Malachi 1:3
New International Version
but Esau I have hated, and I have turned his hill country into a wasteland and left his inheritance to the desert jackals.”

New Living Translation
but I rejected his brother, Esau, and devastated his hill country. I turned Esau’s inheritance into a desert for jackals.”

English Standard Version
but Esau I have hated. I have laid waste his hill country and left his heritage to jackals of the desert.”

Berean Standard Bible
but Esau I have hated, and I have made his mountains a wasteland and left his inheritance to the desert jackals.”

King James Bible
And I hated Esau, and laid his mountains and his heritage waste for the dragons of the wilderness.

New King James Version
But Esau I have hated, And laid waste his mountains and his heritage For the jackals of the wilderness.”

New American Standard Bible
but I have hated Esau, and I have made his mountains a desolation and given his inheritance to the jackals of the wilderness.”

NASB 1995
but I have hated Esau, and I have made his mountains a desolation and appointed his inheritance for the jackals of the wilderness.”

NASB 1977
but I have hated Esau, and I have made his mountains a desolation, and appointed his inheritance for the jackals of the wilderness.”

Legacy Standard Bible
but I have hated Esau, and I have set his mountains to be a desolation and his inheritance for the jackals of the wilderness.”

Amplified Bible
but [in comparison with My love for Jacob] I have hated Esau (Edom), and I have made his mountains a wasteland, and have given his inheritance to the jackals of the wilderness.”

Christian Standard Bible
but I hated Esau. I turned his mountains into a wasteland, and gave his inheritance to the desert jackals.”

Holman Christian Standard Bible
but I hated Esau. I turned his mountains into a wasteland, and gave his inheritance to the desert jackals.”

American Standard Version
but Esau I hated, and made his mountains a desolation, and gave his heritage to the jackals of the wilderness.

Contemporary English Version
instead of Esau. And I turned Esau's hill country into a barren desert where jackals roam.

English Revised Version
but Esau I hated, and made his mountains a desolation, and gave his heritage to the jackals of the wilderness.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
but Esau I hated. I turned his mountains into a wasteland and left his inheritance to the jackals in the desert.

Good News Translation
and have hated Esau and his descendants. I have devastated Esau's hill country and abandoned the land to jackals."

International Standard Version
rejected Esau, turned his mountains into a wasteland, and gave his inheritance to desert jackals.

Majority Standard Bible
but Esau I have hated, and I have made his mountains a wasteland and left his inheritance to the desert jackals.?

NET Bible
and rejected Esau. I turned Esau's mountains into a deserted wasteland and gave his territory to the wild jackals."

New Heart English Bible
but Esau I hated, and made his mountains a desolation, and gave his heritage to the jackals of the wilderness."

Webster's Bible Translation
And I hated Esau, and laid his mountains and his heritage waste for the dragons of the wilderness.

World English Bible
but Esau I hated, and made his mountains a desolation, and gave his heritage to the jackals of the wilderness.”
Literal Translations
Literal Standard Version
Is not Esau Jacob’s brother?” A declaration of YHWH, "" “And I love Jacob, and Esau I have hated, "" And I make his mountains a desolation, "" And his inheritance for dragons of a wilderness.

Young's Literal Translation
Is not Esau Jacob's brother? -- an affirmation of Jehovah, And I love Jacob, and Esau I have hated, And I make his mountains a desolation, And his inheritance for dragons of a wilderness.

Smith's Literal Translation
And I hated Esau, and I will set his mountains a desolation, and his inheritance for the jackals of the desert.
Catholic Translations
Douay-Rheims Bible
But have hated Esau? and I have made his mountains a wilderness, and given his inheritance to the dragons of the desert.

Catholic Public Domain Version
but held hatred for Esau? And I have set his mountains in solitude, and his inheritance with the serpents of the desert.

New American Bible
Was not Esau Jacob’s brother?—oracle of the LORD. I loved Jacob, but rejected Esau; I made his mountains a waste, his heritage a desert for jackals.

