Malachi 1:2

“I have loved you, says YHWH. And you say, “How have you loved us?” Was not Esau Jacob's brother? declares YHWH. Yet I loved Jacob,”
Malachi 1:2 · direct translation from the Hebrew

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With the Hebrew beneath

I have lovedאָהַבְתִּיyou,אֶתְכֶםsaysאָמַרYHWH.יְהוָהAnd you say,וַאֲמַרְתֶּם“Howבַּמָּהhave you loved us?”אֲהַבְתָּנוּWas notהֲלוֹאEsauעֵשָׂוJacob'sלְיַעֲקֹבbrother?אָחdeclaresנְאֻםYHWH.יְהוָהYet I lovedוָאֹהַבJacob,יַעֲקֹב

Quotation · Romans 9:13

Go to Romans 9:13

Paul quotes Malachi 1:2-3: “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”

Formula: γέγραπται “it is written” (Romans 9:13)

See the original texts

Greek of the New Testament: καθὼς γέγραπται Τὸν Ἰακὼβ ἠγάπησα τὸν δὲ Ἠσαῦ ἐμίσησα

Hebrew (Masoretic text): אָהַבְתִּי אֶתְכֶם אָמַר יְהוָה וַאֲמַרְתֶּם בַּמָּה אֲהַבְתָּנוּ הֲלוֹא אָח עֵשָׂו לְיַעֲקֹב נְאֻם יְהוָה וָאֹהַב אֶת יַעֲקֹב וְאֶת עֵשָׂו שָׂנֵאתִי וָאָשִׂים אֶת הָרָיו שְׁמָמָה וְאֶת נַחֲלָתוֹ לְתַנּוֹת מִדְבָּר

Septuagint (Malachi 1:2-3 in the Septuagint numbering): Ἠγάπησα ὑμᾶς, λέγει Κύριος· καὶ εἴπατε Ἐν τίνι ἠγάπησας ἡμᾶς; οὐκ ἀδελφὸς ἦν Ἠσαὺ τοῦ Ἰακώβ; λέγει Κύριος· καὶ ἠγάπησα τὸν Ἰακώβ, τὸν δὲ Ἠσαὺ ἐμίσησα, καὶ ἔταξα τὰ ὅρια αὐτοῦ εἰς ἀφανισμὸν καὶ τὴν κληρονομίαν αὐτοῦ εἰς δόματα ἐρήμου.

In the Septuagint verse that most resembles it, at most 4 consecutive words match the Greek of the NT. The transcription has reading errors, so a match may not show.

Septuagint, Swete’s text, First1KGreek transcription (with reading errors), CC BY-SA 4.0

Malachi 1:2, word by word

I have lovedאָהַבְתִּיahavti

love

To care for someone from the heart and seek their good.

Where else “ahavti” appears

saysאָמַרamar

say

To say with the mouth to someone what one thinks or wants, or to answer him.

Where else “amar” appears

YHWHיְהוָהyehva

YHWH

The personal name of the God of Israel, written in Hebrew with four letters, Y-H-W-H, without vowels. Out of reverence Jews stopped pronouncing it and read "Adonai" (Lord), so many Bibles put "the LORD" or "Jehovah". This translation keeps the four letters. The name is related to the verb "to be" (Exodus 3:14-15). He is not a god other than Elohim: "YHWH Elohim" is the same Creator God, called by his name.

Where else “yehva” appears

Esauעֵשָׂוesav

Esau

Esau, the elder son of Isaac and Rebekah, twin brother of Jacob; also called Edom, father of the Edomites. The name also stands for his descendants.

Where else “esav” appears

Jacob'sיַעֲקֹבyaakov

Jacob

Jacob, the younger son of Isaac and Rebekah, twin brother of Esau and father of the twelve tribes. In Hebrew "Yaakov" sounds like "heel" and "supplant" (Genesis 25:26; 27:36). God later gave him the name Israel; the name also stands for his descendants, the people of Israel.

Where else “yaakov” appears

brotherאָחach

brother

A son of the same father or the same mother.

Where else “ach” appears

declaresנְאֻםneum

declaration

Solemn words God himself speaks: "oracle of YHWH".

Where else “neum” appears

Parallel passages

Other books that tell the same thing or quote these words.

Quotation · Romans 9:13

Paul quotes Malachi 1:2-3: “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”

See them side by side

Malachi 1:2

²I have loved you, says YHWH. And you say, “How have you loved us?” Was not Esau Jacob's brother? declares YHWH. Yet I loved Jacob,

Romans 9:13

¹³As it is written: Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.

The context

1The burden of the word of YHWH to Israel through Malachi.

2 · This verse (above)

3and Esau I hated; and I made his mountains a desolation, and his inheritance a place for the jackals of the desert.

Read all of Malachi 1

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