11 , 13. improveth this argument from hence , that this love to the one , and hatred to the other was declared ; when those children were not yet born , neither had done any good or evil . So that it could not be said one had deserved better then the other , and therefore his love to one above the other must needs appear to be of ftee grace and choice , electing one and rejecting the other ; and the distinction or difference that he made between them may be illustrated by the several advantages that by his love one had over the other in several matters concerning both their spiritual and temporal estate . But the literal explication of the words here intended , requires no more then the view of the particular effect of his love to Jacob's posterity , and hatred to Esau's here instanced in , viz. the utter desolation of Esau's Country , and the restitution of Israel's , when he had given them both into the hand of their Enemies to be punish'd for their sins ; that punishment proving to the one for their utter destruction , to the other but as a fatherly chastisement to make them sensible of their errors , and to amend them , that so they might again be reconciled to him , and taken into favor . Of Esau , therefore ( or his posterity , the Edomites ) he saies that he declared his hatred to him ( or them called by his Name , in that he laid his Mountains and his heritage wast for the Dragons of the wilderness .

His Mountains . ] In Deut. II. 5 . we read that God gave mount Seir unto Esau for a possession , and so again Josh. XXIV . 4 . so that though the occasion of his going first thither out of the land of Canaan be expressed , Genes. XXXVI . 7 . to have been because their riches ( viz. his and his brother Jacob's ) were more then that they might dwell together , and the Land could not bear them both , yet it appears to have been by Gods designation and appointment , that so Esau might take that Country , which is described by naming its cheif mountain , which was Seir , for his possession , and to his posterity , and leave Canaan to Jacob , which his posterity had after for their possession .

Mountains ] s s Drus. here put in the plural number , intimates that in it were more Mountains , or that it was a mountainous Country . We need not here insist on that Note which t t Kimchi . some make , that Gods giving at first to Esau a craggy , mountainous Country , and reserving for Jacob's posterity the more pleasant Country of Canaan , was then a sign of Gods love to Jacob , and hatred to Esau , however true it be . That which is here given us to look on particularly as a sign of his hatred to him , being that those Mountains , and that heritage , that he then gave him , and his posterity had hitherto possessed and flourished in , he had now laid wast , and dispossessing them thereof , gave it to be inhabited by the Dragons of the Wilderness .

Dragons . ] So the Latine , and so the most , if not all latter Translations ; and so divers of the v v R. Sol. Ab. Ezra , Kimchi in Rad. Jewish Expositors seem to take it . But another learned Jew x x R. Tanchum excepts against this rendring , and saith , that the Creatures by this name meant are not Serpents but Jackales , a wild howling beast that lives abroad in desolate places : and that whether the noun be put 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Tannoth in the feminine form ( as here ) or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Tannim in the masculine , as Micah I. 8 . and elsewhere ; it is all one as to the signification . Compare this with Psal. XLIV . 19 . where is , The place of Tannim : and that with Psal. LXIII . 10 . where we read , A portion for Foxes , ( for Foxes and Jackales are not far different in kind or nature . ) These Jackales will prey on dead bodies , yea , dig them out of their Graves , if not well covered . So that these words , Psal. XLIV . 19 . may have this sense , Thou hast caused or suffered us to be smitten in open , wast , unhabited Plains , the place or habitation of Jackales , where such wild beasts prey on the slain bodies , none hindring them : and so will it , in sense , be much like what is said , Psal. LXXIX . 2 .

A y y MS. A●ab . Jew that in that place of Micah , in his Translation into Arabick , so renders Tannim ( the masculine ) as the other would have it , viz. Jackales 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Benat Awi , yet here renders Tannoth ( the feminine ) by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Albume , Owls , why I know not . Concerning the word , see it more largely discoursed there on Micah . But however there be this difference concerning the kind of the creature by this name signified , all tends to the same purpose ; namely , to denote that their Land should be so laid wast as that none but such creatures , as live only in wast desolate places , should for the future inhabit it , and there should not be men to afright them , or keep them thence . An expression , the like to which is elsewhere also used to signify the utter desolation of a place that was formerly well peopled and inhabited , as Isai. XIII . 21 , 22. and XXXIV . 13 . and Jer. IX . 11 . and X. 22 . and II. 27 . And therefore several ancient Translators seem to have thought it sufficient to give the meaning of the words by such expressions which might import , that this Country should be laid wholly and utterly wast , without particularly giving the signification of this word : as the Chalde who renders it , into wastness of the Wilderness ( or a wast wilderness ; ) the Syriack into habitations of the Wilderness ; the Greek , into houses of the Wilderness , which the printed Arabick version following by a plain mistake of the second letter of the word ( reading 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ) renders , into gifts of the Wilderness : Not that they are to be supposed to have read in the Text otherwise then we now do , z z Buxtorf . Vindic. p. 64. but because ( as we said ) they thought it sufficient so in more general terms to give the scope of the words .

