Book of Malachi
The Book of Malachi (Hebrew: מַלְאָכִ֔י, Malʾāḵī) is the last book of the Neviim contained in the Tanakh, canonically the last of the Twelve Minor Prophets. In most Christian orderings, the grouping of the prophetic books is the last section of the Old Testament, making Malachi the last book before the New Testament.
Most scholars consider the Book of Malachi to be the work of a single author who may or may not have been identified by the title Malachi. Its title has frequently been understood as a proper name, although its Hebrew meaning is simply "My Messenger" (the Septuagint reads "his messenger") and would not have been a proper name at the time of its writing. "Malachi" is often assumed to be a pseudonym used by the real writer so he would not face retribution for his prophecies. Jewish tradition states that the book was written by Ezra the scribe.[1]
Authorship[edit]
Little is known of the biography of the author of the Book of Malachi, although it has been suggested that he may have been Levitical. Due to the similarities between Malachi and Ezra's emphasis on forbidding marriage to foreign pagan women, the Talmud and certain Targums, such as Targum Jonathan, identify Ezra as the author of Malachi. This is the traditional view held by most Jews and some Christians.[6][7] The Catholic priest and historian Jerome suggests that this may be because Ezra is seen as an intermediary between the prophets and the "great synagogue." According to Josephus, Ezra died and was buried "in a magnificent manner in Jerusalem."[8] If the tradition that Ezra wrote under the name "Malachi" is correct, then he was probably buried in the Tomb of the Prophets, the traditional resting place of Malachi, Haggai, and Zechariah.
The name "Malachi" occurs in the superscription at 1:1 and in 3:1, although most consider it unlikely that the word refers to the same character in both of these references. According to the editors of the 1897 Easton's Bible Dictionary, some scholars believe the name "Malachi" is not a proper noun but rather an abbreviation of "messenger of Yah".[9] This reading could be based on Malachi 3:1, "Behold, I will send my messenger...", if "my messenger" is taken literally as the name Malachi.[10] Thus, there is substantial debate regarding the identity of the book's author and many assume that "Malachi" is an anonymous pen-name. However, others disagree. However, other scholars, including the editors of the Catholic Encyclopedia, argue that the grammatical evidence leads us to conclude that Malachi is in fact a name, asserting: "We are no doubt in presence of an abbreviation of the name Mál'akhîyah, that is Messenger of Elohim."[11]
Some scholars consider both Zechariah 9–14 and Malachi to be anonymous, which explains their placement at the end of the twelve minor prophets.[10] Julius Wellhausen, Abraham Kuenen, and Wilhelm Gustav Hermann Nowack argue that Malachi 1:1 is a late addition, pointing to Zechariah 9:1 and 12:1. Another interpretation of the authorship comes from the Septuagint superscription, ὲν χειρὶ ἀγγήλου αὐτοῦ, which can be read as either "by the hand of his messenger" or as "by the hand of his angel". The "angel" reading found an echo among the ancient Church Fathers and ecclesiastical writers, and even gave rise to the "strangest fancies", especially among the disciples of Origen.[11][12]
Period[edit]
There are very few historical details in the Book of Malachi. The greatest clue as to its dating may lie in the fact that the Persian-era term for governor (Imperial Aramaic: פח, romanized: peḥ) is used in 1:8. This points to a post-exilic (that is, after 538 BC) date of composition both because of the use of the Persian period term and because Judah had a king before the exile. Since, in the same verse, the temple has been rebuilt, the book must also be later than 515 BC.[13] Malachi was apparently known to the author of the Book of Sirach early in the second century BC. Because of the development of themes in the book of Malachi, most scholars assign it to a position after the Book of Haggai and the Book of Zechariah,[14][15] close to the time when Ezra and Nehemiah[15] came to Jerusalem in 445 BC.[16]