interpretation 61 no 2 ap 2007, p 184-197

8/11/2019 Interpretation 61 No 2 AP 2007, p 184-197.

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Themes in Haggai-Zechariah-Malachi

PAUL REDDITT

Professorof OldTestament

Georgetown College

Asurvey of a number of themes common to the Book of the

Twelve shows that an intertextual approach to Haggai,

Zechariah, Malachi, and the whole Book of the Twelve offers

perspectives on issues in the texts not available to studies

that isolate the individual collections.

H aggai and Zech 1-8 predict the restitution ofJudahand Israel and thereestablishment ofthepre-exilic institutions of the temple in Jerusalem andthe monarchy in Judah. Zechariah 9-14 and Malachi explain the failure ofthereligio-political leaders in Judah during the Persian period. Their failure precluded the arrival

ofthenew day envisioned by prophets both inside and outside the Twelve. This article will

undertake a survey ofanumber ofthemescommon to the Twelve, showing that an intertex

tual approach to Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi, and the whole Book oftheTwelve offers per

spectives on issues in the texts not available to studies that isolate the individual collections.

OT scholars have long recognized that redactors played a role in the development of

the prophetic corpus. As late as the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, however, the

significance ofthat role was downplayed as scholars sought theipsissima verba("very

words") oftheprophets and ignored the "contradictor/' work of the editors. With the rise

of redaction criticism, however, that inclination changed, and the theology oftheredactors

themselves became of interest. Next, some modern scholars even wondered out loud if the

scribal redactors were not numbered among the prophets, too. Under the impetus of move

ments like canonical criticism, scholars began to value what the worshipping community

valued: the canonical shape ofthebooks.1

With regard to the Minor Prophets, a serious issue eventuallyaroseconcerning what con

stitutesa"book"among the Minor Prophets. The typical answer was "the sayings attributed

1

Cf. Brevard S. Childs,Introductionto the OldTestament as Scripture(Philadelphia: Fortress, 1979).


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APRIL 2007 Interpretation185

to the individualprophets likeHosea, Joel, andAmos."However,thetroubleisthat some

ancientwritersand rabbisconsideredtheentirecollection of the"Twelve"onebook.2In the

1990s,agroupofscholarsfollowingtheleadof James Nogalski3 in thiscountryandAaron

Schart4 inGermany begantoinquireintothepossibilityofreadingalltwelvecollections as

one"book,"a process thathasborneconsiderablefruit.The essaysgatheredin thisissue of

Interpretationaredesignedtolookat the fruitsof those efforts.5

Thisessaywillcontributetothateffortby examiningthefinalthreecollections6 in the

Twelve:Haggai,Zechariah,and Malachi (hereafter M).7Thefirsttaskwillbe toshowthe

redactionalmeansbywhichtheredactorscombined1) Haggai and Zech 18; 2) Malachi; and

3) Zech 914.Thenthepaperwillmoveon todiscussthethemesof those collections.

REDACTIONAL DEVICES WITHIN HAGGAI, ZECHARIAH, AND MALACHI

Sincemanyscholarsdo not accept theideathat redactorsknittogether theTwelveas a

singlebookto beread straightthrough,itmightbehelpfultoillustratehow redactors

workedon the lastpartofthatwork,namelyM.Recognition thatthepresent shapeof

Mis theresultofadeliberateprocesswithintentionalreferencestootherbooksof the

HBand amongthe collections comprisingMwillpreparethereaderfor thetreatmentof

themes connecting componentsofHM.

1.SuperscriptsandIncipits.Anumberof collections in theTwelveemploy superscrip-tions, i.e.,headingsconsistingofnouns(not sentences),whichmay beelaboratedbyadding

phrasesandrelativeclauses. A secondtypeofintroductionis theincipit,whichis thefirstsen-

tence in anarrativethatdoublesas anintroductionto a collection.8Haggai and Zech 18

employ similarincipits,namingtheyear,month,and day of thereignof the Persianemperor

2

Cf. Eccl49:10;therabbinictextB.Bat. 13b15. Both 2 Esd 14:45 and Josephus (Ag.Ap.1.8.40)offertotals ofthe acceptedbooks (twentyfourin 2 Esd andtwentytwoinAg. Ap.)that seem torequiretakingtheTwelveas one

book.3James Nogalski,LiteraryPrecursors to theBookof theTwelve(BZAW 217;Berlin:WalterdeGruyter,1993) and

RedactionalProcessesin theBookof theTwelve(BZAW 218;Berlin:WalterdeGruyter,1993).4

AaronSchart,DieEntstehungdesZwlfprophetenbuchs(BZAW260;Berlin:Walter de Gruyter, 1998). RainerAlbertz{Die Exihzeit6.Jahrhundertv.Chr[Biblische Enzyklopdie 7; Stuttgart: Kohlhammer, 2001) endorsed thework of Nogalski and Schart, using their results in discussing exilic additions to Hosea,Amos,Micah, and Zephaniah.