A learned a a Capell . Crit. Sac. p. 255. man conjectures the Greek Interpreter ( or Interpreters ) not to have read , as it is usually in the Hebrew 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Letannoth , but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Lechanuth , which signifies a Shop , an Inn , a place where People sit and abide to work , or buy , sell , or rest , or the like : but it is hard to follow such conjectures as require a change of the received reading in the Hebrew Text : and here seems no need of it , if we would justify the Greek Version . If what was before said will not suffice , it will be easier and more probable to say that they took Tannoth to signify Habitations , the same that Neoth elsewhere , as Jer. IX . 9 . and Joel I. 19 . marg. and perhaps it might anciently be used in the Hebrew tongue in that signification , as well as it ( or what is very like it ) is still in the Arabick dialect , which is of so nigh affinity with it , that learned men , even the Jews themselves , often have recourse to it , for finding out the signification of some words which are of seldom use in the Bible ; and in that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Tenaah , or in Hebrew Letters 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifies a mansion , or habitation .

Like threats of destruction to the children of Esau , the Edomites , are elsewhere also denounced , as Jerem. XLIX . from ver. 7 , to ver. 22. and Ezech. XXV . 13 . and the whole 35. Chapter , and in the Prophecy of Obadiah , which is particularly directed against them ; and Joel III. 19 . and all those things which are there spoken of them , we cannot doubt were punctually fulfilled on them , because by God spoken , the least tittle of whose words cannot fail , but as surely be all performed as if it were already done , when spoken ; although remaining Histories should not leave on record every circumstance , when or how it was done and made good ; at least their being no more taken notice of , may seem a part of fulfilling these Prophecies , that they should be small among the Heathen , and despised among men , Jerem. XLIX . 14 . that he should not be , ver. 10. be as though they had not been , Obad. ver. 16. b b Grot. on Ezech. 25.14 . and Josephus , and the Books of the Maccabees . yet will from story appear , what is here said to have been made good on them by the Chaldeans , and what followed by the Jews in the Maccabees time . For this Prophecy is said to have taken place , or been made good by the destruction of the Edomites about c c Grot. when Nabuchadnezzar overcame also the Mo●b●t●s and Ammonites . Josephus , l. 10. c. XI . five years after the Jews were led captive . From which devastation it appears by the words , that they flattered themselves with a recovery , as well as they saw the Jews after 70 years captivity to be restored , but God shews that what they promise themselves in this kind should be in vain . So he adds , 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 .

Whereas Edom saith we are impoverished , but we will return and build the desolate places , &c. ] d d R. D. Kimchi . Some give the sense thus , If Edom shall say , Though we are now become poor and low , and our Land laid wast , yet we will again return , and build the wast places , as Israel have done : which seems nearer then what e e R. Sol. Jarchi . others of the Jews give , From the beginning we have been poor , but henceforward , being we are enriched with the spoils of Jerusalem , we will return and build up our wast places . Another Jewish f f Abarb. Doctor looks on the manner of speech to intimate as if they should say , g g See I Sam. VI. 9 . It is not his hand that smote us , but by ( accident , or ) the fortune of the World we have come ( or fallen ) severall times into a low condition and poverty , and so have our Land laid wast , but we will ( or shall ) again return and build our desolate places . This differs not much in sense from the first ( which is clearest ) only in that he undertakes to give the grounds of their thoughts ; but whatever was the ground of their saying thus with themselves , Gods answer to them is , They shall build , but I will throw down ] their striving to recover themselves shall be all in vain , he will so notoriously frustrate all their endeavours in that kind , that all People seeing how ill things succeed with them , and how irremoveably heavy Gods judgments and curse ly upon them , shall call them , The border of wickedness , a Land of sinfull People , cursed for the sins of its Inhabitants ; a People against whom the wrath of God is so incensed and continued as never to be appeased ; so that instead of that recovery of prosperity , which they promised themselves they should still grow poorer and poorer , and at last be utterly destroyed , as it is at this day , wherein there is no memorial of them , no People owned by that name , except such , as we have elsewhere shewed , as are by the malicious Jews out of mere malice , without any ground , so called , viz. Romans , and in general , Christians : and therefore they expect this Prophecy yet on them to be fulfilled , as Abarbinel , minding nothing but the destruction of the Christians .

