Malachi 1:7
New International Version
“By offering defiled food on my altar. “But you ask, ‘How have we defiled you?’ “By saying that the LORD’s table is contemptible.

New Living Translation
“You have shown contempt by offering defiled sacrifices on my altar. “Then you ask, ‘How have we defiled the sacrifices?’ “You defile them by saying the altar of the LORD deserves no respect.

English Standard Version
By offering polluted food upon my altar. But you say, ‘How have we polluted you?’ By saying that the LORD’s table may be despised.

Berean Standard Bible
By presenting defiled food on My altar. But you ask, ‘How have we defiled You?’ By saying that the table of the LORD is contemptible.

King James Bible
Ye offer polluted bread upon mine altar; and ye say, Wherein have we polluted thee? In that ye say, The table of the LORD is contemptible.

New King James Version
“You offer defiled food on My altar, But say, ‘In what way have we defiled You?’ By saying, ‘The table of the LORD is contemptible.’

New American Standard Bible
You are presenting defiled food upon My altar. But you say, ‘How have we defiled You?’ In that you say, ‘The table of the LORD is to be despised.’

NASB 1995
“You are presenting defiled food upon My altar. But you say, ‘How have we defiled You?’ In that you say, ‘The table of the LORD is to be despised.’

NASB 1977
You are presenting defiled food upon My altar. But you say, ‘How have we defiled Thee?’ In that you say, ‘The table of the LORD is to be despised.’

Legacy Standard Bible
You are presenting defiled food upon My altar. But you say, ‘How have we defiled You?’ In that you say, ‘The table of Yahweh is to be despised.’

Amplified Bible
You are presenting defiled food upon My altar. But you say, ‘How have we defiled You?’ By thinking that the table of the LORD is contemptible and may be despised.

Christian Standard Bible
“By presenting defiled food on my altar.” “How have we defiled you? ” you ask. When you say, “The LORD’s table is contemptible.”

Holman Christian Standard Bible
By presenting defiled food on My altar.” You ask: “How have we defiled You?” When you say: “The LORD’s table is contemptible."”

American Standard Version
Ye offer polluted bread upon mine altar. And ye say, Wherein have we polluted thee? In that ye say, The table of Jehovah is contemptible.

Contemporary English Version
You embarrass me by offering worthless food on my altar. Then you ask, "How have we embarrassed you?" You have done it by saying, "What's so great about the LORD's altar?"

English Revised Version
Ye offer polluted bread upon mine altar. And ye say, Wherein have we polluted thee? In that ye say, The table of the LORD is contemptible.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
"You offer contaminated food on my altar. "But you ask, 'Then how have we contaminated you?' "When you say that the LORD's table may be despised.

Good News Translation
This is how--by offering worthless food on my altar. Then you ask, 'How have we failed to respect you?' I will tell you--by showing contempt for my altar.

International Standard Version
By presenting defiled food on my altar. And you ask, 'How have we defiled you?' By saying, 'The Table of the LORD is contemptible.'

Majority Standard Bible
By presenting defiled food on My altar. But you ask, ‘How have we defiled You?’ By saying that the table of the LORD is contemptible.

NET Bible
You are offering improper sacrifices on my altar, yet you ask, 'How have we offended you?' By treating the table of the LORD as if it is of no importance!

New Heart English Bible
You offer defiled bread on my altar. You say, 'How have we defiled you?' In that you say, 'The LORD's table is despised, and its fruit, its food, is despised.?

Webster's Bible Translation
Ye offer polluted bread upon my altar? and ye say, In what have we polluted thee? In that ye say, The table of the LORD is contemptible.

