Introduction

The Book of Malachi is the last book of the Nevi'im contained in the Tanakh, canonically the last of the Twelve Minor Prophets. In the Christian ordering, the grouping of the Prophetic Books is the last section of the Old Testament, making Malachi the last book before The New Testament.

Author

There is substantial debate regarding the identity of the book's author.The book is commonly attributed to a prophet by the name of "Malachi," as its title has frequently been understood as a proper name, although its Hebrew meaning is simply "My Messenger " (the Septuagint reads "his messenger") and may not be the author's name at all.

One of the Targums identifies Ezra (or Esdras) as the author of Malachi. Priest and Historian Jerome suggests that this may be because Ezra is seen as an intermediary between the prophets and the "great synagogue." There is, however, no historical evidence yet to support this claim.

Date

There are very few historical details in the Book of Malachi. The greatest clue as to its dating may lie in the fact that the Persian-era term for governor (pehâ) is used in 1:8. This points to a post-exilic (that is, after 538 BCE) date of composition both because of the use of the Persian period term and because Judah had a king before the exile. Since, in the same verse, the temple has been rebuilt, the book must also be later than 515 BC.

The rest of this comprehensive Wikipedia article on the book can be read here.

An extract from BHFA Volume 5

Malachi 1:14b

 כִּי      מֶלֶךְ   גָּדוֹל   אָנִי  אָמַר     יְהוָה    צְבָאוֹת

armies     Yahweh     says      I      great     King     because

• KJB for I am a great King, saith the LORD of hosts,

• NASB for I am a great King," says the LORD of hosts,

• ESV For I am a great King, says the LORD of hosts,

• NLT For I am a great king,” says the LORD of Heaven’s Armies,

• NIV For I am a great king," says the LORD Almighty,

In this case, it is Yahweh of armies (LORD Almighty) that is calling himself a great King. However, in Ps 47:2, 48:2, 95:3 it is a third person, the Psalmists, calling God by this name.

An extract from BHFA Volume 5

Malachi 2:16a

כִּי־          שָׂנֵא        שַׁלַּח

 send away    he hates    because 

• KJB he hateth putting away:

• NASB "For I hate divorce,"

• NIV "The man who hates and divorces his wife,"

שַׁלַּח

Pi'el infinitive construct of the verb meaning, "to send." In the pi'el binyan it takes on the meaning, "send off, send away, cast out, and dismiss." In the context of the last words of the preceding verse 15 namely, "against the wife of your youth," we could conclude the wife is the object of the "sending away" action, which is a description of what happens when a man "divorces" his wife.

This a very common verb, occuring 847 times in the Hebrew Bible. The pi'el is often used to express a command. The most famous example being, "Let my people go!" in Ex 5:1; 7:16; 8:1,20; 9:1,13; 10:3.

In the pi'el it is also used to express the concept of "divorce." The most famous case beinghere in Malachi. It is also used as such in Dt 22:11,19,29; Dt 24:1,3; and Jer 3:1.

More on "divorce" here.