Who is there even among you that would shut the doors for nought? neither do ye kindle fire on mine altar for nought. I have no pleasure in you, saith the LORD of hosts, neither will I accept an offering at your hand.
Who is there even among you that would shut the doors for nought? Not one even of the least priestly functions (as shutting the doors, or kindling a fire on the altar) would ye exercise without pay, therefore ye ought to fulfill them faithfully (1 Corinthians 9:13). Drusius and Maurer translate, 'Would that there were absolutely some one of you who would shut the doors of the temple (i:e., of the inner court, in which was the altar of burnt offerings), and that ye would not kindle fire on my altar in vain!' Better no sacrifices than vain ones (Isaiah 1:11-15). It was the duty of some of the priests to stand at the doors of the court of the altar of burnt offerings, and to have excluded blemished victims (Calvin). Gataker objects to this view, that there was no need of, or use in shutting the doors in order to reject blemished victims. He therefore supports the same rendering as the English version.
The Hebrew, 'for nought' х chinaam (H2600)] is to be supplied in the first clause, from the second clause of the double question, where it is expressed, Ye have no excuse to allege for your carelessness in winking at such insulting offerings being presented to Yahweh, on the ground of not being paid for your services. Even the least service, such as shutting the door and kindling the fire, is paid for. I prefer Drusius' view, because it appears from Malachi 3:8-10 that the Levites were not paid their tithes at this very time, and therefore they had this plea, bad a one as it was, for excusing their connivance at the people's blemished offerings. It was one of the first abuses requiring to be rectified on Nehemiah's second visit to Jerusalem, when he had returned from Artaxerxes. He therefore proceeded to restore the tithe chamber, which had been appropriated in the meanwhile by Tobiah, to its proper use (Nehemiah 13:4-13). The Levites, defrauded of their livelihood, had generally fled to the country. Malachi, the prophet, seconded Nehemiah, the civil governor, in his efforts; and so the tithes were again paid to the Levites, and "the house of God" was no longer "forsaken." The prayer here was then realized in the doors being shut against blemished victims, which previously had been insults, not honours, offered to God. However, the priests seem to have fared well at the expense of the Levites, whom they suffered to be defrauded of their dues (Malachi 3:8-10).