SEV Biblia, Chapter 3:1
¶ He aquí, yo envío mi Mensajero, el cual barrerá el camino delante de mí; y luego vendrá a su Templo el Señor a quien vosotros buscáis, y el ángel del pacto, a quien deseáis vosotros. He aquí viene, dijo el SEÑOR de los ejércitos.
Clarke's Bible Commentary - Malachi 3:1
Verse 1. Behold, I will send my messenger] ykalm Malachi, the very name of the prophet. But this speaks of John the Baptist. I, the Messiah, the Seed of God, mentioned above, will send my messenger, John the Baptist. He shall prepare the way] Be as a pioneer before me; a corrector of civil abuses, and a preacher of righteousness.
And the Lord, whom ye seek] The Messiah, whom ye expect, from the account given by the prophet Daniel, in his seventy weeks, chap. ix. 24.
Shall suddenly come to his temple] Shall soon be presented before the Lord in his temple; cleanse it from its defilement, and fill it with his teaching and his glory.
The Messenger of the covenant] He that comes to fulfill the great design, in reference to the covenant made with Abram, that in his seed all the families of the earth should be blessed. See the parallel texts in the margin, and the notes on them.
John Gill's Bible Commentary
Ver. 1. Behold, I will send my messenger , etc.] These are the words of Christ, in answer to the question put in the last verse of the preceding chapter ( Malachi 2:17), “Where [is] the God of judgment?” intimating that he would quickly appear, and previous to his coming send his messenger or angel; not the angel of death to destroy the wicked, as Jarchi thinks; nor an angel from heaven, as Kimchi; nor Messiah the son of Joseph; as Aben Ezra; nor the Prophet Malachi himself, as Abarbinel; but the same that is called Elijah the prophet, ( Malachi 4:5) and is no other than John the Baptist, as is clear from ( Matthew 11:10 Mark 1:2) called a “messenger” or “angel”, not by nature, but by office; and Christ’s messenger, because sent by him and on his errand; and which shows the power and authority of Christ in sending forth ministers; his superior excellency to John, and his existence before him, or he could not be sent by him, and so before his incarnation; for John was sent by him before he was in the flesh, and consequently this is a proof of the proper deity of Christ: and the word “behold” is prefixed to this, in order to raise the attention of those that put the above question, and all others; as well as to show that the message John was sent upon was of the greatest moment and importance; as that the Messiah was just ready to appear, his kingdom was at hand, and the Jews ought to believe in him; though it also respects the coming of the Messiah, spoken of in the latter part of the text: and he shall prepare the way before me ; by declaring to the Jews that he was born, and was in the midst of them; by pointing him out unto them; by preaching the doctrine of repentance, and exhorting them to believe in him; and by administering the ordinance of baptism in general to all proper subjects, and in particular to Christ, by which he was made manifest to Israel; (see Gill on “ Mark 1:2”) the allusion is to kings and great men sending persons before them when on a journey, to give notice of their coming, and provide for them: and the Lord, whom ye seek ; this is the person himself speaking, the Son of God, and promised Messiah, the Lord of all men, and particularly of his church and people, in right of marriage, by virtue of redemption, and by being their Head and King; so Kimchi and Ben Melech interpret it of him, and even Abarbinel himself; the Messiah that had been so long spoken of and so much expected, and whom the Jews sought after, either in a scoffing manner, expressed in the above question, or rather seriously; some as a temporal deliverer, to free them from the Roman yoke, and bring them into a state of liberty, prosperity, and grandeur; and others as a spiritual Saviour, to deliver from sin, law, hell, and death, and save them with an everlasting salvation: shall suddenly come to his temple ; meaning not his human nature, nor his church, sometimes so called; but the material temple at Jerusalem, the second temple, called “his”, because devoted to his service and worship, which proves him to be God, and because of his frequency in it; here he was brought and presented by his parents at the proper time, for the purification of his mother; here he was at twelve years of age disputing with the doctors; and here Simeon, Anna, and others, were waiting for him, ( Luke 2:22,25,27,38,46) and we often read of his being here, and of his using his authority in it as the Lord and proprietor of it; and of the Hosannas given him here, ( Matthew 21:12-15,23) the manner in which he should come, “suddenly”, may refer to the manifestation of it, quickly after John the Baptist had prepared his way by his doctrine and baptism: even the messenger of the covenant ; not of the covenant of works with Adam, of which there was no mediator and messenger; nor of the covenant of circumcision, at which, according to the Jews, Elias presides; nor of the covenant at Sinai, of which Moses was the mediator; but of the covenant of grace, of which Christ is not only the Surety and Mediator; but, as here, “the Messenger”; because it is revealed, made known, and exhibited in a more glorious manner by him under the Gospel dispensation, through the ministration of the word and ordinances. Deuteronomy Dieu observes, that the word in the Ethiopic language signifies a prince as well as a messenger, and so may be rendered, “the Prince of the covenant”, which is a way of speaking used in ( Daniel 11:22): whom ye delight in ; either carnally, as they pleased themselves with the thoughts of a temporal prince, and of great honour and grandeur under him; and as they would have done, had he submitted to have been made a king by them in this sense; or rather spiritually, and so is to be understood of such who had a spiritual knowledge of him, and joy in him; who rejoiced and delighted in the contemplation of his person, offices, righteousness, and salvation: he shall come, saith the Lord of hosts ; this expresses the certainty of his coming, being said by himself, who is the Lord of hosts, the Lord of armies in heaven and in earth, the King of kings, and Lord of lords. This passage is, in some Jewish writers f64 , interpreted of the world to come, or times of the Messiah.
Matthew Henry Commentary
Verses 1-6 - The first words of this chapter seem an answer to the scoffers of thos days. Here is a prophecy of the appearing of John the Baptist. He is Christ's harbinger. He shall prepare the way before him, by calling me to repentance. The Messiah had been long called, "He that should come, and now shortly he will come. He is the Messenger of the covenant Those who seek Jesus, shall find pleasure in him, often when not looke for. The Lord Jesus, prepares the sinner's heart to be his temple, by the ministry of his word and the convictions of his Spirit, and he enters it as the Messenger of peace and consolation. No hypocrite of formalist can endure his doctrine, or stand before his tribunal. Chris came to distinguish men, to separate between the precious and the vile He shall sit as a Refiner. Christ, by his gospel, shall purify an reform his church, and by his Spirit working with it, shall regenerat and cleanse souls. He will take away the dross found in them. He wil separate their corruptions, which render their faculties worthless an useless. The believer needs not fear the fiery trial of afflictions an temptations, by which the Saviour refines his gold. He will take car it is not more intense or longer than is needful for his good; and thi trial will end far otherwise than that of the wicked. Christ will, by interceding for them, make them accepted. Where no fear of God is, n good is to be expected. Evil pursues sinners. God is unchangeable. An though the sentence against evil works be not executed speedily, yet it will be executed; the Lord is as much an enemy to sin as ever. We ma all apply this to ourselves. Because we have to do with a God tha changes not, therefore it is that we are not consumed; because his compassions fail not.
Original Hebrew
הנני 2005 שׁלח 7971 מלאכי 4397 ופנה 6437 דרך 1870 לפני 6440 ופתאם 6597 יבוא 935 אל 413 היכלו 1964 האדון 136 אשׁר 834 אתם 859 מבקשׁים 1245 ומלאך 4397 הברית 1285 אשׁר 834 אתם 859 חפצים 2655 הנה 2009 בא 935 אמר 559 יהוה 3068 צבאות׃ 6635