5For a discussion of this research, see PaulL.Redditt, "Recent Research on the Book of the Twelve as OneBook,"CurBS 9(2001): 47-80 and PaulL.Redditt, "The Formation of the Book of the Twelve: A Review of Research,' ,

inThematic Threads in the Book of the Twelve(ed. PaulL.Redditt and Aaron Schart; BZAW325; Berlin:Walter deGruyter, 2003), 1-26.

6To avoid confusion, this essay will employ the word "collection" to refer to the works attributed to the namedcollections (e.g., Haggai), while the word "book" will be reserved to refer to the Twelve as a whole or other "books"of the Bible (e.g., Genesis, Isaiah).

7The reader might keep in mind that critical scholars have long held that Zech 9-14 derived from a different

source than Zech 1-8, a conclusion that will be accepted in this paper. The reasons for this separation are many;

three must suffice here. First, the nature of the literature changes abruptly between Zech 8 and 9. Zechariah 1:7-6:15 consists of visions and exhortations based on those visions, and Zech 7-8 consists of a brief narrative (7:1-7)followed by ten prophetic messages, each introduced by the phrase "Thus says the Lord ofhosts" (7:8;8:1,4,6,7,9 14 18 20 23) Zechariah 9-14 contains no visions and employs different introductory formulae Second the


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186 Interpretation APRIL 2007

DariusI(Hag1:1[cf.2:1,10,20];Zech1:1[cf.v.7;7:1]).Isaiah,Jeremiah,Hosea,Amos, and

Micahopen with superscriptions namingaking and adate,but only Ezekielalsoemploys an

incipit giving the year,day,and month ofakingin hiscase,the exiled kingJehoiachin.The

incipits inHaggaiand Zechariah therefore are unique and reveal an orientation toward thePersians,who had authorized therebuildingof the templea centralactin bothcollections.

Zechariah911,1214,andMalachi eachbegin with the same three Hebrewwords,trans-

lated "anoracle,thewordofthe Lord." This common opening ledanumberofscholarsto

conclude that the three were additions toZech18,with the last eventually being separated to

createa"twelfth" minor prophet. This argument, however, runs afoul of the differences in how

thosethree words are used. InZech9:1,theword"oracle"isthe superscription, with the words

"thewordof theLord"beginningtheprophetic saying: "thewordof theLordisupon/against

the land of Hadrach."InZech12:1,though, the three wordsarepart of the opening superscrip-tion: "Anoracle.Thewordof the Lord concerningIsrael."InMai 1:1,finally,the superscription

reads: "Anoracle.Thewordof the LordtoIsraelby the hand ofMalachi[ormymessenger]."

Thus, itseemsbettertothink of the three phrasesasbelongingtotheir different contexts,and

not simplyasaformula mechanically appliedtothree different smallcollections.9

2.Redactional Phrases.RedactorsinHaggai/Zech18 and914use two common redac

tional phrases that warrantnotice.Thefirstis the phrase "Thussaysthe Lord" inZech7and 8

(cf..7),aswellas11:4and12:1.The second is the phrase "on thatday."Itfunctionsattwo

levels, at leastinHaggaiand Zechariah. On the one hand, itdesignatesthe day that somethingwouldhappen atatime underdiscussion,past or present. SimonDeVriescallsita"time iden-

tifier."10

An example may be found inHag2:23,which followsaversewhere the prophet had

promised that Godwouldoverthrow "the throne of the kingdoms,"i.e., the Babylonian king.

Verse27says that "on that day" Godwouldalsomake Zerubbabel God's"signetring"(see

below). On the other hand, the phrase could functionasaneschatologicaloratleastdistant

future marker. For example, inZech3:10,the phrase introduces an addition toanight vision,

whichDeVries thinks envisionsamore distant timeframethan the preceding verse has in view.11

InZech914,often calledSecondorDeuteroZechariah, the phrase appears in fifteentextspainting pictures ofaradically improved future for Israel(9:1617;12:3,4,6,7,9,11;

13:1,2; 14:4,6,8,9,13,20).Especially inZech1214,it functions to connect what appear

tohave been short, independent sayings intoalonger discourse about future improvements.