New Revised Standard Version
but I have hated Esau; I have made his hill country a desolation and his heritage a desert for jackals.
Translations from Aramaic
Lamsa Bible
And I have made his mountains waste and his heritage for camps of shepherds in the wilderness.

Peshitta Holy Bible Translated
I have made his mountains into desolation and his inheritance into sheepfolds of the wilderness
OT Translations
JPS Tanakh 1917
But Esau I hated, And made his mountains a desolation, And gave his heritage to the jackals of the wilderness.

Brenton Septuagint Translation
and hated Esau and laid waste his borders, and made his heritage as dwellings of the wilderness?

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
The LORD's Love for Israel
2“I have loved you,” says the LORD. But you ask, “How have You loved us?” “Was not Esau Jacob’s brother?” declares the LORD. “Yet Jacob I have loved, 3but Esau I have hated, and I have made his mountains a wasteland and left his inheritance to the desert jackals.” 4Though Edom may say, “We have been devastated, but we will rebuild the ruins,” this is what the LORD of Hosts says: “They may build, but I will demolish. They will be called the Land of Wickedness, and a people with whom the LORD is indignant forever.…

Cross References
Romans 9:13
So it is written: “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”

Genesis 25:23
and He declared to her: “Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you will be separated; one people will be stronger than the other, and the older will serve the younger.”

Genesis 27:41
Esau held a grudge against Jacob because of the blessing his father had given him. And Esau said in his heart, “The days of mourning for my father are at hand; then I will kill my brother Jacob.”

Hebrews 12:16-17
See to it that no one is sexually immoral, or is godless like Esau, who for a single meal sold his birthright. / For you know that afterward, when he wanted to inherit the blessing, he was rejected. He could find no ground for repentance, though he sought the blessing with tears.

Obadiah 1:10
Because of the violence against your brother Jacob, you will be covered with shame and cut off forever.

Genesis 25:30-34
He said to Jacob, “Let me eat some of that red stew, for I am famished.” (That is why he was also called Edom.) / “First sell me your birthright,” Jacob replied. / “Look,” said Esau, “I am about to die, so what good is a birthright to me?” ...

Genesis 27:37-40
But Isaac answered Esau: “Look, I have made him your master and given him all his relatives as servants; I have sustained him with grain and new wine. What is left that I can do for you, my son?” / Esau said to his father, “Do you have only one blessing, my father? Bless me too, O my father!” Then Esau wept aloud. / His father Isaac answered him: “Behold, your dwelling place shall be away from the richness of the land, away from the dew of heaven above. ...

Obadiah 1:18
Then the house of Jacob will be a blazing fire, and the house of Joseph a burning flame; but the house of Esau will be stubble—Jacob will set it ablaze and consume it. Therefore no survivor will remain from the house of Esau.” For the LORD has spoken.

Jeremiah 49:10
But I will strip Esau bare; I will uncover his hiding places, and he will be unable to conceal himself. His descendants will be destroyed along with his relatives and neighbors, and he will be no more.

Ezekiel 35:3-9
and declare that this is what the Lord GOD says: Behold, I am against you, O Mount Seir. I will stretch out My hand against you and make you a desolate waste. / I will turn your cities into ruins, and you will become a desolation. Then you will know that I am the LORD. / Because you harbored an ancient hatred and delivered the Israelites over to the sword in the time of their disaster at the final stage of their punishment, ...

Amos 1:11
This is what the LORD says: “For three transgressions of Edom, even four, I will not revoke My judgment, because he pursued his brother with the sword and stifled all compassion; his anger raged continually, and his fury flamed incessantly.

Genesis 36:1
This is the account of Esau (that is, Edom).

Genesis 36:8
So Esau (that is, Edom) settled in the area of Mount Seir.

Isaiah 34:5-6
When My sword has drunk its fill in the heavens, then it will come down upon Edom, upon the people I have devoted to destruction. / The sword of the LORD is bathed in blood. It drips with fat—with the blood of lambs and goats, with the fat of the kidneys of rams. For the LORD has a sacrifice in Bozrah, a great slaughter in the land of Edom.