World English Bible
You offer polluted bread on my altar. You say, ‘How have we polluted you?’ In that you say, ‘Yahweh’s table is contemptible.’
Literal Translations
Literal Standard Version
You are bringing defiled bread near on My altar, "" And you have said, In what have we defiled You? In your saying, The table of YHWH—it [is] despicable,

Young's Literal Translation
Ye are bringing nigh on Mine altar polluted bread, And ye have said: 'In what have we polluted Thee?' In your saying: 'The table of Jehovah -- it is despicable,'

Smith's Literal Translation
Bringing polluted bread upon mine altar; and ye said, In what did we pollute thee? In your saying, The table of Jehovah it was despised.
Catholic Translations
Douay-Rheims Bible
To you, O priests, that despise my name, and have said: Wherein have we despised thy name? You offer polluted bread upon my altar, and you say: Wherein have we polluted thee? In that you say: The table of the Lord is contemptible.

Catholic Public Domain Version
You offer polluted bread upon my altar, and you say, “In what way, have we polluted you?” In that you say, “The table of the Lord has been despised.”

New American Bible
By offering defiled food on my altar! You ask, “How have we defiled it?” By saying that the table of the LORD may be disdained!

New Revised Standard Version
By offering polluted food on my altar. And you say, “How have we polluted it?” By thinking that the LORD’s table may be despised.
Translations from Aramaic
Lamsa Bible
In that you offer polluted bread upon my altar; and if you say, In what have we polluted it? In that you say, The table of the LORD is contemptible.

Peshitta Holy Bible Translated
Because you offer on my altar defiled bread; and if you say, ”In what have we defiled you?” In that you say that the table of LORD JEHOVAH is despised
OT Translations
JPS Tanakh 1917
Ye offer polluted bread upon Mine altar. And ye say: 'Wherein have we polluted thee?' In that ye say: 'The table of the LORD is contemptible.'

Brenton Septuagint Translation
In that ye bring to mine altar polluted bread; and ye said, Wherein have ye polluted it? In that ye say, The table of the Lord is polluted, and that which was set thereon ye have despised.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
The Polluted Offerings
6“A son honors his father, and a servant his master. But if I am a father, where is My honor? And if I am a master, where is your fear of Me?” says the LORD of Hosts to you priests who despise My name. “But you ask, ‘How have we despised Your name?’ 7By presenting defiled food on My altar. But you ask, ‘How have we defiled You?’ By saying that the table of the LORD is contemptible. 8When you offer blind animals for sacrifice, is it not wrong? And when you present the lame and sick ones, is it not wrong? Try offering them to your governor! Would he be pleased with you or show you favor?” asks the LORD of Hosts.…

Cross References
Leviticus 22:8-9
He must not eat anything found dead or torn by wild animals, which would make him unclean. I am the LORD. / The priests must keep My charge, lest they bear the guilt and die because they profane it. I am the LORD who sanctifies them.

Isaiah 1:11-14
“What good to Me is your multitude of sacrifices?” says the LORD. “I am full from the burnt offerings of rams and the fat of well-fed cattle; I take no delight in the blood of bulls and lambs and goats. / When you come to appear before Me, who has required this of you—this trampling of My courts? / Bring your worthless offerings no more; your incense is detestable to Me. New Moons, Sabbaths, and convocations—I cannot endure iniquity in a solemn assembly. ...

Ezekiel 22:26
Her priests do violence to My law and profane My holy things. They make no distinction between the holy and the common, and they fail to distinguish between the clean and the unclean. They disregard My Sabbaths, so that I am profaned among them.

Amos 5:21-22
“I hate, I despise your feasts! I cannot stand the stench of your solemn assemblies. / Even though you offer Me burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them; for your peace offerings of fattened cattle I will have no regard.

Haggai 2:14
Then Haggai replied, “So it is with this people and this nation before Me, declares the LORD, and so it is with every work of their hands; whatever they offer there is defiled.

Matthew 15:8-9
‘These people honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me. / They worship Me in vain; they teach as doctrine the precepts of men.’”

Mark 7:6-7
Jesus answered them, “Isaiah prophesied correctly about you hypocrites, as it is written: ‘These people honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me. / They worship Me in vain; they teach as doctrine the precepts of men.’

