later recognized Peter, and this led to the apostle’s third denial of Christ.—John 18:26, 27.

MALEDICTION

Literally, a speaking ill or evil against someone, and, hence, the opposite of a benediction or a blessing. The Hebrew word q^ela·lahʹ basically refers to such a malediction and is regularly contrasted with “blessing” in numerous texts. (Gen. 27:12, 13; Deut. 11:26-29; Zech. 8:13) It is derived from the root verb qa·lalʹ, which literally means “to be (or make) light”; but, when used in a figurative sense, means “to despise,” “to bring into contempt,” or “to call down evil upon.” This is the word David used when he told Michal he would make himself even more “lightly esteemed” than what she had accused him of doing. (2 Sam. 6:20-22) Jehovah God used it after the Flood in saying that he would never again “call down evil upon the ground on man’s account.”—Gen. 8:21.

PURPOSE OF DIVINE MALEDICTIONS

One purpose of divine maledictions is to make clear who are and who are not God’s approved servants, since the maledictions manifest God’s disapproval, even as his blessings manifest his approval. So, in promising Abraham his blessing, Jehovah also stated that “him that calls down evil [a participial form of qa·lalʹ] upon you I shall curse.” (Gen. 12:3) When the object of the malediction is thus left anonymous, the malediction also serves as a warning guide and a protection for those who wish to gain or retain God’s favor. The Mosaic law specified numerous blessings and maledictions, all of which would result from the application of the Law’s statutes and ordinances. (Deut. 28:1, 2, 15) Prior to entry into the Promised Land, Moses emphasized the fact that the nation, as individuals and as a collective group, must choose between the blessing and the malediction and that this they would do by either obedience or disobedience. (Deut. 30:19, 20) Joshua, in essence, repeated this protective exhortation and warning within the Promised Land. (Compare Joshua 8:32-35; 24:14, 15.) Individuals could, therefore, endeavor to avoid coming under the announced maledictions.

The malediction also certifies that there can be no trifling with or despising of God’s principles and announced purposes. High Priest Eli became the object of a specific malediction because of weakly allowing his sons to go unrebuked, even though they were “calling down evil upon God.” (1 Sam. 3:13) Jehovah told him the rule that “those honoring me I shall honor, and those despising me will be of little account [from the root form qa·lalʹ].” (1 Sam. 2:30) Just recompense for wrongdoing thus accompanies God’s malediction. This may be immediate, as in the case of the jeering delinquents upon whom Elisha called down evil in the name of Jehovah (2 Ki. 2:24), or it may be reserved for a later time, as when God informed King Josiah concerning the calamity due to come on Judah. (2 Ki. 22:19, 20) Jehovah warned the nation of Israel that violation of his laws would bring inescapable difficulties, saying: “All these maledictions will certainly come upon you and pursue you and overtake you until you have been annihilated, because you did not listen to the voice of Jehovah your God by keeping his commandments and his statutes that he commanded you.” (Deut. 28:45) Although he foretold their desolation and exile in the plainest of terms, they refused to give heed and thus Jerusalem became “a malediction to all the nations of the earth.”—Jer. 26:6; 24:9; Deut. 29:27.

SETTING ASIDE OF MALEDICTIONS

A malediction can be set aside or canceled by Jehovah, but only where his just requirements are properly satisfied. This appears to be the case with the original malediction on the earth that was evidently terminated by the Flood that cleansed the globe of wickedness. (Gen. 8:21) Failure to keep the Law covenant brought a malediction on all the nation of Israel, even on those who conscientiously (though imperfectly) tried to keep its terms. The apostle Paul shows that it was for this reason that Christ Jesus died in the manner in which he did: upon a torture stake. (Gal. 3:10-13) Thereby Jesus, though he had perfectly observed the Law himself, took upon himself the curse that resulted from the malediction of the Law and that rested on all those under that Law. Deuteronomy 21:23 states: “Because something accursed [literally, a malediction] of God is the one hung up [upon a stake].” Jesus, by being nailed to the stake as a criminal, sentenced (though unjustly) by the Jewish priestly court, in effect became “a curse,” and thereby not only was the Law with its decrees nailed to the stake and canceled, but the curse or malediction accompanying it was legally removed as well. (Col. 2:14) Because Jesus’ body was viewed as being a malediction, and also to fulfill the Law’s requirement so that the sabbath might not be profaned, the Jews were anxious that Jesus’ corpse and those of the malefactors be removed from their stakes before the day ended.—Deut. 21:23; John 19:31.

