Malachi, << MAL uh ky, >> Book of, is a book in the Hebrew Bible or Old Testament. It was written by an anonymous prophet probably about 475 B.C. Malachi means my messenger and is probably not the writer’s name, but a title taken from the book itself.
A central theme of the book is the corruption of the priesthood. This corruption, the book says, caused many people of Judah to question God’s justice and to lose their faith. The prophet is also very concerned about intermarriage and predicts the coming of a “messenger” before God’s final judgment. This messenger is identified with the prophet Elijah in the last verses. Later writers speculated that Elijah is to return from heaven to announce the Messiah and reunite Israel. This interpretation impressed both Jewish and Christian belief about the expected arrival of the Messiah.
