Criswell
Theological Review 2.1 (1987) 141-144
[Copyright © 1987 by
digitally prepared for use at
Gordon and
A REVIEW ARTICLE
COMMENTING
ON COMMENTARIES
ON THE BOOK OF MALACHI
GARY GALEOTTI
Other than
the need for an occasional message on stewardship, the book of
Malachi has
received little attention. Such neglect has unintentially
relegated
the book
to a secondary status. Consequently, it is seldom that one thinks of
Malachi when considering the OT prophets. This neglect is due in part to its
location in
the English Bible and to its question and answer style which may
not seem
as appealing as the typical prophetic style of proclamation. One
only
needs to look at the average theological library or to remember the last
message from
Malachi that was not on stewardship to see this neglect exists.
It is hoped
that this article will encourage and assist the readers in their study
and
preaching of Malachi.
The best overall commentary is the
recent work by W. C. Kaiser, Jr.
entitled Malachi: God's Unchanging Love. His
purpose is not to do an exege-
sis
based on sound hermeneutical principles alone but to bridge the gap
between the
then and now. His book is thus an excellent balance between the
technical and
the practical. His combination of both the descriptive element
with the
normative element has produced a commentary that rises above the
mere
informative level. Kaiser includes two appendixes which not only add
important
supportive material but also help to maintain clarity and flow
throughout his
exposition of the text. The first appendix deals with contextual,
syntactical,
verbal, theological and homiletical analysis. His
second appendix
on the
usefulness of commentaries for Bible study and preaching serves not
only as
an excellent standard for evaluating other commentaries but also for
evaluating
Kaiser's book on Malachi. His commentary is conservative in
stance and
easy to understand. His introduction is very good. His balance of
the
practical and theological with the exegetical and technical, may in large
measure be a
prototype of a new breed of commentaries. God’s unchanging
142 CRISWELL THEOLOGICAL REVIEW
love and
man's response to it are at the heart of the Covenant relationship
between God
and his people.
The outstanding example of the
technical-textual commentary of the OT
is the
series by C. F. Keil and F. Delitzsch.
Their commentary is the standard
in the
field of OT commentaries and a classic in its own right. Though dated,
it
still serves as the primary measure by which all other works are judged.
Keil's
volume on The Twelve Minor Prophets
is conservative in scope and
serves as a
scholarly foundation upon which any in-depth study of Malachi is
to be
made.
The best of the
scholarly-evangelical commentaries is the newly released
volume in The
New International Commentary on the Old Testament by
P. A. Verhoef. He maintains a conservative perspective with
sufficient support
for his
views in the introductory matters as well as his exegetical material.
Structural
analysis undergirds his entire exposition. A second
contribution to
this
perspective worthy of consideration is J. Baldwin's work in The Tyndale
Old Testament Commentaries.
Though her structural divisions of Malachi are
the same
as those used by Verhoef, she does not incorporate
the principles of
structural
analysis throughout her verse by verse exposition as he.
The best representation of the
critical commentaries is J. M. P. Smith's
work on
Malachi in The International Critical Commentary. Its emphasis on
the
technical and descriptive, however, taxes the soul of its spiritual vitality.
Typical of
this theological persuasion is the view that Malachi is not a
personal name
but serves only as a title. Also common to the critical perspec-
tive is the interpretation of Mal 4:4-6 not as
a profound conclusion to the
book but
as the product of a later editor. R. Dentan's and W.
Sperry's commentary
on
Malachi in The Interpreter's Bible and R. Smith's exposition in the Word
Biblical
Commentary are additional Scholarly examples of this
perspective.
The most useful of the
practical-general commentaries is H. Wolf's study
of
Malachi in the Everyman's Bible Commentary. It is conservative, non-
technical and
easy to understand. As with the other contributions in this
series, the
layman, the pastor and the introductory Bible student are the
primary
readers for whom this book is written. Other conservative commen-
taries that are clear and practical are R.
Alden's contribution to The Exposi-
tor's Bible Commentary, R. Bailey's exposition called God's Questions and
Answers, T. Bennett's presentation in The Broadman
Bible Commentary,
C.