GOD DETERMINES VALIDITY

While individuals may pronounce maledictions, their validity is entirely dependent on God, his principles and his purposes. It was in vain that Goliath “called down evil upon David by his [false] gods.” (1 Sam. 17:43) Jehovah changed Balaam’s proposed malediction into a blessing. (Deut. 23:4, 5; Josh. 24:9, 10) Because David recognized that only Jehovah can make a malediction effective, he rejected Abishai’s angry request to be allowed to go and ‘take off the head’ of Shimei, who was abusively calling down evil on David. David said: “Let him alone that he may call down evil, for Jehovah has said so to him! Perhaps Jehovah will see with his eye, and Jehovah will actually restore to me goodness instead of his malediction this day.” (2 Sam. 16:5-12; compare Psalm 109:17, 18, 28.) God’s Word specifically condemns the calling down of evil on one’s parents (Ex. 21:17; Lev. 20:9; Prov. 20:20), on God (Ex. 22:28; Lev. 24:11, 14, 15, 23), or the king (Eccl. 10:20), and exposes those who bless with their mouths while “inside themselves they call down evil.”—Ps. 62:4.

EFFECTIVE AND INEFFECTIVE MALEDICTIONS

As God’s spokesman, while on earth Christ Jesus, in effect, pronounced maledictions on the religious guides and Pharisees for their willful opposition to God’s purpose. (Matt. 23:13-33) The apostle Peter evidently ‘called down evil’ upon Ananias and Sapphira for playing false to God, resulting in their immediate death. (Acts 5:1-11) The apostle Paul did somewhat similarly with the false prophet Elymas, the sorcerer, whom he called a “son of the Devil” and an “enemy of everything righteous,” and who, thereafter, became blind. (Acts 13:6-12) These actions had a salutary effect on those witnessing them. Such apostolic powers, however, did not give authority or license to others to pronounce maledictions. James warns against Christians improperly using the tongue for cursing men.—Jas. 3:9-12; compare Psalm 109:17, 18 with Colossians 3:8-10.

Whereas history records that in post-apostolic times and down through the centuries religious organizations have published many “anathemas” and “interdicts” against individuals, cities and nations, it also shows that the agent employed to make such malediction effective has invariably been, not the power of God, but the earthly power of a church or of the secular state. In contrast, at Psalm 37:3-9, 22 we are counseled to wait on Jehovah, since “those being blessed by him will themselves possess the earth, but those upon whom evil is called by him will be cut off.” Such “cutting-off” is included in the malediction Jesus pronounces on the cursed “goat” class of his prophetic parable at Matthew 25:31-46. In connection with the “new heavens and a new earth” evil is also prophesied to be called down on sinners.—Isa. 65:17, 20.

MALLOTHI

(Mal·loʹthi) [my discourse].

A Kohathite Levite and one of the fourteen sons of the singer Heman. (1 Chron. 25:4, 5) The family served as musicians under the direction of their father, Heman. (Vs. 6) When David organized the divisions of the Levites to serve in turns at the house of Jehovah, the nineteenth lot fell to Mallothi, who assumed the headship of that division of twelve musicians.—Vs. 26.

MALLOW

This translates the Hebrew word ʼo·rohthʹ (2 Ki. 4:39; Isa. 26:19), considered to be the plural of ʼoh·rahʹ, “light.” (Esther 8:16; Ps. 139:12) According to Koehler and Baumgartner’s Lexicon in Veteris Testamenti Libros, ʼo·rothʹ denotes the dwarf mallow (Malva rotundifolia). This identification is based on the fact that this plant is very sensitive to light, hence perhaps the Hebrew designation ʼo·rohthʹ, “light-[herb].” Also, its fruit is edible, thus harmonizing with 2 Kings 4:39. The dwarf mallow is a creeping plant having nearly round, somewhat lobed, saw-edged leaves with long leafstalks. Its flowers are only about a half inch (c. 1.3 centimeters) across and vary in color from pale blue to white. The flat and circular mucilaginous fruits are commonly called “cheeses.”

MALLUCH

(Malʹluch) [reigning, or, perhaps, counselor].

1. A Merarite Levite and a forefather of the Levitical singer Ethan.—1 Chron. 6:44-47.

2. One of the priests accompanying Zerubbabel when the Jews returned from Babylonian exile.—Neh. 12:1, 2, 7.

3. An Israelite “of the sons of Bani” among those who had accepted foreign wives but who sent them away in the days of Ezra.—Ezra 10:29, 44.

4. An Israelite “of the sons of Harim” among those who had taken foreign wives but who dismissed them in Ezra’s time.—Ezra 10:31, 32, 44.

5. One of the priests, or a forefather of one, attesting by seal the “trustworthy arrangement” made in Nehemiah’s day.—Neh. 9:38–10:4.

6. An Israelite, one of the heads of the people, whose descendant, if not himself, attested the “trustworthy arrangement” made in the time of Nehemiah.—Neh. 9:38; 10:1, 14, 27.

