Malachi 4:4

Concluding Admonition. - Mal 4:4. "Remember ye the law of Moses, my servant, which I commanded him upon Horeb for all Israel, statutes and rights. (Note: The lxx have put Mal 4:4 at the end of the book, not to call attention to its great importance, but probably for the very same reason for which the Masora observes, at the close of our book, that in the יתקק, i.e., in the books of Isaiah, the twelve prophets, the Lamentations, and Ecclesiastes, the last verse but one of these books was to be repeated when they were read in the synagogue, namely, because the last verse had too harsh a sound. The transposition is unsuitable, inasmuch as the promise in Mal 4:5 and Mal 4:6 does not fit on to the idea expressed in Mal 4:2 and Mal 4:3, but only to that in Mal 4:4. According to the Masora, the ז in זכרוּ should be written as litera majusc., although in many codd. it has the usual form; and this also is not to show the great importance of the verse, since these Masoretic indications have generally a different meaning, but in all probability it is simply to indicate that this is the only passage in the book of the twelve prophets in which the word is pronounced זכרוּ (cf. זכרו in Hos 12:6; Hos 14:8), whereas in the other books, with the exception of Job 18:17, this is the only pronunciation that is met with.) Mal 4:5. Behold, I send you Elijah the prophet before the day of Jehovah comes, the great and terrible one. Mal 4:6. And he will turn the heart of the fathers to the sons, and the heart of the sons to their fathers, that I may not come and smite the land with the curse" (mit dem Banne, with the ban). The admonition, "Remember ye the law of Moses," forms the conclusion not only of the last section (Malachi 3:13-4:3), but of the whole of the book of Malachi, and cannot be co…

This is doubtless intended for a solemn conclusion, not only of this prophecy, but of the canon of the Old Testament, and is a plain information that they were not to expect any more sayings nor writing by divine inspiration, any more of the dictates of the Spirit of prophecy, till the beginning of the gospel of the Messiah, which sets aside the Apocrypha as no part of holy writ, and which therefore the Jews never received. Now that prophecy ceases, and is about to be sealed up, there are two things required of the people of God, that lived then: - I. They must keep up an obedient veneration for the law of Moses (Mal 4:4): Remember the law of Moses my servant, and observe to do according to it, even that law which I commanded unto him in Horeb, that fiery law which was intended for all Israel, with the statutes and judgments, not only the law of the ten commandments, but all the other appointments, ceremonial and judicial, then and there given. Observe here, 1. The honourable mention that is made of Moses, the first writer of the Old Testament, in Malachi, the last writer. God by him calls him Moses my servant; for the righteous shall be had in everlasting remembrance. See how the penmen of scripture, though they lived in several ages at a great distance from each other (it was above 1200 years from Moses to Malachi), all concurred in the same thing, and supported one another, being all actuated and guided by one and the same Spirit. 2. The honourable mention that is made of the law of Moses; it was what God himself commanded; he owns it for his law, and he commanded it for all Israel, as the municipal law of their kingdom. Thus will God magnify his law and make it honourable. Note, We are concerned to keep the law because God has commanded it and commanded it for us, f…

4:4-6 The book concludes with an epilogue containing appeals to Moses and Elijah, two ideal models of faith in the Lord and of the ideals of the Law and Prophets (see Matt 17:1-4). The two are upheld as examples for Malachi’s audience to follow. In ancient Hebrew tradition, the two appeals may have served as postscripts for the scroll that contained the twelve Minor (shorter) Prophets. If so, the first postscript (Mal 4:4) connects the scroll to the Law of Moses. The second (4:5-6) ties the scroll of the Minor Prophets to the Major (longer) Prophets—Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel. 4:4 The first postscript reminds Judah to obey the Law of Moses. Israel’s identity was rooted in the Exodus and defined by the Sinai covenant mediated by Moses (see Deut 34:10-12).