Malachi (Person)

Biblical Record

The name Malachi appears only once, in Malachi 1:1. The Korean Revised Version renders the verse as "the warning that the LORD spoke to Israel through Malachi"; the KJV reads, "The burden of the word of the LORD to Israel by Malachi." Apart from this verse, the Bible records nothing about his family, hometown, period of ministry, or death.

The period of his ministry is inferred from the contents of the book, which depicts temple sacrifices being offered again and uses the title "governor" (Malachi 1:8). For this reason, many scholars hold that he ministered under Persian rule after the return from exile and the rebuilding of the temple. Some also place him around the time of Nehemiah, since the problems the book rebukes, including priestly corruption, intermarriage with foreigners, and tithing, resemble those of Nehemiah's day. Scholars nevertheless differ on the exact date.

Significance Within the Bible

In the Protestant canonical order, Malachi is the last book of the Old Testament. In the Hebrew Bible it is the last of the twelve Minor Prophets, while the Hebrew Bible as a whole ends with Chronicles.

The New Testament does not mention Malachi by name, but it quotes his book several times:

• "Behold, I will send my messenger" (Malachi 3:1): Mark 1:2 and Matthew 11:10 apply this passage to John the Baptist.
• The promise to send Elijah (Malachi 4:5-6; 3:23-24 in the Hebrew Bible): Matthew 11:14 and Luke 1:17 connect it with John the Baptist.
• "I loved Jacob, and I hated Esau" (Malachi 1:2-3): quoted in Romans 9:13.

Interpretation and Debate

In Hebrew, "Malachi" means "my messenger." Opinions differ on whether the word is a personal name or a title derived from "my messenger" in Malachi 3:1. The Septuagint (the ancient Greek translation of the Old Testament) is known to have rendered 1:1 not as a proper name but as "by the hand of his messenger."

One strand of Jewish tradition identifies Malachi with Ezra. This view is preserved in parts of the Targum (the Aramaic translation) and in rabbinic literature, alongside another view identifying him with Mordecai. Such identifications are later interpretations rather than statements of the biblical text.

In the Korean Church

In the Korean church, Malachi is referred to more often for the contents of his book than for the man himself. In particular, Malachi 3:8-10 is widely used in sermons on the tithe, and how this passage should be applied to the church today is a major point of contention in the tithing debate.

The period from Malachi to the New Testament era is also commonly called the "400 years of silence" and serves as a starting point for explaining the intertestamental period.