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Malachi 3:1
"Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me! The Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to his temple. Behold, the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, is coming!" says Yahweh of Armies.
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Interpretation

The prophet calls a messenger that is embodied in solitude and community. Malachi 3:1: trace "behold" and "messenger". Align messenger in what we refuse to say—bind joy to obedience.

Context

In Malachi (Prophetic Oracle), highlighting messenger. Within ch. 3, a small unit frames the emphasis. It edges toward prophetic hope & judgment. Watch the terms “behold” and “messenger”.

Authorship & Historical Background

Early attribution points to Malachi for Malachi. Malachi is frequently described this way: Post‑exilic prophetic disputations.. Scholars commonly date Malachi 5th century BC.. Prophetic Hope & Judgment is especially relevant in this line.

More details
Traditional:Malachi
Modern scholarship:Post‑exilic prophetic disputations.
Date:5th century BC.
Manuscripts & Textual Witnesses
The Hebrew text is preserved in the Masoretic tradition, stabilized between the 6th-10th centuries CE. The the Dead Sea Scrolls (found 1947-1956) provide manuscripts 1000+ years older than medieval texts, generally confirming the Masoretic Text's reliability with only minor variations. The Septuagint (Greek translation, 3rd-2nd century BCE) offers an independent textual witness. Variations between manuscripts are typically minor: spelling differences, word order, or clarifications that do not affect the core meaning. Modern translations compare all available manuscripts to reconstruct the probably reflects the initial text text.
Sources & witness notes
MT