Malachia 2:15

La Riveduta Bibbia

Ma, direte voi, non ve n’è uno che fece così? E nondimeno, lo spirito rimase in lui. Ma perché quell’uno lo fece? Perché cercava la progenie promessagli da Dio. Badate dunque allo spirito vostro, e niuno agisca perfidamente verso la moglie della sua giovinezza.

Parallel Translations

La Nuova Diodati
Ma non li fece Dio uno e nondimeno lo spirito rimase in lui? E perch mai uno? Poich egli cercava una discendenza da DIO. Badate dunque al vostro spirito e nessuno si comporti perfidamente verso la moglie della sua giovinezza.

Giovanni Diodati Bibbia
Or non fece egli un sol uomo? e pure egli avea abbondanza di spirito; e che vuol dir quell’un solo? Egli cercava una progenie di Dio. Guardatevi adunque sopra lo spirito vostro, che niun di voi usi dislealtà inverso la moglie della sua giovanezza.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

did: Genesis 1:27, Genesis 2:20-24, Matthew 19:4-6, Mark 10:6-8, 1 Corinthians 7:2

residue: or, excellency

the spirit: Genesis 2:7, Job 27:3, Ecclesiastes 12:7, John 20:22

That he: Genesis 24:3-7, Genesis 24:44, Genesis 26:34, Genesis 26:35, Genesis 27:46, Genesis 28:2-4, Deuteronomy 7:4, Ezra 9:4, Nehemiah 13:24, Jeremiah 2:21, 1 Corinthians 7:14, Ephesians 6:4, 1 Timothy 3:4, 1 Timothy 3:5, 1 Timothy 3:11, 1 Timothy 3:12, Titus 1:6

godly seed: Heb. seed of God, Genesis 6:2, Hosea 1:10, Acts 3:25, 2 Corinthians 6:18

take: Malachi 2:14, Proverbs 4:23, Proverbs 6:25, Proverbs 7:25, Matthew 5:28, Matthew 5:29, Matthew 15:19, James 1:14, James 1:15

treacherously: or, unfaithfully

Reciprocal: Genesis 5:2 - Male Genesis 29:27 - week Leviticus 18:18 - to vex her Leviticus 21:15 - profane Deuteronomy 4:15 - Take ye Deuteronomy 17:17 - multiply wives Judges 8:30 - many wives Judges 19:1 - a concubine 2 Chronicles 22:3 - his mother Ezra 9:2 - the holy seed Proverbs 5:18 - rejoice Ecclesiastes 9:9 - with the wife Isaiah 6:13 - so the holy Joel 1:8 - the husband Malachi 2:10 - why 2 Corinthians 6:14 - unequally

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And did not he make one?.... That is, did not God make one man, and out of his rib one woman? did he not make man, male and female? did he not make one pair, one couple, only Adam and Eve, whom he joined together in marriage? or rather, did he not make one woman only, and brought her to Adam to be his wife? which shows that his intention and will were, that one man should have but one wife at a time; the contrary to which was the then present practice of the Jews:

Yet had he the residue of the spirit; it was not for want of power that he made but one woman of Adam's rib, and breathed into her the breath of life, or infused into her a human soul or spirit; he could have made many women at the same time; and as the Father of spirits, having the residue of them with him, or a power left to make as many as he pleased, he could have imparted spirits unto them, and given Adam more wives than one:

And wherefore one? what is the reason why he made but one woman, when he could have made ten thousand, or as many as he pleased? the answer is,

That he might seek a godly seed; or "a seed of God" d; a noble excellent seed; a legitimate offspring, born in true and lawful wedlock; see 1 Corinthians 7:14 a seed suitable to the dignity of human nature, made after the image of God, and not like that of brute beasts, promiscuous and uncertain:

Therefore take heed to your spirit; to your affections, that they do not go after other women, and be led thereby to take them in marriage, and to despise and divorce the lawful wife, as it follows:

and let none deal treacherously with the wife of his youth; by marrying another, or divorcing her: these words are differently rendered and interpreted by some; but the sense given seems to be the true one, and most agreeable to the scope of the place. Some render the first clause, "hath not one made?" e that is, did not the one God, who is the only living and true God, make one man or one woman? and then the sense is the same as before; or did not that one God make, constitute, and appoint, that the woman should be the man's companion, and the wife of his covenant, as in the latter part of the preceding verse Malachi 2:13? or, "did not one do?" f that is, so as we have done, take another wife besides the wife of his youth? and so they are the words of the people to the prophets, justifying their practice by example; by the example of Abraham, whom some of the Jewish writers think is intended by the "one", as in Isaiah 51:2. The Targum is,

"was not one Abraham alone, from whom the world was created?''

or propagated. Kimchi gives it as his own sense, in these words;

"Abraham, who was one, and the father of all that follow him in his faith, did not do as ye have done; for he did not follow his lust, nor even marry Sarah, but so that he might cause the seed of God to remain;''

yet he mentions it as his father's sense, that they are the words of the people to the prophet, expressed in a way of interrogation, saying, did not our father Abraham, who was one, do as we have done? who left his wife, and married Hagar his maid, though he had the residue or excellency of the spirit, and was a prophet; to whom the prophet replies, and what did that one seek? a godly seed; which is, as if it was said, when he married Hagar, it was to seek a seed, because he had no seed of Sarah his wife. A seed was promised him, in which all nations of the earth were to be blessed; he sought not to gratify his lust, but to obtain this seed, the Messiah, to whom the promises were made, as the apostle argues, Galatians 3:16 "he saith not, and to seeds as of many; but as of one, and to thy seed, which is Christ"; called here the "godly seed", or the "seed God" g, as some choose to render the words; that is, that seed which is God, who is a divine Person, God and man in one person; or which is of God, of his immediate production, without the help of a man; which the Jews call the seed that comes from another place, and which they use as a periphrasis of the Messiah. So on those words in Genesis 4:25, "she called his name Seth, for God hath appointed me another seed",

"says R. Tanchuma, in the name of R. Samuel, she has respect to that seed which comes from another place; and what is this? this is the King Messiah h.''

