COVENANTAL UNFAITHFULNESS IN MARRIAGE IS UNFAITHFULNESS TO GOD

HIMSELF

ARPIT CHRISTIAN

REFORMED THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY

0OT5350 ISAIAH - MALACHI

GLOBAL CAMPUS

SEPT 2021
 Introduction

The divorce rate in the USA in 2019 was 14.9 per 1000, a 50-year low 1. Despite the

downturn on divorces, 74% of all divorces were by adults claiming to be Christian 2.

Wilkinson found that, in their survey of couples undergoing divorce, the top three reasons

given were ‘lack of commitment’ at 73%, ‘argue too much’ at 56% and ‘infidelity’ at 55% 3.

The effects of divorce on adults and children are well documented in the literature and will

not be covered in this paper. This paper will focus on understanding how unfaithfulness in

marriage also equates to being unfaithful to God.

Context, Literary Form and Structure of Malachi

Malachi ministered in the postexilic period after the completion of the temple and

before or during the ministry of Ezra and Nehemiah, about 480 BC 4. The prophetic speech in

Malachi is as a discussion speech where Malachi anticipates or verbalizes “the questions of

the people as a rhetorical device” 5. The whole book of Malachi has a chiastic structure which

is divided into six disputations that, “…make the point that God desires honesty, true worship

and faithfulness” 6. Pfeiffer’s work is pivotal in finding the book’s overall organization into

the six disputations, “each of which is defined primarily in terms of the assertion plus

1
Wendy Wang, “The U.S. Divorce Rate Has Hit a 50-Year Low,” ifstudies.org, IFS, November 10, 2020,
accessed August 25, 2021, https://ifstudies.org/blog/the-us-divorce-rate-has-hit-a-50-year-low.
2
“Religious Landscape Study: Divorced or Separated Adults,” Pew Research Center, accessed August 25,
2021, https://www.pewforum.org/religious-landscape-study/marital-status/divorcedseparated/.
3
“DIVORCE STATISTICS: OVER 115 STUDIES, FACTS AND RATES FOR 2020,” Wilkinson &
Finkbeiner Family Law Attorneys, accessed August 25, 2021, https://www.wf-lawyers.com/divorce-statistics-
and-facts/#:~:text=Almost%2050%20percent%20of%20all,end%20in%20divorce%20or%20separation.
4
John H. Walton and Andrew E. Hill, Old Testament Today: A Journey from Ancient Context to Contemporary
Relevance, 2nd ed. (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2013), 251.
5
Willem A. VanGemeren, Interpreting the Prophetic Word: An Introduction to the Prophetic Literature of the
Old Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1990), 203.
6
Walton and Hill, 297.

1
question-and-answer format” 7. The disputation speech pattern is not unique to Malachi (Isa.

40:27-28, Jer. 2:23-25, Mic 2:6-11), but only Malachi is structured entirely around such a

pattern. The NIV translation provides quite appropriate headings for the book as below.

Superscription Title (1:1)

First Disputation (1:2-5) – Doubt over God’s love

Second Disputation (1:6-2:9) - Breaking covenant through sacrifices

Third Disputation (2:10-16) – Breaking covenant through divorce

Fourth Disputation (2:17-3:5) – Breaking covenant through injustice

Fifth Disputation (3:6-12) – Breaking Covenant by Withholding Tithes

Sixth Disputation (3:13-4:3) – Day of judgement

Summary Conclusion (4:4-6) – Judgement and Covenant Renewal 8

The form of the disputations and where they start and finish are not in dispute however

scholars do differ over the headings of those disputation. For example, Gordon McConville

describes the structure of the book as follows:

1:1-5 God’s love for Israel

1:6-2:9 Bringing offerings and keeping covenant

2:10-16 Covenant and marriage

2:17-3:5 A refining judgement on Judah

3:6-12 Bringing the full tithe

3:13-4:3 The “sun of righteousness”

4:4-6 Moses and Elijah 9

7
Michael Floyd, Minor Prophets: Part 2, vol. 22, The Forms of the Old Testament Literature (William B.
Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2000), 562.
8
The New International Version (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2011), Mal 3:6.
9
Gordon McConville, The Prophets, vol. 4, Exploring The Old Testament (Great Britain: SPCK, n.d.), 260.

