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Malachi 4:4−6 (Heb 3:22−24) As a Point of Convergence in the Old Testament Or Hebrew Bible: a Consideration of the Intra and Intertextual Relationships

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Page 1 of 6 Original Research Malachi 4:4−6 (Heb 3:22−24) as a point of convergence in the Old Testament or Hebrew Bible: A consideration of the intra and intertextual relationships Author: Malachi 4:4−6 (Heb 3:22−24) occupies a special place in the canon of Scriptures. In Malachi 1 S.D. (Fanie) Snyman 4:4−6 (Heb 3:22−24) not only the book of Malachi comes to a close but the whole of the Prophets Affiliation: (Nebi’im), and the second part of the Hebrew Bible. In the Christian Bible the book of Malachi 1Department Old Testament, is the last book in the Old Testament, which is concluded with this passage, before one turns University of the Free State, to the New Testament. In this article it was argued the these three verses serve not only as the South Africa conclusion to the book of Malachi but also as a fitting close to the second part of the Hebrew Note: Bible. It also serves as a link to both the Pentateuch as the first part, and the Psalms as the This article is an expanded third part, of the Hebrew canon of Scriptures. In this sense Malachi 4:4−6 (Heb 3:22−24) can be version of a paper read at the viewed as a point of convergence in the Old Testament or Hebrew Bible. Pro-Pent congress, University of Pretoria, 27−29 August 2010, South Africa. Introduction Correspondence to: Malachi 4:4−6 (Heb 3:22−24) occupies a special place in the canon of Scriptures. In Malachi Fanie Snyman 4:4−6 (Heb 3:22−24) not only the book of Malachi comes to a close but the whole of the Prophets Email: (Nebi’im), and the second part of the Hebrew Bible. In the Christian Bible the book of Malachi is [email protected] the last book in the Old Testament, which is concluded with this passage, before one turns to the New Testament. This section is the last part of the book of Malachi, and also the Prophets in the Postal address: PO Box 339, Bloemfontein Hebrew Bible, and, as such, it raises several questions. Should Malachi 4:4−6 (Heb 3:22−24) be 9300, South Africa considered as only the closing verses of the book of Malachi or the Book of the Twelve, or indeed the Prophets as a whole? Some scholars regard the conclusion of this book as part of the original Dates: book, and that it is only intended to conclude Malachi (Baldwin 1978:251; Glazier-McDonald Received: 16 Nov. 2011 Accepted: 26 Feb. 2012 1987:243−245; Verhoef 1987:337−338; Floyd 2000:568−569; Stuart 1998:1391). Others regard the Published: 30 May 2012 closing verses of the book of Malachi as a conclusion to a corpus comprising of Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi (House 1990:96−97; Boda 2007:113−131), or the book of the Twelve (Petersen 1995:233; How to cite this article: Smith 1984:341−342; Hill 1998:364), or to the Prophets (Rudolph 1976:291; Deissler 1988:337) or Snyman, S.D., 2012, ‘Malachi 4:4−6 (Heb 3:22−24) as a to the Law and the Prophets (Redditt 1995:185). In this article it is argued that these three verses point of convergence in the serve not only as the conclusion to the book of Malachi but also as a fitting end to the Prophets. Old Testament or Hebrew This last unit of the book of Malachi also serves as a link to both the Pentateuch, as the first part, Bible: A consideration of and the Psalms, as the beginning of the third part of the Hebrew canon of Scriptures. the intra and intertextual relationships’, HTS Teologiese Studies/Theological Studies 68(1), Art. #1195, 6 pages. Problem statement and methodological remarks http://dx.doi.org/10.4102/ The problem investigated has been suggested in the previous paragraph. What is the place and hts.v68i1.1195 function of the last unit found in the book of Malachi, and what place does it take within the canon of the Hebrew Bible or Old Testament (HB or OT)? Building on the results of critical investigation, an inter-textual investigation of the text in question will be conducted, within the context of the rest of the Old Testament or Hebrew Bible. Historical critical investigation shows that there is good reason to view these three verses in question as a later addition, or even additions, to the rest of the book of Malachi. Intertextuality can and has been described in many ways but in essence in can be described as a literary approach focusing on the relationships between texts. Kristeva is the