What Does Malachi 2:14 Mean in the King James?
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.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
Betrayal does not dissolve the bond it violates: she is still named as companion and covenant-wife, with the LORD as witness.
THE MEANING
The LORD is witness between you and the wife of your youth. Your betrayal takes place against someone still named as your companion and the wife of your covenant; the bond remains visible even where faithfulness breaks.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that betrayal makes the covenant disappear: the woman against whom you act is still named as your companion and covenant-wife.
THE ROOT
הֵעִיד
heʿid
GROWS FROM
עוּד
ʿ-w-d
Bear witness; testify.
“witness” in this verse is heʿid. The Hebrew verb presents the LORD as giving testimony between the two of you. The breach stands within a relationship that is seen and testified to, not outside the bond or beyond notice.
ALSO GROWS
ʿēd: Witness.
עֵד
This related noun makes the role explicit: the LORD stands as witness to what happens between the spouses.
ʿēdût: Testimony; witness.
עֵדוּת
The breach becomes testimony about the relationship and the covenant it violates.
בָּגַדְתָּה
bagadta
GROWS FROM
בגד
b-g-d
Act faithlessly; betray trust.
“dealt treacherously” in this verse is bagadta. The Hebrew verb names a breach of fidelity within a relationship, not simply a disagreement. The verse places that betrayal beside her continuing identity as companion and covenant-wife.
ALSO GROWS
bōgēd: One who acts treacherously; a faithless person.
בֹּגֵד
The branch names the person by the breach of trust enacted in the verse.
begîdāh: Treachery; betrayal.
בְּגִידָה
This noun makes the act itself visible as broken fidelity toward someone bound to you.
חֲבֶרְתְּךָ
ḥavertekha
GROWS FROM
חבר
ḥ-b-r
Join; connect; associate.
The Hebrew word for companion carries the sense of one joined with you. Set beside “wife of your covenant,” it keeps the relationship present in the very sentence that names betrayal.
ALSO GROWS
ḥāver: Companion; associate; friend.
חָבֵר
This branch shares the sense of a person joined or associated with another.
ḥibbûr: Joining; connection.
חִבּוּר
This branch makes the joining within “companion” easier to hear: betrayal happens within a connection, not in an empty space.
THE PATTERN
A covenant bond remains visible before God even when one person acts against it.
If thou shalt afflict my daughters, or if thou shalt take other wives beside my daughters, no man is with us; see, God is witness betwixt me and thee.Which forsaketh the guide of her youth, and forgetteth the covenant of her God.Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.THE THREAD
And did not he make one? Yet had he the residue of the spirit. And wherefore one? That he might seek a godly seed. Therefore take heed to your spirit, and let none deal treacherously against the wife of his youth.The verb בָּגַד (bāgad, betray) returns in “let none deal treacherously,” repeating the same root from verse 14. The next verse makes the connection direct: the wife of your youth remains the bond against which treachery is named.
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