1 Corinthians 10:21
You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons too; you cannot partake in the table of the Lord and the table of demons too.

Hebrews 13:10
We have an altar from which those who serve at the tabernacle have no right to eat.

Isaiah 66:3
Whoever slaughters an ox is like one who slays a man; whoever sacrifices a lamb is like one who breaks a dog’s neck; whoever presents a grain offering is like one who offers pig’s blood; whoever offers frankincense is like one who blesses an idol. Indeed, they have chosen their own ways and delighted in their abominations.

Jeremiah 6:20
What use to Me is frankincense from Sheba or sweet cane from a distant land? Your burnt offerings are not acceptable; your sacrifices do not please Me.”

Hosea 8:13
Though they offer sacrifices as gifts to Me, and though they eat the meat, the LORD does not accept them. Now He will remember their iniquity and punish their sins: They will return to Egypt.

Malachi 3:8-9
Will a man rob God? Yet you are robbing Me! But you ask, ‘How do we rob You?’ In tithes and offerings. / You are cursed with a curse, yet you—the whole nation—are still robbing Me.

Matthew 23:23
Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You pay tithes of mint, dill, and cumin. But you have disregarded the weightier matters of the law: justice, mercy, and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former.

Luke 11:42
Woe to you Pharisees! For you pay tithes of mint, rue, and every herb, but you disregard justice and the love of God. You should have practiced the latter without neglecting the former.


Treasury of Scripture

You offer polluted bread on my altar; and you say, Wherein have we polluted you? In that you say, The table of the LORD is contemptible.

Ye offer, etc.

Leviticus 2:11
No meat offering, which ye shall bring unto the LORD, shall be made with leaven: for ye shall burn no leaven, nor any honey, in any offering of the LORD made by fire.

Leviticus 21:6
They shall be holy unto their God, and not profane the name of their God: for the offerings of the LORD made by fire, and the bread of their God, they do offer: therefore they shall be holy.

Deuteronomy 15:21
And if there be any blemish therein, as if it be lame, or blind, or have any ill blemish, thou shalt not sacrifice it unto the LORD thy God.

The table.

Malachi 1:12
But ye have profaned it, in that ye say, The table of the LORD is polluted; and the fruit thereof, even his meat, is contemptible.

1 Samuel 2:15-17
Also before they burnt the fat, the priest's servant came, and said to the man that sacrificed, Give flesh to roast for the priest; for he will not have sodden flesh of thee, but raw…

Ezekiel 41:22
The altar of wood was three cubits high, and the length thereof two cubits; and the corners thereof, and the length thereof, and the walls thereof, were of wood: and he said unto me, This is the table that is before the LORD.

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Malachi 1
1. Malachi complains of Israel's unkindness;
2. of their irreverence and profaneness.














By presenting defiled food on My altar
In this phrase, the word "defiled" is crucial. The Hebrew root for "defiled" is "טָמֵא" (tame), which means to be unclean or impure. In the context of the Old Testament, anything that was defiled was considered unfit for worship or sacrifice. The altar, a sacred place where offerings were made to God, was to be kept holy and pure. The Israelites were commanded to bring their best to God, yet here they are accused of bringing offerings that are unworthy, thus showing disrespect and irreverence towards God. This reflects a deeper spiritual malaise, where the people's hearts are not fully devoted to God, and their worship has become routine and insincere.

But you ask, ‘How have we defiled You?’
This rhetorical question reveals the people's ignorance or denial of their wrongdoing. It suggests a lack of self-awareness or understanding of their spiritual state. The Hebrew word for "defiled" again emphasizes the seriousness of their actions. The people are either genuinely unaware of their transgressions or are feigning ignorance. This question also highlights a common human tendency to justify or overlook one's own faults, especially in matters of faith and obedience.

