THE “MESSENGERS” IN THE BOOK OF MALACHI

Abstract

The book of Malachi, which means, “My Messenger,” contains at least 4 “messengers” in different forms. One is recorded  in Malachi 1:1 which is possessive noun meaning “my messenger” (אְָלמיֽכ), the second is in construct state which means “messenger of the Lord of hosts,” recorded in 2:7 (/אלמ), the third in 3:1a is another possessive noun (יכ֔ אָלמ) and the last is recorded in 3:1c which is in construct state (/א֨ למוּ יר֜ בּהת) meaning “and the messenger of the covenant.”

In this paper,  the writer discusses  these four occurrences  of similar expression and yet different starting from the phrase my messenger as the author of the book, the messenger of the Lord of hosts, my messenger and the messenger of the covenant. Some have clear indications of who are these messengers, but who is my messenger in Mal 3:1? Is he the same with the “messenger of the covenant” and with the Lord whom they seek who will suddenly come to the temple? Is the Lord of hosts the same with the Adonai and the messenger of the covenant? This study is significant since the messengers in the book of Malachi are key to the issues being discussed in the book. Identifying them will contribute to understanding not only the issues but more importantly the key to solve the issues. This also will benefit the churches in understanding the book of Malachi and its relationship  to stewardship. The purpose of the study is to determine the identity of the messengers in the book of Malachi with its focus on the messengers in Mal 3:1.