Texts in Conversation
The Hebrew version of Malachi has God announce, ‘I hate divorce.’ The Greek Septuagint interprets this as a condition about a man who divorces out of hatred, with the Greek text allowing divorce rather than condemning it.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Malachi 2:16
Hebrew Bible
15 No one who has even a small portion of the Spirit in him does this. What did our ancestor do when seeking a child from God? Be attentive, then, to your own spirit, for one should not be disloyal to the wife he took in his youth. 16 “I hate divorce,” says the Lord God of Israel, “and the one who is guilty of violence,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. “Pay attention to your conscience, and do not be unfaithful.” 17 You have wearied the Lord with your words. But you say, “How have we wearied him?” Because you say, “Everyone who does evil is good in the Lord’s opinion, and he delights in them,” or, “Where is the God of justice?”
LXX Malachi 2:16
Septuagint
14 And you said, ‘Because of what?’ Because the Lord has testified between you and the wife of your youth, whom you deserted, even though she is your partner and the wife of your covenant. 15 And he did not make her good, yet she has the residue of his breath. And you said, ‘What other seed does God desire?’ So, observe in your spirit, and do not desert the wife of your youth. 16 But if, while hating, you dismiss your wife,” says the Lord God of Israel, “you will conceal the wrongdoing of your thoughts,” says the Lord Almighty. “So, observe in your spirit, and certainly do not desert your wife.”
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Notes and References
"... The phrase in Malachi 2:16, כי שנא שלח, is translated in the Septuagint: ἀλλὰ ἐὰν μισήσας ἐξαποστείλῃς, or, literally, 'but if hating her you send her away'—as in the Minor Prophets Scroll. Thus the Alexandrian interpreters accepted the legal presuppositions of Deuteronomy 24:1–3. However, they also duly rendered Malachi's disapproval of 'hate divorce:' καὶ καλύψει ἀσέβεια ἐπὶ τὰ ἐνδύματά σου, 'and he will cover with impiety (on) your clothes.' ..."
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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