MALLUCHI

(Malʹlu·chi) [my counselor].

A priestly family whose representative served in the days of High Priest Joiakim, and in the days of Ezra and Governor Nehemiah.—Neh. 12:12, 14, 26.

The name “Malluchi” is in the Masoretic text with the q^eriʹ or marginal notation that it should be read as “Melicu,” which latter form is found in the Authorized Version. Several ancient Greek manuscripts, including the Alexandrine, Vatican No. 1209 and the Sinaitic (as well as the Lagardian edition) read “Malluch,” which some scholars think was the original form. These scholars suggest (but there is no way of proving it) that the adding of “i” (yohdh [י] in Hebrew) at the end of the name came about when the first letter of the following word was unintentionally repeated in manuscript copying.

MALTA

(Malʹta) [refuge (in the Phoenician tongue)].

An island in the Mediterranean lying over fifty miles (80 kilometers) S of Sicily and having an area of about ninety-five square miles (246 square kilometers). It was at Malta that the apostle Paul was shipwrecked and there he remained for three months. During this time he healed Publius’ father and others afflicted with sicknesses.—Acts 28:1, 7-9, 11.

In the past some associated the Greek word rendered “Malta” (Me·liʹte) with Meleda (Mljet) off the coast of Yugoslavia, because anciently this island was also called Me·liʹte. But tradition and the evidence of Scripture points to Malta as the place where Paul experienced shipwreck. The designation “sea of Adria,” where the boat was said to be as it approached Malta, came to include the waters of the Mediterranean E of Sicily and W of Crete and, therefore, it could be said that Malta was bounded by this sea.—Acts 27:27.

PAUL’S SHIPWRECK

Sometime after atonement day (in September or October) the ship on which Paul was traveling as a prisoner left the Cretan harbor of Fair Havens and was seized by a tempestuous wind (Euroaquilo), apparently from the E-NE. It drove the ship away from the coast of Crete to Cauda, and the mariners feared being run aground on the “Syrtis,” the quick-sands along the shores of northern Africa. (Acts 27:8, 9, 13-17) An E-NE wind could not have caused the vessel to drift toward Meleda, over 600 miles (960 kilometers) N-NW of Cauda. Evidently the boat, after drifting some two weeks, neared Malta, about 540 miles (869 kilometers) W-NW of Cauda.—Acts 27:33; see EUROAQUILO.

What is today called St. Paul’s Bay, situated on the NW end of Malta, could have been reached on an E-NE course without previously touching any other part of the island. Perhaps when their trained ears heard breakers dashing against rocky Koura Head, which juts out into the Mediterranean from the eastern side of St. Paul’s Bay, the sailors began to suspect that they were approaching land. The depths of “twenty fathoms” and “fifteen fathoms” ascertained by them basically correspond to soundings made in the mid-nineteenth century in the St. Paul’s Bay area.—Acts 27:27, 28.

Possibly because of being familiar with another of Malta’s harbors, the mariners did not recognize the land as Malta even in daylight. The island’s largest and best-known harbor is at Valetta, some eight miles (13 kilometers) SE of St. Paul’s Bay.—Acts 27:39.

Along the western side of St. Paul’s Bay there are two inlets. Today the more southerly one has a beach. Anciently this may also have been true of the other inlet. Probably at one of these the sailors hoped to “beach the boat,” but were unsuccessful, the reason for the failure (according to the literal Greek text) being their ‘having fallen around into a place of two seas.’ This may mean that the ship struck “a place where two seas met” (AS) or “a shoal washed on each side by the sea.” (NW) Or, the vessel was caught between crosscurrents and ran aground. (Compare JB, NE.) The ship’s bow became immovably stuck, perhaps in the mud and clay that lie less than three fathoms below the surface in parts of St. Paul’s Bay, while the stern was broken in pieces by the waves.—Acts 27:39-41.

Paul’s experience in Malta

At this time the soldiers determined to kill Paul and the other prisoners. This may have been because of the strict Roman military discipline that held guards accountable for the escape of prisoners under their control. (Compare Acts 12:19; 16:27.) Since the army officer (centurion) restrained the soldiers on account of Paul, all those aboard, numbering about 276, survived the shipwreck, either by swimming ashore or getting safely to land upon planks and other floatable items from the wrecked vessel.—Acts 27:37, 42-44.

The non-Greek-speaking inhabitants of Malta showed extraordinary human kindness to the survivors, even building a fire for them so that they might warm themselves. When the apostle Paul placed a bundle of sticks on this fire a venomous viper came out and fastened itself to his hand. Amazed that Paul did not swell up or die, the people of Malta began to view him as a god.—Acts 28:1-6.

Today there are no vipers indigenous to Malta. Great changes have taken place since the first century C.E. Whereas now Malta is one of the most