Malachi 2:15
New International Version
Has not the one God made you? You belong to him in body and spirit. And what does the one God seek? Godly offspring. So be on your guard, and do not be unfaithful to the wife of your youth.

New Living Translation
Didn’t the LORD make you one with your wife? In body and spirit you are his. And what does he want? Godly children from your union. So guard your heart; remain loyal to the wife of your youth.

English Standard Version
Did he not make them one, with a portion of the Spirit in their union? And what was the one God seeking? Godly offspring. So guard yourselves in your spirit, and let none of you be faithless to the wife of your youth.

Berean Standard Bible
Has not the LORD made them one, having a portion of the Spirit? And why one? Because He seeks godly offspring. So guard yourselves in your spirit and do not break faith with the wife of your youth.

King James Bible
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.

New King James Version
But did He not make them one, Having a remnant of the Spirit? And why one? He seeks godly offspring. Therefore take heed to your spirit, And let none deal treacherously with the wife of his youth.

New American Standard Bible
But not one has done so who has a remnant of the Spirit. And why the one? He was seeking a godly offspring. Be careful then about your spirit, and see that none of you deals treacherously against the wife of your youth.

NASB 1995
“But not one has done so who has a remnant of the Spirit. And what did that one do while he was seeking a godly offspring? Take heed then to your spirit, and let no one deal treacherously against the wife of your youth.

NASB 1977
“But not one has done so who has a remnant of the Spirit. And what did that one do while he was seeking a godly offspring? Take heed then, to your spirit, and let no one deal treacherously against the wife of your youth.

Legacy Standard Bible
But not one has done so, even one who has a remnant of the Spirit. And what did that one do while he was seeking a godly seed? Be careful then to keep your spirit, and let no one deal treacherously against the wife of your youth.

Amplified Bible
But not one has done so who has a remnant of the Spirit. And what did that one do while seeking a godly offspring? Take heed then to your spirit, and let no one deal treacherously against the wife of your youth.

Christian Standard Bible
Didn’t God make them one and give them a portion of spirit? What is the one seeking? Godly offspring. So watch yourselves carefully, so that no one acts treacherously against the wife of his youth.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
Didn’t the one God make us with a remnant of His life-breath? And what does the One seek? A godly offspring. So watch yourselves carefully, and do not act treacherously against the wife of your youth.”

American Standard Version
And did he not make one, although he had the residue of the Spirit? And wherefore one? He sought a godly seed. Therefore take heed to your spirit, and let none deal treacherously against the wife of his youth.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
Was there not one man and the remainder of the spirits was his? One seeks seed from God. Watch over your spirit and a man shall not be unfaithful with the wife of his youth

Brenton Septuagint Translation
And did he not do well? and there was the residue of his spirit. But ye said, What does God seek but a seed? But take ye heed to your spirit, and forsake not the wife of thy youth.

Contemporary English Version
Didn't God create you and your wife to become like one person? And why did he do this? It was so you would have children, and then lead them to become God's people. Don't ever be unfaithful to your wife.

Douay-Rheims Bible
Did not one make her, and she is the residue of his spirit? And what doth one seek, but the seed of God? Keep then your spirit, and despise not the wife of thy youth.

English Revised Version
And did he not make one, although he had the residue of the spirit? And wherefore one? He sought a godly seed. Therefore take heed to your spirit, and let none deal treacherously against the wife of his youth.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
Didn't [God] make you one? Your flesh and spirit belong to him. And what does the same [God] look for but godly descendants? So be careful not to be unfaithful to the wife of your youth.

Good News Translation
Didn't God make you one body and spirit with her? What was his purpose in this? It was that you should have children who are truly God's people. So make sure that none of you breaks his promise to his wife.

International Standard Version
Did he not make them one? And the vestige of the spirit remains in him. And why did he make them one? He was seeking godly offspring. So guard yourselves in your spirit, and don't be unfaithful to the wife of your youth.

JPS Tanakh 1917
And not one hath done so Who had exuberance of spirit! For what seeketh the one? A seed given of God. Therefore take heed to your spirit, And let none deal treacherously against the wife of his youth.

Literal Standard Version
And He did not make one [only], | And a remnant of the Spirit [is] for him. And what [is] the one [alone]! He is seeking a godly seed. And you have been watchful over your spirit, | And with the wife of your youth, | None deal treacherously.

Majority Standard Bible
Has not the LORD made them one, having a portion of the Spirit? And why one? Because He seeks godly offspring. So guard yourselves in your spirit and do not break faith with the wife of your youth.

New American Bible
Did he not make them one, with flesh and spirit? And what does the One require? Godly offspring! You should be on guard, then, for your life, and do not break faith with the wife of your youth.

NET Bible
No one who has even a small portion of the Spirit in him does this. What did our ancestor do when seeking a child from God? Be attentive, then, to your own spirit, for one should not be disloyal to the wife he took in his youth.

