Tafsiran yang Mengutip untuk Maleakhi 1:1

WHY GOD GAVE ISRAEL THE TWENTY-FOUR BOOKS
WHEN [GOD GAVE the Torah to the Jewish people:] “He came with some of the sacred myriads; and in His right hand was eish-das, a fire of law, for them [Israel].”¹As I wrote in the beginning of Part 1, Chapter 1, this verse from Deut. 33:2 is quoted at the beginning of each of the three sections because, as explained in the Sifrei, it encompasses the nature of the Torah and its impact upon humankind, especially for those who toil in its study. [At that time] God desired to give the Jewish people the twenty-four sacred books.²The Twenty-four Books refer to the Pentateuch, Prophets and Hagiographa. Samuel I and II, Kings I and II, the trei-asar (the twelve minor prophets), Ezra and Nehemiah, and Chronicles I and II are considered to be one book each. Tractate Berachos 5a states: R. Levi ben Hama, stated in the name of R. Shimon ben Lakish, “What is the meaning of the verse, ‘…and I shall give you [Moses] the stone luhos,³The two stone tablets on which the Ten Commandments were inscribed. Torah⁴Torah means “teaching.” and the mitzvah⁵Commandment. that I have written to teach them?’⁶Ex. 24:12. [The word luhos refers to the Ten Commandments]. Torah refers to Scripture. Mitzvah – this is the Mishnah, and ‘that which I have written’ refers to the Prophets and Hagiographa.’” In Shemos Rabbah, parashah 28, it is written: R. Yitzhak said, “That which the Prophets were to prophesy in the future to subsequent generations was received from Mount Sinai. For Moses said to Israel, ‘[Not with you alone do I seal this covenant…] but with whoever is here, standing with us today before the Lord our God, and with whoever is not here with us today,’⁷Deut. 29:14, 15.…[A similar idea is found in the verse], ‘The burden of the word of God to Israel by Malachi,’ [literally, “in the hand of Malachi”].⁸Mal. 1:1. It does not say ‘in the days of Malachi,’ but ‘in the hand of Malachi,’ for his prophecy was already in his hand since Sinai, but until then he was not granted the right to prophesy. Similarly Isaiah said, ‘From the time that it was, there am I.’⁹Isa. 48:16. Isaiah said, I was present at the Revelation on Sinai where I received this prophecy. [However], only ‘now has the Lord God¹⁰Rashi, on Deut. 3:24, translates Adonai Elohim as “merciful in judgment.” See Nahmanides for another translation. authorized me to prophesy¹¹Literally, “sent me.” and imbued me with his Divine Spirit,’ for until now no permission was given to him to prophesy.”¹²Since Malachi and Isaiah were born long after the Revelation, they could not have uttered any prophecy earlier because they were not yet alive. The Midrash intimates that God only brought them into the world when permission to prophesy had already been given.