DeVries concludes that the initial layers of redaction inchs.12and14were introduced with

the phrase "and it shall be on that day"(12:3,9;14:6,8,13),while subsequent layers began

with the shorter variant "on that day"(12:4,6,8 [2x],11;14:4,9).12

9

Cf. Beth GlazierMcDonald,Malachi:TheDivine Messenger(SBLDS98;Atlanta:ScholarsPress, 1987),2627.Inaddition,Zech914gives indications that it was a redacted unit, not two separate units.

10

SimonJ.DeVries,FromOld Revelation to New(Grand Rapids: Eerdmans,1995),39.11

Ibid 2 8


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5/15


THE RESTORATION IN HAGGAI, ZECHARIAH, AND MALACHI

1.Haggai.Overarching themes appear throughout HaggaiMalachi, and particularly

the theme of the restoration ofJudahand its institutions.Asbackground for this theme, one

should recall that the northern kingdom ofIsraelfell to Assyria in 722 B.C.E., and the south

ern kingdom ofJudahto Babylon in 586 B.C.E. The rise ofPersianpower in 539 B.C.E. seems

to have offered hope for a Judean restoration. The references to the land ofJudahin Haggai

(1:1;2:2;2:21) appear exclusively in the title the book gives to Zerubbabel: governor of

Judah. Hope for that governor to rule in his own power, however, would have involved the

end of Persian power, a hope hinted at in Hag 2:22.

2.Zechariah1-8.Zechariah 1-8 offers a historical review before looking to the future.

Zechariah 1:14 says that Jerusalem and the cities ofJudahsuffered at the hands of the

Babylonians for seventy years, andv.19 adds that both Judah and Israel suffered at the

hands of enemies, symbolized as horns. Jerusalem and Judah deserved their punishment,

but the Babylonians had been excessive in their raids (1:15). The exhortation to the exiles to

have faith foresees the Lord inheriting Judah"ashis portion in the holy land" and again

choosing Jerusalem (2:12). Laterin8:19Zechariahreports God as saying that God would

again"dogood" to Jerusalem and Judah (8:15), restoring them to harmony and justice with

one another. Thus, Zech 1-8 consistently contrasts the well-deserved punishment of Judah/

Israel in the past with the restoration of bothparticularly Judahin the future.

That restoration would also include two rulingfigures,one identified as the Branch, andthe other asapriest. The majority ofscholarsstill think that originally the "Branch"wasa

designation for Zerubbabel. Zechariah names him specificallyasthe one who was to rebuild

the temple (Zech 4:6-8). The priest for the new temple was to be Joshua (cf. Zech 3). Like

Haggai, Zechariah also thought that restoration would involve the demise of the Babylonian

Empire (see Zech 2:8-9).

3.Zechariah9-14.How do these hopes play out in Zech 9-14? As mentioned earlier,

Zech 9 begins only with a superscript, which reads simply"Anoracle." The reader receives

no warning that the speaker has changed, though critical scholars long have argued that itdid.Reader critics remind us today that chs. 9-14 are not just anonymous, but pseudony

mous, since they have been attached to work ascribed to Zechariah.

Zechariah 9:1 begins by saying that the word of God is"in,""with," "upon," or "against"

Hadrach, probablyacity-state in northern Syria.18Next, the verse claims that Damascus is the

18The Hebrew preposition is simplybeth.


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TH E BOOK OF THE TWELVE Interpretation 189

resting place of God or God's hand, which does not require the antagonistic meaning schol-

ars oftendraw.Continuing, the verse says that the"citiesofAram"19

belong to the Lord, just

like all the tribes ofIsrael.The passage continues (w. 27) by prophesying that the ancient

enemies,thePhilistines,wouldbe cleansed of theirprideand abominations and become a"remnant"(v.7) for Godlike Judah. Then(v.8),thetextsaysGodwouldencamp before

Jerusalem as its protector, so that no foreignerwouldagain overrun it.

Where did such ideas comefrom?They crop up in variousplacesin the prophetic corpus.

The most proximateplace,however, is the end ofZech8,which envisions the day when the

inhabitants of manycitiesand nationswilltakethe hand ofJewsand implore them to guide

theforeigners to God'scity,where theytoocould"entreatthe favor oftheLord"(Zech8:21).

Butwhat about the king in these hopes for future restoration? IfHaggaiexpected

Zerubbabel to be "like a signet ring," and Zechariahexpectedthe"Shoot"or"Branch"to

rebuildthe temple,Zech9 announces the coming ofthenew king, "righteous"(or "upright"

or "vindicated") and "victorious . . .humbleandridingon a donkey, on acolt,the foal ofa

donkey"(9:9).This kingwouldrule over a kingdom ofpeace,ushered in by God.

