“I will smear on your faces the dung” (Mal 2:3b). God’s Speech to the Priests (Mal 2:1–9) as a Manifesto of Nehemiah’s Reform. The Crisis of the Priesthood and the Degradation of the Levites in the First Half of the Fifth Century BC
Arnold Zawadzki
The John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin , Polandhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-7827-7881
Abstract
The article aims to demonstrate that Mal 2:1–9 is a manifesto of the reform that led to the degradation of the Levites in Nehemiah’s time (mid-fifth century BC), elevating a new generation of priests, who may have been Sadocites or Aaronites, to the chief priesthood (the OT texts are not conclusive here). On the one hand, Julius Wellhausen’s theory, which indicates that the degradation of the Levites was an aftermath of Josiah’s reform, is challenged, while on the other, certain texts (2 Kgs 23:9–10; texts P and Ezek 44:10–16) are interpreted as a post-exile attempt to archaically project the degradation of the Levites to the pre-exile period. An exegetical analysis further reveals that Mal 2:1–9 (together with some Deuteronomistic texts) is the youngest and last historical testimony to the Levites’ priesthood prior to their degradation. A new translation and interpretation enrich the previous understanding of the pericope. It is also plausible that a close associate of Nehemiah or Nehemiah himself is disguised as Malachi.
Keywords:
Malachi, Levites, priests, secondary priests, Mal 2, degradation of the Levites, Nehemiah’s reformationReferences
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The John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7827-7881
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