By saying that the table of the LORD is contemptible
The "table of the LORD" refers to the altar where sacrifices were made. The Hebrew word for "contemptible" is "בָּזָה" (bazah), meaning to despise or hold in disdain. This indicates a profound disrespect for the sacred practices and the holiness of God. Historically, the altar was central to Israelite worship, symbolizing God's presence and the people's covenant relationship with Him. By declaring it contemptible, the people are not only disrespecting the physical altar but are also showing contempt for God Himself. This phrase challenges believers to examine their own attitudes towards worship and the sacred, urging a return to reverence and wholehearted devotion.

(7) Ye offer.--Literally, offering.

Bread.--This is not the shewbread, which was not offered upon the altar. The word rendered "bread" means in Arabic "flesh;" in Hebrew, "food generally." This word is applied (Leviticus 3:11; Leviticus 3:16) to the fat portions of the peace offerings, which were burned, and is there translated "food." (See references there.) In Leviticus 21:6; Leviticus 21:8; Leviticus 21:17; Leviticus 21:21-22; Leviticus 22:25, it is used of the sacrifices generally, but is there inconsistently translated "bread." . . .

Verse 7. - Ye offer polluted bread (food) upon mine altar. The prophet answers the priests simply by detailing some of their practices. The "bread" (lechem) is not the shewbread, which was not offered on the altar, but the flesh of the offered victims (see Leviticus 3:11, 16; Leviticus 21:6; Leviticus 22:25). This was "polluted" in that it was not offered in due accordance with the ceremonial Law, as is further explained in the next verse. Wherein have we polluted thee? They did not acknowledge the truth that (as St. Jerome says) "when the sacraments are violated, he himself, whose sacraments they are, is violated" (comp. Ezekiel 13:19; Ezekiel 20:9; Ezekiel 39:7). The table of the Lord is contemptible. This was the thought of their heart, if they did not give open expression to it in words. The "table of the Lord" (ver. 12) is the altar, on which were laid the sacrifices, regarded as the food. of God, and to be eaten by the fire (Ezekiel 41:22; Ezekiel 44:16). They showed that they despised the altar by fancying that anything was good enough for offering thereon, as the next verse explains.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
“By presenting
מַגִּישִׁ֤ים (mag·gî·šîm)
Verb - Hifil - Participle - masculine plural
Strong's 5066: To draw near, approach

defiled
מְגֹאָ֔ל (mə·ḡō·’āl)
Verb - Pual - Participle - masculine singular
Strong's 1351: To soil, desecrate

food
לֶ֣חֶם (le·ḥem)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 3899: Food, bread, grain

on
עַֽל־ (‘al-)
Preposition
Strong's 5921: Above, over, upon, against

My altar.”
מִזְבְּחִי֙ (miz·bə·ḥî)
Noun - masculine singular construct | first person common singular
Strong's 4196: An altar

You ask,
וַאֲמַרְתֶּ֖ם (wa·’ă·mar·tem)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Conjunctive perfect - second person masculine plural
Strong's 559: To utter, say

“How
בַּמֶּ֣ה (bam·meh)
Preposition-b | Interrogative
Strong's 4100: What?, what!, indefinitely what

have we defiled You?”
גֵֽאַלְנ֑וּךָ (ḡê·’al·nū·ḵā)
Verb - Piel - Perfect - first person common plural | second person masculine singular
Strong's 1351: To soil, desecrate

“By saying that
בֶּאֱמָרְכֶ֕ם (be·’ĕ·mā·rə·ḵem)
Preposition-b | Verb - Qal - Infinitive construct | second person masculine plural
Strong's 559: To utter, say

the table
שֻׁלְחַ֥ן (šul·ḥan)
Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 7979: A table, a meal

of the LORD
יְהוָ֖ה (Yah·weh)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 3068: LORD -- the proper name of the God of Israel

is contemptible.”
נִבְזֶ֥ה (niḇ·zeh)
Verb - Nifal - Participle - masculine singular
Strong's 959: To disesteem


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OT Prophets: Malachi 1:7 You offer polluted bread on my altar (Malachi Mal Ml)
Malachi 1:6
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