Interestingly, this kingdomwouldinclude both Judah(9:10)and Ephraim, a metonym

for Israel(9:13).Godwouldbringhome theexilesfrom both Israel and Judah (10:612).

Where elsein the Twelve does onefindthis combination oftherestoration oftheDavidic

line and therevivalof both Judah andIsrael?As alreadynoted,one place is Zech18,with

itshopes for Zerubbabel and its promise in8:13that Godwouldsave both Judah and Israel.

Zechariah9:910and 10:612thus repeat the future political hopes expressed at the end of

Zech18.20

Thereare,however, two more suchtextsin the Twelve, both of which are widely under-

stoodas additions to thecollectionsin which they appear. The first is in the collection

ascribed to Amos. There,9:1115sounds the only positive note in thecollection.The verses

clearly look back on the fall oftheDavidic monarchy and anticipate itsrestoration:"On that

dayIwillraise up the boothofDavid that is fallen."Sincetheversesareattachedtothe sayings

ofasouthernerwho preached in the north, a reader is permitted to surmise that the latereditor was most likelyasoutherner writing to update the eighth century prophet in a new

and different context.I have argued that those verses belong toa"proDavidicrecension"of

the "Book of theFour"(Hosea,Amos,Micah,and Zephaniah).21

Even if it were thecasethat

theword"Israel"in Amos9:14really meant "Judah" only, one could still say thatZech9 was

only making explicit that the"Israel"in view there also included the north.

19

It is universally admitted that the phrase"eyeof man" in theMTis difficult. It is coupled with the followingphrase, "like all the tribes ofIsrael."This translation offered above adopts an oftsuggested emendation of reading"cities"(with a final letter ofreshinstead of nun)instead of"eye"andAraminstead ofAdam.(The Hebrewlettersreshanddaletdlsoclosely resemble each other.)

20

ByronG.Curtis(Up theSteep andStonyRoad[SBLAcademia Biblica25;Atlanta:SocietyofBiblicalLiterature,


7/15


The combination ofthemotifs ofthenations' coming to Jerusalem and the renewal of

the Davidic monarchy comes front and center in Mie 4-5, which I also ascribe to the "pro-

Davidicrecension"of the Four. There, famously, an author addresses Bethlehem in an apos

trophe, predicting the restoration ofthe"once and future king" David. There is no explicitreference to political Israel, the northern kingdom, though nothing is said to preclude its

participation in that future.

The upshot ofallofthisis that the predictions about the Branch in Zech 1-8 are sand

wiched between Haggai's hope for Zerubbabel in2:20-23and the hopes for Jerusalem's new

ruler and his kingdom in Zech 9:1-10; 10:6-12. These hopes are anticipated in the Twelve

by passages like Amos9:11-15and Mie 5:2-5 (Hebrew 5:1-4). It seems to me thatallof

these verses very likely arose at about the same time and focused on hopes for the Davidic

line. When no new king appeared, it was time to rethink the hopes, either to abandon themor to reshape them. Such an explanation is precisely what transpires in the rest ofZech9-14.

One explanation was that the fault lay with the leadership inJerusalem:the royal family

(12:10-11; 13:1), the Lvites (12:13), and persons attempting to exercise a prophetic role

(13:2-6).Those leaders were corrupt, and unless and until they repented the new day with

the new king could not dawn.

The second explanation was the one that surfaces in the Deuteronomistic History,

namely that God was the only king Israel needed and would reign from Zion. It appears

also in Zech14:9,which reads: "And the Lord will become king over all the land, and onthat day the Lord will be one and his name one." It is likely, however, that the verse derived

from Mai 1:14 and 2:10,15, where the two ideas ofGod'skingship and oneness are found.

The end ofMai1:14 reads: "For I am a great king, says the Lord of hosts," and Mai 2:10 and

15 emphasize that one God created the people ofJudahand the wives whom the men had

divorced. Ifso,Zech 14:9 probablywascomposed with an eye to tying Zech 9-14 to Malachi.

It is at least tempting also to see that verse as the culminating view of monarchy in Deutero

Zechariah: namely that God is the only king Jerusalem will need. Following the thread of

Judah/Israel from Haggai-Zech 1-8 into Zech 9-14 reveals how radically those latter chap

ters (12-14 especially) revised the hope for the future, including the messianic expectations

of Haggai and Zech 1-8 and even Zech 9:9-10.

One more twist appears in Deutero Zechariah, though it is somewhat muted in the

conflicting view of the future characteristic ofthosechapters. In places, the chapters preserve

the viewprobably derived from Ezek 38-39oftheattack ofthenations against Israel.


