Interpretation of the book of the prophet Malachi

About the book of the prophet Malachi. Introduction. Book writer. Who was the writer of the book known as the book of Malachi? The book's researchers answer this question differently. Some believed that the name Malachi was not the writer’s own name, but a common noun. The basis for this was given by the very meaning of the word Malachi: “messenger” or “messenger of Jehovah.” There were many such messengers of Jehovah. Which one of them is speaking here? Some interpreters thought that this refers to the Angel of God, who appeared in the form of an accusatory prophet and whose speeches were soon recorded by someone. Others saw here the designation of one of the outstanding Jewish figures after the Babylonian captivity - Ezra, Jesus the High Priest, etc. Even 70 interpreters obviously took this name as a common noun: they put in the 1st verse of the book instead of the expression “Malachi” the expression “His Angel”. But all such assumptions cannot be considered valid. Firstly, the tradition of the Jewish Church is rather on the side of the opinion that Malachi was the proper name of the last prophet-writer. Thus, the Talmud expresses such a thought, and calls the prophet Malachi a member of the great synagogue. Blazh. Jerome also testifies that the translations of Aquila, Theodotion and Symmachus included the proper name of the prophet Malachi. Finally, the interpreters of the Orthodox Church - ancient and modern - recognize that the book of Malachi was actually written by a prophet who bore such a name as a proper name, and the Orthodox Church celebrates the memory of this prophet on January 3rd. In the same way, most modern foreign interpreters recognize the name Malachi as the proper name of the writer of the book of Malachi. And it would be strange, indeed, if among the prophetic books only one book was decorated with such a vague designation of the person who wrote it: “Jehovah’s messenger.” As for the alleged persons who allegedly hid themselves under the name of “God’s messenger” - Ezra, Jesus the High Priest, etc., everything that is known from history about these persons does not provide absolutely any grounds for recognizing any of them as the writer of the book of Malachi (see. More details about this in Mr. Tikhomirov’s dissertation, chap. I). As for the personality and position of the prophet among the Jewish people, nothing definite can be said about this. There are only legends that more or less depend on the same legend, contained in an essay bearing the title: “On the Life and Death of the Prophets.” This work, in all likelihood, was composed in Hebrew. From here, of course, Epiphanius of Cyprus drew his information about Malachi, and from him our compiler of the lives of the saints, St. Dimitry Rostovsky. According to these legends, Malachi was born in Sopha, from the tribe of Zebulun. He received his name “Angel” from the people for his extraordinary beauty and angelic purity, and also because he talked with the Angel many times. Malachi died at a young age. Some interpreters believe that Malachi came from a priestly family, since he is very interested in the contemporary position of the priesthood and worship. But this assumption does not have sufficient grounds for itself, since, for example, every good Israeli could be interested in the position of the priesthood and worship. The life of the prophet Malachi. Most interpreters agree that the prophet Malachi lived after the Babylonian captivity and some time after the prophets Haggai and Zechariah. The church had already been built, sacrifices were in full swing, although the initial zeal for this work of piety had already cooled quite a bit (Mal. 1:6-14, 2:1-8, 3:1, 10). The moral shortcomings of the Jewish people are now no longer those that were the subject of the denunciations of Haggai and Zechariah, but rather are approaching those that existed in the days of Ezra and Nehemiah. Most of all, these shortcomings are similar to those exposed in Chapter XIII. books of Nehemiah. Thus, Malachi (Malachi 2.11) condemns the custom of marrying pagans (cf. Neh. 13:23–25), reproaches the Jews for stinginess in offering sacrifices (Mal. 1:7–9) and tithes (Mal. 3:10), as Nehemiah partly does (Neh. 13:10–12). In the days of Ezra, when the government itself was involved in the maintenance of the church (1 Ezra 6:8-10, 7G20), there was hardly room for such complaints about the paucity of the offerings as are contained in the speeches of Malachi. In the same way, it cannot be allowed that during Nehemiah’s stay in Jerusalem the cases reported by Malachi (Malachi 1.8) were possible. In all likelihood, Nehemiah was absent when Malachi spoke. Nehemiah himself reports about his removal from Jerusalem, which took place in the 12th year of Nehemiah’s ministry as ruler, i.e. in 433 (Nehemiah 13.6). He also talks about the unrest that established itself in his absence among the Jews who returned from captivity, and which he eliminated upon his return to Jerusalem. In view of this, it is hardly possible to admit that Malachi could have found the same disturbances soon after Nehemiah's return to Jerusalem and at that time would have spoken his denunciations. It is most likely that these denunciations were made precisely during Nehemiah’s absence from Jerusalem. Hence, there is no doubt that the activity of the prophet Malachi falls on the era of Ezra and Nehemiah, that is, in the 5th century BC. Contents of the book. The general idea of ​​the speeches of the prophet Malachi is a protest against negligence in the matter of worship and, in