Thesis advisor: David S. Vanderhooft / The book of Haggai emerged from a dispute in the early Persian period over the propriety and feasibility of rebuilding the temple in Jerusalem in 520 BCE. As a record of that dispute, the book is a rhetorical artifact that displays a variety of strategies designed to persuade the Yehudite community that Yhwh wanted his house rebuilt. Theological and socioeconomic objections and obstacles to reconstruction had to be overcome before the Yehudites would accept Haggai’s call to rebuild. This dissertation argues that although some of the Yehudite community accepted Haggai’s claim that Yhwh wanted his temple built, others remained unpersuaded, fearing that the adverse agricultural and economic conditions, as well as the lack of a royal builder, were signs that Yhwh was not ready to begin the period of restoration. The oracles and narrative portions of the book are intended to counter these fears by arguing that Yhwh will provide for the adornment of the temple, bring prosperity to Yehud once the temple is built, and has already designated the Davidide Zerubbabel as the chosen royal builder. Haggai further strengthened commitment to reconstruction by vilifying those Yehudites who failed to support the temple as unclean and non-Israelite. Rhetorical analysis illumines not only particular features of the text but also indicates what theological and socioeconomic sources of opposition to temple reconstruction were most important in this period. This sheds further light on the socioeconomic conditions of early Persian period Yehud. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2016. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Theology.

[pt] Uma questão muito discutida atualmente na exegese bíblica diz respeito ao status do rolo dos assim chamados Doze Profetas Menores. Os estudiosos se dividem entre aqueles que entendem que os Doze devem ser considerados como uma obra literária unificada e aqueles que entendem que os escritos que integram esse rolo devem ser vistos como independentes em relação aos demais. Esta tese, visando oferecer uma contribuição para a discussão da problemática dos Doze, parte de uma apresentação do status quaestionis da pesquisa dos Doze, e, passando por um estudo do texto do Livro de Malaquias e sua organização, desemboca na análise da última perícope desse escrito, Ml 3.13-21, procurando verificar suas relações com os demais textos do conjunto dos Doze, em geral, e do Livro de Malaquias, em particular. Atenção especial é dada à comparação entre o texto de Ml 3.13-21 e o Livro de Joel, sobretudo com respeito à utilização feita em ambos os textos do motivo do dia de YHWH. O trabalho chega à conclusão de que a perícope estudada revela pontos de contato mais fortes com o restante do Livro de Malaquias do que com os demais textos do conjunto dos Doze, o que fala a favor da consideração do último integrante dos Doze como um escrito independente. / [en] An issue that causes much discussion nowadays in biblical exegesis is the status of the scroll of the so-called Twelve Minor Prophets. Scholars are divided among those who understand that the Twelve should be considered as a unified literary work and those who understand that the writings that are part of that scroll should be seen as independent in relation to the others. This thesis, looking at offering a contribution to the discussion of the matter of the Twelve, has its starting point in a presentation of the status quaestionis of the research of the Twelve, and, going through a study of the text of the Book of Malachi and its organization, leads to the analysis of the last pericope of that writing, Ml 3.13-21, seeking for verifying its relations to the other texts of the whole of the Twelve, in general, and of the Book of Malachi, in particular. Special attention is given to the comparison between the text of Ml 3.13-21 and the Book of Joel, specially concerning the use that both texts make of the motif of the day of YHWH. This work comes to the conclusion that the pericope studied reveals stronger contacts with the rest of the Book of Malachi than with other texts of the whole of the Twelve, something that speaks in favour of the consideration of the last component of the Twelve as an independent writing.

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