And the same Rabbi elsewhere i observes, on those words in

Genesis 19:32, "that we may preserve seed of our father",

"it is not written, that we may preserve a son of our father, but that we may preserve seed of our father; that seed which is he that comes from another place; and what is this? this is the King Messiah.''

Now as Abraham had the promise of a son, and his wife was barren, he took the method he did that he might have one, the son of the promise, a type of the Messiah, and from whom he should spring; and this is sufficient to justify him in it: besides, he did not deal treacherously with Sarah his wife, for it was with her good will and by her authority he did this thing; but do you take heed to your spirit, that no one of you deal treacherously with the wife of his youth, to leave her, and marry the daughter of a strange God: and much the same sense Jarchi takes notice of as the Agadah, or the interpretation of their ancient Rabbins. Some render the words, "and not one does this"; that is, deals treacherously with the wife of his youth, that has the residue of the spirit, or the least spark of the Spirit of God in him; and how should anyone do it, seeking a godly seed? therefore take heed to your spirit, c. so De Dieu. But according to others the sense is,

"there is not one of you that does according to the law, whose spirit remains with him that is not mixed with the daughter of a strange god;''

which is Aben Ezra's note. But according to Abarbinel the sense is, not one only has done this, committed this evil, in marrying more and strange women; not some only, and the rest have the spirit with them, and keep it pure from this sin; so that a godly seed cannot be procreated from you; therefore take heed to your spirit.

d זרע אלהים "semen Dei", Pagninus, Montanus, Calvin, Junius Tremellius, Piscator, Cocceius, Burkius. e ולא אחד עשה "nonue unus fecit?" V. L. Menochius, Tirinus. f "Et ne unus fecit?" Pagninus, Montanus "et unus ille (Abramus) ita egit?" Grotius; "annon unus hoc fecit?" Tigurine version; so Joseph Kimchi. g זרע אלהים "semen Deus", Galatin. de Arcan. Cathol. Ver. l. 8. c. 2. p. 550. h Bereshit Rabba, sect. 23. fol. 20. 4. Midrash Ruth, fol. 36. 1. i Bereshit Rabba, sect. 51. fol. 46. 1. Midrash Ruth, fol. 35. 4.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

And did not He - , God, of whom he had spoken as the witness between man and his wife, “make one,” namely, Adam first, to mark the oneness of marriage and make it a law of nature, appointing “that out of man (created in His own image and similitude), woman should take her beginning, and, knitting them together, did teach that it should never be lawful to put asunder those, whom He by matrimony had made one?” “Between those two, and consequently between all other married, to be born from them, He willed that there should be one indivisible union, for Adam could be married to no other save Eve, since no other had been created by God, nor could Eve turn to any other man than Adam, since there was no other in the world. ‘Infringe not then this sanction of God, and unity of marriage, and degenerate not from your first parents, Adam and Eve.’” “If divorce had been good, Jesus says, God would not have made one man and one woman, but, having made one Adam, would have made two women, had He meant that he should cast out the one, bring in the other; but now by the mode of creation, He brought in this law, that each should have, throughout, the wife which he had from the beginning. This law is older than that about divorce, as much as Adam is older than Moses.”

Yet had he the residue of the spirit - Genesis 2:7, “the breath of life, which He breathed into Adam, and man became a living soul.” All the souls, which God would ever create, are His, and He could have called them into being at once. Yet in order to designate the unity of marriage, He willed to create but one. So our Lord argues against divorce Matthew 19:4-6, “Have ye not read, that He which made them at the beginning, made them male and female?” They both together are called “one man” Genesis 1:27, and, therefore, should be of one mind and spirit also, the unity of which they ought faithfully to preserve.

And wherefore one? - “Seeking a seed of God,” i. e., worthy of God, for from religious marriage, religious offspring may most be hoped from God; and by violating that law, those before the flood brought in a spurious, unsanctified generation, so that God in His displeasure destroyed them all. “And take heed to your spirit,” which ye too had from God, which was His, and which He willed in time to create. He closes, as he began, with an appeal to man’s natural feeling, “let none deal treacherously against the wife of his youth.”

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Malachi 2:15. And did not he make one? — ONE of each kind, Adam and Eve. Yet had he the residue of the Spirit; he could have made millions of pairs, and inspired them all with living souls. Then wherefore one? He made one pair from whom all the rest might proceed, that he might have a holy offspring; that children being a marked property of one man and one woman, proper care might be taken that they should be brought up in the discipline of the Lord. Perhaps the holy or godly seed, זרע אלהים zera Elohim, a seed of God, may refer to the MESSIAH. God would have the whole human race to spring from one pair, that Christ, springing from the same family, might in his sufferings taste death for every man; because he had that nature that was common to the whole human race. Had there been several heads of families in the beginning, Jesus must have been incarnated from each of those heads, else his death could have availed for those only who belonged to the family of which he was incarnated.

Take heed to your spirit — Scrutinize the motives which induce you to put away your wives.