Malachi 3:2

Bible in Basic English (1941)

But by whom may the day of his coming be faced? and who may keep his place when he is seen? for he is like the metal-tester's fire and the cleaner's soap.

📖 Grammatical Analysis

Original Text

וּמִ֤י מְכַלְכֵּל֙ אֶת־י֣וֹם בּוֹא֔וֹ וּמִ֥י הָעֹמֵ֖ד בְּהֵרָֽאוֹת֑וֹ כִּֽי־הוּא֙ כְּאֵ֣שׁ מְצָרֵ֔ף וּכְבֹרִ֖ית מְכַבְּסִֽים׃

Transliteration

U-mi mekhalkel et-yom boʾo u-mi ha-ʿomed be-heraʾoto ki-huʾ ke-ʾesh metsaref u-khe-borit mekhabsim.

Grammar Details

• *U-mi*: waw conjunction + interrogative pronoun - and who
• *mekhalkel*: Pilpel participle, masculine singular - enduring/sustaining
• *et*: direct object marker
• *yom*: noun, masculine singular construct - day of
• *boʾo*: Qal infinitive construct with 3rd masculine singular suffix - his coming
• *u-mi*: waw conjunction + interrogative pronoun - and who
• *ha-ʿomed*: definite article + Qal participle, masculine singular - the one standing
• *be-heraʾoto*: preposition + Niphal infinitive construct with 3rd masculine singular suffix - when he appears
• *ki*: conjunction - for/because
• *huʾ*: 3rd person masculine singular pronoun - he
• *ke-ʾesh*: preposition + noun, feminine singular - like fire of
• *metsaref*: Piel participle, masculine singular - refiner
• *u-khe-borit*: waw conjunction + preposition + noun, feminine singular construct - and like soap/lye of
• *mekhabsim*: Piel participle, masculine plural - washers/fullers

Word Meanings

• *mekhalkel*: endure/sustain/contain/withstand
• *boʾo*: his coming/his arrival
• *ha-ʿomed*: standing/enduring/remaining
• *be-heraʾoto*: when he appears/when he reveals himself
• *metsaref*: refiner/smelter/purifier
• *borit*: soap/lye/alkali cleansing agent
• *mekhabsim*: washers/fullers/cleaners

