Malachi

As indicated in the chapter one of the study the authorship of Malachi for the Book of Malachi is assumed. Who were the messages addressed to? From Malachi 1:1 it can be inferred that the people of Israel who had returned from the Babylonian captivity are the original recipients of the message of Malachi. Also a closer look at the message seems to indicate that some of the messages of the prophets were intended for the priest who were ministering to the people then (cf., 1:6; 2:1). However, majority of the message are directed to the masses or the people in general including the present generation. Richard A. Taylor and E. Ray Clendenen point out that: Malachi’s prophecy indicts the religious leadership of the day and chides God’s people

Judah was ruled by governor “pehah”, a term denoting a ruler or a governor of a probably small province during the Persian period. The reference to the existence of ritual sacrifices and offering in the Temple in Mal 1:7-10 indicate that the Temple has been rebuilt. Malachi, the prophet, was probably the contemporary of Nehemiah, the cupbearer of King Artaxerxes (cf., Neh 1:11). Thus, it is probable that Malachi addresses are similar to the denunciation of Nehemiah upon his return to Jerusalem for the second term of his governorship in Judea (Mal 2:11–15; cf. Neh 13:23–27; Mal 3:8–10; cf. Neh 13:10–14; Mal 2:8–9; 4:4; cf. Neh 13:15–22; Mal 1:6–2:9; cf. Neh 13:7–9; Mal 3:5; cf. Neh 5:1–13). The book of Malachi thus, can be placed in the Persian period. Most scholars conclude that the book was written between 475 and 450 BC. This is due to the fact that the “disillusionment about the temple has already set in, it is probable that a few decades have passed since its completion. Furthermore, since Ezra and Nehemiah are not mentioned in the book, it is usually assumed that Malachi preceded

Neither in spirit, thought, nor form, has it the characteristics of poetry. Certainly, there is an occasional flash of poetic insight and imagination, or a few lines which move to a poetic rhythm. But only by the loosest use of terms could we call the prophecy as a whole poetry . . . If Malachi is to be regarded as poetical, either in form or content, distinctions between poetry and prose must be abandoned.

However, Bruce Theodore Dahlberg cites Robert Lowth, who had offered the following judgment relating to the Book of Malachi and its possible claims to a poetic style: Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi are the only remaining prophets. The first of these is altogether prosaic, as well as the greater part of the second. . . The last of the prophetical books, that of Malachi, is written in a kind of middle style, which seems to indicate that the Hebrew poetry, from the time of the Babylonish captivity, was in a declining state, and, being past its prime and vigour, was then fast verging towards the debility of age. The Hebrew Bible (BHS) which is commonly used portrays the book in poetic format. This shows that to the Hebrew mind the book of Malachi is in poetry. The evidences of poetic literary features in the book also cement the fact that the book is