Malachi
Malachi or Mal'achi "My messenger/angel", was a prophet in the Bible Old Testament and Jewish Tanakh.
He was the last of the minor prophets, and the writer of the Book of Malachi, the last book of the Old Testament canon (Mal. 4:4, 5, 6) Christian editions, and is the last book of the Neviim (prophets) section in the Jewish editions. No allusion is made to him by Ezra, however, and he does not mention the restoration of the temple, and hence it is inferred that he prophesied after Haggai and Zechariah (Mal. 1:10; 3:1, 10). It is probable that he delivered his prophecies about 420 BC, after the second return of Nehemiah from Persia (Neh. 13:6), or possibly before his return. Compare Mal. 2:8 with Neh. 13:15; Mal. 2:10-16 with Neh. 13:23).
Rabbinical Views
Malachi is identified with Mordecai by Rav Nachman and with Ezra by Joshua b. Karcha (Megillah 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 Sotah 48b, when Malachi died the Holy Spirit departed from Israel.
According to Rosh Hashanah 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.
Book of Malachi
The contents of the book are comprised in four chapters. In the Hebrew text the third and fourth chapters (of the A.V.) form but one. The whole consists of three sections, preceded by an introduction (Mal. 1:1-5), in which the prophet reminds Israel of Jehovah's love to them. The first section (1:6-2:9) contains a stern rebuke addressed to the priests who had despised the name of Jehovah, and been leaders in a departure from his worship and from the covenant, and for their partiality in administering the law. In the second (2:9-16) the people are rebuked for their intermarriages with idolatrous heathen. In the third (2:17-4:6) he addresses the people as a whole, and warns them of the coming of the God of judgment, preceded by the advent of the Messiah.
This book is frequently referred to in the New Testament (Matt. 11:10; 17:12; Mark 1:2; 9:11, 12; Luke 1:17; Rom. 9:13).
