Malakhi

Malakhi, also known as Malachi, is the last book of the Twelve Minor Prophets in the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Old Testament. The title, meaning “My Messenger” in Hebrew, is the opening word of the text and may function more as a prophetic epithet than as a personal name. The authorship is anonymous, and most scholars date the book to the Persian period, roughly the mid-5th century BCE, though the exact date is uncertain. It is traditionally attributed to a prophet named Malachi, but the biblical text itself does not confirm that attribution.

Malakhi contains a sequence of oracles addressing the religious and social reforms of the post-exilic community, including critiques of priestly laxity and improper sacrifices, calls to faithfulness in intermarriage with non-Israelites, and exhortations to justice and proper tithes. The book emphasizes covenant faithfulness, reverence for God, and obedience to the law of Moses. A central eschatological motif is the coming day of the Lord, followed by the promise that Elijah the prophet will return to prepare the people for it. In Christian interpretation, this Elijah figure is linked to John the Baptist as a forerunner to the Messiah. The book closes with exhortations to remember the law and with assertions of judgment and salvation.

Canonical status and influence: within the Hebrew Bible it is part of the Prophets (the Twelve) and serves as a bridge between post-exilic reforms and later Jewish and Christian expectations of messianism. In Christian tradition, it is the final book of the Old Testament, and its Elijah prophecy is cited in the New Testament as foreshadowing the coming of the Messiah. The text is preserved in the Masoretic tradition and translated into the Septuagint and other versions, continuing to inform discussions of ritual integrity, prophetic authority, and eschatology.