John Gill's Bible Commentary Ver. 5. And I will come near to you to judgment , etc.] And so will manifestly appear to be the God of judgment they asked after, ( Malachi 2:17) this is not to be understood of Christ’s coming to judgment at the last day, but of his coming to judge and punish the wicked Jews at the time of Jerusalem’s destruction; for the same is here meant, who is spoken of in the third person before, and who will not be afar off; there will be no need to inquire after him, when he will come he will be near enough, and too near for them: and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers ; not only a judge, but a witness; so that there will be no delay of judgment, or protracting or evading it, for want of witnesses of facts alleged; for the Judge himself, who is Christ, will be witness of them, he being the omniscient God, before whom all things are manifest. The Targum is, “my Word shall be among you for a swift witness.”
Mention is made of “sorcerers”, because there were many that used the magic art, enchantments, and sorceries, in the age of Christ and his apostles, and before the destruction of Jerusalem, even many of their doctors and members of the sanhedrim; (see Gill on “ Isaiah 8:19”): and against the adulterers ; with whom that age also abounded; hence our Lord calls it an adulterous generation, ( Matthew 12:39 John 8:3-9 Romans 2:22): and against false swearers ; who were guilty of perjury, and of vain oaths; who swore by the creatures, and not by the Lord, and to things not true; (see Matthew 5:33-37): and against those that oppress the hireling in [his] wages, the widow, and the fatherless ; defrauding of servants of their wages, devouring widows’ houses, and distressing the fatherless, were sins the Jews were addicted to in those times, as appears from ( James 1:27 5:4) who wrote to the twelve tribes; and from what our Lord charges them with, ( Matthew 23:14): and that turn aside the stranger [from his right] ; and so Kimchi supplies it, “that turn aside the judgment of the stranger;” that do not do him justice in civil things; yea, persecuted those that became proselytes to the Christian religion: and fear not me, saith the Lord of hosts ; which was the root and cause of all their sins; irreverence of Christ, disbelief of him, and contempt of his Gospel.
Matthew Henry Commentary
Verses 1-6 - The first words of this chapter seem an answer to the scoffers of thos days. Here is a prophecy of the appearing of John the Baptist. He is Christ's harbinger. He shall prepare the way before him, by calling me to repentance. The Messiah had been long called, "He that should come, and now shortly he will come. He is the Messenger of the covenant Those who seek Jesus, shall find pleasure in him, often when not looke for. The Lord Jesus, prepares the sinner's heart to be his temple, by the ministry of his word and the convictions of his Spirit, and he enters it as the Messenger of peace and consolation. No hypocrite of formalist can endure his doctrine, or stand before his tribunal. Chris came to distinguish men, to separate between the precious and the vile He shall sit as a Refiner. Christ, by his gospel, shall purify an reform his church, and by his Spirit working with it, shall regenerat and cleanse souls. He will take away the dross found in them. He wil separate their corruptions, which render their faculties worthless an useless. The believer needs not fear the fiery trial of afflictions an temptations, by which the Saviour refines his gold. He will take car it is not more intense or longer than is needful for his good; and thi trial will end far otherwise than that of the wicked. Christ will, by interceding for them, make them accepted. Where no fear of God is, n good is to be expected. Evil pursues sinners. God is unchangeable. An though the sentence against evil works be not executed speedily, yet it will be executed; the Lord is as much an enemy to sin as ever. We ma all apply this to ourselves. Because we have to do with a God tha changes not, therefore it is that we are not consumed; because his compassions fail not.
Original Hebrew וקרבתי7126 אליכם413 למשׁפט4941 והייתי1961 עד5707 ממהר4116 במכשׁפים3784 ובמנאפים5003 ובנשׁבעים7650 לשׁקר8267 ובעשׁקי6231 שׂכר7939 שׂכיר7916 אלמנה490 ויתום3490 ומטי5186 גר1616 ולא3808 יראוני3372 אמר559 יהוה3068 צבאות׃6635