Isaiah 63:1
Who is this coming from Edom, from Bozrah with crimson-stained garments? Who is this robed in splendor, marching in the greatness of His strength? “It is I, proclaiming vindication, mighty to save.”


Treasury of Scripture

And I hated Esau, and laid his mountains and his heritage waste for the dragons of the wilderness.

hated.

Genesis 29:30,31
And he went in also unto Rachel, and he loved also Rachel more than Leah, and served with him yet seven other years…

Deuteronomy 21:15,16
If a man have two wives, one beloved, and another hated, and they have born him children, both the beloved and the hated; and if the firstborn son be hers that was hated: …

Luke 14:26
If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.

laid.

Isaiah 34:9-12
And the streams thereof shall be turned into pitch, and the dust thereof into brimstone, and the land thereof shall become burning pitch…

Jeremiah 49:16-18
Thy terribleness hath deceived thee, and the pride of thine heart, O thou that dwellest in the clefts of the rock, that holdest the height of the hill: though thou shouldest make thy nest as high as the eagle, I will bring thee down from thence, saith the LORD…

Ezekiel 25:13,14
Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; I will also stretch out mine hand upon Edom, and will cut off man and beast from it; and I will make it desolate from Teman; and they of Dedan shall fall by the sword…

the.

Isaiah 13:21,22
But wild beasts of the desert shall lie there; and their houses shall be full of doleful creatures; and owls shall dwell there, and satyrs shall dance there…

Isaiah 34:13,14
And thorns shall come up in her palaces, nettles and brambles in the fortresses thereof: and it shall be an habitation of dragons, and a court for owls…

Isaiah 35:7
And the parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water: in the habitation of dragons, where each lay, shall be grass with reeds and rushes.

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Affirmation Appointed Beasts Country Desert Desolation Destruction Dragons Esau Hated Heritage Hill Inheritance Jackals Jacob Jacob's Laid Mountains Turned Waste Wasteland Wilderness
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Affirmation Appointed Beasts Country Desert Desolation Destruction Dragons Esau Hated Heritage Hill Inheritance Jackals Jacob Jacob's Laid Mountains Turned Waste Wasteland Wilderness
Malachi 1
1. Malachi complains of Israel's unkindness;
2. of their irreverence and profaneness.














but Esau I have hated
The phrase "Esau I have hated" is a direct reference to God's sovereign choice and His divine prerogative in election, as seen in the Hebrew word "שָׂנֵאתִי" (saneti), meaning "hated." This is not to be understood in the human emotional sense of hatred but rather as a term of rejection in contrast to the chosen love for Jacob. Historically, Esau represents the nation of Edom, which often stood in opposition to Israel. This phrase underscores the biblical theme of God's sovereign will and His right to choose whom He will bless, as further explored in Romans 9:13. It serves as a reminder of the divine justice and the mystery of God's ways, which are higher than human understanding.

and I have made his mountains a wasteland
The imagery of "mountains" in biblical literature often symbolizes strength and stability. However, here, God declares that He has turned Esau's mountains into a "wasteland," using the Hebrew word "שְׁמָמָה" (shemamah), meaning desolation or ruin. This reflects the historical reality of Edom's downfall and the desolation of its territory. Archaeological evidence supports the decline of Edom, which was once a powerful kingdom. This desolation serves as a testament to the consequences of living in opposition to God's covenant people and His divine purposes.

and left his inheritance to the jackals of the desert
The "inheritance" refers to the land and legacy that would have been passed down through Esau's lineage. The mention of "jackals of the desert" paints a vivid picture of desolation and abandonment, as jackals are scavengers that inhabit deserted places. The Hebrew word "תַּנִּים" (tannim) can be translated as "jackals" or "dragons," emphasizing the wild and untamed nature of the land left to these creatures. This phrase highlights the complete reversal of fortune for Esau's descendants, contrasting the blessings promised to Jacob. It serves as a sobering reminder of the consequences of turning away from God's covenant and the ultimate futility of opposing His divine will.

