The name is clearly not a birth-name, but a Biblical equivalent of Stormzy or Banksy, the names taken by rappers and graffiti-artists in our epoch - indeed I am tempted to transliterate his name as Malachy, with a "y" (and a "why not?"). "My messenger” is the correct translation, though really Christian translations ought to render him as "my angel", given that every other appearance of Mal'ach in the Scriptures is incorrectly translated as that.
But "a messenger" it is - though not from the root HALACH which means "to go", and also yields the god MOLOCH, and the title of the king, "HA MELECH", and the "path", the "way" of Judaism, which is HALACHAH; this comes from LA'ACH (לאך), which means "to send", "to depute"; though the overlap of meanings - and you really do need to see all of those combined to understand the fullness of the concept, which only includes "angels" in the sense that astrologers mean when they pretend to read the "messages" communicated by the movements of the stars and planets - the overlap of meanings does hint that LA'ACH may have been the Aramaic form of HALACH, and therefore they are the same word.
But "a messenger" it is - though not from the root HALACH which means "to go", and also yields the god MOLOCH, and the title of the king, "HA MELECH", and the "path", the "way" of Judaism, which is HALACHAH; this comes from LA'ACH (לאך), which means "to send", "to depute"; though the overlap of meanings - and you really do need to see all of those combined to understand the fullness of the concept, which only includes "angels" in the sense that astrologers mean when they pretend to read the "messages" communicated by the movements of the stars and planets - the overlap of meanings does hint that LA'ACH may have been the Aramaic form of HALACH, and therefore they are the same word.
Mal'achi is the twelfth and last of the "official" Prophets of the Biblical canon, the ninth and last ofthe "minor prophets".
His book comes in three chapters in the Christian versions, but one continuous scroll in the Yehudit. Structurally, however, it should be read as though it had six distinct sections, each one presented as a question-and-answer diatribe-and-repost, in which the Prophet plays the role of the deity, as well as that of the Kohanim (actually, not quite as well; he definitely does the deity better!), theatricalising both sides, haranguing them back and forth.
His book comes in three chapters in the Christian versions, but one continuous scroll in the Yehudit. Structurally, however, it should be read as though it had six distinct sections, each one presented as a question-and-answer diatribe-and-repost, in which the Prophet plays the role of the deity, as well as that of the Kohanim (actually, not quite as well; he definitely does the deity better!), theatricalising both sides, haranguing them back and forth.
The principal themes of these displays of rhetorical brilliance are:
* the justice of the gods, especially given the eschatological (end of the world) prophecies of Mal'achi's predecessors - how can it be just to end the world that way, and how can it be just to say you are going to do so, and then not do so?
* The faithfulness of YHVH's people to his Covenant. Mal'achi insists on the correct forms of religious observance, condemns divorce (a huge irony in the face of both Ezra and Nechem-Yah's driving out of foreign wives), and announces that the Day of Judgment is imminent (probably the main reason why he is counted as a minor prophet, indeed a very minor prophet: getting your main message wrong is not a strong indicator of divine supervision in your post). Faithfulness, he promises, will be rewarded¹, while unfaithfulness will bring a curse - alas, not much evidence of the former in human history, Jewish or otherwise, in the two and a half thousand years since.
¹ The reward is stated in chapter 3, the "message" that YHVH will send a messenger to enable people to prepare for, and himself to announce, the imminence of the Day of Judgment - this is not Mal'achi himself, but neither is it Jesus or even John the Baptist, though Christians have long chosen to read it as such. In fact, at the very end of the scroll, it is clarified that it will be Eli-Yahu (Elijah), who lived in the 9th century BCE.
* The unfaithfulness of YHVH's people to his Covenant, which he describes in terms of spiritual degeneration, religious perversion, social injustice, and the general norms of human behaviour. He especially condemns the Kohanim for failing to instruct the people on their responsibilities to the Covenant, though the evidence of the latter pages of Nechem-Yah suggests that they were no better themselves.
* Idolatry - which in the world of Jewish Prophets usually means the Rites of Asherah, the Biblical equivalents of the disco, the night club and the rave - but in this case also extends to the idolisation of whatever the equivalent of film, pop and sports stars would have been, and other "strange gods". Casinos too, no doubt, if they had them.
* Infidelity, which is the human-to-human form of unfaithfulness, men especially under attack for deliberately forgetting their marriage vows when their wives become older.
Dating Mal'achi is relatively straightforward. He speaks of a world in which the Second Temple has been constructed, which took place around 516 BCE, but not yet formally dedicated, and without the restructuring of the religious community that we witness in the key chapters of both Ezra and Nechem-Yah - so early to mid 5th century, but not later than 430 BCE, which is the probable date for the end of Nehemiah.
The overlap of themes suggests that he could well have been in the time of Nechem-Yah; or at the very least, if he was earlier, then Nechem-Yah must have known him, or about him, because the complaints that he makes on his return to Yeru-Shala'im echo Mal'achi precisely.
It is also significant that Mal'achi delivers his - what shall we call it? In truth the three chapters that comprise this book are little more than a shobbas morning derasha, barely even a sermon - his "oracle" in Yehudit, which we know from Ezra and Nechem-Yah that very few of the people would have been able to understand: try delivering a Christian sermon in Latin and see how many of your congregants fall asleep! But ideologically it had to be delivered in Yehudit, and we ought to be able to insist that the Kohanim, who were the recipients of this onslaught, were themselves fluent in the language... we ought to be able to, but alas, based on Mal'achi and Nechem-Yah, we can't.
The tone is pure Yesha-Yahu (Isaiah): I am YHVH the splendiferous and magnificent and like no other. Lots of Hineni, which is characteristic of Yesha-Yahu. Always YHVH Tseva'ot. Always the bullying tone - you will worship and obey me, or else. Lots of disparagement of the Goyim. Donald Trump in god-clothing!
The tone is pure Yesha-Yahu (Isaiah): I am YHVH the splendiferous and magnificent and like no other. Lots of Hineni, which is characteristic of Yesha-Yahu. Always YHVH Tseva'ot. Always the bullying tone - you will worship and obey me, or else. Lots of disparagement of the Goyim. Donald Trump in god-clothing!
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