The Relationship of Scriptural Reuse to the Redaction of Malachi: Genesis 31-33 and Malachi 3.24

It is general consensus that Malachi 3:23-24 is a redactional insertion to the book of Malachi. Scholars have argued that the insertion creates a closure either to the book of Malachi or to a larger corpus in the Hebrew Bible (e.g. the Law and the Prophets). In this article, I will present evidence that draws this consensus into question. I will examine a pattern of scriptural reuse found throughout the book of Malachi that is also found in Malachi 3:24. I will demonstrate that throughout Malachi and in Malachi 3:24, elements of Genesis 31-33 are reused. Based on this observation, I will compare the scribal mechanics and hermeneutic employed in the incorporation of the reused texts into the Malachi corpus with those used in Malachi 3.24. I will argue that there are enough similarities in the employed mechanics and hermeneutic to conclude that Malachi 3:24 is not a redactional insertion.