What Does Malachi 2:7 Mean in the King James?
For the priest’s lips should keep knowledge, and they should seek the law at his mouth: for he is the messenger of the LORD of hosts.
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
The priest’s mouth is a guarded channel: instruction is sought there because he carries the LORD’s message, not his own.
THE MEANING
The instruction you seek is meant to be findable in the priest’s words, where knowledge is kept in trust. His authority is carried authority: he is the messenger of the LORD of hosts, and the words pass through his mouth as something entrusted.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the idea that a religious speaker is the source of instruction: the priest’s role is to guard and relay what belongs to the LORD.
THE ROOT
תּוֹרָה
torah
GROWS FROM
ירה
yarah
to direct, teach, instruct
“law” in this verse is torah. Torah carries the sense of instruction that directs a way. At the priest’s mouth, that instruction is voiced and made available to be sought.
ALSO GROWS
yarah: to instruct or direct
יָרָה
The verb shows the guiding action carried within the instruction sought from the priest.
moreh: teacher; one who instructs
מוֹרֶה
This branch names the one who gives direction, clarifying the priest’s role as a carrier of instruction.
יִשְׁמְרוּ
yishmeru
GROWS FROM
שמר
shamar
to guard, watch over, keep
The root of “keep” carries the sense of guarding and watching over. The priest’s lips preserve knowledge so it remains something others can seek, rather than letting it slip from view.
ALSO GROWS
shamar: to guard, keep, watch over
שָׁמַר
The root verb makes the priest’s keeping an act of attentive protection.
mishmeret: a charge, guard, or watch
מִשְׁמֶרֶת
This branch shows keeping as an entrusted responsibility, fitting the priest’s role as messenger.
דַּעַת
da'at
GROWS FROM
ידע
yada
to know, perceive
Da’at comes from yada, “to know, perceive,” so knowledge here reaches beyond information held in storage. The priest’s lips hold a living discernment that can be sought through speech.
ALSO GROWS
yada: to know, perceive
יָדַע
The verb shows the knowing beneath the noun: knowledge is connected to perceiving, not merely possessing words.
yodea: one who knows
יֹדֵעַ
This branch describes a person marked by knowing, illuminating the trust placed in the priest’s lips.
THE PATTERN
Instruction entrusted to a messenger remains accountable to its divine source and becomes available through speech.
They shall teach Jacob thy judgments, and Israel thy law: they shall put incense before thee, and whole burnt sacrifice upon thine altar.For I have not spoken of myself; but the Father which sent me, he gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak.Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee.THE THREAD
According to the sentence of the law which they shall teach thee, and according to the judgment which they shall tell thee, thou shalt do: thou shalt not decline from the sentence which they shall shew thee, to the right hand, nor to the left.Here “law” is Torah, and the word translated “teach” comes from the same root family of directing and instructing. The connection shows Torah as instruction given direction through the mouth, making the priest’s words a place where guidance can be sought.
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