Malachi

For the prophetic book, see Book of Malachi. For other uses, see Malachi (disambiguation).

The Prophet Malachi, painting by Duccio di Buoninsegna, c. 1310 (Museo dell'Opera del Duomo, Siena Cathedral).

Malachi, Malachias, Malache or Mal'achi (ⁱ/ˈmæləkaɪ/; Hebrew: מַלְאָכִי, Modern [Mal'akhi] , Tiberian Malʼāḵî ; "Messenger", see malakh) was the writer of the Book of Malachi, the last book of the Neviim (prophets) section in the Jewish Tanakh. In the Christian Old Testament, the Prophetic Books are placed last, making Book of Malachi the last protocanonical book before the Deuterocanonical books or The New Testament. No allusion is made to him by Ezra, however, and he does not directly mention the restoration of the temple. The editors of the 1906 Jewish Encyclopedia implied that he prophesied after Haggai and Zechariah (Malachi 1:10; 3:1, 3:10) and speculated that he delivered his prophecies about 420 BC, after the second return of Nehemiah from Persia (Book of Nehemiah13:6), or possibly before his return, comparing Malachi 2:8 with Nehemiah 13:15; Malachi 2:10–16 with Nehemiah 13:23).

According to the 1897 Easton's Bible Dictionary, it is possible that Malachi is not a proper name, but simply means "messenger of YHWH". The Septuagint superscription is ἐν χειρὶ ἀγγέλου αὐτοῦ, (by the hand of his messenger).

Name

Because Malachi's name does not occur elsewhere in the Bible, some scholars indeed doubt whether "Malachi" is intended to be the personal name of the prophet. None of the other prophetic books of the Old Testament are anonymous. The form mal'akhi, signifies "my messenger"; it occurs in Malachi 3:1 (compare to Malachi 2:7). But this form of itself would hardly be appropriate as a proper name without some additional syllable such as Yah, whence mal'akhiah, i.e. "messenger of Elohim." Haggai, in fact, is expressly designated "messenger of Elohim" (Haggai 1:13). Besides, the superscriptions prefixed to the book, in both the Septuagint and the Vulgate, warrant the supposition that Malachi's full name ended with the syllable -yah. At the same time the Septuagint translates the last clause of Malachi 1:1, "by the hand of his messenger," and the Targum reads, "by the hand of my angel, whose name is called Ezra the scribe."

Works

The Jews of his day ascribed the Book of Malachi, the last book of prophecy, to Ezra but if Ezra's name was originally associated with the book, it would hardly have been dropped by the collectors of the prophetic Canon who lived only a century or two subsequent to Ezra's time. Certain traditions ascribe the book to Zerubbabel and Nehemiah; others, still, to Malachi, whom they designate as a Levite and a member of the "Great Synagogue." Certain modern scholars, however, on the basis of the similarity of the title (compare Malachi 1:1 to Zechariah 9:1 and Zechariah 12:1), declare it to be anonymous. Professor G.G. Cameron, suggests that the termination of the word "Malachi" is adjectival, and equivalent to the Latin angelicus, signifying "one charged with a message or mission" (a missionary). The term would thus be an official title; and the thought would not be unsuitable to one whose message closed the prophetical Canon of the Old Testament.

Period

Opinions vary as to the prophet's exact date, but nearly all scholars agree that Malachi prophesied during the Persian period, and after the reconstruction and dedication of the second temple in 516 BC (compare Malachi 1:10 ; Malachi 3:1, Malachi 3:10). The prophet speaks of the "people's governor" (Hebrew "pechah", Malachi 1:8), as do Haggai and Nehemiah (Haggai 1:1 ; Nehemiah 5:14 ; Nehemiah 12:26). The social conditions portrayed are unquestionably those also of the period of the Restoration. More specifically, Malachi probably lived and labored during the times of Ezra and Nehemiah. The abuses which Malachi mentions in his writings correspond so exactly with those which Nehemiah found on his 2nd visit to Jerusalem in 432 BC (Nehemiah 13:7) that it seems reasonably certain that he prophesied shortly before that date, i.e. between 445 and 432 BC.

See also

• Tomb of the Prophets Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi

References

•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: 
•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: 
•  

• L. Vianès: Malachie. La Bible d'Alexandrie, vol. xxiii/12, Éditions du Cerf, Paris, 2011.

External links

• Media related to at Wikimedia Commons
• Quotations related to Malachi at Wikiquote
• Prophet Malachi Orthodox icon and synaxarion