As noted in “Introducing Malachi,” the verses numbered 4.1-6 in most English versions are numbered 3.19-24 in Hebrew. Modern versions in other European languages, along with Catholic versions in English such as Jerusalem Bible/New Jerusalem Bible and New American Bible, follow the Hebrew numbering system. In this Handbook the Hebrew verse number will be placed in square brackets [ ] underneath the corresponding English verse number at the beginning of comments for each verse.
Although there is no justification for beginning a new chapter here in terms of the discourse structure, in areas where the tradition of numbering the last six verses of Malachi as 4.1-6 is dominant, translators are advised to follow it. There is no justification for including a section heading at 4.1. See the notes on the section heading at 3.13.
For behold: The Hebrew conjunction translated For indicates that there is no sharp break from the previous verses. This verse gives the reason for the statements in 3.18. The particle translated behold shows the beginning of a new subunit within the flow of the argument. Good News Translation lacks anything equivalent to either For or behold, and by inserting a new section heading, it is positively misleading about the structure of the dispute that covers 3.13–4.3. See the comments introducing 3.13–4.3 above. Translators are strongly advised to maintain a visible link with 3.16-18, especially if they are obliged to begin a new chapter at this verse. The manner in which the link is shown will vary according to the resources of the translator’s language. Among English versions the most imaginative approach is found in Beck, who renders For behold as “You see.” This expression at this point not only draws attention to what follows but also indicates that there is a link backwards to 3.18.
The day comes, burning like an oven: The definite article the before day (contrast Zech 14.1) indicates that this is a reference back to the day already mentioned in 3.17, and strengthens the way the whole dispute 3.13–4.3 holds together as a unit. The present tense comes suggests that the action will occur very soon, so in some languages it may be better to say “is about to come” or “will soon come” (compare Beck, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh, Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente). It is unusual and striking to speak of a day as burning. If possible, translators should keep the picture, but if it would sound too unnatural, it would be possible to say “the day is coming when it will be as hot as a burning oven” or “the day is coming that will bring burning heat [or, fire] like that of an oven.” In languages where “day” and “sun” are the same, it may be necessary to restructure the first part of the verse as follows: “Look! That day/sun is coming soon. It will bring fire like the fire of an oven.”
The word translated oven may mean either a portable earthenware oven (compare Gen 15.17; Lev 11.35) or a baker’s oven, presumably a large, fixed item (compare Lev 26.26; Hos 7.4, 6, 7). Translators should try to avoid a term that refers only to a modern gas or electric oven. Languages that use ideophones may have one to describe intense heat or a blazing fire. Such a word would be very suitable here, especially if ovens are not well known.
When all the arrogant and all evildoers will be stubble: The terms rendered arrogant and evildoers are the same as in 3.15 and should be translated in the same way. See the comments there. The words will be stubble are a metaphor, continuing the picture of burning. In many languages it will be clearer to make this a simile, as do Good News Translation with “like straw,” and Contemporary English Version with “as though they were straw.” The word that Revised Standard Version renders stubble may refer to the stalks left standing in a field after the grain is cut (Isa 5.24; 40.24; Nahum 1.10), or to “straw” (Good News Translation, Moffatt, Beck, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh, Contemporary English Version, New Living Translation), that is, the cut stalks when separated from the head of the grain (Exo 5.12; Job 41.28-29), or to “chaff” (New English Bible, New American Standard Bible), meaning the dry husks from which the grains have been removed (Job 13.25; Psa 83.13; Jer 13.24; compare Verhoef). The point is that each of these burns up easily, quickly, and completely. In the context of an oven, the meaning here is likely to be chaff or straw rather than stubble. In languages that have different terms for these three items, translators may use whichever one sounds most natural in a figurative setting. Good News Translation restructures the first half of the verse to make the “proud and evil people” the subject of “will burn like straw,” and this may be a useful model in some languages.
The whole picture of burning symbolizes the LORD’s anger against the wicked, and is a frequent image in the Old Testament (compare Isa 30.27; Jer 4.4; 21.12; Zeph 1.18; 3.8). This may be stated directly if necessary, as in the second model given at the end of the discussion on this verse (compare Bible en français courant, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch).
The day that comes shall burn them up: This clause continues the imagery of the day being the agent of the burning. In many languages it will be helpful to restructure to “when the day comes, they will burn up” or “when that day comes, the heat [or, fire] will burn them up.” If the arrogant and the evildoers were made the subject of the verb “burn” in the first half of the verse, then it will be likely that they remain the subject in this clause also.
Says the LORD of hosts: In the notes on 3.17, it was recommended that the quotation formula says the LORD of hosts should in the present verse be restructured as a first person statement, as in Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch and Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente. If this is done, it will probably be best to begin a new sentence, and to open it with “I, the LORD Almighty, say that when the day comes….”
So that it will leave them neither root nor branch: As is shown by so that, this clause describes the consequence of the burning. It is not entirely certain whether the phrase neither root nor branch changes the metaphor or not. If the nouns root and branch are to be understood literally, then they speak of a tree, and the figure of straw has changed (compare New Living Translation). However, it is possible that “root and branch” was a fixed phrase, simply meaning “completely” without reference to the literal sense of its components. In this case the figure has probably not changed. This particular phrase is not found elsewhere in the Old Testament, though a similar one (“I destroyed his fruit above, and his roots beneath”) occurs in Amos 2.9, and the combination of “fruit” and “root” is used with a positive sense in 2 Kgs 19.30 and Isa 37.31. The overall sense of the passage is that the wicked will be utterly destroyed. In the Aramaic Targum, root and branch are interpreted as “son and grandson” (Chary). While this interpretation is appropriate at the level of ideas, it is not a satisfactory example for translators to follow. In languages where a mixture of metaphors would not be clear or natural, it may be better to translate the phrase in a nonfigurative way. Again, languages that use ideophones may have a suitable one for something that is completely burned.
Alternative translation models for the whole verse are:
• See, this is because the day is coming when all the proud and wicked people will burn up like chaff in an oven. I, the LORD Almighty, say that when that day comes, they will be completely burnt up, and nothing at all will be left.
• This is because the day will indeed come when my anger will burn up all the arrogant and evil people like straw in an oven. On that day the fire will burn them to ashes, and not a stalk or a root will be left. I, the LORD Almighty, declare it.
• This second model maintains the same figure throughout the verse by changing branch to “stalk,” which goes more appropriately with “straw” (as in Jerusalem Bible).
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 .