Malachi 4 (WEB)

God

Also called
LORD, Lord, Father, hosts, Almighty, Holy, GOD, Saviour, last, JEHOVAH, Judge, father, lawgiver, Fathers, dayspring, host, Ancient
Gender
Male
Appears in
Children AdamEve

Yahweh, the Personal Name of God

Word Study | Israel Loken • Hershel Wayne House
יְהֹוָה Yᵉhôvâh ·Strong's H3068

Strictly speaking, the only personal name of God belonging to Him alone, and the most significant name of God found in the Old Testament (over 5000 times).  Yahweh is the approximate (and likely) pronunciation of the tetragrammaton, the four-letter word YHWH.  When Moses asked what His name was to take back to the Hebrews in Egypt, God replied, “I AM THAT I AM (אֶֽהְיֶ֖ה אֲשֶׁ֣ר אֶֽהְיֶ֑ה ehyeh esher ehyeh): and he said, Thus shall you say to the children of Israel, I AM (אֶֽהְיֶ֖ה, ehyeh, 1st person singular, giving God's declaration of His name) has sent me to you” (Exod 3:14).  Thus God revealed to Moses the very essential meaning of His name as Yahweh (יְהוָ֞ה, Yahweh, 3rd person singular, the response of the people of God, He is).  There is a strong indication that Jesus (or Yeshua, Yahweh is salvation) used this name and its divine implication to apply to himself when he said, “Before Abraham was, I AM” (ἐγὼ εἰμί, egō eimi) (John 8:58).  Thus, the very Person who spoke to Moses out of the burning bush was the very same Person who addressed the startled Jews in the Gospel of John.

For a more complete discussion of the personal name of God, see the passage in Exodus in which He reveals His name to Moses, Exodus 3:14, 15.

A Name of God (אֱלֹהִים; 'elohim)

Word Study | Hershel Wayne House
אֱלֹהִים ʼĕlôhîym ·Strong's H430

This is a generic name for the divine being. In the Hebrew Bible, the word is regularly used in the plural in reference to the God of Israel but in regard to His majesty or intensity. The plural has a third person singular with the God of Israel, but a third plural with foreign deities.

Abba, Father

Word Study | Hershel Wayne House • Steve Stanley
Ἀββᾶ Abbâ ·Strong's G5

This Aramaic term is used only three times in the NT and approximately 80 times in the writings of the early church fathers when quoting or paraphrasing Jesus’ words. It is translated by the very next word in this verse as ὁ πατήρ (ho pater) “the Father,” as it is in all three NT uses. Jesus spoke in Aramaic, and Hebrew, both languages being used in Israel. In Jesus’ day, abba was used for the father in the family, and was a customary title for God in prayer among the Jews. It was eventually taken over by Greek-speaking Christians as a liturgical formula. Some posit that abba is equivalent to “daddy,” an American English term for “father.” This assumes that the American informality expressed by children toward their father would have an analogy in Jesus’ culture, an assumption difficult to sustain. It is, therefore, not appropriate to refer to God as “daddy.” Linguistically, then, abba means "father" in Hebrew, Greek and English. It must be noted, however, that while “father” is a term of respect in biblical literature, it is also a term of affection, very deep and abiding affection. With His use of “Abba,” Jesus expresses His respectful and intimate relationship with His Heavenly Father in prayer, a wonderful example for all believers.

Person & place data: Theographic Bible Metadata by Robert Rouse (Viz.Bible), CC BY-SA 4.0.
Malachi 4 (WEB)

1“For behold, the day comes, burning like a furnace, when all the proud and all who work wickedness will be stubble. The day that comes will burn them up,” says Yahweh of Armies, “so that it will leave them neither root nor branch. 2But to you who fear my name shall the sun of righteousness arise with healing in its wings. You will go out and leap like calves of the stall. 3You shall tread down the wicked; for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I make,” says Yahweh of Armies.

4“Remember the law of Moses my servant, which I commanded to him in Horeb for all Israel, even statutes and ordinances.

5Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and terrible day of Yahweh comes. 6He will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the earth with a curse.”

God