Malachi 1:8 kjv
And if ye offer the blind for sacrifice, is it not evil? and if ye offer the lame and sick, is it not evil? offer it now unto thy governor; will he be pleased with thee, or accept thy person? saith the LORD of hosts.
Malachi 1:8 nkjv
And when you offer the blind as a sacrifice, Is it not evil? And when you offer the lame and sick, Is it not evil? Offer it then to your governor! Would he be pleased with you? Would he accept you favorably?" Says the LORD of hosts.
Malachi 1:8 niv
When you offer blind animals for sacrifice, is that not wrong? When you sacrifice lame or diseased animals, is that not wrong? Try offering them to your governor! Would he be pleased with you? Would he accept you?" says the LORD Almighty.
Malachi 1:8 esv
When you offer blind animals in sacrifice, is that not evil? And when you offer those that are lame or sick, is that not evil? Present that to your governor; will he accept you or show you favor? says the LORD of hosts.
Malachi 1:8 nlt
When you give blind animals as sacrifices, isn't that wrong? And isn't it wrong to offer animals that are crippled and diseased? Try giving gifts like that to your governor, and see how pleased he is!" says the LORD of Heaven's Armies.
Malachi 1 8 Cross References
| Verse | Text | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| Lev 22:20 | "Do not offer anything with a defect, because it will not be accepted for you." | Specific command against blemished sacrifices |
| Lev 22:21 | "...it must be without blemish or defect to be acceptable." | Emphasizes the requirement of perfection |
| Deut 15:21 | "If it has a defect—if it is lame or blind or has any serious defect—you must not sacrifice it..." | Reinforces the prohibition for purity |
| Deut 17:1 | "Do not sacrifice to the LORD your God an ox or a sheep that has any defect or flaw in it, for that would be detestable..." | Ascribes 'detestable' to flawed offerings |
| Mal 1:7 | "By offering defiled food on my altar. But you ask, ‘How have we defiled you?’ By saying that the LORD’s table is contemptible." | Direct context of defiled sacrifices |
| Mal 1:13 | "And you say, ‘What a weariness this is,’ and you sniff at it, says the LORD of hosts..." | Shows the priests' contempt for service |
| Mal 1:14 | "For I am a great King," says the LORD of hosts, "and my name is to be feared among the nations." | God's absolute sovereignty and greatness |
| 1 Sam 15:22 | "To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed than the fat of rams." | The heart behind worship is paramount |
| Psa 51:17 | "The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise." | God desires internal purity, not just ritual |
| Prov 15:8 | "The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the LORD, but the prayer of the upright is His delight." | Wicked intentions make sacrifices worthless |
| Isa 1:11-12 | "What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices?...Who asked this from your hand?" | God's rejection of mere outward ritual |
| Isa 66:3 | "He who kills an ox is like him who slays a man; he who sacrifices a lamb, like him who breaks a dog’s neck..." | Denounces ritual without righteous living |
| Jer 7:22-23 | "For in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, I did not speak to your fathers, or command them concerning burnt offerings and sacrifices." | Emphasizes obedience over ritual |
| Rom 12:1 | "Present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship." | Calls for a "living sacrifice" as true worship |
| Eph 5:2 | "and walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God." | Christ as the perfect, blemish-free sacrifice |
| Heb 9:14 | "how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God..." | Christ's sacrifice is perfect and unblemished |
| Heb 10:26 | "For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins," | Warnings against deliberate profanation |
| Tit 1:16 | "They profess to know God, but by their deeds they deny Him, being detestable and disobedient and worthless for any good deed." | Deeds reveal true knowledge of God |
| John 4:24 | "God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth." | True worship is internal and sincere |
| Amos 5:21-22 | "I hate, I despise your festivals; your assemblies are a stench to me. Even though you offer me burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them." | God rejects ritual devoid of justice |
| Phil 3:19 | "...Their end is destruction, their god is their stomach, and they glory in their shame..." | Reveals priorities of those who dishonor God |
| Prov 28:9 | "If one turns away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer is an abomination." | Rejecting God's law renders worship detestable |
Malachi 1 verses
Malachi 1 8 Meaning
Malachi 1:8 powerfully challenges the priests and the people of post-exilic Judah for offering blemished sacrifices to God. It highlights their disrespect by contrasting their unacceptable offerings to the Almighty with what they would never dare present to an earthly ruler, such as the Persian governor. The verse uses rhetorical questions to underscore the gravity of their actions, revealing that they devalued God to a lesser status than a human authority, making their worship a mockery and a profanation of holy things.
