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Chapter VIII

The Lord and the Apostle of the Covenant

The last book of the Canonical Jewish Code of

the Bible bears the name of “Malachai,” which looks
to be more a surname than a proper noun. The correct
pronunciation of the name is Malakhi, which means “my
angel” or “my messenger.” The Hebrew word, “Mal’àkh,”
like the Arabic “malak”, like the Greek term “anghelos”
from which the English name “angel” is derived, signifies
“a messenger,” one commissioned with a message or
news to deliver to somebody.

Who this Malakhi is, in what period of the Jewish
history he lived and prophesied is not known either
from the book itself or from any other portion of the Old
Testament. It begins with the words: “The ‘missa’ of the
Word of Yahweh the El of Israel by the hand of Malakhi,”
which may be translated: “The discourse of the Word
of Yahweh, God of Israel, by the hand of Malakhi.” It
contains four short chapters.

The oracle is addressed, not to a king and his courtiers,
but to a people already settled in Jerusalem with the Temple
and its services. The sacrifices and oblations are of the
meanest and worst kind; the sheep and cattle offered at the
altars are not of the best quality; they are blind, lame, and
lean animals. The tithes are not regularly paid, and if at all
paid are of the inferior material. The priests, too, naturally,
cannot devote their time and energy to perform their sacred
duty. For they cannot chew the beefsteaks and roasted
mutton chops of the lean old, crippled sacrifices. They
cannot live on the scanty tithes or insufficient stipends.
Yahweh, as usual with this incorrigible people, now
threatens, now holds out promises, and at times complain.