Malachi, Chapter 2, verses 1-2, 8-10
1 He sharply reproveth the priests for neglecting their covenant2 The priests reproved for profaning the holy things of God, Mal 2:1-9.
The priests and people for various abuses with regard to marriage, Mal 2:10-17.
2:2 I have cursed them - I have already sent out the curse, and it is in part upon you.
1 Thessalonians, Chapter 2, verses 7-9, 13
1 In what manner the gospel was brought and preached to the Thessalonians, and in what sort also they received it2
2:7 But we were gentle - Mild, tender. In the midst of you - Like a hen surrounded with her young. Even as a nurse cherisheth her own children - The offspring of her own womb.
2:8 To impart our own souls - To lay down our lives for your sake.
Matthew, Chapter 23, verses 1-12
1 Christ admonisheth the people to follow the good doctrine, not the evil examples of the scribes and Pharisees, 5 His disciples must beware of their ambition23
23:1 Then - Leaving all converse with his adversaries, whom he now left to the hardness of their hearts.
23:2 The scribes sit in the chair of Moses - That is, read and expound the law of Moses, and are their appointed teachers.
23:3 All things therefore - Which they read out of the law, and enforce therefrom.
23:4 Luk 11:46.
23:5 Their phylacteries - The Jews, understanding those words literally, It shall he as a token upon thy hand, and as frontlets between thine eyes, Exo 13:16.And thou shalt bind these words for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes, Deu 6:8;used to wear little scrolls of paper or parchment, bound on their wrist and foreheads, on which several texts of Scripture were writ. These they supposed, as a kind of charm, would preserve them from danger. And hence they seem to have been called phylacteries, or preservatives. The fringes of their garments - Which God had enjoined them towear, to remind them of doing all the commandments, Num 15:38.These, as well as their phylacteries, the Pharisees affected to wear broader and larger than other men. Mar 12:38.
23:8 The Jewish rabbis were also called father and master, by their several disciples, whom they required,
- To believe implicitly what they affirmed, without asking any farther reason;
- To obey implicitly what they enjoined, without seeking farther authority.
23:9 See note ... Mat 23:8.
23:10 See note ... Mat 23:8.
23:11 Mat 20:26.
23:12 Whosoever shall exalt himself shall be humbled, and he that shall humble himself shall he exalted - It is observable that no one sentence of our Lord's is so often repeated as this: it occurs, with scarce any variation, at least ten times in the evangelists. Luk 14:11; Luk 18:14.
1 The prophet reproves the Jews for their ingratitude to God, Mal 1:1-5.
For their neglect of his institutions, Mal 1:6-14.
1:14 The deceiver - The hypocrite that would seem to offer a sacrifice of the best, but puts God off with the worst. A male - A perfect male, such as God requireth.