Malachi 1 8 Context
Malachi's prophecy takes place in the post-exilic period, likely mid-5th century BCE, after the return from Babylonian captivity and the rebuilding of the Second Temple. The initial fervor of return had faded, replaced by spiritual apathy and practical irresponsibility among both the people and the priesthood. The book opens with God's assertion of His love for Israel (Mal 1:2-5), immediately followed by direct indictments against the priests (Mal 1:6-14) for dishonoring His name and profaning His altar through contemptible worship. Malachi 1:8 is a specific charge detailing one such act of profanation: offering sick, lame, and blind animals as sacrifices, which directly violated Mosaic Law concerning acceptable offerings. This casual disregard showed a deeper contempt for God, leading to the rhetorical question of whether they would dare treat a human governor with such disdain.
Malachi 1 8 Word analysis
- When you offer (qārab - Hiphil imperfect of qarab, meaning to bring near, present, or offer): This verb signifies the act of presenting a sacrifice, an intimate bringing to God. The continuous tense implies it was a repeated practice, not an isolated incident, highlighting a systemic failure in reverence.
- blind animals (‘iwwēr): This term explicitly refers to animals with visual defects. According to Lev 22:22 and Deut 15:21, such animals were specifically prohibited for sacrifice because they represented imperfection and unsuitability for a holy God.
- for sacrifice: The purpose of the offering was to honor God, atone for sin, or express thanks, but a blemished offering fundamentally undermined this purpose.
- is that not wrong?: A powerful rhetorical question (hălō' ra') meaning "is this not evil?" or "is this not bad?". It’s a direct challenge, implying the answer is unequivocally "yes," drawing the priests into condemning their own actions by their conscience.
- crippled (piššēaḥ): An animal that is lame or maimed. Another specific prohibition found in the Law (Lev 22:22; Deut 15:21), indicating a physical defect that makes the animal imperfect.
- diseased animals (ḥōleh): An animal that is sick or ill. This falls under the general category of a "defect" (mum) which made an animal unacceptable for offerings (Lev 22:20, 25).
- Try presenting that to your governor! (pēḥâ - Persian loanword, "governor"): A vivid, scathing challenge. The governor represented earthly authority and power; such a poor gift would surely insult him and risk severe repercussions. The direct comparison starkly exposes the priests’ disrespect for God.
- Would he be pleased with you? (rāṣâh - to be pleased, accept, favor): Another rhetorical question. The obvious answer is "no." This highlights their hypocritical understanding of honor – they knew what a human authority demanded but acted differently towards God.
- Would he accept you?: Reiterates the rejection and highlights the lack of favor or approval they would receive from the governor, implying similar, but infinitely greater, divine disapproval.
- says the Lord Almighty (Yahweh Tsaba’ot - LORD of Hosts/Armies): This divine title frequently appears in Malachi (24 times) and is incredibly significant here. It emphasizes God's supreme power, authority, and sovereignty over all creation, including angelic and heavenly armies. It serves as a stark counterpoint to the comparison with the human governor, stressing that the disregard shown to God is an affront to the ultimate King of the universe, not merely a tribal deity.
Malachi 1 8 Bonus section
The repetitive use of rhetorical questions in Malachi 1:8 ("is that not wrong?," "Would he be pleased...?", "Would he accept you?") is a hallmark of Malachi’s prophetic style. This literary device forces the audience, specifically the priests, to acknowledge their guilt and the obvious error of their ways, leaving no room for denial. It compels self-condemnation by exposing the inconsistency of their reverence towards God versus an earthly authority. The legal context of the Levitical code (Lev 22) is foundational to understanding the severity of the priests' transgression; they were failing in their primary duty to uphold the covenant standards for worship, which also had implications for the purity of the entire community.
Malachi 1 8 Commentary
Malachi 1:8 is a direct, cutting indictment of the priesthood's profound disrespect for God. By routinely offering blind, lame, and diseased animals, they flagrantly violated the specific requirements of the Mosaic Law for pure and perfect sacrifices. Their actions revealed not merely negligence but a deep-seated spiritual apathy and contempt for the very altar they served, reducing worship to a hollow, undemanding ritual. The potent rhetorical comparison to a human governor underscores their hypocrisy: they would never insult a powerful earthly official with such worthless gifts, fearing retribution. Yet, they showed such casual disregard for the Almighty God, Yahweh Tsaba’ot. This highlights a fundamental flaw in their understanding of God's holiness, majesty, and His supreme worth. God was effectively relegated to a status beneath that of a mortal ruler in their practical theology. The verse implicitly teaches that true worship requires intentionality, reverence, and giving one's best, acknowledging God as the supreme King. Anything less is an insult, rendering the act an abomination.
Example: If a child attempts to gift a teacher a crumpled, torn paper that they just found on the ground after being asked to draw a beautiful picture to show appreciation, it reveals the child's true feelings and estimation of the teacher compared to someone else for whom they would dedicate their time and effort. Similarly, the Israelites’ cheap offerings reflected their heart attitude toward God.