Malachi,
Malachias,
Malache or
Mal'achi (; ) was the writer of the
Book of Malachi, the last book of the
Neviim (prophets) section in the
Jewish Tanakh. In the Christian Old Testament, the
Prophetic Books are placed last, making
Book of Malachi the last
protocanonical book before the
Deuterocanonical books or
The New Testament. No allusion is made to him by
Ezra, however, and he does not directly mention the
restoration of the temple. The editors of the 1906
Jewish Encyclopedia implied that he prophesied after
Haggai and
Zechariah (; , ) and speculated that he delivered his prophecies about 420 BC, after the second return of
Nehemiah from Persia (
Book of Nehemiah), or possibly before his return, comparing with ; with ).