2
 Pohlig further points out that these disputations carry “the form of a ‫ ריב‬rı̂ ḇ, an ancient

near-Eastern lawsuit against covenant breakers” 10 where God points out his faithfulness to his

covenant people who are “failing in their covenant obligations to the Lord by failing in their

covenant obligations to one another” 11, Hill and Walton describe the disputations by

suggesting that the “last five disputations reinforce the teaching about God’s covenant love

for Israel offered in the first disputation” 12. Therefore, despite different groupings and

headings, the main message through the disputations is that God is presenting the areas where

Israel has broken the covenant with Him. This paper primarily examines the third disputation.

Text-critical summary of Malachi 2:16

Before delving into the third disputation, it is important to provide a summary of the

challenges of translating v16, which is the most difficult verse in Malachi for scholars to

translate. Traditionally, the verse has been translated, in the NKJV and NASB, by saying that

God hates divorce, either in the first person ("I hate divorce") 13 or third person ("he [=the

Lord] hates divorce")” 14. However, in recent times, renewed research has resulted in different

translations where the man is doing the divorcing (“The man who hates and divorces his

wife,”) 15. John Collins in this view, builds on the work of David Jones 16 and Russell Fuller 17

10
James Pohlig, An Exegetical Summary of Malachi (Summer Institute of Linguistics, 1998), 12.
11
Daniel R. Watson, “Who Hates... Divorce? A Text-Critical Examination of Malachi 2:16,” Midwestern
Journal of Theology 10, no. 1 (2011): 88.
12
Andrew E. Hill and John H. Walton, A Survey of the Old Testament, 3rd ed. (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan
Academic, 2009), 709.
13
New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update (La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995), Mal 2:16.
14
The New King James Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982), Mal 2:16.
15
The New International Version (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2011), Mal 2:16.
16
David C. Jones, “A Note of the LXX of Malachi 2:16,” Journal of Biblical Literature 109, no. 4 (1990): 685.
17
Russell Fuller, “Text-Critical Problems in Malachi 2:10-16,” Journal of Biblical Literature 110, no. 1 (1991):
47.

3
by digging deeper into the grammar, lexicography and phonological form in the verse within

the Masoretic text to “tease meaning from the Masoretic text (points and all!) without any

modification” 18. He concludes that the best reading of v16 is the latter translation where

Malachi is showing what “the Lord thinks… of disliking and consequently divorcing his

wife: the resulting "covering the garment with wrongdoing" clearly conveys the Lord's strong

disapproval” 19.

Daniel Watson, in more recent times, provides an in-depth analysis of the history of

translation of v16 and compares the Masoretic Text (MT), Qumran, Septuagint and various

other sources and arrives at the conclusion that “…God is not the subject of the verb “hate,”

whether in first or third person, rather the subject is the man doing the divorcing…” 20. This

reading of the text is more consistent with the unnamed sin in v13-14 which is condemned

and is a violation of the marital unity described in v16.

The Third Disputation – Unfaithfulness

The third disputation addresses the nation’s unfaithfulness manifest in two ways: (a)

the marriages and subsequent dynamics (2:10–12), and (b) the dissolution of the marriages

(2:13–16) 21. The main phrase of unfaithfulness repeated through this disputation is “"‫ ”בגד‬22, 21F

translated bāgad which means to “(act treacherously or unfaithfully) to refer to a compromise

18
John C Collins, “The (Intelligible) Masoretic Text of Malachi 2:16 or, How Does God Feel about Divorce?,”
Presbyterion 20, no. 1 (1994): 36.
19
John C Collins, 40.
20
Watson, 98.
21
Mignon R. Jacobs, The Books of Haggai and Malachi, ed. E. J. Young, R. K. Harrison, and Jr. Editors
Hubbard Robert L., New International Commentary on the Old and New Testament (William B. Eerdmans
Publishing Company, 2017), 236.
22
Christo van der Merwe, The Lexham Hebrew-English Interlinear Bible (Lexham Press, 2004).

4
or violation of the relationship (2:10, 11, 14, 15, 16)” 23. There is plenty of debate over

whether the two subsections (2:10-12) and (2:13-16) are related. This paper will focus on the

larger picture of “the negative effects of the two different practices on the people’s covenant

relationship with Yahweh: intermarriage between Jewish men who worship Yahweh and

foreign women who worship some other god (2:10–12), and divorce of couples that have

been married for some time (2:13–16)” 24.

Warren Wiersbe does attempt to draw a connection between the two by stating that

Malachi in this section “confronts the men who divorced their wives to marry pagan

women” 25. However, the text does not demonstrate a connection between intermarriage with

pagan women and divorce as it is shown connected in Ezra 9 and Neh. 13:23-30. The text

simply asserts that both practices, that is (intermarriage and divorce) are common in Judah.