Feinberg's The Minor Prophets, W. Greathouse's study in the Beacon Bible
Commentary, H. Hailey's book entitled A
Commentary on the Minor Proph-
ets and T. Laetsch's
work on the minor prophets in the Bible
Commentary. A
practical but
liberal commentary is Malachi: A Study Guide Commentary
authored by
C. Isbell. Another of the same perspective is R. Mason's presen-
tation in The
Cambridge Bible Commentary on the New English Bible.
Of the devotional-homiletical type of
commentaries, the one by J. McGee
is
sufficient to serve as a recent example. Other works of this category but
much
older would be by W. Deane, J. Exell, A MacClaren, G. Campbell
Morgan and J. Wolfendale. When mindful of the limitations of this
group of
commentaries, one is then able to benefit from such works.
Galeotti:
COMMENTARIES ON THE BOOK OF MALACHI 143
Selected Bibliography
Alden,
Robert L. "Malachi." The Expositor's Bible
Commentary. Grand
Rapids: Zondervan,
1985.
Bailey,
Robert W. God's Questions and Answers: Contemporary Studies in
Malachi.
Baldwin,
Joyce G. "Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi." The Tyndale
Old Testa-
ment Commentaries.
Bennett, T.
Miles. "Malachi." The Broadman Bible Commentary.
Broadman, 1972.
Deane, W. J. and Prout, E. S.
"Malachi." The Pulpit Commentary. Grand
Rapids: Eerdmans,
1977. Reprint.
Dentaon, Robert C. &
Sperry, Willard L. "The Book of Malachi." The
Interpreter's
Bible.
Dods,
Marcus. "The Post-Exilian Prophets: Haggai,
Zechariah, Malachi."
Handbooks for
Bible Classes.
Exell,
Joseph S. "Malachi." The Biblical Illustrator.
1973. Reprint.
Fausset, A.
R. "Malachi." A Commentary Critical, Experimental,
and Practi-
cal on the
Old and New Testament.
Feinberg,
Charles L. The Minor Prophets.
Greathouse,
William M. "The Book of Malachi." Beacon
Bible Commentary.
Hailey,
Homer. A Commentary on the Minor Prophets.
1972.
Henry,
Matthew. "Malachi." Matthew Henry's
Commentary on the Whole
Bible.
Ironside, H.
A. Notes on the Minor Prophets.
1909.
Isbell,
Charles D. Malachi: A Study Guide Commentary.
Zondervan, 1980.
Jones,
Douglas R. Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi.
Kaiser,
Walter C. Malachi: God's Unchanging
Love.
Keil,
Carl F. "The Twelve Minor Prophets." Biblical Commentary on the
Old
Testament.
Laetsch,
Theo. "The Minor Prophets." Bible Commentary.
cordia, 1956.
MacClaren,
Alexander. "Malachi." Expositions
of Holy Scripture.
Hodder & Stoughton, n.d.
Mason, Rex. "The Books of Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi." The
Bible Commentary
of the New English Bible.
Press, 1977.
McGee, J.
Vernon. Malachi.
Moore,
Thomas V. "A Commentary on Haggai & Malachi." The
Series of Commentaries.
Reprint.
144 CRISWELL THEOLOGICAL REVIEW
Morgan, G.
Campbell. Malachi's Message For Today.
1972. Reprint.
________. The
Minor Prophets; The Men and Their Messages. Old
Fleming H. Revell,
1960.
Packard,
Joseph. "The Book of Malachi." Lange's
Commentary on the Holy
Scripture.
Perowne, T.
T. "Malachi." The
Pusey, E.
B. The Minor Prophets.
Ries,
Claude A. "The Book of Malachi." The Wesleyan
Bible Commentary.
Robinson,
George L. The Twelve Minor Prophets.
Brothers, 1926.
Smith,
George Adam. The Twelve Prophets Commonly Called Minor. New
Smith, John Merline Powis. "A Critical
and Exegetical Commentary on the
Book of
Malachi." The International Critical
Commentary.
T. & T. Clark,)912.
Smith, Ralph
L. "Micah-Malachi." Word Biblical Commentary.
1984.
Verhoef,
Pieter A. "The Books of Haggai and Malachi." The New Inter-
national
Commentary on the Old Testament.
1987.
Wolf,
Herbert. "Haggai and Malachi:--Rededication and
Renewal." Every-
mans Bible
Commentary.
Wolfendale,
James. The Preacher's Complete Homiletic Commentary of the
Books of the Minor
Prophets.
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