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THE BOOK OF THETWELVE Interpretation191

Zechariah 12:1-9 clearly applies the image to Jerusalem and depicts God's fighting on the

city'sbehalf.The passage includes Judah in the victory, but as subservient to Jerusalem.

Zechariah 14 also emphasizes the city over Judah, while including the latter secondarily in

the city's holiness (v. 21). It is God, however, who delivers the city (and Judah) by defeatingthe nations that attacked Jerusalem.

4.Malachi.Malachi never mentions a Judean king, hope for one perhaps being a dead

issue for the prophet. Only God is called king (1:14). Even the single reference to the gover

nor (1:8) is not a political comment, but appears incidentally in a condemnation of reli

gious malpractice. Unlike Haggai and Zech 1-8,9-14, Malachi seems to speak ofIsraelin

political terms only once: in 1:5 in the phrase "the border of Israel," and there the point is

that God is known outside those borders.

Scholars have noted the oddity of that phrase. Its immediate context in Malachi is the

contrast between God's love for Judah and hatred of Esa/Edom. A similar contrast appears

in Mai 1:10-11. On the one hand, in v. 10 the prophet criticizes the priesthood for its mis

handling of sacrifices and even has God say that God will not receive their impure sacri

fices. On the other hand, in v. 11 the prophet has God commend the nations for offering

incense and pure sacrifices. That commendation is not an exact fit with the hope in Zech

8:21-23, where the nations come to Jerusalem, but it makes the same point about the

nations' worshipping God. This observation gains import ifas seems likely22Malachi

was attached originally to Zech 8 or perhaps Zech 8 plus 9:1-10.

Outside of 1:5,10-11, which connect Malachi to Zechariah, Malachi's concern appears

to be with Israel and Judah as the historic and ongoing people ofGod. Thus God speaks in

the rest of Malachi as Judah's father in 1:6; 2:10, as its master in 1:6, and as its God. In 3:6,

the prophet offers God's covenant fidelity as the reason Jacob had not died as a conse

quence ofits sins, which Malachi says reached back to the days ofthe ancestors and contin

ued to the prophet's own time. As Aaron Schart has pointed out, however, the idea of the

covenant sews together Hos8:1;Zech 9:11,11:10; and Mai 2:10.

OTHER THEMES IN HAGGAI, ZECHARIAH AND MALACHI

1.Lack of Wages. Other themes than restoration tie togetherM aswell.Sevenwill

receivelimitedattentionhere.ThefirstthemeispartofwhatbindsHaggaiandZechariah

18. Asalreadynoted,therepeated dateformulae,thecontemporaneityof theprophets,

SeeNogalski,RedactionalProcesses,201212.


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and the common focus on the temple and Zerubbabel suggest that the traditions about the

prophets passed through the same person or school and were edited together.23One mark

ofthat redaction is the use ofthetheme of poverty (no wages) associated with failure to

rebuild the temple at the beginning (Hag1:4-6)and end (Zech 8:10) ofthat corpus. It isnot simply that the texts mention the same things; in addition, they both draw a causal

connection between the people's dereliction of duty and specific God-caused consequences.

While Hag1:10-11emphasizes that God caused a drought by withholding the dew and

rain, Zech8:11-12predicts that in the future the skies would give the dew and the crops

would flourish once more, thus rounding offthecorpus Haggai-Zech 1-8. (Similarly, Mai

3:10-11predicts theflourishingofcropsif Israel would tithe properly.)

2.TheTemple.The rebuilding of the temple is the most obvious subject in Haggai- Zech

1-8. Worship in and care for the temple are the most obvious subjects in Malachi. Thosecollections fit together quite naturally in a before-and-after scheme, one in which the

"after"did not pan out as advertised in Haggai-Zech 1-8. The failure of the grandeur

promised in Haggai was explained in Malachi.

3.God asRefiner.Another theme reveals the connection between Deutero Zechariah

and Malachi, a theme pointed out by Nogalski.24The verses connect Deutero Zechariah not

only to Malachi, but also to Hosea.

Zech 13:9a Then I will send this third into the fire

torefinethem assilverisrefinedand

to assay them asgoldisassayed

Mai3:2b-3For he is like arefiner'sfireand like

fuller's soap; he will sit as arefinerandcleanserofsilver,and

he will purify the descendants of Levi

andrefinethem likegoldandsilver

Zech 13:9b and I will say,

"They aremypeople?and he will say,

"The Lord isour God?

Hos2:23And I will say to Lo-ammi,

"You aremy people?and he shall say,

"You areour God?

It would appear then that Zech 9:13, like 14:9, looks ahead in the Twelve to Mai l:2b-3, but

also back to Hos 2:23.

