Question about Malalchi in the Tanakh

[PattyPryor]

I have a question- actually 2 haha

Where can I buy a Tanakh in English?

I was wondering if the Jews have 3 or 4 chapters in Malachi and if the last verse ended with

“Lo, I will send you Elijah, the prophet, Before the day of the Lord comes, The great and terrible day.”

In the Catholic version of the Bible chapter 23 have been added by the scribes, so that the collection of the 12 minor prophets will not end with the threat of doom.

I just find it interesting. I wondered if Catholics were the only ones who repeated this verse

 

[patrick457]

I have a question- actually 2 haha

Where can I buy a Tanakh in English?

I’m guessing that you’d like a Jewish translation of the OT. If you want to find something online you can find the Old 1917 JPS (Jewish Publication Society) translation here. The Tanach with Rashi’s commentary is here, while the so-called Living Torah is here.

I was wondering if the Jews have 3 or 4 chapters in Malachi and if the last verse ended with

“Lo, I will send you Elijah, the prophet, Before the day of the Lord comes, The great and terrible day.”

In the Catholic version of the Bible chapter 23 have been added by the scribes, so that the collection of the 12 minor prophets will not end with the threat of doom.

I just find it interesting. I wondered if Catholics were the only ones who repeated this verse

Nope. That repeated ending is in fact found in the Masoretic Hebrew text (something which is omitted from many translatons), since after all no one likes to end things on a negative note. The Septuagint, meanwhile, transposes 3:22 (4:4): “Remember the law of Moses my servant…” at the end.

The Masoretes, Jewish scholars who preserved the Hebrew Bible during the Middle Ages, repeated verse 5 after verse 6, lest the book of the twelve minor prophets end on the harsh note of a curse. This attempt to soften the message does not alter the grim reality.

Everyman’s Bible Commentary: Haggai and Malachi by Herbert Wolf (1976)

Neither the Septuagint nor Hebrew liturgical tradition wished to end the Book of the Twelve Prophets with “curse,” and so the Septuagint puts verse 4 after verse 6, while Hebrew liturgies often repeated verse 5 after verse 6 — a practice followed in some versions of the Hebrew Bible.

Interpretation. A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching: Nahum - Malachi by Elizabeth Rice Achtemeier (1986)

Verse 25 is not really part of the book of Malachi. It is a repetition of verse 23. Jewish tradition did not want to end the reading of the Haphtarah on the joyous day of Shabbat with a negative description of God destroying the world, so it so it repeats the favorable message of verse 23 when the prophecy is read in the synagogue.

Onkelos on the Torah: Understanding the Bible Text, Volume 3 by Israel Drazin, Stanley M. Wagner (2010)

 

[Tonga]

I would not recommend the 1917 JPS as found on line, we don’t consider it reliable and is nothing more than a variant of the King James Bible.

If you want to purchase a tanach rather than use one on line, the Artscroll Tanach is very popular and available from Artscroll publishers. Or you might find a copy at at local
book store, or perhaps find a used copy online.

Malachi has three chapters and ends in:

“23. Lo, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord,
24. that he may turn the heart of the fathers back through the children, and the heart of the children back through their fathers-lest I come and smite the earth with utter destruction.”

 

[PattyPryor]

I would not recommend the 1917 JPS as found on line, we don’t consider it reliable and is nothing more than a variant of the King James Bible.

If you want to purchase a tanach rather than use one on line, the Artscroll Tanach is very popular and available from Artscroll publishers. Or you might find a copy at at local
book store, or perhaps find a used copy online.

Malachi has three chapters and ends in:

“23. Lo, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord,
24. that he may turn the heart of the fathers back through the children, and the heart of the children back through their fathers-lest I come and smite the earth with utter destruction.”

Thank You

 

[Sixpence]

I would not recommend the 1917 JPS as found on line, we don’t consider it reliable and is nothing more than a variant of the King James Bible.

The KJV is extremely reliable, as long as an exceptionally high degree of linguistic accuracy is your idea of reliable.

The Artscroll translation relies heavily on the interpretation of the Rashi and other sources of religious law. On one hand, you could liken it to an interpretation rather than a translation, as some critics have done. On a more realistic hand, you could liken it largely to a dynamic translation, while admittedly straying on occasion into the periphrastic.

 

[mtolympus]

I would not recommend the 1917 JPS as found on line, we don’t consider it reliable and is nothing more than a variant of the King James Bible.

If you want to purchase a tanach rather than use one on line, the Artscroll Tanach is very popular and available from Artscroll publishers. Or you might find a copy at at local
book store, or perhaps find a used copy online.

Malachi has three chapters and ends in:

“23. Lo, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord,
24. that he may turn the heart of the fathers back through the children, and the heart of the children back through their fathers-lest I come and smite the earth with utter destruction.”

I use the KJV but enjoy reading other translations that often give new insights to the meaning of the text. I love the quote from the Tanach: “great and awesome day of the Lord.”

Speaking to the children of Israel, or sons of Jacob (KJV Mal. 3:6) the prophet Malachi tells us that the Lord will send us Elijah before the “day of the Lord,” and tells how to prepare for that day. If we follow the teachings given to us by Malachi we have no need to fear.