Altar pollution in Malachi: An exploration on the violation of Leviticus’ ritual traditions (Leviticus 1–7) in Malachi 1:6–10

The article, through a literary and theological approach, explores the distinction between the ritual texts’ explicit assertions in Leviticus (relative to specific ritual texts in Leviticus 1–7), and the ritual practices reflected in Malachi 1:6–10, on the one hand, and the basic socio-economic reason for the violation of specific ritual requirements and the ethical and theological implications of such violation, on the other hand. Malachi 1:6–10 contains both poetic and prose layers on the cult of the criticised members of the post-exilic community of the Book of Malachi. The poetic section (vv. 6–9) presents Yahweh’s unfavorable disposition towards the sacrificial cult, mostly in the form of interrogations, and the prose part (v. 10), bluntly highlights Yahweh’s outright displeasure over the polluted offerings that are being brought to him. The exploration reveals that the tacit collaboration and encouragement of wrongdoing by both the priests and the people, constitutes a glamourisation of the elimination and rejection of the rituals of the cult. Consequently, the article offers profound insight into ritual performance in Malachi 1:6–10 by identifying the prominent creators of the violations, and it underscores that the performance of the cultic rituals should satisfy the most rigorous cultic and/or ethical demands, no matter what the socio-economic situations of ritual practitioners.