Malachi 3:8

8 “Will a mere mortal rob God? Yet you rob me. “But you ask, ‘How are we robbing you?’ “In tithes and offerings.

Malachi 3:8 in Other Translations

8 Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings.

8 Will man rob God? Yet you are robbing me. But you say, 'How have we robbed you?'In your tithes and contributions.

8 “Should people cheat God? Yet you have cheated me! “But you ask, ‘What do you mean? When did we ever cheat you?’ “You have cheated me of the tithes and offerings due to me.

8 "Begin by being honest. Do honest people rob God? But you rob me day after day. "You ask, 'How have we robbed you?' "The tithe and the offering - that's how!'

8 Will a man rob God? yet ye rob me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings.

8 "Can a person cheat God? Yet, you are cheating me! "But you ask, 'How are we cheating you?' "When [you don't bring] a tenth of your income and other contributions.

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.

8 "Will a man dare to steal from me? But you rob me! "You ask, 'How do we rob you?' "By holding back your offerings. You also steal from me when you do not bring me a tenth of everything you produce.

Malachi 3:8 Meaning and Commentary

Malachi 3:8

Will a man rob God?
&c.] Or "the gods"; the false gods, the idols of the Gentiles; the Heathens will not do that, accounting sacrilege a great sin, and yet this the Jews were guilty of: or "the judges" ^F3, as the Targum; civil magistrates; will any dare to defraud them of their due? see ( Malachi 1:8 ) . Yet ye have robbed me;
keeping back from the priests and Levites, his ministers, what was due to them; and which, being no other than a spoiling or robbing of them, might be interpreted a robbing of God: But ye say, wherein have we robbed thee?
as not being conscious of any such evil; or, however, impudently standing in it, that they were not guilty: to which is returned the answer, In tithes and offerings;
that is, they robbed God in not giving the tithes, and not offering sacrifices, according as the law required: but it may be objected, that the Jews in Christ's time did pay tithes, even of all things; yea, of more than the law required, ( Matthew 23:23 ) ( Luke 18:12 ) to which it may be replied, that though they gave tithes, yet it was (her Nyeb) , "with an evil eye", as Aben Ezra says; grudgingly, and not cheerfully, and with an evil intention; not to show their gratitude to God, and their acknowledgment of him as their Lord, from whom they had their all, but in order to merit at his hands; besides, our Lord suggests that they did not give to God the things that were God's, ( Matthew 22:21 ) and the apostle charges them with being guilty of sacrilege, ( Romans 2:22 ) and, moreover, the priests might not give it to the Levites, as they ought; and which is what they are charged with in ( Nehemiah 13:10 ) and Grotius says that they were guilty of this before the destruction by Vespasian, as appears by Josephus.

---

FOOTNOTES:

F3 (Myhla) "deos, vel judices", Calvin, Drusius, Grotius.

Malachi 3:8 In-Context

6 “I the LORD do not change. So you, the descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed.

7 Ever since the time of your ancestors you have turned away from my decrees and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you,” says the LORD Almighty. “But you ask, ‘How are we to return?’

8 “Will a mere mortal rob God? Yet you rob me. “But you ask, ‘How are we robbing you?’ “In tithes and offerings.

9 You are under a curse—your whole nation—because you are robbing me.

10 Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the LORD Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.

Cross References

• 1. S Zechariah 5:3
• 2. S Leviticus 27:30; Numbers 18:21; S Nehemiah 13:10-12; Luke 18:12