Customer Reviews

Malachi (Anchor Bible)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The richest section of this book in the Anchor Bible series is the 90 pages introduction that deals with text, canon, literary and historical aspects of the book and its date. The author has kept up AB series' tradition of thoroughness in dealing with the biblical text. On the top of a detailed commentary the author has offered some useful appendices: "von Bulmerincq's Categories for dating Malachi", "Typological Analysis of the Postexilic Prophets"; "Intertextuality in the Book of Malachi", "Vocabulary Richness in the Book of Malachi." An extensive bibliography (36 pages!) is certainly a boon to students of the book of Malachi. The author argues for a 500 BCE date for the Book of Malachi. He suggests that Ezra and Nehemiah are responsible for the final redaction of it.

Andrew Hill's commentary on Malachi is loaded with information. He thoroughly covers all the views on each introductory and interpretive issue. Plus he puts forth some of his own views, like his great case that Malachi fits best in the early 5th century BCE when Darius led Persia against the Greek world. There are several appendixes that provide readers with linguistic charts, comparisons of Hebrew phrases in Malachi with other OT books, etc. Hill's mastery of Biblical Hebrew is readily apparent, although he constantly uses Waltke and O'Connor's grammar authoritatively and exclusively.

Unfortunately, however, the Anchor Bible format is often completely uninviting, as is the case with "Malachi." Subsections and headings aren't as helpful as they could be. Navigating the work is awkward and tedious. The sentences and paragraphs are broken up with so many parenthetical notes that clarity is often lost. In some ways, there is too much information - too many tangents and references of secondary sources - making the work really inaccessible to those outside of critical scholarship.

Still, this work is a must have if you want to study Malachi at the most serious level. If you're teaching in a faith context, however, you might check out Pieter Verhoef's NICOT commentary "Haggai, Malachi." You can find it cheaper, it's a terrific, insightful commentary, plus you also get a great commentary on Haggai!

Overall, the content merits a 5, but the unhelpful format merits a 2 or 3! I want to give it a 4, but the content is still so rich and thorough that I'll overlook the format and stick with 5/5 stars (with the caveat that this is only for the most rigorous, academic study of Malachi).