Malachi 1:2 (DRB)

Passage

I have loved you, saith the Lord: and you have said: Wherein hast thou loved us? Was not Esau brother to Jacob, saith the Lord, and I have loved Jacob,

Nearby Context

Malachi 1:1 The burden of the word of the Lord to Israel by the hand of Malachi.

Malachi 1:2 I have loved you, saith the Lord: and you have said: Wherein hast thou loved us? Was not Esau brother to Jacob, saith the Lord, and I have loved Jacob,

Malachi 1:3 But have hated Esau? and I have made his mountains a wilderness, and given his inheritance to the dragons of the desert.

Malachi 1:4 But if Edom shall say: We are destroyed, but we will return and build up what hath been destroyed: thus saith the Lord of hosts: They shall build up, and I will throw down: and they shall be called the borders of wickedness, and the people with whom the Lord is angry for ever.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "loved", "saith", "lord", "said", "wherein", "hast", and "thou". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "loved" and "saith", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 1's "The burden of the word of the..." into verse 3's "But have hated Esau and I have...", so "loved" and "saith" belong inside that flow. In Malachi context, the local focus is covenant faithfulness, priestly corruption, divine justice, and the coming day of the LORD.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "loved" and "saith" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.