Yet ye say, Wherefore? Because the LORD hath been witness between thee and the wife of thy youth, against whom thou hast dealt treacherously: yet is she thy companion, and the wife of thy covenant.
Y diréis: ¿Por qué? Porque el SEÑOR ha atestiguado entre ti y la mujer de tu juventud, contra la cual tú has sido desleal, siendo ella tu compañera, y la mujer de tu pacto.
Ver. 14. Yet ye say, Wherefore ? etc.] What is the meaning of the women covering the altar with tears? as if they knew not what was the reason of it, when they were so notoriously guilty of breach of covenant with them; which is an instance of their impudence, as Abarbinel observes: or, “if ye say, wherefore?” as the Targum and Kimchi interpret the words; should you say, what is the reason why the Lord will not regard nor receive our offerings? the answer is ready, Because the Lord hath been witness between thee and the wife of thy youth : when espoused together in their youthful days, the Lord was present at that solemn contract, and saw the obligations they were laid under to each other, and he was called upon by both parties to be a witness of the same; and at the present time he was a witness how agreeably the wives of the Israelites had behaved towards their husbands, and how treacherously they had acted towards them; he saw and knew, that, whatever pretensions they made, they did not love them, nor behave as they should towards them; and therefore had just cause of complaint against them, and must be a witness for the one, and against the other: this sin of hating and divorcing their wives, or of marrying others besides them, which prevailed much in our Lord’s time, is particularly mentioned, though they were guilty of many other sins, as a reason of the Lord’s not accepting their offerings: the aggravations of it are, that they had broken a contract God was witness to, and dealt injuriously with wives they had espoused in the days of their youth; (see Proverbs 2:17 5:18): against whom thou hast dealt treacherously ; by divorce or polygamy: the Vulgate Latin version renders it, “whom thou hast despised”: and the Septuagint and Arabic versions, “whom thou hast left”; divorced and took others, which arose from hatred and contempt of their former: other aggravations follow: yet [is] she thy companion ; or, “and she is”, or “though she is thy companion” f50 : has been so in time past, and ought to be so still, and so accounted: the wife is a part of a man’s self, is one flesh with him; a partaker of what he has; a partner with him in prosperity and adversity; a companion in life, civil and religious, and ought to remain so till death part them; for, whom God has put together, let no man put asunder: and the wife of thy covenant ; wherefore either to divorce her, or marry another, was a breach of covenant; for by “covenant” is not meant the covenant of God made with the people of Israel, in which they both were; but the covenant of marriage made between them, and which was broken by such practices.
Verses 10-17 - Corrupt practices are the fruit of corruptprinciples; and he who is false to his God, will not be true to his fellow mortals. In contemp of the marriagecovenant, which God instituted, the Jews put away the wives they had of their own nation, probably to make room for strang wives. They made their lives bitter to them; yet, in the sight of others, they pretend to be tender of them. Consider she is thy wife thy own; the nearest relation thou hast in the world. The wife is to be looked on, not as a servant, but as a companion to the husband. Ther is an oath of God between them, which is not to be trifled with. Ma and wife should continue to their lives' end, in holy love and peace Did not God make one, one Eve for one Adam? Yet God could have mad another Eve. Wherefore did he make but one woman for one man? It wa that the children might be made a seed to serve him. Husbands and wive must live in the fear of God, that their seed may be a godly seed. The God of Israel saith that he hateth putting away. Those who would be kept from sin, must take heed to their spirits, for there all sin begins. Men will find that their wrong conduct in their familie springs from selfishness, which disregards the welfare and happiness of others, when opposed to their own passions and fancies. It is wearisom to God to hear people justify themselves in wicked practices. Those wh think God can be a friend to sin, affront him, and deceive themselves The scoffers said, Where is the God of judgement? but the day of the Lord will come __________________________________________________________________