The word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Rushshash●●● rendred we are impoverished , is by other ancient Translators rendred , are destroyed : as by the Greek and Latin . And so a learned h h R. Tanch . Jew , both here , and on Jerem. V. 17 . observes two significations to be fastned on it , viz. according to some , we are impoverished ; according to others , we are cut off , or destroyed . And so in Miclal Yophi on this place , out of Kimchi , on Jerem. V. 17 . The sense according to either will be indifferent .

And your eies shall see , &c. ] So evident , so fully shewn are these tokens of Gods love to you , and hatred to Esau's posterity , as that your eies , you being restored to your Country , and theirs continuing desolate , you shall say [ must needs say ] The Lord will be magnified ( or is magnified , or , be the Lord magnified ) from the border of Israel , i i R. D. Kimchi . which still shall be called by their name ; whereas the Country of Edom shall be looked on as an accursed Land , and called The border of wickedness .

From the border . ] In the Margin , upon , or from upon ; and it is noted there that so it is in the Hebrew , and so it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Meal . But it is by a learned Jew k k R. Tanchum . noted that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Me , or the first letter , or the Preposition prefixed which signifies from , is sometimes redundant in such cases , and that it may be all one , as if it were without it , only 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Al , upon , above , or over . The same learned Jew farther adds for explication of the sense , more words , which because his Book is not printed , nor common , it will not be amiss to give , or the meaning of them , which is , [ That the meaning of these words together in connexion with the former is , Ye have or ( shall have ) assurance of his love to you , and providence over you , when you see that you your selves are returned to your own Land , and have power of building and inhabiting it , but they have not power to do the like , but they build , and I throw down , and ye therefore praise ( or shall praise ) and magnify my name for it , saying , The Lord shall be magnified on the border of Israel , that is , his greatness shall be alwaies manifest upon ( or over ) you ; or else it may be supplied thus ; The Lord shall be magnified , who protecteth the border of Israel , or the like . Or the meaning is said to be , It would have become you that you should so do , and have continued so to do ( viz. to have taken due notice of this , and to have said , The Lord be magnified , &c. but you have done the contrary ; as in what follows is declared . Or , saith he , in the opinion of some , the words from the border of Israel , are to be joined with , and ye ; as if it were thus to be construed , And you that reside on ( or dwell in ) the border of Israel , shall say , The Lord be magnified . ] Thus he , which we the rather take notice of , because it will arm us against what another l l Marginal additions in Miclal Yophi . Jew saith that this may be interpreted , And your eies shall see the destruction of Edom in the end of daies ( or the last daies ) and then ye shall say , The Lord be magnified from the border of Israel , that is to say , In all the World shall his name be magnified ; according to what is said , Then will I turn to the People a pure language , that they may call upon the name of the Lord , to serve him with one consent , Zeph. III. 9 . He seems to look upon this Prophecy as not yet fulfilled , but hereafter to be fulfilled by the utter destruction of Edom , ( which certainly hath been long since destroyed ) and setling Israel again in their Land . They willingly catch at any thing whereby to cherish themselves in their fond error of expecting a Messiah yet to come , who shall restore to Israel a temporal Kingdom , and subdue under them all their Enemies , and cut off those whom they please to call Edom , by which name we have shewed whom they mean . He runs in this the same way that Abarbinol doth . Yet here Abarbinel , though he promise to himself a farther fulfilling of it in that way , yet could not but confess it to be already fulfilled ( viz. under the second Temple , and that restitution of Israel from their Babylonish captivity , and the destruction of Edom in those times , and therefore saith , Perhaps this Promise was spoken concerning both times , viz. that so long since past , and that which they expect yet to come . The Verbs being in the Text in the future Tense , as of what was then to come , will not advantage those who would make that use thereof , as if it were yet to be expected : for though their eies had already seen Edom subdued , and their Mountains laid wast , yet there was there that which they were farther to see and admire , viz. that the Edomites should again strive to recover themselves , and rebuild their wast , as Israel had done theirs , but through the continued indignation of the Lord upon them should never be able to do it .

