Malachi 2:14
Yet ye say, Wherefore? Because the LORD hath been witness between thee and the wife of thy youth, against whom thou hast dealt treacherously: yet is she thy companion, and the wife of thy covenant. Yet ye say, Wherefore? Because the LORD hath been witness between thee and the wife of thy youth, against whom thou hast dealt treacherously: yet is she thy companion, and the wife of thy covenant.
The Lord stands as witness between a man and the woman he married in youth, who is his lifelong companion and the wife bound to him by covenant, so that to betray her breaks that covenant bond. She is joined to him as one flesh in shared life, a fitting helper to share in service to God and humanity, not a servant or inferior to be used for lust or enslaved. To deal treacherously is to divorce that covenant wife to take another, often younger or seemingly more congenial, or to break the vow over any small grievance or lack of congeniality. Marriage is the most sacred of earthly ties, ordained from the beginning as the union of one husband to one wife for godly offspring, guarded by the seventh commandment though not created by it. When a man so betrays his wife, God will not regard his offering with favor though he covers the altar with tears, for God hates such divorce as violence and calls every man to guard his spirit and keep the vow open only to reconciliation.
Covenant Language and Context
Malachi means My Messenger, and it is the latest book closing the canon of the Old Testament, written about 400 B.C. or a little later. The verse belongs to a condemnation of the degeneracy of the priesthood and the shortcomings of God's people, using those conditions as illustrations pointing forward to the closing days of the Christian dispensation when the Lord is about to come the second time and the judgments of the great day of God will separate the righteous and the wicked. The Lord stands as witness between a man and the wife of his youth, who is his companion and the wife of his covenant, and dealing treacherously against her violates that covenant bond. That witness makes marital faithfulness a duty, so that taking another wife breaks the covenant, and God's order is shown to be one wife joined in faithful union rather than polygamy. The warning calls for guarding the spirit against treacherous treatment and against selfishly anticipating divorce without just and sound reasons and conclusive proof of guilt.
The wife of youth is the woman with whom a man has lived for years and who left father and mother for his sake. Bible-era marriages expressing this covenant included betrothal, ceremony, pledges, and the ratification of covenants. Companion means one joined as one flesh with shared life and kinship. She was given as a help meet fitted to share in noble service for God and humanity, not to satisfy lust, not to be a slave or servant, and not to occupy an inferior position even though different. Husband and wife are to be one, but neither is to be the one, both blending in one purpose and one life with neither enslaved to the other.
Dealing treacherously means divorcing the covenant wife to take another wife, especially a younger one. It means putting her away to take a neighbor's wife because the other woman seems more congenial, and it includes breaking the vow for any little grievance or incompatibility of temperament. Congeniality of soul is not the rule of marriage, and following it as the rule wrecks happiness. The question about the purpose for which the wife was given connects the verse to God's purpose stated in the following verse.
Sacred Institution and Design
Marriage is a sacred covenant institution in which the Lord stands as witness between a man and the wife of his youth, who remains his companion and the wife of his covenant, and treacherous treatment of her violates that bond. It is the most sacred of all earthly ties and the most solemn of vows pertaining to earthly relationship, involving the sanctity of the home and the marriage tie. The marriage vow shuts the door to separation and leaves open only reconciliation and adjustment when estrangement takes place.
Marriage was instituted before the fall, and its sanctity does not come from the Decalogue. Its holiness is guarded by the seventh commandment, even as the commandments guard its sacredness. Violations of marriage by the patriarchs do not make marriage less sacred or destroy its sacred character. Just as violations of the Sabbath would not destroy the sacred character of the Sabbath, so those failures do not diminish the institution, for marriage like the Sabbath was made for humanity before the fall.
God's order is one husband joined to one wife, not polygamy, and taking another wife violates the covenant with the wife of youth. Though with all power and wisdom He could have made many wives for one man or many husbands for one woman, He joined one man and one woman as one flesh with shared life and kinship. He made one because He desired godly offspring, so parents would feel proper interest in the education and welfare of their children. Mothers especially would thus be secure and able to care for them rather than being divorced at the caprice of husbands, and God has not changed in this purpose.
Polygamy and divorce are human changes that mar God's institution and do not make people happier. Divorce was not so designed in the beginning but was conceded because of hardness of heart. It was evidence of sin in the heart from its very incipiency, its introduction was a result of sin and its increase is evidence of the growing prevalence of sin. Growing disregard of marriage is decided evidence of moral degeneracy. No claimed right can override God's law in disregarding this tie.
Treachery Rebuked and Applied
Treachery against the wife of youth is the stated reason the Lord refuses the offerings brought to Him. When a man breaks faith with his companion and covenant wife, God no longer regards his offering nor receives it with good will, even though the offender covers the altar with tears and weeping and crying out. Bitter feeling and unkindness toward a wife hinders prayer.
God has not changed, and He hates divorce as a covering of violence with a garment. To divorce the wife of youth in order to take another wife, especially a younger one, commits abomination and profanes the holiness of the Lord and the covenant of fatherhood.
The verse therefore calls for taking heed to the spirit and guarding it against treacherous treatment. Divorce is not to be selfishly anticipated without just and sound reasons and conclusive proof of guilt. The marriage vow shuts the door to separation and, when estrangement takes place, leaves open only reconciliation and adjustment.
Entering the compact lightly and unadvisedly after short acquaintance brings disillusion and sighing for a liberty that should forever be denied. Putting away the woman who has lived with her husband for years and left father and mother for his sake, in order to take a neighbor's wife because the other woman seems more congenial, breaks the marriage relation. Congeniality of soul is not the rule of marriage, and following it as the rule wrecks the happiness of many. Breaking the vow over any little grievance or incompatibility of temperament is a crying sin, fed by hasty engagements and marriages, by a low estimate of the marriage estate and its responsibilities, and by the ease with which divorced persons find favor in respectable society.
Left to themselves men follow their own spirit and deal treacherously, so liability to unfaithfulness requires the care of the churches and instruction in how to behave in the house of God, with overseers set to feed and guard the flock. The same image of a spouse's treachery applies to the church's abandonment of communion with God, in that seeking civil power to enforce religious decrees is like a wife leaving her spouse for illicit relations with the world.