Malachi 2:7

Priests should speak true knowledge and should be reliable sources of instruction (Heb. torah) because they are messengers of Yahweh. Levi contrasts with the priests of Malachi’s day, and Malachi ("my messenger") also contrasts with the priests of his day. Ezra was the great example of a faithful priest in postexilic Judaism (cf. Ezra 7:10; Ezra 7:25; Nehemiah 8:9).

"As the life of a community depends upon the keeper of its water supply to guard that supply from loss or contamination, so the life of Israel depended upon its priests to preserve God’s written word and effectively to dispense it when ’men should seek’ it." [Note: Ibid., p. 314.]