## translationWords

* [[en:tw:desert]]
* [[en:tw:esau]]
* [[en:tw:hand]]
* [[en:tw:inherit]]
* [[en:tw:israel]]
* [[en:tw:jacob]]
* [[en:tw:love]]
* [[en:tw:malachi]]
* [[en:tw:word]]
* [[en:tw:yahweh]]

## translationNotes

* **The declaration of the word of Yahweh to Israel by the hand of Malachi** - "Yahweh spoke these words to Israel through Malachi"
* **by the hand of Malachi** - through the action of Malachi (See: [[en:ta:vol2:translate:figs_metonymy]])
* **But you say, "How have you loved us?"** - This question indicates doubt, or questions the truth of God's words. God is using a question to rebuke the people. Alternate translation: "But you say, 'You have not loved us!'" (See: [[en:ta:vol1:translate:figs_rquestion]])
* **declares Yahweh** - "Yahweh has solemnly said this"
* **I have loved Jacob** - Yahweh chose to have a relationship with Jacob as his God.
* **Esau I have hated** - Yahweh rejected Esau.
* **I have made his mountains an abandoned devastation** - "I have made his mountains unfit to live in"
* **and I have made his inheritance a place for the jackals of the wilderness** - "and I have made the lands he inherited a desert where only wild animals can live"