Verse 3. - And I hated Esau. St. Paul quotes these words (Romans 9:13) in order to illustrate his position, "that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth." Even before his birth Jacob was the chosen one, and Esau, the elder, was to serve the younger. This mystery of Divine election has seemed to some to be stated so harshly that they have thought that the words of the text need to be softened, or to be modified by their explanation. Thus they give the glosses, "I have preferred Jacob to Esau;" "I have loved Esau less than Jacob;" or they have limited the terms "love" end "hatred" to the bestowing or withholding of temporal blessings; or they have affirmed that Esau was hated because God foresaw his unworthiness, and Jacob was beloved owing to his foreseen piety and faithfulness. The whole question is discussed by Augustine, 'De Div. Quint. ad Simplic.,' 1:18 (11:433). He ends by saying, "Deus odit impietatem: in aliis etiam punit per damnationem, in aliis adimit per justificationem." But Malachi is not speaking of the predestination of the one brother and the reprobation of the other; he is contrasting the histories of the two peoples represented by them; as Jerome puts it, "In Jacob vos dilexi, in Esau Idumaeos odio habui." Both nations sinned; both are punished; but Israel by God's free mercy was forgiven and restored, while Edom was left in the misery which it had brought upon itself by its own iniquity. Thus is proved God's love for the Israelites (Knabenbauer). That it is of the two nations that the prophet speaks, rather than of the two brothers, is seen by what follows. Laid his mountains... waste. While the Israelites were repeopling and cultivating their land, and their cities were rising from their ruins, and the temple and the capital were rebuilt, Edom, which had suffered at the hand of the same enemies, had never recovered from the blow, and still lay a scene of desolation and ruin. It seems that Nebuchadnezzar attacked and conquered Edom some few years after he had taken Jerusalem. This event happened during one of his expeditions against Egypt, one of which took place in the thirty-seventh year of his reign, as we learn from a record lately deciphered (see 'Transact. of Soc. of Bibl. Archaeology,' 7:210, etc.). (For Edom and its history, see the Introduction to Obadiah.) Dragons; rather, jackals (Micah 1:8); Septuagint, εἰς δώματα ἐρήμου, "for habitations of the desert;" Vulgate, dracones deserti, whence the Authorized Version.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
but
וְאֶת־ (wə·’eṯ-)
Conjunctive waw | Direct object marker
Strong's 853: Untranslatable mark of the accusative case

Esau
עֵשָׂ֖ו (‘ê·śāw)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 6215: Esau -- oldest son of Isaac

I have hated,
שָׂנֵ֑אתִי (śā·nê·ṯî)
Verb - Qal - Perfect - first person common singular
Strong's 8130: To hate

and I have made
וָאָשִׂ֤ים (wā·’ā·śîm)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - first person common singular
Strong's 7760: Put -- to put, place, set

his mountains
הָרָיו֙ (hā·rāw)
Noun - masculine plural construct | third person masculine singular
Strong's 2022: Mountain, hill, hill country

a wasteland
שְׁמָמָ֔ה (šə·mā·māh)
Noun - feminine singular
Strong's 8077: Devastation, astonishment

and left his inheritance
נַחֲלָת֖וֹ (na·ḥă·lā·ṯōw)
Noun - feminine singular construct | third person masculine singular
Strong's 5159: Something inherited, occupancy, an heirloom, an estate, patrimony, portion

to the desert
מִדְבָּֽר׃ (miḏ·bār)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 4057: A pasture, a desert, speech

jackals.”
לְתַנּ֥וֹת (lə·ṯan·nō·wṯ)
Preposition-l | Noun - common plural
Strong's 8568: A female jackal


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OT Prophets: Malachi 1:3 But Esau I hated and made his (Malachi Mal Ml)
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