Malachi 3:9

9 You are suffering under a curse, yet you-the whole nation-are [still] robbing Me.

Malachi 3:9 Meaning and Commentary

Malachi 3:9

Ye [are] cursed with a curse
Or "with penury", as the Vulgate Latin version; which, though not a proper rendering of the word, is the meaning of the curse they were cursed with; rain was withheld from them for their sins, and the earth did not bring forth its usual increase; wherefore there was want of food in all their land; their blessings were cursed, as in ( Malachi 2:2 ) for the following reason,

for ye have robbed me;
because of this their iniquity, in not bringing their offerings to the Lord, and the tithes to the priests and Levites, their land was stricken with barrenness, and God gave them cleanness of teeth, and want of bread in all places: or, "but ye have robbed me" ^F4; notwithstanding they were thus chastised of the Lord, yet were not reformed, but went on in withholding from God and the priests, what belonged to them:

[even] this whole nation;
the sin was become general, and therefore a general judgment was inflicted on them: Grotius thinks, that the people seeing the priests withhold the tithes from the Levites, they refused to pay them to them, and so the sin became universal. Kimchi observes, that in other sins charged upon the nation, the people were not all alike guilty, but in this which respected the tithes and offerings they were.

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FOOTNOTES:

F4 (Myebq Mta ytaw) "et tamen diripitis me", De Dieu.

Malachi 3:9 In-Context

7 "Since the days of your fathers, you have turned from My statutes; you have not kept [them]. Return to Me, and I will return to you," says the Lord of Hosts. But you ask: "How can we return?"

8 "Will a man rob God? Yet you are robbing Me!" You ask: "How do we rob You?" "[By not making the payments] of 10 percent and the contributions.

9 You are suffering under a curse, yet you-the whole nation-are [still] robbing Me.

10 Bring the full 10 percent into the storehouse so that there may be food in My house. Test Me in this way," says the Lord of Hosts. "See if I will not open the floodgates of heaven and pour out a blessing for you without measure.

11 I will rebuke the devourer for you, so that it will not ruin the produce of your ground, and your vine in your field will not be barren," says the Lord of Hosts.