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From: Malachi 4:1-2 [3:19-20a in NAB]

Sixth Exchange: The Righteous on the Day of the Lord (Continuation)

[1] “For behold, the day comes, burning like an oven, when all the arrogant and
all evildoers will be stubble; the day that comes shall burn them up, says the
Lord of hosts, so that it will leave them neither root nor branch. [2] But for you
who fear my name the sun of righteousness shall rise, with healing in its wings.
You shall go forth leaping like calves from the stall.

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Commentary:

3:13-4:3. The question posed here is similar to that in the fourth “dispute” (2:17
-3:5): if things go well for those who do evil and tempt God (v. 15), why should
one obey the Lord’s commandments (v. 14)? The prophet’s reply is very similar
to his previous one (cf. 3:2, 5): he announces a day of judgment when the wick-
ed will be destroyed (4:1, 3). However, Malachi is more explicit than he was ear-
lier as regards the reward of the righteous. The Lord is not unaware of the trials
and worries of those who fear him; in fact he is like a great king who records in
his annals (cf. Esther 6:1-3) the good deeds of the just (3:16). Therefore, the
day when the Lord reveals himself will be for them a day of splendour and inex-
pressible joy (4:2), for they enjoy God’s special protection (3:17-18).

The expression “sun of righteousness” (4:2), applied to the coming of the Lord,
is echoed in the New Testament Benedictus or canticle of Zechariah (cf. Lk 1:
78). Therefore, it is not surprising that Christian tradition should apply it to Je-
sus Christ: “The Lord came in the evening to a world in decline, when the
course of life was almost run; but when the Sun of justice came, he gave new
life and began a new day for those who believed in him” (Origen, Homiliae in
Exodum, 7, 8).

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Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.

Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.