4.DivorceandGod'sLove.In the larger corpus oftheTwelve, one can see again a frame

aroundablock of material, this time to the entire Book oftheTwelve. Malachi2:10-16is

23It is probably relevant to note that Ezra 5:1 mentions the two prophets in the same breath as ones who urged

the rebuilding ofthetemple.24Nogalski,RedactionalProcesses,235.


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THE BOOK OF THE TWELVE Interpretation193

involved again. Following an introductory set ofthreerhetorical questions in Mai 2:10, the

rest ofthepassage (2:11-16) offers two complaints. One (in 2:11-13, except the phrase "and

[Judah] has married the daughter ofaforeign god") deals with bringing gifts and offerings

to the altar. It is quite general and non-specific. The other (in 2:11 [last phrase]+14-16) is acomplaint about divorce. The two objections are compatible, though not the same. The

connection between the charges looks redactional. The only other place in the Twelve to

discuss divorce is its opening, in Hos 2:1-15.Tobe sure, the word "divorce" does not appear

in those verses, but the threat that God would divorce Israel is clear nonetheless. In both

cases God wantsfidelityfromJudah, whom God loves. Thus, the Twelve opens and closes

with aframethat emphasizes divorce, but also God's love for Israel, a love challenged but

not stifled by Israel's infidelity.25

5.God as Kingand One.For reasons not necessary to review here, I have argued elsewhere that Deutero Zechariah was added last to HaggaiMalachi; indeed, it appears to

have been the last major addition to the Twelve.26Two verses in particular will illustrate the

combining ofthecollections. Zechariah 14:9 reads:

And the Lord shallbe/become kingover all theearth,

on thatday itwill come topassthatthe Lordwillbeoneand hisname one.

This verse epitomizes several from Malachi. Thefirst,dealing with the kingship of God,

is 1:14, where God proclaims: "for I am a great king, says the Lord ofhosts,and my name is

dreaded in the nations." The second, dealing with the oneness of God, is 2:10-16, whichinsists on the oneness of God as the one father and creator.27In addition, the second line of

Zech 14:9 is one of the texts that De Vries identifies as belonging to the latest level of redac

tion in Deutero Zechariah. The suggestion here is that the second line was added in light of

Mai 2:10-16.

It is true that the kingship of God is celebrated in the Psalter (cf. 5:2; 10:16; 24:7-10;

29:10; 44:4;47:2,6-8;48:2;68:24; 74:12;84:3;89:18;95:3;98:6;145:1;149:2), so it is possi

ble that the language celebrating God as king in Zech 14:9 was influenced by Psalms. None

ofthesetexts, however, emphasizes the oneness of God, and Ps 95:3 reads:For agreatGod["el\isYHWH,

and a great kingoverall thegods['elhtm].

The kingship of God appears in the Twelve only at the end of Zechariah ( 14:9,14,17),

25See JohnD.W.Watts,"AFrame for the Book oftheTwelve: Hosea 1-3 andMalachi,"inReadingandHearingthe Bookof theTwelve,210-12.

26Cf. Redditt, "Zechariah 9-14: The Capstone oftheBook oftheTwelve," 305-32.27It is possible to understand the reference to "one father" asAbraham, but parallelism in 2:10 suggests other

wise and marriage permeates the whole passage. Besides, Mai 1:6 has already called God "father." Cf. Redditt,Haggai,Zechariah,Malachi,164r-65,169-170. References to the oneness of God are more rare than a person mightsuppose. Deuteronomy 6:4 is the best known, and Deutero Isaiah is famous for being thefirstto articulate monoth i ( f I 43 11 44 6 24) di ti ti th t h h ld t J i h ( f 2 11) A b f t t l


11/15


thebeginning ofMalachi(1:14),and Zeph3:15,part of an addition (w.1420,probably

written to tie Haggai+Zech 18+Malachito an earlier collection(atleastHosea+Amos

+Micah+Zephaniah).28

It appears to represent apostexilicconclusion that the monarchy

was notnecessaryand/or possible for Judeanslivingin the Persian empire.

6.Law and Prophets.The sixth theme related to the larger canon isMai 3:2224(Eng

4:46).There are good reasons for accepting the suggestion thattheseverses,the last three

inMalachi,constituted a late addition castingabackward glance over not simplyMalachi

or the Twelve, but the entirety oftheTorah and the Prophets oftheHB.The verses appeal

both to the teaching ofMosesand to the prophet Elijah. Neither man is mentionedelse-

where inMalachi,and onlyMosesis mentioned elsewhere in the Twelve, and he only once

(Mie6:4).Mosesis mentioned in the LatterProphets of theHBelsewhere only inIsa63:1112

andJer15:l.