Referenced Verses

• Zech 13:9 : 9 And I will make the third part go through the fire, cleaning them as silver is made clean, and testing them as gold is tested: and they will make their prayer to me and I will give them an answer: I will say, It is my people; and they will say, The Lord is my God.
• 1 Cor 3:13-15 : 13 Every man's work will be made clear in that day, because it will be tested by fire; and the fire itself will make clear the quality of every man's work. 14 If any man's work comes through the test, he will have a reward. 15 If the fire puts an end to any man's work, it will be his loss: but he will get salvation himself, though as by fire.
• Isa 4:4 : 4 When Zion has been washed from her sin by the Lord, and Jerusalem made clean from her blood by a judging and a burning wind.
• Rev 6:17 : 17 For the great day of their wrath is come, and who may keep his place?
• Ps 2:7 : 7 I will make clear the Lord's decision: he has said to me, You are my son, this day have I given you being.
• Isa 1:18 : 18 Come now, and let us have an argument together, says the Lord: how may your sins which are red like blood be white as snow? how may their dark purple seem like wool?
• Rev 7:14 : 14 And I said to him, My lord, you have knowledge. And he said to me, These are they who came through the great testing, and their robes have been washed and made white in the blood of the Lamb.
• Rev 19:8 : 8 And to her it was given to be clothed in delicate linen, clean and shining: for the clean linen is the righteousness of the saints.
• Jer 2:22 : 22 For even if you are washed with soda and take much soap, still your evil-doing is marked before me, says the Lord God.
• Ezek 22:14 : 14 Will your heart be high or your hands strong in the days when I take you in hand? I the Lord have said it and will do it.
• Amos 5:18-20 : 18 Sorrow to you who are looking for the day of the Lord! what is the day of the Lord to you? it is dark and not light. 19 As if a man, running away from a lion, came face to face with a bear; or went into the house and put his hand on the wall and got a bite from a snake. 20 Will not the day of the Lord be dark and not light? even very dark, with no light shining in it?
• Heb 10:28-29 : 28 A man who has gone against the law of Moses is put to death without pity on the word of two or three witnesses: 29 But will not the man by whom the Son of God has been crushed under foot, and the blood of the agreement with which he was washed clean has been taken as an unholy thing, and who has had no respect for the Spirit of grace, be judged bad enough for a very much worse punishment?
• Heb 12:25 : 25 See that you give ear to his voice which comes to you. For if those whose ears were shut to the voice which came to them on earth did not go free from punishment, what chance have we of going free if we give no attention to him whose voice comes from heaven?
• 1 Pet 2:7-8 : 7 And the value is for you who have faith; but it is said for those without faith, The very stone which the builders put on one side, was made the chief stone of the building; 8 And, A stone of falling, a rock of trouble; the word is the cause of their fall, because they go against it, and this was the purpose of God.
• Rev 1:5-7 : 5 And from Jesus Christ, the true witness, the first to come back from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To him who had love for us and has made us clean from our sins by his blood; 6 And has made us to be a kingdom and priests to his God and Father; to him let glory and power be given for ever and ever. So be it. 7 See, he comes with the clouds, and every eye will see him, and those by whom he was wounded; and all the tribes of the earth will be sorrowing because of him. Yes, so be it.
• Rev 2:23 : 23 And I will put her children to death; and all the churches will see that I am he who makes search into the secret thoughts and hearts of men: and I will give to every one of you the reward of your works.
• Mal 4:1 : 1 For see, the day is coming, it is burning like an oven; all the men of pride and all who do evil will be dry stems of grass: and in the day which is coming they will be burned up, says the Lord of armies, till they have not a root or a branch.
• Matt 3:7-9 : 7 But when he saw a number of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, Offspring of snakes, at whose word are you going in flight from the wrath to come? 8 Let your change of heart be seen in your works: 9 And say not to yourselves, We have Abraham for our father; because I say to you that God is able from these stones to make children for Abraham. 10 And even now the axe is put to the root of the trees; every tree then which does not give good fruit is cut down, and put into the fire. 11 Truly, I give baptism with water to those of you whose hearts are changed; but he who comes after me is greater than I, whose shoes I am not good enough to take up: he will give you baptism with the Holy Spirit and with fire: 12 In whose hand is the instrument with which he will make clean his grain; he will put the good grain in his store, but the waste will be burned up in the fire which will never be put out.
