Prophecy in the Second Temple Period: Malachi and Daniel
Prophecy in the Second Temple period sees an increased interest in themes such as Torah and apocalypse.
Malachi
Written after the Second Temple had been built, the book of Malachi advocates following the Torah of Moses. Using the metaphor of God as father, it excoriates the priests and the people for maintaining a Temple service that is corrupt and demeans God, for marriages with idolatrous wives, and for social wrongs. It foretells a time when God will send a messenger before him to purify the people and Temple of their sins, when doubts about his justice will cease, and when he will send the prophet Elijah to bring reconciliation, before “the fearful day of the Lord.” This verse led to the idea that Elijah will come at the beginning of the messianic era. The name “Malachi” means “my messenger” (see 3:1); it is not clear if this is actually the name of the prophet.
Daniel
In the Hebrew Bible, Daniel is found in the Writings, not in the Prophets, although some ancient traditions considered Daniel a prophet. (Christian Bibles include him among the prophets.) While most of the book of Daniel is in Hebrew, parts of it (2:4b–7:28) are in Aramaic. The first six chapters are stories set in the periods of Babylonian and (like Esther) Persian rule and are more accurately classified as prose narrative than prophetic literature. Chapters 7–12 contain apocalyptic visions composed, for the most part, during the reign of the Seleucid king, Antiochus IV Epiphanes (175–164 BCE), whose persecution of Judaism provoked the Maccabean revolt of 167–165 BCE. Among their consequential themes are the presence of named angels as guardians of various nations, and the earliest statement of the belief in the resurrection of the dead (Daniel 12:2).