This verse speaks about people who make vows (that is, voluntary promises) to sacrifice the best animals, and then do not fulfill their promises. Most such people were lay people, and so some scholars think this verse is addressed to lay people rather than priests, and is therefore out of place in a section addressed to priests. This view however, is unconvincing. First of all, it was not only lay people who could make vows. If priests made them, their lax attitude could easily lead them to allow one another to substitute inferior animals. Once they had done this, it would be all too easy to extend the practice to lay people. In the context of verses 11-14, the verse can well be understood as describing a result of this priestly slackness: it brings a curse on the hypocritical worshiper instead of a blessing (contrast Num 6.22-27).

Cursed be the cheat: In the ancient world a curse was regarded as having the power to bring about its own fulfillment, and was taken very seriously (refer to the notes on Zech 5.3). See for instance Jdg 17.1-4. In some languages this may need to be expressed as a statement, such as “The LORD will punish the cheat….” The cheat is the person who promises to do something and fails to do it. In the American edition of Good News Translation, the word used is “cheater.” This is simply a dialect difference from the form “cheat” used in the British and Australian editions, and does not reflect any difference in meaning.

Who has a male in his flock: According to Lev 22.17-25, an animal voluntarily promised to the LORD had to be a male, and in perfect condition. Neither Good News Translation nor Contemporary English Version make it clear that a male animal is involved, but in some languages it will be helpful to do this; for example, “the man who has a perfect male animal in his flock.” This could be a ram (male sheep) or a bull (male cow).

And vows it: An Israelite could choose to make a vow to offer a sacrifice to the LORD. It was not an obligatory part of the ritual of worship, but was voluntary. Once the person had made the vow, however, it was binding and had to be fulfilled.

And yet sacrifices to the Lord what is blemished: The situation in view is that the worshiper substitutes an imperfect (and therefore less valuable animal) for the one he had promised. As in verse 12, the Hebrew text has ʾadonay rather than the personal name YHWH, and Revised Standard Version correctly prints Lord rather than “LORD.” However, some Hebrew manuscripts do have “LORD” (YHWH) or “me,” and a few modern translators have chosen to follow them. New American Bible and some printings of New English Bible (such as that reproduced in the 1977 Cambridge Bible Commentary by Mason) have “LORD,” though this must be a misprint. Bible de Jérusalem and Jerusalem Bible/New Jerusalem Bible have “me,” presumably on translational grounds, and translators may follow this example since the Lord is the speaker, and is referring to himself at this point. But there is no good reason to depart from the majority Hebrew text, and translators should follow the example of Revised Standard Version with Lord if their language distinguishes the names with and without capital letters.

What is blemished refers to animals that were not in perfect condition, and were therefore not acceptable for sacrifice in fulfillment of a vow. Some scholars think the Hebrew term refers specifically to a castrated animal (forbidden as a sacrifice in Lev 22.24), and so New American Bible translates it as “a gelding.” However, a more general term seems to fit the context better. The Good News Translation term “worthless” is not a very wise choice, since even imperfect animals were not without some financial value. Other versions have such terms as “damaged” (New English Bible/Revised English Bible), “injured” (Beck), “defective” (New Living Translation), and “unhealthy” (Contemporary English Version), but probably a less restricted expression like “inferior” or “of lower value” (Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch) would be better.

In this verse the first sentence as a whole is complex, and in many languages translators will need to restructure it considerably. One possibility is to treat it as a conditional sentence, with three conditions followed by a conclusion. It could be expressed as follows: “If a man has a perfect animal in his flock, and if he promises to sacrifice it to the LORD, and if he substitutes an inferior animal, then the LORD will punish him!”

For I am a great King: This clause in effect gives the reason why worshipers will be punished if they break their promises to the LORD—he is a great King. They would not dare to treat the Persian emperor as they treat the LORD, yet the LORD is much greater than any human ruler. In societies where there are no terms to describe monarchs, translators may say “the great chief” or “the supreme ruler” (see Hag 1.1). The description of the LORD as a King balances and contrasts with the description of him as a father and a master in verse 6. If translators have translated the LORD as “me,” they may wish to restore the reference to the LORD by saying here “I the LORD am a great King.”

For says the LORD of hosts, see the notes on verse 8. Here the formula probably marks the climax of the statement, and perhaps of the whole of the first part of the dispute.

And my name is feared among the nations: As in verses 6 and 11, the name stands for the person. If translators have rendered it as “me” in the earlier verses, they should do so again here, as Good News Translation has. In Hebrew the word translated feared forms a link with “fear” at the beginning of the section in verse 6, thus helping to bring the unit to an effective conclusion. Translators should try to find a term that can be used in both places, such as “honour” (Moffatt), “awe” (New Jerusalem Bible), or “reverence” (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh). In many languages it will be necessary to avoid a passive construction, and say, “people of all nations honor me” (compare Good News Translation).

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 .