scholar who used the term intertextuality for the first time when she asserts that ‘any text is the absorption and transformation of another’ (Kristeva 1980:66). Intertextuality views a text as an intersection of fragments, and as allusions or echoes of other texts. Intertextuality focuses on relations between the text from which the quotation, allusion or echo is drawn and the new setting in which the pre-text is received (Waaijman 2010). Intertextuality opens up the dynamics between a so called ‘arche’ text and a ‘phenol’ text and places it within a larger framework of © 2012. The Authors. reading and interpreting texts (Naude 2009:14). Applied to Old Testament texts intertextuality Licensee: AOSIS has become an umbrella term sharing the following common assumptions: textual creation (texts OpenJournals. This work are a ‘mosaic’ of quotations of other texts); textual meaning (meaning comes from a ‘dialogue’ is licensed under the Creative Commons between texts) and textual hermeneutics (a reader’s role in the production of meaning) (Stead Attribution License. 2009:19−20). This article argues that the last three verses of the Book of Malachi serve as a point http://www.hts.org.za doi:10.4102/hts.v68i1.1195 Page 2 of 6 Original Research of convergence in the Hebrew canon of Scriptures, when that matter, to the rest of the book (Rudolph 1975:290; Smith viewed from an intertextual perspective. 1984:340; Wörhle 2008:251−253; Schwesig 2006:269−270; Beck 2005:298). There are obvious reasons for this observation: A translation of Malachi 4:4−6 (Heb • Firstly, it seems odd that the characteristic question- 3:22−24) answer style of dispute found in the rest of the book does not occur in the last three verses of the book. 22 Remember the Torah of Moses, my servant, that I commanded • Secondly, the phrase so often used in the book (‘says the him at Horeb for all Israel – statues and ordinances. Lord Almighty’ ko amar yhwh) to mark divine speech is 23 Look out! I shall send you Elijah the prophet, before the great and fearful day of Yahweh comes. lacking in the last unit. There are also other linguistic differences between Malachi 4:4−6 (Heb 3:22−24) and 24 He will turn the hearts of the fathers to the sons and the the rest of the book. In Malachi 4:5 (Heb 3:23) one reads hearts of the sons to the fathers so that I will not come and ‘hinne’ (look out!) whilst in Malachi 3:1 one reads ‘hinneni’ strike the land with a ban. (Heb 3:22−24) (look out!). In Malachi 4:5 (Heb 3:23) ‘anoki’ (I) is used to indicate the first person singular whilst in the rest of Historical critical considerations the book ’ani’ (I) is used. It is also peculiar that the term Text critical considerations ‘Day of Yahweh’, used in Malachi 4:5 (Heb3:23), never occurs in the rest of the book. In the rest of the book one In Malachi 4:4 (Heb 3:22) the reader is confronted with a text reads about ‘the day’ (Ml 3:2) or ‘on the day that I make’ critical problem. In some manuscripts of the Septuagint (LXX) (Ml 3:17, 4; 3 [Heb 3:21]) or ‘the day comes’ or ‘the day Malachi 4:4 (Heb 3:22) is transposed to follow after Malachi that comes’ (Ml 4:1 [Heb 3:19]). 4:5−6 (Heb 3:23−24). This means that the last pericope of the • Thirdly, antithesis is a major literary feature in each unit book starts by mentioning the prophet Elijah and concludes of the book except in this last one. with the reference to the Torah of Moses. The motivation for • Fourthly, this last unit displays a use of language and this change is said to soften the harsh way in which the Old style that is not found in the rest of the book. Scholars Testament will come to an end, predicting a ban on the land (Petersen 1995:227−228; Reventlow 1993:160; Deissler with a more positive one of an admonition to adhere to the 1988:337; Horst 1964:275; Schwesig 2006:271; Willi-Plein Torah of Moses. Scholarly opinion is divided on whether or 2007:282) make mention of the decidedly Deuteronomistic not to accept the rendering of the Septuagint or to retain the language (‘Horeb’, ‘all Israel’, Moses as Yahweh’s servant, text as it is. There is much to be said for the sequence of verses the phrase ‘ordinances and statues’) characteristic of this according to the Septuagint. The mentioning of a coming Day unit. The reference to the Torah of Moses, the designation of the Lord in Malachi 4:5 (Heb 3:23) neatly fits in with the of Moses as ‘my servant’, the reference to Horeb, and theme of the Day of the Lord in the previous unit.
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