New Revised Standard Version
Did not one God make her? Both flesh and spirit are his. And what does the one God desire? Godly offspring. So look to yourselves, and do not let anyone be faithless to the wife of his youth.

New Heart English Bible
Did he not make one, although he had the residue of the Spirit? Why one? He sought a godly seed. Therefore take heed to your spirit, and let none deal treacherously against the wife of his youth.

Webster's Bible Translation
And did he not make one? Yet had he the residue of the spirit. And why 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.

World English Bible
Did he not make you one, although he had the residue of the Spirit? Why one? He sought godly offspring. Therefore take heed to your spirit, and let no one deal treacherously against the wife of his youth.

Young's Literal Translation
And He did not make one only, And He hath the remnant of the Spirit. And what is the one alone! He is seeking a godly seed. And ye have been watchful over your spirit, And with the wife of thy youth, None doth deal treacherously.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Judah's Unfaithfulness
14Yet you ask, “Why?” It is because the LORD has been a witness between you and the wife of your youth, against whom you have broken faith, though she is your companion and your wife by covenant. 15Has not the LORD made them one, having a portion of the Spirit? And why one? Because He seeks godly offspring. So guard yourselves in your spirit and do not break faith with the wife of your youth. 16“For I hate divorce,” says the LORD, the God of Israel. “He who divorces his wife covers his garment with violence,” says the LORD of Hosts. So guard yourselves in your spirit and do not break faith.…

Cross References
Matthew 19:4
Jesus answered, "Have you not read that from the beginning the Creator 'made them male and female,'

Matthew 19:5
and said, 'For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh'?

1 Corinthians 7:14
For the unbelieving husband is sanctified through his believing wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified through her believing husband. Otherwise your children would be unclean, but now they are holy.

Genesis 2:24
For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.

Exodus 20:14
You shall not commit adultery.

Leviticus 20:10
If a man commits adultery with another man's wife--with the wife of his neighbor--both the adulterer and the adulteress must surely be put to death.

Ruth 4:12
And may your house become like the house of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah, because of the offspring the LORD will give you by this young woman."


Treasury of Scripture

And did not he make one? Yet had he the residue of the spirit. And why 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.

did.

Genesis 1:27
So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

Genesis 2:20-24
And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him…

Matthew 19:4-6
And he answered and said unto them, Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female, …

residue.

Genesis 2:7
And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

Job 27:3
All the while my breath is in me, and the spirit of God is in my nostrils;

Ecclesiastes 12:7
Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.

That he.

Genesis 24:3-7,44
And I will make thee swear by the LORD, the God of heaven, and the God of the earth, that thou shalt not take a wife unto my son of the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell: …

Genesis 26:34,35
And Esau was forty years old when he took to wife Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Bashemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite: …

Genesis 27:46
And Rebekah said to Isaac, I am weary of my life because of the daughters of Heth: if Jacob take a wife of the daughters of Heth, such as these which are of the daughters of the land, what good shall my life do me?

godly seed.

Genesis 6:2
That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose.

Hosea 1:10
Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured nor numbered; and it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people, there it shall be said unto them, Ye are the sons of the living God.

Acts 3:25
Ye are the children of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying unto Abraham, And in thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed.

take.

Malachi 2:14
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.

Proverbs 4:23
Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.

Proverbs 6:25
Lust not after her beauty in thine heart; neither let her take thee with her eyelids.

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Although Deal Desire Godly Heed Life Offspring Remnant Residue Seed Seek Seeketh Seeking Sought Spirit Sustained Treacherously Wherefore Wife Youth
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Although Deal Desire Godly Heed Life Offspring Remnant Residue Seed Seek Seeketh Seeking Sought Spirit Sustained Treacherously Wherefore Wife Youth
Malachi 2
1. He sharply reproves the priests for neglecting their covenant;
10. and the people for marrying strange wives;
13. and for putting away their former ones,
17. and for infidelity.














(15, 16) These are two very difficult verses, which should perhaps, be rendered as follows:--

For did He not make [man and his wife, Genesis 2:24] one? and has he [the husband] any superiority of spirit [that he should divorce at will]? And what is this [pair which is become] one? [Answer.] It seeketh a godly seed. Therefore take heed to yourselves [literally, your spirit], and with respect to the wife of thy youth--Let none be faithless.

