This chapter contains an account of the destruction of the wicked Jews, and the happiness of the righteous by the coming of the Messiah; an exhortation to regard the law of Moses; and a description of John the Baptist and his work.

For, behold, the day cometh that shall burn as an oven Not the day of judgment, as Kimchi and other interpreters, both Jewish and Christian, think; but the day of Christ’s coming in his kingdom and power, to take vengeance on the Jewish nation, which burned like an oven, both figuratively and…

But unto you that fear my name The few that were of this character among that wicked nation; (See Gill on Mal. 3:16): shall the Sun of righteousness arise; not the Holy Ghost, who enlightens sinners, convinces of righteousness, and gives joy, peace, and comfort to the saints, but Christ: and thus…

And ye shall tread down the wicked As grapes in the winepress, as Christ did before them, (Isa. 63:2, Isa. 63:3) and they by virtue of him; who makes them more than conquerors through himself, over all their enemies, spiritual and temporal: for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet; this…

Remember ye the law of Moses my servant Who was faithful as such in the house of God, in delivering the law to the children of Israel, which was given him; and who are called upon to remember it, its precepts and its penalties, which they were apt to forget: and particularly this exhortation is…

Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet Not the Tishbite, as the Septuagint version wrongly inserts instead of prophet; not Elijah in person, who lived in the times of Ahab; but John the Baptist, who was to come in the power and spirit of Elijah, between whom there was a great likeness in their…

And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, &c.] Or “with” the children, as Kimchi; and Ben Melech observes, that (על) is put for (עם) , and so in the next clause: and the heart of the children to their fathers; or “with” their fathers; that is, both fathers and children: the…