1:5

English versions differ about whether this verse represents Malachi’s words or the words of the LORD himself. They indicate this by placing their quotation marks in different places:

(1) They are the LORD’s words, continuing from 1:4. For example:

“…you will say, ‘Truly, the Lord ’s great power reaches far beyond our borders!’” (New Living Translation (2004))

(2) They are Malachi’s words. The LORD’s words end in 1:4. For example:

“4h…the people with whom the Lord is angry for ever.” 5a Your own eyes shall see this… (Revised Standard Version)

It is recommended that you follow option (1). It is likely that this verse is a continuation of what the LORD was saying to the people of Israel. This fits with the rest of the chapter, which is a conversation between the LORD and various groups of people. Therefore include these words in the quotation that you started in 1:4, so that you make it clear that the LORD was still speaking.

1:5a

You will see this with your own eyes: This clause emphasizes that the people of Israel would actually see these things happen to the Edomites. Another way to express this emphasis in English is:

You yourselves will see this.

1:5b

The LORD is great—even beyond the borders of Israel: This means that the greatness of the LORD extends beyond the land of Israel. He is powerful over many nations. The verb or adjective form of the Hebrew word which the Berean Standard Bible translates as great is also used in 1:11 (twice) and 1:14. All these verses refer to the fact that the power of the LORD is not limited to the people of Israel. His power extends to other nations as well. See also the note on 1:11.

General Comment on 1:5b

In 1:5b, the LORD was quoting what the people themselves would say. In some languages it may not be possible to use direct speech here. One way to use indirect speech instead is:

and you(plur) shall say ⌊that⌋ the LORD is great ⌊even⌋ beyond the border of Israel!

© 2007 by SIL International®
Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0.
All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.