Unfaithfulness caused by intermarriage (2:10-12)

The first subsection provides the context for covenantal unfaithfulness exhibited by

the nation towards God by demonstrating that unfaithfulness in relationships, particularly

marriage relationship, equates to being unfaithful to God. The section begins with a series of

rhetorical questions in v10. The first two questions, which convey a similar answer to both,

setup the contrasting third question which charges Judah with wrongdoing. Taylor explains it

similarly by stating that “the function of the first two questions is to stress the seriousness of

the following charge” 26 found in the third question. The dual concept of God as Father and

Creator carries both a universal understanding and a personal understanding that specifically

23
Mignon R. Jacobs, 235.
24
Floyd, 22:603.
25
Warren W. Wiersbe, Be Amazed, “Be” Commentary Series (Victor Books, 1996), 148.
26
Richard A. Taylor and E. Ray Clendenen, Haggai, Malachi, vol. 21A, The New American Commentary
(Broadman & Holman Publishers, 2004), 322.

5
applies to the nation, as God’s chosen people. Therefore, the two questions serve to assert one

truth; that all humans are created equal before God, a universal truth, and corporately, God is

the Father of the Israelite nation. John Smith explains that the corporate relationship is

spiritual “…because of the especially close relationship between them and the great God of

the world” 27.

These truths add gravity to the third question where God level’s the accusation about

the nation profaning the covenant by dealing treacherously with each other. Smith explains

the connection between the three questions by showing that this “treachery among brethren…

is wholly inconsistent with the fact of their common family unity” 28. There is some debate

over which covenant is in view here, however Taylor explains that “the charge of

unfaithfulness to one’s brother is more fitting in the context of the Mosaic covenant, which

constituted Israel as a nation” 29.

The verb for profane is ḥālal which occurs in Mal 1:12 and in 2:11 as well. In 2:11 its

used in ‘desecrated’ the sanctuary. This is seen in Num 30:2 “When a man makes a vow to

the Lord or takes an oath to obligate himself by a pledge, he must not break his word but

must do everything he said” 30. The word for [break] his word is ‘profane’. Therefore, to

profane a covenant is to treat it with contempt by violating it or robbing it of its significance.

Taylor describes the seriousness of this violation by stating that “Since this was a covenant

made not only before God but with God, profaning it involved the most serious repudiation of

faith” 31. The object profaning the covenant is the intermarriage of Jewish men with pagan

27
John Merlin Powis Smith and Julius August Bewer, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on Haggai,
Zechariah, Malachi and Jonah, International Critical Commentary (C. Scribner’s Sons, 1912), 47.
28
Smith and Bewer, 47–48.
29
Taylor and Clendenen, 21A:327.
30
The New International Version (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2011), Nu 30:2.
31
Taylor and Clendenen, 21A:328.

6
women that worship gods of other nations. Verse 11 explains the practice of intermarriage

was so repugnant because the nation’s people not only married women who did not serve

Yahweh, rather they brought “devoted idol-worshiping women into the community of Israel

by marriage” 32! God had established strict marriage laws for his people so that they might be

holy; set apart from the rest of the countries around them. Exod 34:12-16 and Deut 7:1-5

demonstrate where Israel is warned to not make covenants with the other nations lest they

turn Israel away from God to serving other gods. This was also repeatedly seen in Israel’s

history as a trap for the nation, from the example of Solomon to Ahab-Jezebel.

Due to the seriousness of this, v12 announces the judgement for this unfaithfulness,

which is to cut off the guilty person from the community. Jacobs explains that this action

focuses “on the preservation of the community by removing the offenders whose behavior—

mostly idolatry—threatens the unity of the community.” 33 This type of exclusion is repeated

by Paul in 1 Cor. 5:13 which is itself a repetition of the commandment given to the Israelites

in Deut 13:5. The pronounced judgement ends the subsection and paves the way for the next

example of covenant violation.

Unfaithfulness caused by divorce (2:13-16)

This section begins “another thing you do” linking it to the previous section. This

ensures that the theme of covenant unfaithfulness in marriage is continuing in another area of

the nation’s life. Verse 13 begins with the question-answer scheme that is so prevalent

throughout this book. Despite the multitude of warnings and commands in the Mosaic Law,

Lange notes that “the people addressed refused to be ashamed, and to confess their guilt,

32
Allen P. Ross, Malachi Then and Now: An Expository Commentary Based on Detailed Exegetical Analysis
(Lexham Press, 2016), 115.
33
Jacobs, 247.

