“By the hand of Malachi … whose name is called Ezra the scribe”
by
Damien F. Mackey
Here I consider the view expressed in a gloss to
Malachi (1:1),
in the Targum of Jonathan ben Uzziel,
that the prophet Malachi was Ezra the scribe.
Introduction
That
Jewish tradition variously identifies the prophet Malachi as Mordecai, or Ezra,
is apparent from the following piece in the Jewish Encyclopedia article,
“Malachi, Book of” (http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/10321-malachi-book-of):
—In
Rabbinical Literature:
Malachi
is identified with Mordecai by R. Naḥman and with Ezra by Joshua b. Ḳarḥa (Meg.
15a). Jerome, in his preface to the commentary on Malachi, mentions that in his
day the belief was current that Malachi was identical with Ezra (“Malachi
Hebræi Esdram Existimant”). The Targum of Jonathan ben Uzziel to the words “By
the hand of Malachi” (i. 1) gives the gloss “Whose name is called Ezra the
scribe.” According to Soṭah 48b, when Malachi died the Holy Spirit departed
from Israel.
The
article continues:
According
to R. H. 19b, he was one of the three prophets concerning whom there are certain
traditions with regard to the fixing of the Jewish almanac. A tradition
preserved in pseudo-Epiphanius (“De Vitis Proph.”) relates that Malachi was of
the tribe of Zebulun, and was born after the Captivity. According to the same
apocryphal story he died young, and was buried in his own country with his
fathers.
Was Malachi, Mordecai, or was he
Ezra?
Though
either person appears to have been considered a candidate for Malachi, I would
definitely favour the priestly Ezra over the Benjaminite Mordecai, given
Malachi’s priestly proclivities (e.g., his desire for a sincere priesthood and
right Temple worship), and his lateness: “The Book of Malachi is the last in
the canon of the Old Testament Prophets” (Jewish Encyclopedia, “Malachi,
Book of”).
Mordecai
belonged to the early Persian period, and Ezra, to the later Persian period.
It is
commonly thought that Malachi (Heb: מַלְאָכִי) was not actually
the prophet’s (or writer’s) name. Thus we read again in Jewish Encyclopedia
(“Malachi, Book of”):
—Critical
View:
The name
is not a “nomen proprium”; it is generally assumed to be an abbreviation of
(=”messenger of Yhwh”), which conforms to the Μαλαχίας of the Septuagint and
the “Malachias” of the Vulgate. The Septuagint superscription is ὲν χειρὶ ἀγγήλου
αὐτοῦ, for . Wellhausen, Kuenen, and Nowack consider ch. i. 1 a late addition,
pointing to Zech. ix. 1, xii. 1. Cornill states that Zech. ix.-xiv. and Malachi
are anonymous, and were, therefore, placed at the end of the prophetical books.
Mal. iii. 1 shows almost conclusively that the term was misunderstood, and that
the proper name originated in a misconception of the word.
Times of the Prophet Malachi
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“The Book of Malachi fits the situation amid which
Nehemiah worked
as snugly as a bone fits its socket”.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[BC dates
used below are conventional – not necessarily the ones that I would accept]
Now, the
prophet Malachi is considered to have been largely a contemporary of
Ezra-Nehemiah: “On internal evidence the book, a collection of prophetic
oracles, is usually dated c. 460 B.C. [conventional dating], shortly before the
reforms of Nehemiah and Ezra” (http://www.reference.com/browse/malachi).
Let us
look further into this.
We read
about the likely true era of Malachi in the International Standard Bible
Encyclopedia [ISBE] article, “Malachi”, at: http://biblehub.com/topical/m/malachi.htm
….
