The Meaning of Malachi 2:17 Explained

Malachi 2:17

KJV: Ye have wearied the LORD with your words. Yet ye say, Wherein have we wearied him? When ye say, Every one that doeth evil is good in the sight of the LORD, and he delighteth in them; or, Where is the God of judgment?

YLT: Ye have wearied Jehovah with your words, And ye have said: 'In what have we wearied Him?' In your saying: 'Every evil-doer is good in the eyes of Jehovah, And in them He is delighting,' Or, 'Where is the God of judgment?'

Darby: Ye have wearied Jehovah with your words, and ye say, Wherein have we wearied him? In that ye say, Every one that doeth evil is good in the sight of Jehovah, and he delighteth in them; or, Where is the God of judgment?

ASV: Ye have wearied Jehovah with your words. Yet ye say, Wherein have we wearied him? In that ye say, Every one that doeth evil is good in the sight of Jehovah, and he delighteth in them; or where is the God of justice?

Discover Malachi 2:17

CONTEXT: What is the Context of Malachi 2:17?

MEANING: What does Malachi 2:17 Mean?

WORDS: What do the individual words in Malachi 2:17 mean?

RELATIONS: What do the major concepts mean in Malachi 2:17?

KJV Reverse Interlinear

Ye have wearied  the LORD  with your words.  Yet ye say,  Wherein have we wearied  [him]? When ye say,  Every one that doeth  evil  [is] good  in the sight  of the LORD,  and he delighteth  in them; or, Where [is] the God  of judgment? 

What does Malachi 2:17 Mean?

Verse Meaning

Malachi recorded complaints that the people were voicing that gave further proof that they were acting faithlessly and needed to change (cf. Malachi 2:10-15 a). That another disputation is in view is clear from the question and answer format that begins this pericope, as it does the others. Malachi 2:17 contains the question and answer, and the discussion follows in Malachi 3:1-6. The Israelites" changeability ( Malachi 2:17) contrasts with Yahweh"s constancy ( Malachi 3:6).
"The reader is introduced here for the first time in Malachi to three themes, all of which may be expressed, for convenience, as needs: the need for messianic intervention, the need for a day of judgment, and the need for social justice." [1]
Malachi announced to his hearers that they had wearied God with their words; He was tired of hearing them say something. Their response was again hypocritical incredulity. They believed He could hardly be tired of listening to them since He had committed Himself to them as their covenant lord (cf. Deuteronomy 28:1-1474).
This is another place where Scripture seems to contradict itself. On the one hand God said He does not grow weary ( Isaiah 40:28), but on the other hand He said He was weary (here). The solution, I think, is that in the first case He was speaking about His essential character; He does not tire out like human beings do. In the second case He meant that He was tired of the Israelites speaking as they did. In this second case He used anthropomorphic language to describe how He felt as though He were a human being, which, of course, He is not. [2]
The prophet explained that Yahweh was tired of the Israelites saying that He delighted in them even though they said that everyone who did evil was acceptable to Him. They seem to have lost their conscience for right and wrong and assumed that because God did not intervene He approved of their sin. Really their question amounted to a challenge to God"s justice. If they were breaking His law and He was just, He surely must punish them. Their return to the land indicated to them that He was blessing them, and He promised to bless the godly in the Mosaic Covenant ( 1713918666_1).
Contemporary people say the same thing. "If there is a just God, why doesn"t He do something about all the suffering in the world?" "If God is just, why do the wicked prosper?" Scripture reveals that God blesses the wicked as well as the righteous ( Matthew 5:45; Acts 14:17), and the righteous suffer as well as the wicked because of the Fall and sin ( Genesis 3:16-19; Ecclesiastes 2:17-23). Moreover, God allows Satan to afflict the righteous as well as the wicked ( Job 1-2). God will eventually punish the wicked and bless the righteous, but perhaps not in this life (cf. Job 21:7-26; Job 24:1-17; Psalm 73:1-14; Ecclesiastes 8:14; Jeremiah 12:1-4; Habakkuk 1). Malachi"s audience had forgotten part of what God had revealed on this subject, and, of course, they had not yet received New Testament revelation about it.
"Disillusionment had followed the rebuilding of the Temple because, though decade followed decade, no supernatural event marked the return of the Lord to Zion." [3]