7
shamelessly ask the reason of their rejection” 34. The people appear to be unaware as to why

their offerings are being rejected. God offers the explanation in v14: it is because they have

dealt treacherously with the “wife of their youth”. The phrase “wife of your youth” implies

that this subsection is addressing the males in the community.

The response of the men in v14 is to the challenge the prophet. Ross says that “There

was a cold defiance in these words, a defiance that came from rationalized sin” 35. When the

community was told that God was rejecting their sacrifices, there was no repentance or

remorse in their response. God, through Malachi, goes on to explain in v14 that they have

been unfaithful to their wives. This is a remarkable verse which highlights the significance of

the marriage covenant. It is a covenant that God himself witnesses. Calvin states it in firm

terms that it is by “God’s authority that one’s wife…has been united to thee…that there

might be no separation.” 36 Therefore, the violation of the marriage covenant actually

questions God’s authority on the matter.

It is interesting to note that God describes a wife as a ‘partner’. The Hebrew word is

for partner is ḥăberet/ḥăbērâ, which is a feminine tense of its masculine counterpart word

ḥābēr. The feminine tense occurs only in this verse in the OT. The masculine tense of the

word, for example, is used in Songs 1:7, 8:13 to refer to a friend or a companion. The

designation of the wife as a partner is significant as it goes beyond the subjection of her

marital role to her husband and “counters the concept that she was to be viewed as a mere

possession to be disposed of at will.” 37 God’s intention for men is to think of their wives, not

just in terms of a marital bond, but as partners, friends and companions for life.

34
John Peter Lange, Philip Schaff, and Joseph Packard, A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures: Malachi (Logos
Bible Software, 2008), 16.
35
Ross, 119.
36
John Calvin and John Owen, Commentaries on the Twelve Minor Prophets (Logos Bible Software, 2010),
554.
37
Taylor and Clendenen, 21A:347.

8
 Many scholars find it difficult to translate the start of v15. Taylor concurs with J. M.

P. Smith’s assessment that the “beginning of this verse in the Hebrew text “is hopelessly

obscure” 38. However, the later part of the verse is universally agreed upon which is that the

purpose of marriage is to produce ‘godly offspring.’ In light of producing godly children, the

people are admonished to ‘be on your guard’. This admonition concerns the covenant with

one’s wife.

“Wife of your youth” is repeated in v14 and v15 signifying its importance. Lange

writes that “the divorced wife is now tenderly called the wife of thy youth, who has been the

choice of thy youth, the partner of thy joys and sorrows, and the wife of thy covenant, with

whom thou didst make a covenant for life.” 39 Jacobs explains that since the marriage

covenant is witnessed by Yahweh then “The repetition of the phrase “wife of your youth”

serves as a reminder that the focus is on sustained marriages.” 40 This warning also carries a

thought for the well-being of the wife and shows God’s concern for the wives that were being

treated treacherously.

The translation issues of v16 have been addressed earlier. This verse presents the idea

that divorcing and dealing treacherously with one’s wife equates with violence. This verse

does not deal with the legalities of divorce found in Deut 24:1-4; rather it describes the

“negative effects on the parties directly involved—including Yahweh himself—and on the

community at large” 41. Divorce pulls apart that which God has put together which is seen in

Genesis 2:21-25. Jesus warned against pulling apart the one union in Matt 19:6. Therefore,

the idea of violence flows through significantly after considering that marriage is a one flesh

38
Taylor and Clendenen, 21A:349.
39
Lange, Schaff, and Packard, 16.
40
Jacobs, 260.
41
Floyd, 22:609.

9
union. In modern western society, a sign of proposal is a ring while “in ancient Israel, he

placed a corner of his garment over her” 42. Therefore, if a man divorces his wife, he is tearing

the garment apart symbolizing the violence committed in the act of divorce. Hatred is equated

with violence and violating the covenant of God. Further effects are also seen in 1 Peter 3:7

where a man’s prayers are hindered due to their treatment of their wives.

Conclusion

In the third disputation of Malachi, it is clear that marriage is a special covenant

between a man and a woman, with God as the author, witness and partner of the covenant.

Through marriage, the Lord is seeking a godly seed that will carry on His work on earth.

