Two Messiahs in Malachi 3: Plural Pronouns in the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Coming to the Temple

Two Messiahs in Malachi 3: Plural Pronouns in the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Coming to the Temple



Malachi 3 is one of the most important prophetic texts for understanding Jewish messianism in the Second Temple period. In Christian tradition, this chapter is typically read as a prophecy pointing to John the Baptist and Jesus—the forerunner and the Messiah. But the Dead Sea Scrolls contain a version of Malachi 3 with plural pronouns in key places, suggesting more than one eschatological figure.


This fits remarkably well with the Qumran community’s broader expectation of two messiahs:


a Priestly Messiah (of Aaron), and


a Royal/Davidic Messiah (of Israel).



In this blog we explore how the DSS variants illuminate the John/Jesus relationship, and what it means in this context that “they will come to the temple.”



1. The Plural Pronouns in Malachi 3 (Dead Sea Scrolls Version)


The Masoretic Text (standard Hebrew Bible) reads Malachi 3 almost entirely in the singular:


“The Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple…

Who can endure the day of his coming?”


But a Qumran manuscript of Malachi, according to several scholars, preserves plural forms:


“Who can endure their coming?”


“Who can stand when they appear?”



This pluralization strongly suggests that the Qumran community read Malachi 3 as referring not to one figure but two. This fits perfectly with the sect’s own theology.


2. Two Figures in Malachi 3: Messenger and Lord


Even in the Masoretic Text, two figures are present:


1. “My messenger” who prepares the way



2. “The Lord… who comes to his temple”




The DSS plural pronouns highlight this distinction—not only are there two figures, but both are involved in the eschatological visitation.


For Christians, this naturally maps onto:


John the Baptist → the messenger


Jesus → the “Lord” (human agent of God, not necessarily divine in the Jewish reading)



But the plural DSS reading suggests something even more nuanced:

both figures come and are involved in the moment of divine visitation.



3. What It Means That “They Will Come to the Temple”


This line is the key to understanding the two-messiah idea.


In the Hebrew Bible, the temple is the center of priestly authority, purification, judgment, sacrifice, and kingship. When Malachi says “the Lord will come to his temple,” the imagery naturally evokes:


priestly purification (Levites, sacrifices, offerings)


royal oversight (kings judged or enthroned at the temple)



But the Dead Sea Scrolls’ plural reading implies two figures jointly interacting with the temple, each according to their role.


A. John the Baptist — the Priestly Figure Comes to the Temple


John is from a priestly lineage (Luke 1), and his entire ministry is about:


repentance


purification


ritual cleansing


calling the priesthood and nation back to purity



In a Qumran-style reading, the priestly messiah (John) is the one who:


symbolically prepares the people for temple purity


calls out corrupt priesthood (like Qumran polemics against Jerusalem priests)


initiates the eschatological purification process outside the physical temple



John doesn’t literally walk into the Jerusalem temple and perform rituals, but in prophetic symbolism, he brings the temple to the people through a purification ministry in the wilderness—exactly the kind of priestly function Qumran expected of the “Messiah of Aaron.”


B. Jesus — the Kingly Figure Comes to the Temple


Jesus fits the Davidic / kingly expectation:


He confronts the temple authorities.


He symbolically judges the temple (“not one stone will remain”).


He enacts royal authority inside the temple (e.g., temple cleansing, teaching with kingly authority).



This is exactly what a royal messiah does in Qumran texts:

he judges the priesthood and asserts divine rule.


C. Together: A Dual-Visitation of the Temple


In the DSS understanding, the temple encounter is not a single moment by a single figure. It is a two-phase visitation:


1. The Priestly Messenger (John) prepares, cleanses, calls to repentance — the pre-visitation purification.



2. The Royal Messiah (Jesus) arrives with judgment and rule — the actual visitation.




Thus, they both “come to the temple”:


John prepares it priestly.


Jesus confronts it as king.



The plural DSS reading captures this dual-ascent perfectly.




4. Qumran’s Two-Messiah Theology and Its Fit with Malachi 3


Other DSS texts explicitly mention:


Messiah of Aaron → priestly


Messiah of Israel → kingly



Their roles are complementary:


The priestly messiah purifies and teaches.


The royal messiah rules and judges.



Malachi 3’s actions—purifying the sons of Levi, coming to the temple, bringing judgment—match both roles.


The plural pronouns thus reflect this shared mission.



5. Why This Matters for Understanding John and Jesus


Historical insight


Early Christians did not invent the idea of two figures. The Jewish world already had it. John and Jesus naturally fall into those roles.


Literary insight


Jesus’s application of Malachi to John makes more sense:

John is not merely “Elijah” but a priestly forerunner.


Symbolic insight


The “coming to the temple” is not just Jesus entering Jerusalem.

It includes the whole priestly purification movement John initiates.


Textual insight


The DSS plural pronouns reveal an older or parallel interpretive tradition that was comfortable with multiple eschatological agents, not a single monolithic Messiah.



Conclusion


The plural readings of Malachi 3 in the Dead Sea Scrolls bring new clarity to the ancient Jewish expectation of two messiahs—one priestly, one royal. In this light, the line “they will come to the temple” becomes a coordinated prophetic picture:


John the Baptist, the priestly messenger, inaugurates a purification movement and symbolically prepares the temple and the people.


Jesus, the royal messiah, enters the physical temple with authority, judgment, and kingship.



Together, they fulfill the dual visitation envisioned by the Qumran community and hinted at in the plural DSS version of Malachi 3.


Understanding this enriches both historical and secular readings of the New Testament, showing how early Christians fit within the diverse messianic expectations of their time—and how Malachi 3 was understood by groups like the Essenes as a prophecy involving two complementary eschatological figures, not just one.

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