Verse 15. - And did not he make one? Yet had he the residue of the spirit. The passage has always been a crux, and has received many interpretations. The Anglican rendering (which, however, is probably not correct) is thus explained: God made at first one man and one woman, to show the oneness of marriage, and God gave man the breath of life and the residue to the woman; he made them both equally living souls; therefore divorce was never contemplated in the first institution of marriage. Others take "one" to mean Abraham, and explain: Abraham did not do so, i.e. did not repudiate his legitimate wife, though barren; and he had a share of the spirit of right, or he had excellence of spirit. But these are very forced interpretations, and do not occur naturally from a consideration of the words. The Hebrew may be translated more satisfactorily, Not any one has done so who has a remnant of the spirit (ruach)." No one acts as you have done who has in him any of that Divine life which God at first breathed into man; in other words, no man of conscience and virtue has ever thus divorced his wife. The reading of the Septuagint varies here, the Vatican manuscript giving, Οὐ καλὸν ἐποίησε; "Did he not well?" and the Alexandrian, οὐκ ἄλλος ἐποίησε: but both seem to imply an interpretation such as we have just given. And wherefore one? That he might seek a godly seed. Why did one act in this way? was it that he might have godly children? Surely not. No one would divorce his lawful Hebrew wife, and marry an idolatress, who wished to leave a holy posterity behind him. Many commentators, thinking that Abraham is here meant, and that the prophet is meeting an objection which might be founded upon his action with regard to Hagar, translate, "And what did the one? He was seeking a godly seed." Abraham at Sarah's request took Hagar to wife, in order to have the promised seed; he dismissed her in order to carry out the purpose of God in confining the promise to Isaac. Therefore his conduct is no support for those who repudiate their own wives and marry strange women, not to raise up children for God, but to satisfy their carnal lusts. It is difficult, however, to see how the prophet's hearers could have understood the allusion without further explanation. As Ribera pithily observes (quoted by Knabenbauer), "Neque ita clare ex re allata designatur (Abraham), ut non potius divinatione quam explicatione opus sit ad eum eruendum." It may also be remarked that the reference to the patriarch would not have been altogether successful, if the auditors remembered the Keturahites, who, though sprung from Abraham, were not "a godly seed." The LXX. has, Καὶ εἴπατε, τί ἄλλο η} σπέρμα ζητεῖ ὁ Θεός; "And ye said, What else than seed doth God seek?" as if the increase of population, from whatever source, was the only object required. This may have been one thought of the people, but it can hardly be got out of the present Hebrew text. Take heed to your spirit. Beware lest ye lose the spirit which God has given you. By acting thus contrary to conscience and the light vouchsafed to them, they ran the risk of being deprived altogether of this heavenly guide, and losing all distinction between right and wrong.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
Has not [the LORD]
וְלֹא־ (wə·lō-)
Conjunctive waw | Adverb - Negative particle
Strong's 3808: Not, no

made them
עָשָׂ֗ה (‘ā·śāh)
Verb - Qal - Perfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 6213: To do, make

one,
אֶחָ֣ד (’e·ḥāḏ)
Number - masculine singular
Strong's 259: United, one, first

having a portion
וּשְׁאָ֥ר (ū·šə·’ār)
Conjunctive waw | Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 7605: Rest, residue, remnant

of the Spirit?
ר֙וּחַ֙ (rū·aḥ)
Noun - common singular
Strong's 7307: Wind, breath, exhalation, life, anger, unsubstantiality, a region of the sky, spirit

And why
וּמָה֙ (ū·māh)
Conjunctive waw | Interrogative
Strong's 4100: What?, what!, indefinitely what

one?
הָֽאֶחָ֔ד (hā·’e·ḥāḏ)
Article | Number - masculine singular
Strong's 259: United, one, first

Because He seeks
מְבַקֵּ֖שׁ (mə·ḇaq·qêš)
Verb - Piel - Participle - masculine singular
Strong's 1245: To search out, to strive after

godly
אֱלֹהִ֑ים (’ĕ·lō·hîm)
Noun - masculine plural
Strong's 430: gods -- the supreme God, magistrates, a superlative

offspring.
זֶ֣רַע (ze·ra‘)
Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 2233: Seed, fruit, plant, sowing-time, posterity

Therefore guard yourselves
וְנִשְׁמַרְתֶּם֙ (wə·niš·mar·tem)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Nifal - Conjunctive perfect - second person masculine plural
Strong's 8104: To hedge about, guard, to protect, attend to

in your spirit
בְּר֣וּחֲכֶ֔ם (bə·rū·ḥă·ḵem)
Preposition-b | Noun - masculine singular construct | second person masculine plural
Strong's 7307: Wind, breath, exhalation, life, anger, unsubstantiality, a region of the sky, spirit

and do not
אַל־ (’al-)
Adverb
Strong's 408: Not

break faith
יִבְגֹּֽד׃ (yiḇ·gōḏ)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 898: To cover, to act covertly, to pillage

with the wife
וּבְאֵ֥שֶׁת (ū·ḇə·’ê·šeṯ)
Conjunctive waw, Preposition-b | Noun - feminine singular construct
Strong's 802: Woman, wife, female

of your youth.
נְעוּרֶ֖יךָ (nə·‘ū·re·ḵā)
Noun - masculine plural construct | second person masculine singular
Strong's 5271: Youth, the state, the persons


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OT Prophets: Malachi 2:15 Did he not make one although he (Malachi Mal Ml)
Malachi 2:14
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