• Matt 21:31-44 : 31 Which of the two did his father's pleasure? They say, The first. Jesus said to them, Truly I say to you, that tax-farmers and loose women are going into the kingdom of God before you. 32 For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you had no faith in him, but the tax-farmers and the loose women had faith in him: and you, when you saw it, did not even have regret for your sins, so as to have faith in him. 33 Give ear to another story. A master of a house made a vine garden, and put a wall round it, and made a place for crushing out the wine, and made a tower, and let it out to field-workers, and went into another country. 34 And when the time for the fruit came near, he sent his servants to the workmen, to get the fruit. 35 And the workmen made an attack on his servants, giving blows to one, putting another to death, and stoning another. 36 Again, he sent other servants more in number than the first: and they did the same to them. 37 But after that he sent his son to them, saying, They will have respect for my son. 38 But when the workmen saw the son, they said among themselves, This is he who will one day be the owner of the property; come, let us put him to death and take his heritage. 39 And they took him and, driving him out of the vine-garden, put him to death. 40 When, then, the lord of the vine-garden comes, what will he do to those workmen? 41 They say to him, He will put those cruel men to a cruel death, and will let out the vine-garden to other workmen, who will give him the fruit when it is ready. 42 Jesus says to them, Did you never see in the Writings, The stone which the builders put on one side, the same has been made the chief stone of the building: this was the Lord's doing, and it is a wonder in our eyes? 43 For this reason I say to you, The kingdom of God will be taken away from you, and will be given to a nation producing the fruits of it. 44 Any man falling on this stone will be broken, but he on whom it comes down will be crushed to dust.
• Matt 23:13-35 : 13 But a curse is on you, scribes and Pharisees, false ones! because you are shutting the kingdom of heaven against men: for you do not go in yourselves, and those who are going in, you keep back. 14 [] 15 A curse is on you, scribes and Pharisees, false ones! for you go about land and sea to get one disciple and, having him, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves. 16 A curse is on you, blind guides, who say, Whoever takes an oath by the Temple, it is nothing; but whoever takes an oath by the gold of the Temple, he is responsible. 17 You foolish ones and blind: which is greater, the gold, or the Temple which makes the gold holy? 18 And, Whoever takes an oath by the altar, it is nothing; but whoever takes an oath by the offering which is on it, he is responsible. 19 You blind ones: which is greater, the offering, or the altar which makes the offering holy? 20 He, then, who takes an oath by the altar, takes it by the altar and by all things on it. 21 And he who takes an oath by the Temple, takes it by the Temple and by him whose house it is. 22 And he who takes an oath by heaven, takes it by the seat of God, and by him who is seated on it. 23 A curse is on you, scribes and Pharisees, false ones! for you make men give a tenth of all sorts of sweet-smelling plants, but you give no thought to the more important things of the law, righteousness, and mercy, and faith; but it is right for you to do these, and not to let the others be undone. 24 You blind guides, who take out a fly from your drink, but make no trouble over a camel. 25 A curse is on you, scribes and Pharisees, false ones! for you make clean the outside of the cup and of the plate, but inside they are full of violent behaviour and uncontrolled desire. 26 You blind Pharisee, first make clean the inside of the cup and of the plate, so that the outside may become equally clean. 27 A curse is on you, scribes and Pharisees, false ones! for you are like the resting-places of the dead, which are made white, and seem beautiful on the outside, but inside are full of dead men's bones and of all unclean things. 28 Even so you seem to men to be full of righteousness, but inside you are all false and full of wrongdoing. 29 A curse is on you, scribes and Pharisees, false ones! because you put up buildings for housing the dead bodies of the prophets, and make fair the last resting-places of good men, and say, 30 If we had been living in the days of our fathers, we would not have taken part with them in the blood of the prophets. 31 So that you are witnesses against yourselves that you are the sons of those who put the prophets to death. 32 Make full, then, the measure of your fathers. 33 You snakes, offspring of snakes, how will you be kept from the punishment of hell? 34 For this reason, I send you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: some of them you will put to death and put on the cross, and to some of them you will give blows in your Synagogues, driving them from town to town; 35 So that on you may come all the blood of the upright on the earth, from the blood of upright Abel to the blood of Zachariah, son of Barachiah, whom you put to death between the Temple and the altar.
• Matt 25:10 : 10 And while they went to get oil, the master came; and those who were ready went in with him to the feast: and the door was shut.
• Mark 9:3 : 3 And his clothing became shining, very white, as no cleaner on earth would make it.
• Luke 2:34 : 34 And Simeon gave them his blessing and said to Mary, his mother, See, this child will be the cause of the downfall and the lifting up of great numbers of people in Israel, and he will be a sign against which hard words will be said;
• Luke 3:9 : 9 And even now the axe is put to the root of the trees; and every tree which does not have good fruit will be cut down and put into the fire.
• Luke 3:17 : 17 In whose hand is the instrument with which he will make clean his grain; he will put the good grain in his store, but the waste will be burned in the fire which will never be put out.
• Luke 7:23 : 23 And a blessing will be on him who has no doubts about me.
