Malachi 2:13-16, King James Version
Italic words were supplied in the English translation for clarity.
Malachi 2:13-16
Rejected Offerings Expose Treachery against the Wife of Youth
Rejected offerings have a witness standing at home
A second charge explains the tears that cover the altar. The LORD no longer regards the offering or receives it with good will. Why? He has been witness between the man and the wife of his youth. She is companion and wife of covenant, and he has dealt treacherously with her.
The altar scene is not proof that emotion is fake. It is proof that lament which ignores harm done to a covenant partner cannot buy back a hearing. The repeated root for treachery, already used of brother against brother, now names marital faithlessness.
Guard your spirit; do not make a slogan out of damaged syntax
Verses 15-16 are among the hardest lines in the book. 'One,' 'spirit,' and 'godly seed' can be arranged more than one way. 'He hateth putting away' is one English construal of compact Hebrew that may make the LORD, the divorcing man, or a conditional clause the subject. Ancient witnesses do not erase the difficulty.
What remains controlling is treachery, the LORD's witness for the wife, the command to take heed to your spirit, and violence covering a garment. Take marital faithlessness seriously. Do not turn a contested sentence into a trap that keeps a spouse in danger, forbids safety, legal help, pastoral care, or emergency protection, or treats every divorced person as a single guilty class.
How this should shape us
Name abandonment, coercion, and violence as the wrongs they are. Pursue safety and accountability first. Never use Malachi 2:16 alone to pressure a harmed person to remain accessible to abuse, to prove faith by returning, or to silence a request for protection.
Teach it back
Explain Malachi 2:13-16 in your own words. Include its place in Malachi's disputation movement, one material uncertainty, and one use the context rules out.
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Go deeper
The explanation above is meant to stand on its own. Open these notes only if you want language, history, disagreements, or source locations.
Where careful interpreters disagreeThe strongest options and their difficulties
Where do careful interpreters disagree?
Best judgment: Major readings make the LORD, the divorcing man, or a conditional subject govern 2:16; verse 15 has still wider reconstructions. Some connect the paragraph closely to foreign remarriage, others focus on abandonment of long-standing wives without specifying the next union. The preferred judgment is to keep treachery and violence central, retain translation uncertainty visibly, and refuse an absolute slogan where the Hebrew is disputed.
How certain? probableResearch trail and exact locationsThe source record behind this section
Supports: Exact reader-facing Scripture wording, paragraph markers, supplied-word markup, and complete verse coverage.
Malachi 2:13-16, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording, morphology, clause relationships, recurring roots, and the base text behind translation discussion.
Open Scriptures MorphHB v.2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Mal.xml, 2:13-16
Supports: Verse-level translation, syntax, textual, historical, and uncertainty notes.
NET Bible Malachi PDF, printed pp. 1804, translation and notes on 2:13-16
Supports: Compact orientation, disputation structure, dating options, and verse-level interpretive alternatives.
Rogerson, 'Malachi,' Oxford Bible Commentary, printed pp. 615-617
Supports: Superscription, historical-setting proposals, title/name questions, compositional alternatives, and final-form orientation.
Snyman, 'A Theological Appraisal of the Book of Malachi,' Old Testament Essays 27/2 (2014), pp. 605-606
Supports: Textual and translation alternatives in 2:15-16 and ethical limits on using disputed divorce wording against vulnerable spouses.
Ademiluka, '"For I Hate Divorce," says the Lord,' Old Testament Essays 32/3 (2019), pp. 846-868, especially sections C-F and Conclusion on Malachi 2:10-16
Supports: Current commentary architecture, literary structure, messenger framing, and disclosed preview limits.
Schart, Malachi, IECOT publisher preview, contents pp. 5-6 and introduction pp. 11-16
Sources for This Section
These records identify the source, the claim it supports, and the exact location used. A source remains evidence to evaluate; it does not replace the biblical text.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact reader-facing Scripture wording, paragraph markers, supplied-word markup, and complete verse coverage.
Exact location: Malachi 2:13-16, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus
Open source ↗hebrew text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: Malachi
Open Scriptures
Open Scriptures, release 2.2
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording, morphology, clause relationships, recurring roots, and the base text behind translation discussion.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v.2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Mal.xml, 2:13-16
Open source ↗translation and translator notes
NET Bible: Malachi with translators' notes
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, 2006
Supports: Verse-level translation, syntax, textual, historical, and uncertainty notes.
Exact location: NET Bible Malachi PDF, printed pp. 1804, translation and notes on 2:13-16
Open source ↗modern critical commentary
Malachi
John W. Rogerson
Oxford University Press, in The Oxford Bible Commentary, 2001
Supports: Compact orientation, disputation structure, dating options, and verse-level interpretive alternatives.
Exact location: Rogerson, 'Malachi,' Oxford Bible Commentary, printed pp. 615-617
Open source ↗peer reviewed journal article
A Theological Appraisal of the Book of Malachi
Fanie Snyman
Old Testament Essays 27.2, 2014
Supports: Superscription, historical-setting proposals, title/name questions, compositional alternatives, and final-form orientation.
Exact location: Snyman, 'A Theological Appraisal of the Book of Malachi,' Old Testament Essays 27/2 (2014), pp. 605-606
Open source ↗peer reviewed journal article
For I Hate Divorce, says the Lord: Interpreting Malachi 2:16 in relation to prohibition of divorce in some churches in Nigeria
Solomon Olusola Ademiluka
Old Testament Essays 32.3, 2019
Supports: Textual and translation alternatives in 2:15-16 and ethical limits on using disputed divorce wording against vulnerable spouses.
Exact location: Ademiluka, '"For I Hate Divorce," says the Lord,' Old Testament Essays 32/3 (2019), pp. 846-868, especially sections C-F and Conclusion on Malachi 2:10-16
Open source ↗modern critical commentary preview
Malachi
Aaron Schart; translated by Linda M. Maloney
W. Kohlhammer, International Exegetical Commentary on the Old Testament, 2022
Supports: Current commentary architecture, literary structure, messenger framing, and disclosed preview limits.
Exact location: Schart, Malachi, IECOT publisher preview, contents pp. 5-6 and introduction pp. 11-16
Open source ↗