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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.comKeil and Delitzsch Commentary - Malachi 3:10 - 3:10
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Mal 3:10. “Bring ye all the tithe into the treasure-house, that there may be consumption in my house, and prove me now herewith, saith Jehovah of hosts, if I do not open you the sluices of heaven, and pour you out a blessing to superabundance. Mal 3:11. And I will rebuke the devourer for you, that he may not destroy the fruit of your ground; and your vine will not miscarry in the field, saith Jehovah of hosts. Mal 3:12. And all nations will call you blessed; for ye will be a land of good pleasure, saith Jehovah of hosts.” In Mal 3:10 the emphasis lies upon kol: the whole of the tithe they are to bring, and not merely a portion of it, and so defraud the Lord; for the tithe was paid to Jehovah for His servants the Levites (Num 18:24). It was delivered, at least after the times of the later kings, at the sanctuary, where store-chambers were built for the purpose (cf. 2Ch 31:11.; Neh 10:38-39; Neh 12:44; Neh 13:12). Tereph signifies here food, or consumption, as in Pro 31:15; Psa 111:5. בָּזֹאת, through this, i.e., through their giving to God what they are under obligation to give Him, they are to prove God, whether in His attitude towards them He is no longer the holy and righteous God (Mal 2:17; Mal 3:6). Then will they also learn, that He causes the promised blessing to flow in the richest abundance to those who keep His commandments. אִם לֹא is not a particle of asseveration or oath (Koehler), but an indirect question: whether not. Opening the sluices of heaven is a figure, denoting the most copious supply of blessing, so that it flows down from heaven like a pouring rain (as in 2Ki 7:2). עַד בְּלִי דָי, till there is no more need, i.e., in superabundance. This thought is individualized in Mal 3:11. Everything that could injure the fruits of the land God will take away. גָּעַר, to rebuke practically, i.e., to avert the intention. אֹכֵל, the devourer, is here the locust, so called from its insatiable voracity. Shikkēl, to miscarry, is affirmed of the vine, when it has set a good quantity of grapes, which perish and drop off before they ripen. In consequence of this blessing, all nations will call Israel blessed (Mal 3:12), because its land will be an object of pleasure to every one (cf. Zec 7:14; Zec 8:13, Zec 8:23).