Malachi 2:14

You ask, “Why?” It is because the LORD is the witness between you and the wife of your youth. You have been unfaithful to her, though she is your partner, the wife of your marriage covenant.

From Background Notes [BN] for May 19^th & 20^th written by Pastor Bob Brown:

The expression "wife of your youth" draws attention to marriage at its inception and in its innocence...

Marriages in the ancient world were commonly concluded as part of an arrangement with the respective parents. We are inclined to discount them, therefore, because they seem to rob the partners of their freedom to choose each other. However, wise and thoughtful parents often consulted with each other, noting the qualities of their children and then attempting to match likely compatibilities based on time-tested experience. Within Indian society, the distinction is usually made between 1) arranged marriages, and 2) love marriages.10 The Hebrews would probably not make such a sharp distinction. More than likely Malachi, by using the phrase "wife of your youth," was looking back to an arranged marriage, the careful and wise result of a process within the respective families. The final form was a covenant of marriage, witnessed by all and blessed by Yahweh. At some later time, after the return from Exile, marriage in Israel came under assault from foreign influences, much as it had before the exile. The books of Ezra (9-10) and Nehemiah (13) document the pain and suffering inflicted by such circumstances, and the subsequent separation from pagan relationships. Malachi simply reminds the people about the perils of departing from covenant-based marriages and entering into supposedly choice-based marriages to pagan partners.

By calling the original partner a "companion," the prophet throws the spotlight on the "bond" which holds the two spouses together. The Hebrew word is ḥaberet from the root form ḥābar which means "join, coupled, league, heap up, have fellowship with, be compact." Other variations can mean "a binder, clamp, joint." Our idea of "tying the knot" can be found in some of these forms.

"Wife by covenant" brings into focus the language of covenant obligations and the consequences of violating berît ("covenant"). This term denotes the legal and sacred union, sanctioned by Yahweh, and binding on the partners. Used in conjunction with "companion," the covenant-wife terminology once more emphasizes the permanent nature of the marriage relationship. [BN, 6]

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