Malachi 4:1

“For behold, the day is coming, burning like a furnace, when all the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble; the day is coming when I will set them ablaze,” says the LORD of Hosts. “Not a root or branch will be left to them.”

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — The LORD of Hosts speaks to Israel at the close of Malachi's prophecy, the final word of the Old Testament. The audience is immediately split in the next verse into those who fear His name and those who do not.

The words — בֹעֵר (bo.'Er), "burning," is a present participle describing the day as a sustained, active state rather than a single instantaneous event.

The thread — The refiner's fire of Malachi 3:2 is the same day viewed from the perspective of purification; 2 Thessalonians 1:8 and 2 Peter 3:7 echo the consuming fire reserved for the ungodly.

Why it lands — The verse removes any ambiguity about the day's outcome: "not a root or branch will be left." It asks the reader to stop negotiating with the certainty of judgment.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Hebrew words

King James Version

For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.

Cross-references

2 Thessalonians 1:8 in blazing fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.
2 Peter 3:7 And by that same word, the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.
Malachi 3:2 But who can endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For He will be like a refiner’s fire, like a launderer’s soap.
Isaiah 47:14 Surely they are like stubble; the fire will burn them up. They cannot deliver themselves from the power of the flame. There will be no coals to warm them or fire to sit beside.
Isaiah 5:24 Therefore, as a tongue of fire consumes the straw, and as dry grass shrivels in the flame, so their roots will decay and their blossoms will blow away like dust; for they have rejected the instruction of the LORD of Hosts and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.
Obadiah 1:18 Then the house of Jacob will be a blazing fire, and the house of Joseph a burning flame; but the house of Esau will be stubble—Jacob will set it ablaze and consume it. Therefore no survivor will remain from the house of Esau.” For the LORD has spoken.
Malachi 3:15 So now we call the arrogant blessed. Not only do evildoers prosper, they even test God and escape.’”
Job 18:16 The roots beneath him dry up, and the branches above him wither away.
Isaiah 2:12 For the Day of the LORD of Hosts will come against all the proud and lofty, against all that is exalted—it will be humbled—
Joel 2:1 Blow the ram’s horn in Zion; sound the alarm on My holy mountain! Let all who dwell in the land tremble, for the Day of the LORD is coming; indeed, it is near—