Therefore, any unfaithfulness and treacherous dealing towards one’s spouse actually denotes

acting treacherously towards God himself. Wiersbe provides an apt summary for this paper:

In its “Universal Declaration of Human Rights,” The United Nations describes the
family as “the natural and fundamental unit of society.” Historians Will and Ariel
Durant call the family “the nucleus of civilization.” Strong families begin with strong
marriages, a man and a woman who love each other and want to live each for the
other and both for the Lord. Anything less than that is less than God’s will. 43

Unfaithfulness of any kind in a marriage relationship is ultimately rebellion against God

himself for failing to honor the covenant that God himself has set in place. However,

Christians today should be encouraged by Malachi 2:10-16. The gospel declares forgiveness

is available for all that have been unfaithful towards God and to each other. Let us therefore,

repent and walk anew in covenantal faithfulness towards God and each other with the mercy

and kindness of the gospel.

42
Wiersbe, 151.
43
Wiersbe, 151.

10
 Bibliography

Calvin, John, and John Owen. Commentaries on the Twelve Minor Prophets. Logos Bible
Software, 2010.

Collins, John C. “The (Intelligible) Masoretic Text of Malachi 2:16 or, How Does God Feel
about Divorce?” Presbyterion 20, no. 1 (1994): 36–40.

Floyd, Michael. Minor Prophets: Part 2. Vol. 22. The Forms of the Old Testament Literature.
William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2000.

Fuller, Russell. “Text-Critical Problems in Malachi 2:10-16.” Journal of Biblical Literature

110, no. 1 (1991): 47–57.

Hill, Andrew E., and John H. Walton. A Survey of the Old Testament. 3rd ed. Grand Rapids,
MI: Zondervan Academic, 2009.

Jacobs, Mignon R. The Books of Haggai and Malachi. Edited by E. J. Young, R. K. Harrison,
and Jr.Editors Hubbard Robert L. New International Commentary on the Old and
New Testament. William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2017.

Jones, David C. “A Note of the LXX of Malachi 2:16.” Journal of Biblical Literature 109,
no. 4 (1990): 683–685.

Lange, John Peter, Philip Schaff, and Joseph Packard. A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures:
Malachi. Logos Bible Software, 2008.

McConville, Gordon. The Prophets. Vol. 4. 4 vols. Exploring The Old Testament. Great
Britain: SPCK, n.d.

van der Merwe, Christo. The Lexham Hebrew-English Interlinear Bible. Lexham Press, 2004.

Pohlig, James. An Exegetical Summary of Malachi. Summer Institute of Linguistics, 1998.

Ross, Allen P. Malachi Then and Now: An Expository Commentary Based on Detailed
Exegetical Analysis. Lexham Press, 2016.

Smith, John Merlin Powis, and Julius August Bewer. A Critical and Exegetical Commentary
on Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi and Jonah. International Critical Commentary. C.
Scribner’s Sons, 1912.

Taylor, Richard A., and E. Ray Clendenen. Haggai, Malachi. Vol. 21A. The New American
Commentary. Broadman & Holman Publishers, 2004.

VanGemeren, Willem A. Interpreting the Prophetic Word: An Introduction to the Prophetic

Literature of the Old Testament. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1990.

Walton, John H., and Andrew E. Hill. Old Testament Today: A Journey from Ancient Context
to Contemporary Relevance. 2nd ed. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2013.

11
Wang, Wendy. “The U.S. Divorce Rate Has Hit a 50-Year Low.” Ifstudies.org. IFS,
November 10, 2020. Accessed August 25, 2021. https://ifstudies.org/blog/the-us-
divorce-rate-has-hit-a-50-year-low.

Watson, Daniel R. “Who Hates... Divorce? A Text-Critical Examination of Malachi 2:16.”

Midwestern Journal of Theology 10, no. 1 (2011): 87–102.

Wiersbe, Warren W. Be Amazed. “Be” Commentary Series. Victor Books, 1996.

“DIVORCE STATISTICS: OVER 115 STUDIES, FACTS AND RATES FOR 2020.”
Wilkinson & Finkbeiner Family Law Attorneys. Accessed August 25, 2021.
https://www.wf-lawyers.com/divorce-statistics-and-
facts/#:~:text=Almost%2050%20percent%20of%20all,end%20in%20divorce%20or%
20separation.

“Religious Landscape Study: Divorced or Separated Adults.” Pew Research Center.

Accessed August 25, 2021. https://www.pewforum.org/religious-landscape-
study/marital-status/divorcedseparated/.

12