A Message from the Great King: Reading Malachi in Light of Ancient Persian Royal Messenger Texts from the Time of Xerxes

by R. Michael Fox

The academy has not been kind to Malachi. Indeed, some of the most influential and seminal studies on the book denigrate its style, message, and overall artistry. This negative assessment proves extensive in the history of scholarship. Furthermore, the studies demonstrating a more positive assessment of Malachi do so without offering serious challenges to these long-standing denigrations. Complicating the matter is the observation that critical study has proffered numerous suggestions for what Malachi contains while failing to provide a viable model of what Malachi actually is. A Message from the Great King presents serious challenges to the guild’s prior assessments and conclusions about the book. Through an interdisciplinary approach that synthesizes insights from literary theory, thorough historical reconstruction, and a close reading of the biblical text, R. Michael Fox makes a formidable case that a root messenger metaphor pervades the entire text of Malachi. Viewed and read through this new lens, Malachi’s artistry becomes more readily apparent and its theological message more intense and demanding. A Message from the Great King provides serious reassessment of the academy’s long-standing denigrations of the book and a compelling answer to what Malachi actually is. Accompanying these insights into Malachi are new methodological procedures and exercises that merit further attention and reflection.

184 pages, Hardcover

Published November 16, 2015

About the author

R. Michael Fox (Ph.D.) serves as the Thomas O. Jones Chair of Faith and Vocation and as Associate Professor of Christian Ministries at Williams Baptist University (AR). In addition to his academic books, Professor Fox's articles, essays, and reviews appear in a variety of publications.

Doctor Fox grew up in the foothills of the Ouachita Mountains in central Arkansas. He aims to inspire and impact his students, but has conceded that he will never pour into them as much as they pour into him. He enjoys reading, teaching, hiking, camping, fishing, cooking, writing, and especially doing all these things with his wife and two boys.

Reviews

[Don · Rating 5 out of 5]

This an important and well-written book. Dr. Fox has a strong basis for his somewhat unique thesis and explains it well. This is the first I had heard of some of the theories put forth but I found them enlightening and fascinating. I found especially interesting the use of The Chronicles of Narnia series(C.S. Lewis) as an example of various cosmologies or a "donegality" in literature. I was intellectually enriched by this work and I would highly recommend it for anyone looking to cultivate their understanding of BIblical literature.