Hag. i. 13.MALACHI1, the last of the twelve lesser Prophets, and so much unknown, as it is doubted whether his Name be a proper Name, or only a generical Name signifying the Angel of the Lord, a Messenger, a Prophet. For it appears by Haggai, and by the Prophet whom we cite by the Name of Mal. iii. 1.Malachi, that in these Times the Name of Malach-Jehovah, or the Messenger of the Lord, was often given to the Prophets. The Seventy have rendered the Hebrew Word Malachi by his Angel, instead of my Angel, as the Original Word expresses: And several of the Fathers2 have quoted Malachi under the Name of the Angel of the Lord. The Author of the second Book of Esdras and Tertullian join together the Names of Malachi, and the Angel of the Lord. Origen thought, that Malachi was an Angel incarnate, rather than a Prophet3; but this Opinion is insupportable. ‘Tis much more probable that Malachi was no other than Esdras, and this is the Opinion of the antient Hebrews, of the Chaldee Paraphrast, of Saint Jerome4, and of Abbot Rupert.
The Author of the Lives of the Prophets, under the Name of Epiphanius Dorotheus, and the Chronicon Alexandrinum, say that Malachi was of the Tribe of Zebulun, and a Native of Sapha; that the Name of Malachi was given him because of his Angelical Mildness, and because an Angel used to appear visibly to the People, after the Prophet had spoke to ‘em, to confirm what he had said. He died very young, as they say, and was buried near the Place of his Ancestors.
It appears certain that Malachi prophesied under Nehemiah, and after Haggai and Zechariah, at a Time when great Disorders reigned among the Priests and People of Judah, which are reproved by Malachi. He inveighs against the Priests, he reproaches the People with having taken strange Wives, he reproves them for their Inhumanity towards their Brethren, their too frequently divorcing their Wives, their Neglect of paying their Tythes and First-Fruits. He seems to allude to the Covenant that Nehemiah renewed with the Lord, assisted by the Priests and the Chief of the Nation. Malachi is the last of the Prophets of the Synagogue, and lived about four hundred Years before Jesus Christ. He prophesied of the coming of John the Baptist, and of the twofold coming of our Saviour Mal iii. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. Mal. i. 10, 11, 12, 13.in very express Terms. He speaks of the Sacrifice of the new Law, and of the Abolition of those of the old, in these Words: I have no Pleasure in you, saith the Lord of Hosts, neither will I accept an Offering at your Hand. For from the rising of the Sun, even unto the going down of the same, my Name shall be great among the Gentiles, and in every Place Incense shall be offered unto my Name, and a pure Offering: For my Name shall be great among the Heathen, saith the Lord of Hosts. The Jews maintain, that in the Time of Darius, Son of Hystaspes, there was held a general Assembly of the Heads of their Nation, to determine the Canon of their Scriptures: That Daniel, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi presided in this Council, and that Esdras was their Secretary. But it is very dubious whether there ever was such an Assembly, and certainly Daniel could not have lived to this Time. The Death of Malachi is put in the Roman Martyrology on the 14th of January.
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