What we read , The Lord will be magnified , m m Drusius . some read Great is ( or , be ) the Lord , the Lord n n Tarnov . doth magnify himself over , or upon , the border of Israel , viz. by taking especial care of it . o o Jun. Trem. Your eies shall see from the border of Israel , and you shall say , The Lord doth magnify himself . The Chalde expounds it , And ye shall say , Let the Glory of God be multiplied , for he hath enlarged the border of Israel , which p p Grot. some well like of , and so it will well agree with what Drusius observes the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 meal properly to signify beyond , but these small differences make no great alteration in the sense and scope .

The inference from what hath been said is plainly this , That seeing God had in thus declaring his peculiar love to them above others , whom he might for the same respects , they also being the seed of Abraham , have made objects of his love , as well as them , certainly they ought to have requited him with more then ordinary love , and testified it by their obedience to him , which seeing they did not , they are justly reproveable . To shew the justness of his reproof of them , and aggravate the unreasonableness of their ingratitude and perverse behaviour towards him , he in the following words proceeds farther to explain his benefits and relations that he stands in , to them , for which tokens of his love to them they ought also to have shewed such respects to him , as those relations required , but did not . He adds therefore , 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 ?

A son honoreth his Father , and a servant his Master , &c. ] God had all along shewed such fatherly love to Israel and paternal care over them above all other Nations , that they could not but acknowledge him their Father : not only by a common right as he is Father of all , as Creator of all , but by a peculiar right , as having adopted them unto a greater priviledge , and nigher relation of sonship then others : and so had he by his peculiar guidance and protection , direction , and government of them , shewed himself a Lord and Master to them , that they could not deny him by a particular right of title to be so to them . This they could not , they would not deny , but rather so challenge him to themselves in these respects q q See how some of them explain Deut. IV. 19 . , as if he were not so at all to other Nations , either a Father or Master to them . The word If , therefore doth not put or suppose it as a thing which they doubted , or such as in words they would deny , but such as while with their mouths they confessed , or could not but confess , they did not in their deeds make good , but rather contradicted : for if they did look on him as a Father , why did they not then duly honor him ; or if as a master , why did they not then reverence and fear him ? and so includes a reprehension of them for not attesting to their outward profession by their respective behaviour , but by that shewed their heart not to be right with him .

For a son honoureth his Father , and a servant his Master . ] It is their duty so to do ; and they transgress not only their duty , but the ordinary custom : they who do not so , are unnatural sons , perverse , ill natured servants : unworthy of those appellations , not doing what they require and suppose will be performed by all that are called by them : and such the Questions here put , where is mine honor ? and where is my fear ? shew them to have been ; as neither yielding to God that honor which from sons is due , and is ordinarily performed to a Father ; nor that fear which servants ow , and usually shew to a Master . The question imports a denial , viz. that they did not this their duty : and because they would perhaps deny themselves to be peccant in what is objected to them , he proceeds by peculiar instances to convict them as guilty ; directing what hath hitherto been said more generally , as to all the People , more particularly to the Priests , who gave ill example in this kind to them , and should have taught them better ,

Saith the Lord of Hosts unto you , O Priests that despise my Name . This reading couples these words with the foregoing part of the verse , though that seem spoken more generally to all the People , and this doth not exclude them , though r r See Chris. à Castro . particularly directed to the Priests , as those who should have prevented such ill behaviour in the People , but now seemed to be occasions to them of despising Gods Name by their despising it first ; s s See Abarbinel . as if his speech to the Priests began at , A son honoreth his Father , &c. others putting a stop after where is my fear ? or after , saith the Lord of Hosts , will have what is spoken peculiarly to the Priests to begin at The Lord of Hosts saith , or speaketh , to you , O Priests , who despise my Name , viz. The Lord accuseth you for despising his Name . This punctation seems to follow the Latin in some Copies ; and t t Drusius . others understanding , To you , O Priests , who despise my Name , I say these things . But this nicety seems of no great import . That which the Priests are accused of is , that they despise his Name , and have him in contempt , which is u u R. D. Kimchi . contrary to that honor which as a Father ; and that fear and reverence , which as he is a Lord , or Master , is due unto him . This were manifestly a great fault ; they seem not to think otherwise , or to justify it in themselves , but rather would justify themselves as not guilty of it , and therefore to say , Be it far from us , we have done no such thing , wherein have we despised thy Name ? x x Drusius . surely in nothing that we know of . He answereth them therefore in the next words .