Translations
F.O.G.MPrimary
F.O.G MessageBut you say, "Why?" Because Yahweh was witness between you and the wife of your youth, to whom you have been faithless — she is your companion and your wife by covenant.
F.O.GSecondary
The F.O.GBut you say, "For what reason?" Because YHWH was witness between you and the wife of your youth — she whom you have betrayed — your companion and your covenant wife.
KJV
King James VersionYet ye say, Wherefore? Because the LORD hath been witness between thee and the wife of thy youth, against whom thou hast dealt treacherously: yet is she thy companion, and the wife of thy covenant.
BSB
Berean Standard BibleYet you ask, “Why?” It is because the LORD has been a witness between you and the wife of your youth, against whom you have broken faith, though she is your companion and your wife by covenant.
Footnotes
חֲבֶרְתְּךָ (chaverta) = "your companion/partner," from the root חבר (to bind together) — a rare feminine form implying deep intimate partnership, not merely legal marriage. אֵשֶׁת בְּרִיתֶךָ = "wife of your covenant" — marriage is explicitly constituted as a covenant with YHWH named as its witness, making marital faithlessness a covenantal offence before God; this passage provides the Old Testament's clearest foundation for the New Testament vision of marriage as covenant-image (cf. Eph. 5:25–32).
