By offering polluted food upon my altar: This is the answer to the question at the end of the previous verse, and forms the first Response element in this dispute. In some languages it may be necessary to repeat the subject, verb, and object understood from verse 6: “You despise me by offering….” The word translated polluted does not mean that the food was stale or decaying, but rather that it did not meet the ritual requirements of the Law (Lev 22.17-25). A possible alternative for the clause may be “By offering an imperfect sacrifice on my altar.” Good News Translation and Contemporary English Version “worthless” is rather misleading. A better rendering is “defiled” (Moffatt, New English Bible/Revised English Bible, New International Version, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh, New Living Translation). The word translated food is literally “bread,” but in this context it clearly includes all kinds of offerings, including animals, as is shown by verse 8 and other texts such as Lev 3.11, 16. It may be rendered “sacrifices” or “offerings.” My altar means “the altar where you worship me” or “sacrifice to me.” In some cultures a table is used for sacrificing rather than a stone or metal altar. However, if translators use a word for “table,” they should ensure that it means a table for sacrificing animals, not the table where the bread of God’s presence was placed. See the notes on the LORD’s table below.
And you say, ‘How have we polluted it?’: This question constitutes a second Objection element in the dispute. The priests seem to find the reply to their first question incredible, and demand further explanation. The Hebrew text has “How have we defiled you,” which the Septuagint and some modern versions have changed to it (Revised Standard Version, New Revised Standard Version, New American Bible, Jerusalem Bible, Moffatt). The Hebrew reading “you” refers back to “thy name” in verse 6. Many modern versions retain the Hebrew text and we recommend that translators do the same (compare Critique Textuelle de l’Ancien Testament and Hebrew Old Testament Text Project). Possible ways to restructure are “How have we offended your dignity?” (Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente), “How have we caused you to lose face?” and “How have we polluted your name?”
By thinking that the LORD’s table may be despised: This sentence opens the second and longer Response element of the dispute, which extends from here to the end of 2.9. In some languages it may be necessary to include the verb that is understood here, and say, “You have defiled me by…” (compare Contemporary English Version “You have done it by saying…”). The word that Revised Standard Version translates By thinking is literally “By saying” (New American Bible, New International Version, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh). However, in some languages this would mean that the priests actually spoke the following words. In fact, the thrust of the prophet’s argument is that the priests’ true attitudes (as opposed to what they professed) are shown by their actions, as described in verse 8. Thus thinking is a rendering that fits the context better.
The expression translated the LORD’s table occurs in the Old Testament only here and in verse 12. Since some Christian groups use this expression to refer to the Christian communion ceremony, it is possible that a literal translation would be misunderstood. Malachi is not of course referring to this Christian practice. The word table is often used in the Old Testament to refer to the table on which the bread of God’s presence was placed (Exo 25.23-30); but in the present context it clearly has a wider meaning, and may be translated “altar,” as in Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version, Bible en français courant, and Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente. Indeed the whole Temple ritual may be implied. As verse 8 shows, the prophet has animal sacrifices particularly in mind, and the table on which the bread was placed was never used for animal sacrifices.
Despised may be translated “shown contempt” (compare Good News Translation), “treated with scorn” (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh), “treated flippantly” (Bible en français courant), or “treated lightly/casually” (Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente). In languages that require direct speech here, translators may say, for example, “You have done it by thinking, ‘What’s so great about the LORD’s altar?’ ” (similarly Contemporary English Version).
Quoted with permission from Clark, David J. & Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Malachi. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2002. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .