Judah after Jewish exile in Babylon

Israel after the Exile in what is now Iraq

The scenes in Malachi probably took place in the Persian province of Yehud, which is translated Judah or Judea. It was roughly a 40-mile-wide square plug of ground (60 km), in territory that became known as Palestine. The Jewish province included Jerusalem and beyond, into what are now central parts of Israel and Occupied Palestinian Territories. Jerusalem is where Jews sacrificed animals to God. And this was a topic Malachi covered with emotion and blunt words.