Malachi
Malachi or Malachias is the name used by the author of the Book of Malachi, the last book of the Nevi'im section of the Tanakh. It is possible that Malachi is not a proper name, because it means "messenger"; it has been assumed to be a pseudonym. According to Jewish tradition, Malachi's true identity is Ezra the scribe.
Some scholars argue that the Book of Malachi is the result of multiple stages of redaction; most of its text originated in the Persian period, with the oldest stratum from around 500 BCE and redactions into the Hellenistic period.
Identity
The editors of the 1906 Jewish Encyclopedia implied that Malachi, also known as Malachias, prophesied after Haggai and Zechariah and speculated that he delivered his prophecies about 420 BC, after the second return of Nehemiah from Persia, or possibly before his return. The Talmud and the Aramaic Targum of Yonathan ben Uzziel identify Ezra as the same person as Malachi. This is the traditional view held by most Jews and some Christians, including Jerome. This identification is plausible, because "Malachi" reprimands the people for the same things Ezra did, such as marrying foreign pagan women. Malachi also focuses extensively on corrupt priests who Ezra, a priest himself who exhorted the people to follow the law, despised. According to Josephus, Ezra died and was buried "in a magnificent manner in Jerusalem". If the tradition that Ezra wrote under the name "Malachi" is correct, then Josephus meant that he was buried in the Tomb of the Prophets, the traditional resting place of Malachi. This would also explain why Ezra does not refer to a prophet named Malachi, while he did refer to other prophets such as Haggai and Zechariah.Other potential identities includes Zerubbabel and Nehemiah; others suggest that Malachi was a separate person altogether, possibly a Levite and a member of the Great Assembly.