Bible Question:
"I hate divorce" What is the meaning of Malachi 2:16? Was this verse mistranslated in the King James Version?
Bible Answer:
Man Who Hates His Wife
Most modern Bibles translate Malachi 2:16 as God stating, “I hate divorce.” They render the Hebrew text just as the King James Bible does. But the English Standard Version Bible (ESV) does not say that God hates divorce in Malachi 2:16. It is one of the isolated Bibles that does not translate the Hebrew text as “I hate divorce.” Here is Malachi 2:16.
“For I hate divorce,” says the LORD, the God of Israel, “and him who covers his garment with wrong,” says the LORD of hosts. “So take heed to your spirit, that you do not deal treacherously.” Malachi 2:16 (NASB)
So, this creates the question, “Is the ESV correct?” Should the verse indicate that the Lord says, “For I hate divorce.” What is the meaning of Malachi 2:16? Does God hate divorce? There are ____ four reasons why the ESV did not translate Malachi 2:16 correctly.
Translation Issue
The first reason “For I hate divorce” is the correct translation is that the ESV leaves an impression that is contrary to the teaching of Scripture. If you read the Legacy Standard Bible (LSB), the New American Standard Bible (NASB), the King James Version Bible (KJV), the New King James Version Bible (NKJV), the New International Version Bible (NIV), the Lexham English Bible (LEB), the New Living Translation Bible (NLT), the Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB), and the NET Bible, you will discover that all these Bibles translate the phrase as, “For I hate divorce,” in Malachi 2:16.
But the ESV did not include the phrase, “For I hate divorce,” because the Hebrew text of Malachi 2:16 is difficult to translate. The ESV renders the verse as,
“For the man who does not love his wife but divorces her, says the LORD, the God of Israel, covers his garment with violence, says the LORD of hosts. So guard yourselves in your spirit, and do not be faithless.” Malachi 2:16 (ESV)
The ESV leaves the impression that God is concerned about the husband who hates his wife and consequently divorces her. So, the ESV eliminates God in Malachi 2:16 as one who hates divorce and states that the husband hates his wife. However, the other Bibles clearly state that God Himself hates divorce. That is a significant change.
For those who are interested in a very brief summary of the problem, the NET Bible has provided a short discussion about the complexity of the translation of the phrase, “For I hate divorce” in a footnote that we have provided.1 For those who would like a summary, Peter Verhoff in his commentary on Malachi makes the point that God is clearly speaking in the context, in the verse, and in the sentence. He writes,
Therefore, we prefer the reading according to which God is the subject, and only the Masoretic punctuation is altered to provide a participle with a suppressed personal pronoun: “I hate, I am hating.” The participle suggests continuity. The Lord continually and habitually hates.2
It is more accurate to understand that God himself hates divorce.
Illustration and Biblical Principle
It is important to note that the Jewish rabbi Hillel said that if a husband hated his wife, he could divorce her.3 But that was contrary to God’s design for marriage. Sadly, rabbi Hillel used Deuteronomy 24:1-4 to justify divorce for any reason. But, Jesus told us that from the beginning God planned for a husband and wife to remain together and not divorce. God never wanted them to separate. Here is Jesus’ comment,
“So they are no longer two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate.” They said to Him, “Why then did Moses command to GIVE HER A CERTIFICATE OF DIVORCE AND SEND her AWAY?” He said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart Moses permitted you to divorce your wives; but from the beginning it has not been this way. And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery.” Matthew 19:6-9 (NASB)
God only allowed divorce because of the hardness of man’s heart. Yet, He still hated divorce. So, Matthew 19:1-9 provides the illustration and Malachi 2:16 provides the divine principle that God hates divorce.
The Context
We must not forget the preceding context of Malachi 2:13-15.
“This is another thing you do: you cover the altar of the LORD with tears, with weeping and with groaning, because He no longer regards the offering or accepts it with favor from your hand. Yet you say, ‘For what reason?’ Because the LORD has been a witness between you and the wife of your youth, against whom you have dealt treacherously, though she is your companion and your wife by covenant. But not one has done so who has a remnant of the Spirit. And what did that one do while he was seeking a godly offspring? Take heed then to your spirit, and let no one deal treacherously against the wife of your youth. Malachi 2:13-15 (NASB)
The context tells us that Israel did not find favor with God because the husbands dealt treacherously with their wives. Then we are told that the only husbands who did that did not have the Holy Spirit indwelling them. Thus the context of the passage is that the husbands were committing sin. They had a serious spiritual problem and acted in an evil way against the wife. The same principle also applies to wives. This supports the translation of Malachi 2:16 by the majority of modern Bibles which summarize God’s view of their behavior with, “For I hate divorce.”
Conclusion
The key to a happy marriage is not sex. It is a close relationship with God and two hearts of humility. We encourage the reader to visit the series of studies, “Marriage In Splendor – God’s View.” The article “Why does God hate divorce if He allows it?” is also important to this question.
References:
1. Biblical Studies Press, The NET Bible First Edition; Bible. English. NET Bible.; The NET Bible (Biblical Studies Press, 2005). Footnote on the word “hate” in Malachi 2:16 states,
“The verb שָׂנֵא (sane’) appears to be a third person form, “he hates,” which makes little sense in the context, unless one emends the following word to a third person verb as well. Then one might translate, “he [who] hates [his wife] [and] divorces her … is guilty of violence.” A similar translation is advocated by M. A. Shields, “Syncretism and Divorce in Malachi 2, 10–16,” ZAW 111 (1999): 81–85. However, it is possible that the first person pronoun אָנֹכִי (’anokhi, “I”) has accidentally dropped from the text after כִּי (ki). If one restores the pronoun, the form שָׂנֵא can be taken as a participle and the text translated, “for I hate” (so NAB, NASB, NRSV, NLT).
2. Pieter A Verhoef. The Books of Haggai and Malachi. The New International Commentary on the Old Testament. Eerdmans Publishing. 1987. p. 278-279. The author states,
Therefore, we prefer the reading according to which God is the subject, and only the Masoretic punctuation is altered to provide a participle with a suppressed personal pronoun: “I hate, I am hating.” The participle suggests continuity. The Lord continually and habitually hates. The object of his hate is denoted in terms of a Piel infinitive construct, sallah, “to send away. ” In Isa. 50: 1 the Hebrew verb has the meaning of divorce, in connection with the “certificate of divorce.”
3. Michael Fishbane. The Jewish Study Bible. Jewish Publication Society. Oxford Press. 2004. p. 1272.
Suggested Links:
Marriage In Splendor - God's ViewDivorce & Remarriage
Why does God hate divorce if He allows it?