MALACHIA. – Prophet, the last in the canon of the Old Testament, and therefore called the “seal of the prophets.” He prophesied after the Exile, during the Persian rule, of which he mentions the peḥāḥ (“governor”), and after the restoration of worship in the Zerubbabel Temple (Mal. 1:10; 2:4 ff.; 3:1, 10). It is not clear, however, whether this was before, during, or after the return of Esdra-Neemia to Palestine. The hypotheses range between 519 and 425 B.C. The indications provided by the book are not decisive. It is unlikely, moreover, that the peḥāḥ of Mal. 1:8 was Neemia, who refused every gift (Neh. 5,