VARIOUS SCRIPTURAL AND AGGADIC SOURCES SUGGEST THAT A PERSON’S INTELLECTUAL AND SPIRITUAL GROWTH IS LIMITED BY HIS INNATE ABILITIES
WHEN [GOD GAVE the Torah to the Jewish people,] “He came with some of the sacred myriads, and in His right hand was eish-das, a fire of law, for them [Israel].”¹See the Sifrei quoted in Part 1, chapter 1, footnote 32. Applicable to this section, the Sifrei expresses how the Torah sustains the world, while danger awaits those who use the Torah for personal gain. In addition, the Sifrei compares the properties of the Torah to a flame: just as a flame originates from heaven and returns to its source when it is not being “held” by an item such as a wick, so a person who lifts himself above the physical realm by cleaving to the fire of Torah becomes lifted heavenward beyond the barriers of the physical realm. It was then that each one of Israel received his portion, [that is, his] strength of prophecy and power in Torah.²The phrase “power in Torah” may refer to the ability to grasp its concepts and originate novel law. This is stated in Shemos Rabbah, parashah 28: “God spoke all these words, saying.”³Ex. 20:1. [Why does the Torah include the word “all?”] R. Isaac said: “The prophets received from Sinai the message they were to prophesy to subsequent generations. Moshe told Israel: ‘But with him that is standing here with us this day before the Lord our God, and also with him who is not here with us this day, etc.’ (Deut. 28:14). It does not say ‘who is not here standing with us this day,’ but just ‘not with us this day.’ [This verse is referring to] the future people to be created; and because there is not yet any substance to them, [they were not yet in human form], the word ‘standing’ is not used [when referring to] them. Although they did not yet exist, each one received his share [of the Torah], as it says, ‘The burden of the word of God to Israel by the hand of Malachi’⁴If “be-yad” is read as “ba’yad” it is to be translated as “in the hand.” In that case it would mean it was already possessed by Malachi. (Mal. 1:1). It does not say ‘in the days of Malachi,’ but ‘by the hand of Malachi,’ for the power of his prophecy was already within him since Sinai, but he was not granted permission to prophesy…Not only did all the Prophets receive their [power of] prophecy from Sinai, but each of the Sages who arose in each generation received [his wisdom] from Sinai, as it says, ‘God spoke these words unto all of your assembly… with a great voice, without cessation” (Deut. 5:19)…. R. Shimon ben Lakish said: “[It was the voice] from which all subsequent prophets received their [power of] prophecy.”⁵This is the Soncino translation with minor changes.

ולא אתכם לבדכם, “And not only with you, etc.” Moses means that although G’d concludes this covenant with the present generation of Jews as well as the oath warning against non-performance, seeing that you are standing here this day, the fact is that even future generations of Jews unable to stand here today are included in this covenant. The reason that Moses is able to make such a statement is that the trunk of the tree is viewed as the father, i.e. “the root ” of all subsequent branches. All the branches are only the offshoots of the original roots. Concerning how it s possible to include unborn generations in this covenant, i.e. reciprocal undertaking, our sages in Tanchuma Yitro 11 comment that all souls ever created since the days of the creation of the earth were present at this assembly. They are not all described as “standing,” as souls without bodies cannot “stand.” The words אשר איננו פה, “who are not here,” refer to the bodies of such souls. The words עמנו היום, refer to their souls, which are present even today. The word עמנו, “with us,” refers back to the word עומד, “standing,” in verse 14. It is as if the Torah had written: “and all those not standing here with us this day.” The reason Moses uses the word “standing,” is because the angels in Zecharyah 3,7 have been described as בין העומדים האלה, “among these who are standing.”
Our sages in Tanchuma Yitro 11 also claim that all the prophets who ever lived (after Moses) all received their prophetic powers when their souls were at the assembly at Sinai; however they were not allowed to make use of their prophetic powers until their respective generations when they were alive on earth. This is also the meaning of Malachi 1,1 משא דבר ה’ ביד מלאכי. It is significant that the wording is not על מלאכי, but ביד מלאכי. The present formulation means: ”A pronouncement: ‘the word of the Lord to Israel through Malachi,’” whereas the other formulation would have meant that the “message only now came to Malachi.” The present formulation describes only the point in time when this message, which the soul of the prophet had received at Mount Sinai, was released for publication. We find something similar in Isaiah 48,16 where the prophet writes: “from the beginning I did not speak in secret; from the time anything existed I was there. And now, the Lord G’d has sent me, endowed me with His spirit.” The meaning of the verse is that the soul of the prophet had received this communication from G’d already at Mount Sinai but it had only now been released for publication.

That which already was. That which was before us, was already done, and we either saw it or heard it from others who saw it, and we can attest to it, for we saw that the Holy One, Blessed Is He, seeks the pursued. Yaakov was pursued, Eisav was a pursuer, [and Scripture states,] “And I loved Yaakov. But I hated Eisav.”³³Malachi 1:1-2. The Egyptians pursued Yisroel; the Egyptians drowned in the sea, and [Bnei] Yisroel were victorious.