general, against the violation of theocratic customs among the people of Israel. In particular, Malachi strongly condemns the priests and those Israelis who frivolously dissolved their marriages with their legal spouses for their lack of fear of God. But with his accusatory sermon, the prophet Malachi wants not only to promote the restoration of morality among the people and the customs of a true theocracy: his main goal was to prepare the people for the coming of the Lord. Many impatient Jews have already begun to doubt whether the Messiah promised by previous prophets will come as the Judge of sinners and the Benefactor of the righteous. The prophet Malachi proclaims that the Lord will come soon, that He will act as a Judge for all people in general and, therefore, including for the Jews. But both the priests and ordinary Jews would not have been able to withstand the fiery test that the Lord would subject everyone to at His coming if, out of His condescension towards the chosen people, He had not sent them a new Elijah, who should turn Israel to the path of salvation. This content of the book in the Hebrew Bible is placed in three chapters, which division is followed by the Protestant editions of the Bible. In the LXX translation, Vulgate, Slavic and Russian, the book of Malachi is divided into four chapters, so that the third chapter of the Hebrew Bible is divided into two: the first verse of the fourth chapter we have the 19th verse of the third chapter in the Hebrew Bible. Characteristics of the Book of Malachi. The book of the prophet Malachi, from the outside, has the peculiarity that instead of the ancient poetic-rhetorical way of presenting thoughts, a predominantly dialectical presentation appears in it. The prophet, as a rule, presupposes a general position, and then puts forward an opposite thought, which gives him a reason to thoroughly explain and justify the position he himself has put forward (see Mal. 1: 2–6, 3: 8–13). This gives a special liveliness to the prophet’s speech and is perhaps explained by the fact that in the post-exilic period, the so-called “co-questioning” soon appeared in Judaism. Malachi writes in prose - only occasionally there are verses. His language is almost completely pure, sometimes only slightly colored by Aramaicisms. The latter can be explained by the fact that the Jews after the captivity submitted, in terms of language, to the influence of the Palestinian (Western) Arameans, who lived in the vicinity of the rather small Jerusalem colony. Moreover, this Western Aramaic language was the official language of the western half of the Persian kingdom (p. 111). As for the worldview of the prophet Malachi, as reflected in his book, he, like the other two post-exilic prophets, Haggai and Zechariah, attaches paramount importance in the life of the chosen people to the newly built Jerusalem temple. The entire well-being of the people is based, in their conviction, on respect for the church and the reverent performance of Divine services in it. Accordingly, he makes the most stringent demands on the Jewish priesthood. But, on the other hand, Malachi looks at the pagans completely differently than both other post-captivity prophets. He hates only the Edomites, these inveterate enemies of the Jewish people, and foreshadows the other pagan peoples' acceptance into the Kingdom of God (Mal. 1.11), while Haggai and Zechariah depicted the day of the Lord as the destruction of all pagan power (Hag. 2:5–9; Zech. 1:15). Malachi speaks only of this judgment, that it will affect the people of Judah (Malachi 3:13–18). Also noteworthy is the sympathy that Malachi feels for all the weak and offended, especially for rejected wives. He is an ardent enemy of divorce (Mal 2:16). Finally, Malachi foreshadows that God will come suddenly to His church and here will carry out His judgment on the Jews, and He will be preceded by a Forerunner or Angel (Mal 3:1). Canonical dignity of the book of Malachi. The book of Malachi was undoubtedly included in the canon of sacred books when this canon received its completion, that is, at the end of Nehemiah's activity. We are convinced of this, for example, by the fact that by the 3rd century BC there already existed a collection of 12 prophets (see Sir 49.12). Sirach obviously quotes the book of Malachi when he speaks about the prophet Elijah (Sir 48cf. Mal 4:6). In the New Testament, the book of the prophet is cited repeatedly as a prophetic and inspired book, known to everyone and recognized as canonical (Matthew 11.10; Mark 1.2; Luke 1.17; Rom 9.13). Commentaries on the book of Malachi. From the patristic interpretations of the book of the prophet Malachi, the interpretations of Ephraim the Syrian, Jerome, Cyril of Alexandria, Theodoret (all translated into Russian) are known. Russian interpretations belong to Bishop. Palladiy, Smirnov I.K. (Bishop John), Gretsov A. (The Book of the Prophet Malachi. Experience of critical-exegetical follow-up. M. 1889) and Professor P. Tikhomirov (Prophet Malachi. Study. Holy Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius, 1903, p. 596). – Interpretations in foreign languages ​​are indicated in the book by prof. Tikhomirov. To the books indicated there, one must also add Moor’s book (about the prophet Malachi, 1903, in Latin) and the third, newly processed, edition of Orelli’s interpretation: “The Minor Prophets”, 1908, on it. language (introductory information in the book was recently given by Prof. P. Yungerov, “Private historical-critical introduction to the sacred books of V. Z.”, issue 2, 1907). 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