Mal 1:2-5 | Clarke | STEP | Verse 2 Was not Esau Jacob's brother? - Have I not shown a greater partiality to the Israelites than I have to the Edomites? I loved Jacob - My love to Jacob has been proved by giving him greater privileges and a better inheritance than what I have given to Esau.

‏ Malachi 1:2-5

Verse 2

Was not Esau Jacob's brother? - Have I not shown a greater partiality to the Israelites than I have to the Edomites?

I loved Jacob - My love to Jacob has been proved by giving him greater privileges and a better inheritance than what I have given to Esau. Verse 3

And I hated Esau - I have shown him less love; Gen 29:30, Gen 29:31. I comparatively hated him by giving him an inferior lot. And now, I have not only laid waste the dwelling-place of the Edomites, by the incursions of their enemies; but (Mal 1:4) they shall remain the perpetual monuments of my vengeance. On the subject of loving Jacob and hating Esau, see the notes on Genesis 27 (note), and Rom 9:13 (note). Let it be remembered,

1. That there is not a word spoken here concerning the eternal state of either Jacob or Esau.

2. That what is spoken concerns merely their earthly possessions. And,

3. That it does not concern the two brothers at all, but the posterity of each. Verse 4

They shall build, but I will throw down - We have already seen enough of the wickedness of the Edomites to justify the utmost severity of Divine justice against them. The pulling down predicted here was by Judas Maccabeus; see 1 Maccabees 5:65; and by John Hyrcanus; see Joseph Antiq., lib. 13 c. 9. s. 1.

They shall call them, The border of wickedness - A wicked land. Among this people scarcely any trace of good could ever be noted. Verse 5

Your eyes - Ye Israelites shall see, in your succeeding generations, that: -

The Lord will be magnified - By his kindness in Israel, and his judgments beyond.