29

Elijah is mentioned in the canon only in 1 and2Kings andMai4:5.It seemsprettyclear,then, that the references to the two men have inmindMosesthe law giver and

Elijah the prophet,i.e.representatives respectively ofthe"law" and the "prophets." The last

three verses ofMalachi,therefore, look back over the record ofGod'sprior revelation, urg-

ing the readers to pay attention to it all.

7.Sin andPunishment.One final theme inMtoo important theologicallytoomit is

thetheme of sin and punishment. This theme was often discussed in terms of fertility/

infertility. InHaggai,the heavens withheld the dew so that the earth produced no crops

(1:1011;2:1617).The cause for the drought was a delay inrebuildingthe temple. Thetext

doesnot actually call the drought "punishment," and one might wish to argue instead that

it was merelyawarning the returning community had not heeded.Still,Haggailinked fail-

ure torebuildthe temple with the drought, and promised that the day the community

began torebuildit Godwouldturn with favor toward the people(2:1819).30

InZech18,punishment is more explicit. In the first message(1:16),the prophet

takesa historicalretrospect.The people had disobeyed God's commandments (which

sometimeshad threats attached), and God was justified to allow them to reap the conse-

quences of their misdeeds. (This passage is an example of theodicy,i.e.,justifying the good-

nessand power of God in the face of evil.Malachi2:17raises the same issue.) Those conse-

quences at times came at the hands of foreignnations,whose zeal in punishing Jerusalem

exceededthe city's misdeeds(1:15).SoGodwouldturn to Jerusalem in mercy(1:17),and

28

Nogalski{LiteraryPrecursors),following the lead of previousscholars,argued thatHosea,Amos,Micah,andZephaniah constitutedaliterary precursor to the Twelve, a precursor he and others call the "Book of the Four."Haggai+Zech 18 constituted another. Nogalski then snowed connectionsbetween Zech 18 andMalachi,leadingtothe conclusion adopted here thatMalachiwas attached toZech8beforeZech914was. The timing of the

processis not precise, but it happened some time after the writing ofMalachi(often dated around450B.C.E.),bywhich time the restoration of the monarchyso important inHaggaiZech18wasprobablyadead issue formost Judeans.

29

Daniel 9:11 13 mention him but Daniel appears in the "Writings" in the HB


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punish the foreigners for their excesses (1:20-21). The sixth vision (5:1-4) threatens pun

ishment for stealing and false swearing. Finally,7:9-14repeats the thinking of1:1-6,viz.,

God had punished God's people in the past for failing to render true judgments in courts,

care for the poor, etc. In doing so, those verses round offZech1:1-6 before promising anewdaybeyond punishment in Zech 8.

Deutero Zechariah opens with a prediction ofafuture punishment against the Philis

tine cities (9:3-8) and the Greeks (9:13-15). The identity ofthe"shepherds" mentioned in

10:3 is not clear, but God threatens to punish them too. The speaker in the so-called "Shep

herdAllegory"(11:4-6) complains that the leaders ofJudahhave abused the people and

gone unpunished, but God reassures him (v. 6) that the leaders will fall into the hands ofa

neighbor/king for retribution. Zechariah 13:7-9 portrays God's punishment symbolically in

terms of refining silver. In the throes ofsuchpunishment, the people will turn to God. Thatrepentance is couched in terms probably taken from Hos 2:23 [Hebrew2:25]:"Iwill say,

'He is my people,' and he himself shallsay'YHWH is my God'" (Zech 13:9). In 14:12, God

threatens to punish with a plague the foreign nations that wage war against Jerusalem.

Malachi opens (1:2-5) withavehement prediction that ruined Edom would never be

rebuilt. The passage implies a contrast with Judah, whom God loved and whom God would

forgive or had forgiven. Next, God curses (1:14; 2:2) and threatens to punish and ban (2:3)

the priests for their indifference to the quality of sacrifices brought to God (1:8,12) and the

contempt for God that their indifference betrayed (1:13). Because they had not properly

instructed the people, God would make them "despised and abased before all the peoples"

(2:9).Malachi3:2b-3depicts punishment by means ofthesymbol of refining silver in fire

(cf. burning in an oven in 4:1 [Heb. 3:19]). Malachi3:9-12returns to the theme of infertili

ty/fertility sounded in Hag 1:6-11; 2:15-19. Malachi promises renewed fertility ifthepeople

were to pay their full tithes.

The nature and the agent of punishment in these texts vary from one text to another,

and punishment for Israel is portrayed as deserved and limited. Punishment of foreigners

was not always limited by God, though it could be (cf. Zech 14:13). In fact, the note was

struck once (Zech 14:17-19) that the neighboring peoples would1e~punished if they did

not go up to Jerusalem to worship God there.