• Luke 11:37-47 : 37 Now, while he was talking, a Pharisee made a request that he would come to a meal with him; and he went in and took his seat at the meal. 38 And when the Pharisee saw it, he was surprised because he came to the meal without first washing himself. 39 And the Lord said to him, You Pharisees make the outside of the cup and the plate clean; but inside you are thieves and full of evil. 40 O you foolish ones! did not he who made the outside in the same way make the inside? 41 But if you give to the poor such things as you are able, then all things are clean to you. 42 But a curse is on you, Pharisees! for you make men give a tenth of every sort of plant, and give no thought to right and the love of God; but it is right for you to do these things, and not let the others be undone. 43 A curse is on you, Pharisees! for your desires are for the most important seats in the Synagogues and for words of respect said to you in the market-place. 44 A curse is on you! for you are like the resting-places of dead men, which are not seen, and men go walking over them without knowledge of it. 45 And one of the teachers of the law, answering, said to him, Master, in saying this, you give a bad name to us as to them. 46 And he said, A curse is on you, teachers of the law! for while other men are crushed under the weight of the rules you make for them, you yourselves do not put so much as one finger to them. 47 A curse is on you! for you make resting-places for the bodies of the prophets, but your fathers put them to death.
• Luke 11:52-54 : 52 A curse is on you, teachers of the law! for you have taken away the key of knowledge: you did not go in yourselves, and you got in the way of those who were going in. 53 And when he had come out of that place, the scribes and the Pharisees came round him angrily, questioning him about more things; 54 And watching him, for a chance to get something from his words which might be used against him.
• Luke 21:36 : 36 But keep watch at all times with prayer, that you may be strong enough to come through all these things and take your place before the Son of man.
• John 6:42-44 : 42 And they said, Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we have seen? How is it then that he now says, I have come down from heaven? 43 Jesus made answer and said, Do not say things against me, one to another. 44 No man is able to come to me if the Father who sent me does not give him the desire to come: and I will take him up from the dead on the last day.
• John 8:41-48 : 41 You are doing the works of your father. They said to him, We are true sons of Abraham; we have one Father, who is God. 42 Jesus said to them, If God was your Father you would have love for me, because it was from God I came and am here. I did not come of myself, but he sent me. 43 Why are my words not clear to you? It is because your ears are shut to my teaching. 44 You are the children of your father the Evil One and it is your pleasure to do his desires. From the first he was a taker of life; and he did not go in the true way because there is no true thing in him. When he says what is false, it is natural to him, for he is false and the father of what is false. 45 But because I say what is true, you have no belief in me. 46 Which of you is able truly to say that I am a sinner? If I say what is true, why have you no belief in me? 47 He who is a child of God gives ear to the words of God: your ears are not open to them because you are not from God. 48 The Jews said to him in answer, Are we not right in saying that you are of Samaria and have an evil spirit?
• John 8:55 : 55 You have no knowledge of him, but I have knowledge of him; and if I said I have no knowledge of him I would be talking falsely like you: but I have full knowledge of him, and I keep his word.
• John 9:39-41 : 39 And Jesus said, I came into this world to be a judge, so that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind. 40 These words came to the ears of the Pharisees who were with him and they said to him, Are we, then, blind? 41 Jesus said to them, If you were blind you would have no sin: but now that you say, We see; your sin is there still.
• John 15:22-24 : 22 If I had not come and been their teacher they would have had no sin: but now they have no reason to give for their sin. 23 He who has hate for me has hate for my Father. 24 If I had not done among them the works which no other man ever did, they would have had no sin: but now they have seen, and they have had hate in their hearts for me and my Father.
• Acts 7:52-54 : 52 Which of the prophets was not cruelly attacked by your fathers? and they put to death those who gave them the news of the coming of the Upright One; whom you have now given up and put to death; 53 You, to whom the law was given as it was ordered by angels, and who have not kept it. 54 Hearing these things, they were cut to the heart and moved with wrath against him.
• Rom 9:31-33 : 31 But Israel, going after a law of righteousness, did not get it. 32 Why? Because they were not searching for it by faith, but by works. They came up against the stone which was in the way; 33 As it is said, See, I am putting in Zion a stone causing a fall, and a rock in the way: but he who has faith in him will not be put to shame.
• Rom 11:5-9 : 5 In the same way, there are at this present time some who are marked out by the selection of grace. 6 But if it is of grace, then it is no longer of works: or grace would not be grace. 7 What then? That which Israel was searching for he did not get, but those of the selection got it and the rest were made hard. 8 As it was said in the holy Writings, God gave them a spirit of sleep, eyes which might not see, and ears which have no hearing, to this day. 9 And David says, Let their table be made a net for taking them, and a stone in their way, and a punishment: 10 Let their eyes be made dark so that they may not see, and let their back be bent down at all times.