Context Summary

Malachi 2:1-17 - The Transgression Of The Covenant
As a contrast to the disgraceful attitude which the prophet had described as characteristic of the priesthood, he paints the picture of the noble priest, whose burning zeal for God's honor averted evil and punishment from the people. It is desirable that each servant of God should seek to exemplify these traits of character, for it is only they who walk with God in peace and equity who can turn away "many from iniquity." The prophet reproves those who had put away their Jewish wives and had contracted marriage with foreigners. In doing this they had ignored the fact that God was the Father of the Hebrew race, of the women as well as the men, in an especial sense in which He was not the Father of the heathen. In answer to the argument of the Jews, who demanded a plurality of wives, Malachi says that God originally made only one woman for one man, though He could have made many. It was a sin, therefore, against the original constitution of the race for a man to have more than one wife, and this is the argument that our Lord employed in Matthew 19:4. The one man for the one woman is the secret of a happy home-life and of a godly seed. [source]

Chapter Summary: 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

What do the individual words in Malachi 2:17 mean?

You have wearied Yahweh with your words And yet you say in what [way] have we wearied [Him] in that you say Everyone who does evil [Is] good in the sight of Yahweh and in them He delights Or where [is] the God of justice
הוֹגַעְתֶּ֤ם יְהוָה֙ בְּדִבְרֵיכֶ֔ם וַאֲמַרְתֶּ֖ם בַּמָּ֣ה הוֹגָ֑עְנוּ בֶּאֱמָרְכֶ֗ם כָּל־ עֹ֨שֵׂה רָ֜ע ט֣וֹב ׀ בְּעֵינֵ֣י יְהוָ֗ה וּבָהֶם֙ ה֣וּא חָפֵ֔ץ א֥וֹ אַיֵּ֖ה אֱלֹהֵ֥י ؟ הַמִּשְׁפָּֽט

הוֹגַעְתֶּ֤ם  You  have  wearied 
Parse: Verb, Hifil, Perfect, second person masculine plural
Root: יָגַע  
Sense: to toil, labour, grow weary, be weary.
יְהוָה֙  Yahweh 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: יהוה 
Sense: the proper name of the one true God.
בְּדִבְרֵיכֶ֔ם  with  your  words 
Parse: Preposition-b, Noun, masculine plural construct, second person masculine plural
Root: דָּבָר  
Sense: speech, word, speaking, thing.
וַאֲמַרְתֶּ֖ם  And  yet  you  say 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Conjunctive perfect, second person masculine plural
Root: אָמַר 
Sense: to say, speak, utter.
בַּמָּ֣ה  in  what  [way] 
Parse: Preposition-b, Interrogative
Root: לָמָּה 
Sense: what, how, of what kind.
הוֹגָ֑עְנוּ  have  we  wearied  [Him] 
Parse: Verb, Hifil, Perfect, first person common plural
Root: יָגַע  
Sense: to toil, labour, grow weary, be weary.
בֶּאֱמָרְכֶ֗ם  in  that  you  say 
Parse: Preposition-b, Verb, Qal, Infinitive construct, second person masculine plural
Root: אָמַר 
Sense: to say, speak, utter.
כָּל־  Everyone 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct
Root: כֹּל  
Sense: all, the whole.
עֹ֨שֵׂה  who  does 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Participle, masculine singular construct
Root: עָשָׂה 
Sense: to do, fashion, accomplish, make.
רָ֜ע  evil 
Parse: Adjective, masculine singular
Root: רַע 
Sense: bad, evil.
ט֣וֹב ׀  [Is]  good 
Parse: Adjective, masculine singular
Root: טָבַב 
Sense: good, pleasant, agreeable.
בְּעֵינֵ֣י  in  the  sight 
Parse: Preposition-b, Noun, cdc
Root: עֹונָה 
Sense: eye.
יְהוָ֗ה  of  Yahweh 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: יהוה 
Sense: the proper name of the one true God.
וּבָהֶם֙  and  in  them 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Preposition, third person masculine plural
חָפֵ֔ץ  delights 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, third person masculine singular
Root: חָפֵץ 
Sense: to delight in, take pleasure in, desire, be pleased with.
אַיֵּ֖ה  where 
Parse: Interrogative
Root: אַיֵּה  
Sense: where?.
אֱלֹהֵ֥י  [is]  the  God 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural construct
Root: אֱלֹהִים  
Sense: (plural).
؟ הַמִּשְׁפָּֽט  of  justice 
Parse: Article, Noun, masculine singular
Root: מִשְׁפָּט  
Sense: judgment, justice, ordinance.

What are the major concepts related to Malachi 2:17?

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