Identity of the Messenger in Malachi Three
Malachi 3:1 announces two figures: "my messenger" who prepares the way, and "the Lord" (or "messenger of the covenant") who comes suddenly to his temple [2]. The verse stands as a direct response to the skeptics of Malachi's day who had asked, "Where is the God of judgment?" [9]. Christian tradition has consistently identified the first messenger as John the Baptist and the second as Jesus Christ, while the passage itself layers multiple titles that invite careful distinction.
The First Messenger: John the Baptist
The phrase "my messenger" (Hebrew mal'aki) creates a wordplay on the prophet's own name, Malachi, which means "my messenger" or "my angel" [1, 5]. Jesus explicitly identified this figure as John the Baptist in three Gospel accounts (Matthew 11:10, Mark 1:2, Luke 7:27) [5]. John Gill notes that this messenger is "the same that is called Elijah the prophet" in Malachi 4:5, and "is no other than John the Baptist" [6]. The messenger's role is to "prepare the way before me," echoing the prophecy in Isaiah 40:3 [3]. This preparatory work involved calling Israel to repentance before the arrival of the Messiah.
Jewish interpreters offered alternative identifications. Jarchi suggested the angel of death, Kimchi proposed an angel from heaven, Aben Ezra identified the Messiah son of Joseph, and Abarbinel thought it was Malachi himself [6]. These readings reflect attempts to understand the prophecy within frameworks that did not anticipate a two-stage messianic fulfillment.
The Second Figure: The Lord and Messenger of the Covenant
The verse shifts to a second figure described with three titles: "the LORD" (Adon), "whom ye seek," and "the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in" [2]. Jamieson-Fausset-Brown observes that the structure—"I send... he shall come"—demonstrates "the distinctness of person" between the Father who sends and the Son who comes [4]. The sudden arrival at "his temple" indicates divine authority and ownership over the sanctuary.
The phrase "messenger of the covenant" (mal'ak habberit) carries particular weight. Tyndale House notes that "Malachi's audience probably would have understood the messenger of the covenant to be a divine being," comparing this figure to the angel in Exodus 23:20-23 [5]. That Exodus passage describes an angel in whom God's name dwells, who has authority to forgive or retain sins—attributes that transcend ordinary angelic function. Christian interpretation has identified this messenger as "Jesus Christ... the messenger of the new covenant" [5].
Keil and Delitzsch describe this figure as "the angel of the covenant," emphasizing the covenantal framework [3]. The title links the coming one to God's covenant promises to Israel, suggesting that his arrival will either confirm or judge the nation's faithfulness to those promises. Matthew Henry records that one rabbinic tradition understood this as God raising up "a righteous King, to set things in order, even the king Messiah" [7].
The Dual Reference and Its Implications
The verse's structure creates interpretive tension. The first messenger prepares "the way before me," where "me" appears to be the speaker (God). Yet the second figure is also called a messenger, though clearly identified as "the LORD" who comes to his own temple [2]. This layering of divine and messenger language reflects the complexity of messianic prophecy, where the coming one is both sent by God and identified with God's own presence.
Rashi's comment on Malachi 2:7—that a priest "is a messenger, the agent of the Holy One, blessed be He; like the ministering angels"—provides context for how messenger language functioned in Jewish thought [8]. Yet the titles in 3:1 exceed ordinary agency, particularly in the claim that this messenger is "the LORD" whom the people seek and the one who will "suddenly come to his temple" with divine prerogative [2].
The prophecy's fulfillment in the New Testament confirms the Christian reading: John prepared the way, and Jesus came as both messenger and Lord, bringing judgment that began with the house of God.
Sources
- Hitchcock's Bible Names “Hitchcock's Bible Names: Malachi — my messenger; my angel”
- King James Version “[KJV] Malachi 3:1 — Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the LORD, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the LORD of hosts.”
- Malachi (Lutheran) “Keil & Delitzsch on Malachi 3 (introduction): Coming of the Lord to judgment. Mal 3:1. "Behold, I send my messenger, that he may prepare the way before me; and the Lord, whom ye seek, will suddenly come to His temple, and the angel of the covenant, whom ye desire; behold he comes, saith Jehovah of hosts." To the question, Where is or remains the God of judgment? the Lord Himself replies that He will suddenly come to His temple, but that before His coming He will send a messenger to prepare the way for Him. The announcement of this messenger rests upon the prophecy in Isa 40:3., as the expressi”
- Malachi (Presbyterian) “Jamieson, Fausset & Brown on Malachi 3 (introduction): MESSIAH'S COMING, PRECEDED BY HIS FORERUNNER, TO PUNISH THE GUILTY FOR VARIOUS SINS, AND TO REWARD THOSE WHO FEAR GOD. (Mal. 3:1-18) Behold--Calling especial attention to the momentous truths which follow. Ye unbelievingly ask, Where is the God of judgment (Mal 2:7)? "Behold," therefore, "I send," &c. Your unbelief will not prevent My keeping My covenant, and bringing to pass in due time that which ye say will never be fulfilled. I will send . . . he shall come--The Father sends the Son: the Son comes. Proving the distinctness of person”
- Malachi (Protestant academic) “Tyndale House on Malachi 3:1: 3:1 my messenger (Hebrew mal’aki): This is a wordplay on Malachi’s name. The messenger may be either an angel or a human being functioning as a divine courier. Jesus identified John the Baptist by pointing to this passage (see Matt 11:10; Mark 1:2; Luke 7:27). • Malachi’s audience probably would have understood the messenger of the covenant to be a divine being (cp. Exod 23:20-23). The Christian church has understood Jesus Christ to be the messenger of the new covenant.”
- Malachi (Baptist/Reformed) “John Gill on Malachi 3:1: Behold, I will send my messenger,.... These are the words of Christ, in answer to the question put in the last verse of the preceding chapter Mal 2:17, "Where is the God of judgment?" intimating that he would quickly appear, and previous to his coming send his messenger or angel; not the angel of death to destroy the wicked, as Jarchi thinks; nor an angel from heaven, as Kimchi; nor Messiah the son of Joseph; as Aben Ezra; nor the Prophet Malachi himself, as Abarbinel; but the same that is called Elijah the prophet, Mal 4:5 and is no other than John the Baptist, as is”
- Malachi (Nonconformist/Puritan) “Matthew Henry on Malachi 3:1: The first words of this chapter seem a direct answer to the profane atheistical demand of the scoffers of those days which closed the foregoing chapter: Where is the God of judgment? To which it is readily answered, "Here he is; he is just at the door; the long-expected Messiah is ready to appear; and he says, For judgment have I come into this world, for that judgment which you have so impudently bid defiance to." One of the rabbin says that the meaning of this is, That God will raise up a righteous King, to set things in order, even the king Messiah. And the beg”
- Sefaria (Jewish (Rabbinic)) “Rashi (Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki) on Malachi 2:7: for he is a messenger the agent of the Holy One, blessed be He; like the ministering angels, to serve Him and to enter into His compartment. [I.e., into the place where God’s presence is manifest.]”
- Malachi (Presbyterian) “Jamieson, Fausset & Brown on Malachi 2:17: wearied . . . Lord-- (Isa 43:24). This verse forms the transition to Mal 3:1, &c. The Jewish skeptics of that day said virtually, God delighteth in evil-doers (inferring this from the prosperity of the surrounding heathen, while they, the Jews, were comparatively not prosperous: forgetting that their attendance to minor and external duties did not make up for their neglect of the weightier duties of the law; for example, the duty they owed their wives, just previously discussed); or (if not) Where (is the proof that He is) the God of judgment? To this”