Malachi 2:3

corrupt Rather, reprove, margin A.V.; or rebuke, R.V. Comp. ch. Malachi 3:11: "I will rebuke (the same word) the devourer." God will wither with His rebuke the seed so that it shall not germinate, or shall not come to maturity. Thus the priests would suffer both in tithes and in offerings (Joel 1:2-13).

The LXX. (reading זְרוֹצַ for זֶרַצ) render, ἀφορίζω ὑμῖν τὸν ὦμον, "I set apart for you the shoulder," that being the part of the victim reserved for the priest. Leviticus 7:34. Ewald, "I will rebuke your (the priests") arm."

of your solemn feasts If this rendering be retained, it will of course mean the dung of the sacrifices offered at such feasts. The R.V. has feastsin the margin, but sacrificesin the text.

The figure is very forcible. It is as though Jehovah sees nothing in the droves of diseased and blemished animals that are brought to His altar on some great Festival, but the mass of filth and offal that necessarily accompanies the sacrifice. It is all one vast abomination! Flinging back in holy indignation the polluted offerings into the faces of the unworthy priests, He overwhelms them beneath the fœtid heap, and thus they are swept forth with it from the sacred precincts. Comp. Exodus 29:14; 1 Kings 14:10.

one shall take you It is more in accordance with our English idiom to render, with R.V., ye shall be taken. Comp. Isaiah 9:5: "His name shall be called"; lit. "he (one) shall call His name".