2. The Prophet’s Times:
Opinions
vary as to the prophet’s exact date, but nearly all scholars are agreed that
Malachi prophesied during the Persian period, and after the reconstruction and
dedication of the second temple in 516 B.C. (compare Malachi 1:10; Malachi 3:1,
10). The prophet speaks of the people’s “governor” (Hebrew pechah, Malachi
1:8), as do Haggai and Nehemiah (Haggai 1:1 Nehemiah 5:14; Nehemiah 12:26). The
social conditions portrayed are unquestionably those also of the period of the
Restoration. More specifically, Malachi probably lived and labored during the
times of Ezra and Nehemiah. Serious abuses had crept into Jewish life; the
priests had become lax and degenerate, defective and inferior sacrifices were
allowed to be offered upon the temple altar, the people were neglecting their
tithes, divorce was common and God’s covenant was forgotten and ignored; just
such abuses as we know from the Book of Ne[hemiah] were common in his day
(compare Nehemiah 3:5; Nehemiah 5:1-13). Yet, it is doubtful whether Malachi
preached during Nehemiah’s active governorship; for in Malachi 1:8 it is
implied that gifts might be offered to the “governor”, whereas Nehemiah tells
us that he declined all such (Nehemiah 5:15, 18).
The Pulpit
Commentary, though, takes a somewhat different view of this gubernatorial
situation (http://biblehub.com/malachi/1-8.htm):
Offer it
now unto thy governor. The word for “governor” is pechah, as in Haggai 1:1 (where see note).
It denotes a ruler set over a province by a Persian king. As Nehemiah had
refused to be burdensome to the people (Nehemiah 5:14-18), it is thought that
Malachi must have written this when some other person was acting as governor.
But Nehemiah’s generosity was exhibited in his earlier administration, and he
may have thought it right to take the dues under a more prosperous state of
affairs. The prophet may be putting the ease generally – Would you dare offer
such things to your governor? At any rate, the question is not about provisions
and dues supplied to the governor and liable to be exacted by him in his
official capacity, but about voluntary offerings and presents, without which no
inferior would presume to appear before his prince (see Introduction, § II.).
To offer to such a one what was mean and defective would be nothing less than
an insult; and yet they thought this was good enough for God.
Fr. C.
Stuhlmueller (C.P.), writing on “Malachi” for The Jerome Biblical
Commentary, regards him similarly (to rabbinical literature) as Ezra-like
(23:54): “This unknown Prophet shows himself to be a patriotic Jew unable to
tolerate mixed marriages lest the land become “unclean” from the “abominable”
and sensuous types of worship common among the pagans (Ezr 9:11)”.
And again
(23:56):
The
religious abuses that Malachi excoriated are exactly the same crimes that
Nehemiah and Ezra combatted and successfully stamped out ….
Jewish
men were divorcing “the wives of their youth” (Mal 2:14) and marrying pretty
girls of foreign extraction (Ezr 9-10). The wealthy were cheating the poor (Mal
3:5), even seeling them into slavery (Neh 5), and the scandalous cry was heard
that irreligious people got along better than devout people (Mal 3:14-15). The
leaders, and especially the priests, bore the greatest responsibility for the
general collapse of sincere fervor (Mal 2:1-3, 8-9; Ezr 10:15-16, 18-24; Neh
13:4-13, 22, 28-31). Temple worship could not even claim to be correct
externally; it was as sick as the animals offered in sacrifice (Mal 1:7-8, 13;
Neh 13:15-22).
Returning
to the ISBE article, we find that ‘snug fit’ for Malachi at the time of
Nehemiah:
On the
other hand, the abuses which Malachi attacked correspond so exactly with those
which Nehemiah found on his 2nd visit to Jerusalem in 432 B.C. (Nehemiah 13:7)
that it seems reasonably certain that he prophesied shortly before that date,
i.e. between 445 and 432 B.C. As Dr. J.M.P. Smith says, “The Book of Malachi
fits the situation amid which Nehemiah worked as snugly as a bone fits its
socket” (ICC, 7). That the prophet should exhort the people to remember the law
of Moses, which was publicly read by Ezra in the year 444 B.C., is in perfect
agreement with this conclusion, despite the fact that Stade, Cornill and
Kautzsch argue for a date prior to the time of Ezra. On the other hand,
Nagelsbach, Kohler, Orelli, Reuss and Volck rightly place the book in the
period between the two visits of Nehemiah (445-432 B.C.).
In Conclusion
As far as
I can tell, there appears to be no major obstacle towards accepting the view of
the Targum of Jonathan ben Uzziel that “Malachi”, so-called, is to be
identified with the priest, Ezra (whom I have further identified with – the
Malachi-like – Nehemiah the governor):
Ezra the Scribe Identified as Nehemiah the Governor
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