CONCLUSION AND ISSUES FOR THEOLOGY

This study has attempted to demonstrate that taking an approach to Haggai, Zechariah,


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196 Interpretation AP RI L 2007

andMalachiascollectionsredacted with regard to one another and to the rest of the Twelve

offers perspectives on issues in thetextnot available to studies thatisolatetheindividual

collections.This study in no waysuggeststhat theindividualcollectionsshould not be

studied for their ownuniqueperspectives. Thecollectionsand the propheticvoicestheycontain spoke to Israel and Judah from the eighth centurytothe fifth atleast.They were,

however, gathered into onecollection,and scholars have long realized that morevoicesthan

twelve can be heard in thesecollections.They passed through a (possibly small)numberof

handsduringtheir journey into the canon. Those hands too were inspired, and theirwork

in preserving and updating oldervoicesfor newer audiences was crucial for the preserva-

tion of the oldervoices.Thus, one has not read the lastwordfrom the collection named for

Malachiuntilone reads it in dialogue withHaggaiand Zechariah,Hoseaand possibly

Zephaniah, and even the law and the prophets.

Along the way, mention has been made of threeissueswith serious implications for

theology.First, it is important for both Jewish and Christian thought toseethat prophetic

anticipations about the messiah were anything but one dimensional.Whileit is true that

someprophetictextspromised a newkingfor Israel (cf.esp.Isa9:27[Hebrew9:16];

11:19;andMie5:26 [Hebrew5:15]),that was not the only view of the future of ruler

ship in theHB.Nor,ofcourse,did allJewsinJesus'day lookforwardto amessiah,although

his followers understood himasthemessiah.Besidesthat, the NT reinterpreted messianism

in the light of the Suffering Servant ofIsa 4055to accommodateJesus'death. It also amal-

gamated theSonofManconcept from apocalyptic literature, and the book of Hebrewseven combined messianism with the priesthood through the ancient figure ofMelchizadek

(Gen14:1724;Ps110:4).Mostsignificantly, the NT reinterpreted theOT'sview of the

messiah as the adopted son of God, seeingJesus asthedivineson.

Second,disputes over religious leadership in thepostexilicperiod wereand are

todayasserious as disputes over political leadership. In readingM,itwouldbeeasyto

play offHaggaiand Zechariah as defenders of the status quo in the temple againstDeutero

Zechariah andMalachias their opponents.Still,such an approach does not reckon with the

difference in time or with the real possibility that there was sin on bothsides.The readershouldexercisecaution in taking sides.

Third,expectationsthat Godwillremove the wicked from power and replace them

with the righteous sound Utopian today, and perhaps did in the Persian periodaswell.

Hopesfor God to right wrongs and punish aggressors are the stuff of apocalyptic theology,


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which surfaced in Israel as early as the third and second centuries.31Those hopes grow,

however, out ofthequandary of theodicy: how to explain the existence of evil in a world

created and ruled by a good God. Religious people expect God to act to benefit them, an

expectation the book ofJoblabored to modify. Its answer to the problem of theodicy,according to James Crenshaw, was that evil served the vital function of sorting out those

who fear God for nothing from the larger crowd of humanity.32Crenshaw finds multiple

answers in the Twelve. First, Zeph 3:1-5 denies that a problem exits. Second, Mai 2:17 ques

tions the traditional affirmation that the virtuous prosper. Third, several texts redefine

God's character: Hab 1:13 questions God's stability; Jonah 4:2 expresses resentment that

God would forgive enemies; Amos 3:3-8 attributes evil to God. Crenshaw's analysis shows

that no given booknot even one in the Biblehas the complete word about God.33Still,

thelastword on the subject in Malachi and the Twelve sounds traditional: "For IYHWH

have not changed" (Mai 3:6a) and "Return to me and I will return to you" (3:7a), verses to

which Crenshaw calls attention.34

31Scholars usually say that the oldest apocalypses were the third century "Book of Heavenly Luminaries ,>(IEn.72-82) and the "Book of Watchers" (JEn.1-36).Following soon after were the second century "Apocalypse of

Weeks" (JEn.91:12-17; 93:1-10), perhaps the "Animal Apocalypse"{1En.85-90, since it seems to know nothingoftheMaccabean revolt), and the book of Daniel (which discusses that revolt).32James L. Crenshaw,Defending God(Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005), 184.33James L. Crenshaw, "Theodicy in the Book of the Twelve," in Thematic Threads in the Book of the Twelve


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interpretation 61 no 2 ap 2007, p 184-197

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