a pot in Jerusalem and in Judah [shall be] holy to the Lord Almighty, and all who offer sacrifice shall come, and shall take of them, and shall cook in them. A For those countless nations having been slain, they offered to God the greatest part of the spoils as a kind of tithe. For they dedicated bridles, giving thanks for the slaughter of the horses; and they placed very many cauldrons, like vessels, before the altar for the needs of those who arrived from everywhere and were offering victims. For everyone who was in need took one of these, to cook the meat of the victims. With divine benevolence shining at that time, B "There shall no longer be a Canaanite in the house of the Lord Almighty." That is to say, one who shares the views of the Canaanites, lives in impiety, and occupies himself in iniquity. May the Lord of all grant that this statement be verified even now, and that no Canaanite be seen among us, but that all might live according to the evangelical laws, and await the blessed hope and the appearing of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ, with whom to the Father is glory, together with the Holy Spirit, now and always, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
OF THE BLESSED THEODORET, BISHOP OF CYRRHUS, INTERPRETATION OF THE PROPHET MALACHI.
ARGUMENT.
Moses, the great lawgiver, first among us left behind the recorded divine utterances; but the divine Malachi, after all who had written prophecy, handed down the divine oracles in writing. He did not, however, specify the time in the same way as the other prophets; yet from the things he foretold, he made it clear that he was graced with this favor after the building of the divine temple and the peace of the people. C For he does not accuse them of negligence regarding the building of the temple, as the blessed Haggai and Zechariah did, but reminds them of the divine benefits; he reproaches
them separately, the priests, and separately the others, bringing into the light the lawless deeds dared by them. He also proclaims in advance the advent of the Lord Christ according to the flesh, and the salvation which the human race has obtained through it. Furthermore, he predicts the calling of the nations, and the unbelief of the Jews, and in addition to these, the second coming of our God and Savior. A In the Greek language he is called an angel, but in the Hebrew, Malachi. He begins the prophecy thus:
CAPUT PRIMUM. CHAPTER ONE
B VERSE 1. «The burden of the word of the Lord to Israel, by the hand of his angel.» My mind, he says, having been taken up by divine grace, and having become removed from all things human, received the prediction concerning Israel: not that I alone might have this knowledge, but that I might also announce to them what was signified. For this reason he called himself an angel, because he was a minister of the divine words. Having thus shown that the Lord was speaking through his mouth, he exhorts the people to attend to what is being said: «Lay it to heart.» That is, attend diligently to the divine oracles.
VERSE 2. «I have loved you, says the Lord, and you say: In what have you loved us?» He has not set this down as though such a question were actually made by the people; but he reproaches the thanklessness of their minds, C because, having enjoyed such great love from the God of all, they not only became thankless toward their benefactor, but they were even ignorant of this very thing, that they had been loved. Wherefore he reproaches their ungrateful inclination, showing from of old, from the time of their ancestors, the magnitude of his love.
«Was not Esau Jacob’s brother, says the Lord; and I have loved Jacob, (v. 3), but Esau I have hated?» You know clearly, he says, even you who are constantly involved in the Mosaic histories, that Esau and your forefather Jacob had the same father, and brought forth from the same womb, and dwelt in the same belly D at the same time; yet neither the communion of nature, nor the fact that the time of birth was one for both, caused me to have the same disposition toward them; but although the father was following the laws of nature and was striving to give the birthright to Esau, I ordained that Jacob, instead of him, should receive the prerogatives. «For him indeed I hated,» on account of the wickedness of his manner of life, «but Jacob I loved,» because he was a student of virtue.
A And, indeed, the race of Esau, because it emulated the manner of life of its progenitor, remained estranged from my care. For this reason, it also endured this desolation; for he made this clear through the things brought upon them.
«And I have set his borders for desolation, and his inheritance for the dwellings of the desert.» (Vers. 4.) For if Edom should say, «Idumea has been destroyed, and we shall return, and we shall rebuild its desolate places;» thus says the Lord Almighty: «They shall build, and I shall tear down, and they shall be called the borders of iniquity, and a people against whom the Lord has been set for eternity.» For even if they should attempt to rebuild their own cities, I shall show their hopes to be false, and they shall receive the desolation as the fruit of their iniquity. For this is what he says: «And they shall be called the borders of iniquity.» And they shall possess this curse from me until the end.
Vers. 5. «And your eyes shall see, and you shall say: The Lord has been magnified over the borders of Israel.» B Seeing this, you shall recognize how great is the providence you enjoy from me. Having thus revealed the love he had for them, he rebukes their great ingratitude.
Vers. 6. «A son honors his father, and a servant shall fear his lord; and if I am a father, where is my glory? And if I am a Lord, where is my fear? says the Lord Almighty.» Two dispositions, he says, prevail among all subordinates: love and fear; but the former is fitting for sons, the latter for servants. I, however, have bestowed upon you both names; for I have named you not only servants, but also sons: «For I have said: You are gods, and all of you sons of the Most High.» And: «I have begotten and exalted sons.» And: «Israel is my firstborn son.» If, therefore, you cherish the title of sons, offer the honor which you ought to offer to a father. But if you consider yourselves to be servants, why do you not have the fear which it is fitting for servants to have? Especially since you have such a Lord, who holds the empire of all things, visible and invisible alike? C Up to this point, therefore, he has reproved them all in common; but from here he initiates the accusation separately, and first he refutes the transgressions of the priests, because they were worthy of greater accusations, not only sinning themselves but also becoming an archetype of transgression for others.
«You, O priests, who despise my name, and you have said: In what have we despised thy name?» The contempt regarding your priestly ministry designates/shows me to be vile and of no account to the many; but you do not even perceive this, nor do you know... D