The Meaning of Malachi 2:9 Explained

Malachi 2:9

KJV: Therefore have I also made you contemptible and base before all the people, according as ye have not kept my ways, but have been partial in the law.

YLT: And I also, I have made you despised and low before all the people, Because ye are not keeping My ways, And are accepting persons in the law.

Darby: And I also have made you contemptible and base before all the people, because ye have not kept my ways, but have respect of persons in administering the law.

ASV: Therefore have I also made you contemptible and base before all the people, according as ye have not kept my ways, but have had respect of persons in the law.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

Therefore have I also made  you contemptible  and base  before all the people,  according  as ye have not kept  my ways,  but have been partial  in the law. 

What does Malachi 2:9 Mean?

Verse Meaning

Since the priests had despised the Lord, the Lord had made them despised in the eyes of the people. They did not obey His will but had told the people what they wanted to hear. Their penalty should have been death ( Numbers 18:32).
Thus ends the first hortatory discourse in Malachi. This one, addressed specifically to Israel"s unfaithful priests, should challenge all God"s servants to serve Him with heartfelt gratitude for His grace and with the awareness that He will punish unfaithful workmen.

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 In answer to the argument of the Jews, who demanded a plurality of wives, Malachi says that God originally made only one woman for one man, though He could have made many.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 2:9 mean?

Therefore also I have made you contemptible and base Before all the people because - not you have kept for My ways but have shown partiality - in the law -
וְגַם־ אֲנִ֞י נָתַ֧תִּי אֶתְכֶ֛ם נִבְזִ֥ים וּשְׁפָלִ֖ים לְכָל־ הָעָ֑ם כְּפִ֗י אֲשֶׁ֤ר אֵֽינְכֶם֙ שֹׁמְרִ֣ים אֶת־ דְּרָכַ֔י וְנֹשְׂאִ֥ים פָּנִ֖ים בַּתּוֹרָֽה פ

וְגַם־  Therefore  also 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Conjunction
Root: גַּם  
Sense: also, even, indeed, moreover, yea.
נָתַ֧תִּי  have  made 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, first person common singular
Root: יָתַן 
Sense: to give, put, set.
נִבְזִ֥ים  contemptible 
Parse: Verb, Nifal, Participle, masculine plural
Root: בָּזָה 
Sense: to despise, hold in contempt, disdain.
וּשְׁפָלִ֖ים  and  base 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Adjective, masculine plural
Root: שָׁפָל  
Sense: low, humble.
לְכָל־  Before  all 
Parse: Preposition-l, Noun, masculine singular construct
Root: כֹּל  
Sense: all, the whole.
הָעָ֑ם  the  people 
Parse: Article, Noun, masculine singular
Root: עַם 
Sense: nation, people.
כְּפִ֗י  because 
Parse: Preposition-k, Noun, masculine singular construct
Root: פֶּה  
Sense: mouth.
אֲשֶׁ֤ר  - 
Parse: Pronoun, relative
Root: אֲשֶׁר 
Sense: (relative part.).
אֵֽינְכֶם֙  not  you 
Parse: Adverb, second person masculine plural
Root: אַיִן 
Sense: nothing, not, nought n.
שֹׁמְרִ֣ים  have  kept 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Participle, masculine plural
Root: שָׁמַר  
Sense: to keep, guard, observe, give heed.
דְּרָכַ֔י  My  ways 
Parse: Noun, common plural construct, first person common singular
Root: דֶּרֶךְ  
Sense: way, road, distance, journey, manner.
וְנֹשְׂאִ֥ים  but  have  shown  partiality 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Participle, masculine plural
Root: נָשָׂא  
Sense: to lift, bear up, carry, take.
פָּנִ֖ים  - 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural
Root: לִפְנֵי 
Sense: face.
בַּתּוֹרָֽה  in  the  law 
Parse: Preposition-b, Article, Noun, feminine singular
Root: תֹּורָה  
Sense: law, direction, instruction.
פ  - 
Parse: Punctuation