- Introductory Matters
- The name "Malachi"
- As an appellative
- "Malachi" means "my messenger" and is translated
as such in 3:1 - thus the name may be merely an invention or a title for the otherwise
unknown author
- Other translations seem to support this view
- The Septuagint translates
the name as "his messenger"
- The Targum adds the clause
"whose name was Ezra the Scribe" - the Babylonian Talmud and Jerome share this
same tradition
- 1:1 begins like Zech. 9:1 and 12:1 which some scholars see as
prophetic words from an unidentified prophet (see Zechariah) -
Malachi may be a prophetic work by another unnamed prophet
- Weaknesses of the view
- The other prophetic books all contain the name of the prophet in the
first verse - why would an exception be made here?
- Viewing the name as an appellative tends to make one identify the
prophet with the messenger who is to come (3:1) - would the author have seen himself as an
Elijah or messianic figure?
- As a proper name
- Names in the Hebrew Bible always mean something and the name
"Malachi" is no exception
- The book follows the pattern of the other prophetic books by
introducing the prophet in the first verse
- Date
- Some time in the first half of the 5th century B.C.E. - 465 or 450 B.C.E. are possible dates
- Reasons:
- Must be after 515 B.C.E. because the Temple is standing (1:10,
3:1,10) and Judah is under a governor (1:8)
- Must be before the last half of the 5th century B.C.E.
(450-400 B.C.E.) because the condemnation of mixed marriages indicates Ezra's reform (Ezra
9-10) has not yet occurred
- The failure to distinguish between priests and Levites (2:4-9, 3:3)
implies the Priestly Code (e.g., Lev.) has not yet been introduced
- Audience
- Addressed to all Israel (1:1)
- Some have suggested the Samaritans are the "wicked" and the
faithful Jewish remnant are the "righteous" (3:18) but that may not necessarily
be the case
- Literary form
- Unlike the typical poetic oracles of the other prophets
- Much more of a question and answer format
- Perhaps patterned after the wisdom tradition which may have been
important during the author's time
- Reminiscent of the style of Socrates, a Greek philosopher of the 5th
century B.C.E. - some refer to Malachi as the "Hebrew Socrates" - it is
extremely unlikely the two ever met
- The style later was widely used by the rabbis and is reflected in the
Talmud
- Pattern of the disputations
- Initial statement is made
- Partner in the discussion objects
- Statement is substantiated in detail and the necessary conclusion is
drawn
- Message of the Book
- Some specific teachings
- Offering of inferior sacrifices (1:6-2:9)
- The priests have despised and polluted God's name by offering
inferior sacrifices - such a trivializing of worship also implies a trivializing of God
- The priests offer inferior gifts to God but would not think of
offering such gifts to the governor (1:8)
- Such behavior is atrocious - it would be better if someone simply
closed down the temple rather than continue with the present system (1:10)
- The heathen are sincere in their worship of their gods (1:11) -
although the heathen do not know it, they are offering a pure and acceptable sacrifice to
God - those who know God, however, are offering polluted and unacceptable sacrifices to
God - such action is thoroughly inconsistent and incomprehensible
- If the priests continue to serve the way they have been serving, they
will be cursed and cast out from the presence of God (2:1-3)
- Against mixed faith marriages and divorce (2:10-16)
- The people who should be one family under God (2:10) have polluted
the family through mixed faith marriages (2:11) and divorces (2:14) - their actions have
weakened the family
- The breaking of the covenant of marriage is symptomatic of the
breaking of the larger covenant with God since it pollutes the holy relationship between
God and His people
- God, the giver and sustainer of life, desires that life be passed on
in a godly family (2:15)
- Cynical unbelief (2:17-3:5)
- The people wondered if God was just and if He would ever come to
judge between the good and the evil (2:17) - why bother to serve God?
- The prophet assures them that God is indeed coming
- Some interesting theological points
- Although Malachi confined the fatherhood of God and the brotherhood
of man to Israel (2:10), his mentioning of those concepts paved the way for a more
universal understanding of these terms
- Malachi's belief that God detested divorce was close to that of Jesus
(cf. Mark 10:2-9)
- The "book of remembrance" (3:16) picks up a Hebrew Bible
image (cf. Exod. 32:32-34; Isa. 4:3, 65:6; Psalm 69:28; Dan. 7:10, 12:1) and helps move
this concept into the New Testament (cf. Rev. 20:12, 21:27)
- The placement of Malachi in Protestant Bibles at the end of the Old
Testament combined with Malachi's emphasis on the coming of Elijah provides an appropriate
lead-in to the New Testament