Shared ground

Malachi 4:5 is framed as a final, attention-grabbing announcement (“Behold”) and a direct promise from Yahweh: “I will send you Elijah the prophet” before “the great and dreadful day of Yahweh” arrives. The verse presents a clear sequence: first the sending, then the day. The coming “day of Yahweh” is not described as ordinary; it is both great and alarming, suggesting a decisive moment of divine intervention and accountability.

In context, the book has been pressing a drifting post-exile community to take Yahweh seriously. The closing lines look backward to Moses’ instruction (Mal 4:4) and forward to a future day (Mal 4:5), with Elijah’s sending functioning like an advance notice that the decisive day is approaching.

Where interpretation differs (only where needed)

1) Who (or what) “Elijah” is. The text explicitly names “Elijah the prophet,” but it does not explain whether this means Elijah himself returned or a later prophetic figure who carries Elijah’s role and message. Some readers take the name as straightforwardly literal. Others think “Elijah” signals a prophetic messenger in Elijah’s mold (confronting unfaithfulness, calling for renewed loyalty), because the verse gives no details of a literal return.

2) What “send you” entails. The verse clearly promises Yahweh’s action (“I will send”), but it does not specify whether the sending is mainly about Elijah’s physical arrival, a public prophetic mission, or the delivery of a message that prepares people for the day of Yahweh.

3) What “the day of Yahweh” refers to here. The verse names the day and describes its character (“great and dreadful”), but it does not define its scope or timing. Some read it as a near-term historical intervention; others as a final, climactic future reckoning; others as a pattern that can include multiple fulfillments. The verse itself only anchors the day as coming and momentous, with Elijah’s sending preceding it.

Why the disagreement exists The verse is short and programmatic: it announces that Yahweh will send Elijah before the day, but it leaves unanswered how Elijah comes, what his sending looks like, and when exactly the day occurs. Those gaps invite readers to use broader biblical context and later history to fill in details, which can lead to different conclusions.

What this passage clearly contributes It contributes a closing promise that Yahweh will not bring the “day of Yahweh” without prior warning. It also links the community’s future to Israel’s prophetic memory by naming Elijah specifically, and it portrays the coming day as both extraordinarily significant (great) and deeply sobering (“dreadful/terrible”). The verse’s explicit claims are limited but strong: Yahweh promises a sent prophetic figure and places that sending as a precursor to the decisive day.