Malachi 4:2

"But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of Righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth and gambol as calves of the stall."

Note that we have capitalized "Sun of Righteousness," as in the Authorized Version, there being no sufficient reason whatever for writing it "sun of righteousness," as in our version and many others. Clinton R. Gill is the only commentator we found who spoke out against the popular fad of denying the identity of Christ in this passage. He wrote:

"Here is one of the most picturesque descriptions of the Messiah to be found in the Old Testament. To dissect it is to destroy it. Suffice it to say, that as the sun is the light and source of life to all the earth, so the Christ is the light and giver of life to the true worshipper."[1]

"The Sun of Righteousness was understood by the fathers, from Justin downwards, and nearly all the earlier commentators to be Christ, who is supposed to be described as the rising sun.[2] ... At least as early as the time of Coverdale (1535), the sun of righteousness was understood to be Jesus. This interpretation is continued in "The Translators to the Readers" of the King James Version: "But when the fullness of time drew near, that Sunne of Righteousness, the Son of God should come into the world."[3] (Neither Keil nor Lewis, however, accepted this).

To us, there are insurmountable obstacles to accepting the current scholarly position regarding this passage. We confess a positive certainty that they are all wrong about it. The instinct of the ancients regarding who is meant by the Sun of Righteousness is a far better guide than the doubts of the world's current crop of scholars.

What is the reason for denying the reference here to Christ? It hinges, absolutely, upon the use of a feminine pronoun with the Hebrew word for "sun," which is also feminine here:

The Hebrew uses a feminine pronoun "her wings" to agree with sun ([~shemesh]) which is a feminine noun in Hebrew.[4]

The thing that astounds us is that none of the scholars suggests "emending" this text to remove the difficulty. They never hesitate to "emend it" in order to create a difficulty! But what about this reference to the sun as feminine? The Hebrew Bible uses both masculine and feminine references to the sun. J. M. Powis Smith stated that: "It is usually masculine, but it is feminine here and in Genesis 15:17; Jeremiah 15:9; Nahum 3:17, and Isaiah 45:8."[5] In all of these passages, "sun" is clearly a reference to the solar orb; and so it must be considered here. And that celestial body cannot represent anyone ever heard of on earth, except the Lord Jesus Christ.

Certainly, it is far more likely that Our Lord is indicated here than it is that, "The Babylonian sun-god Shamash" should be considered as having any "connection with the `sun of righteousness'"[6] mentioned here. How amazing it is that liberal scholars who cannot find Jesus anywhere in the passage can discover the heathen sun-god of ancient Babylon!

The witness of the whole Bible identifies God (and Christ) with the sun, or the rising sun:

"He (God) shall be as the light of the morning, when the sun riseth (2 Samuel 23:4) ... Jehovah God is a sun and a shield (Psalms 84:11) ... The Dayspring (the sun-rising) from on high shall visit us (Luke 1:78) ... There was the true light (Christ) even the light that lighteth every man, coming into the world (John 1:9) ... I am the light of the world (John 8:12) ... Awake, thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead; and Christ shall shine upon thee (Ephesians 5:14) ... Ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the Day-Star (which is the sun, of course) arise in your hearts (2 Peter 1:19).

"The Sun of Righteousness" here in Malachi fits Jesus Christ alone, and no other. No idiosyncracy of Hebrew grammar can hide this fact which is as clear as the sun at perihelion!

One other notable testimony should be observed. If the passage here has a feminine cast (and it does), why do all the late versions translate, "sun of righteousness with healing in its wings?" The answer is, that they know the feminine does not fit here, and so they must substitute the neuter. Why not substitute the masculine, as did the translators of the KJV? That, at least, has the advantage of being in line with what the passage has to mean.

The de-personalization of this promise of the "Sun of Righteousness" is widely advocated. Hailey has this:

"Righteousness itself is the sun that shall arise with healing in its rays or beams. This divine righteousness will be as accessible to all as is the light from the rays of the sun."[7]

However, there is no righteousness, nor was there ever any, apart from the Lord Jesus Christ. "The righteousness of God through the faith of Jesus Christ" (Romans 3:22) is that righteousness revealed "in the gospel" (Romans 1:17); and that must be identified as the only righteousness that ever arose to shine over the Messianic age. Thus, there is absolutely no way to get Christ out of what is plainly meant here. Any theory that abstract, impersonal, righteousness, shall rise over the human race like fog from the great swamp, is certainly a novel and unheard of postulation.

The position cited from Harley is the current, popular interpretation, followed by the vast majority of scholars today. Deane, for example, said it was, "This Divine righteousness that shall beam upon them"[8] that fear the Name of God. Despite the many concurrent opinions supporting this removal of personality from this passage, such views are unacceptable. Righteousness is simply not an impersonal quality. Righteousness is one of the names of God:

Israel shall dwell safely; and this is his name whereby he shall be called:

JEHOVAH-TSIDKENU (Jeremiah 23:6)

Jerusalem shall dwell safely; and this is the name whereby she shall be called:

JEHOVAH-TSIDKENU (Jeremiah 33:16)

The meaning of JEHOVAH-TSIDKENU is "The Lord Our Righteousness"; and let it be noted that Jeremiah used it in connection with both masculine and feminine words, Israel being masculine, Jerusalem being feminine; and, since Malachi's word for the fleshly Jews was no longer "Israel," but Jerusalem (feminine), that may account for his use of the feminine here. And here the reference is to the New Jerusalem, the Bride of Christ.

Bennett offers the ingenious suggestion that:

"The KJV, "Sun" with a capital letter is not a reference to a personal agent, but rather to a figurative representation of righteousness itself. It was not the prophet's purpose to predict Christ personally in this phrase, but to contrast what the day of judgment would present to the righteous with that which it would present to the wicked."[9]

The weakness of this and all similar views lies in the invariable principle seen throughout the Bible that the judgment is not to be some automatic development, rising unaided and spontaneously from the populations of earth. It will be a personal judgment, conducted by Jesus Christ himself. Thus, the very nature of the thing alleged to be meant here forbids its separation from Divine Personality, in this case, as we believe - CHRIST.

As for the notion that "it was not the prophet's purpose here to predict Christ," it must be affirmed that "the Lord's coming suddenly to his temple" (Malachi 3:1), the forerunner "Elijah" sent to prepare the way before him (Malachi 3:1; 4:5,6), and the "Great and terrible day of the Lord" (Malachi 4:5) point squarely to the Lord Jesus Christ, and to no other.

"Unto you that fear my name ..." This identifies the people upon whom the "Sun of Righteousness will arise with healing in his wings." The mention of "My Name" is significant. The reference is to the name of God, JEHOVAH-TSIDENKU, The Lord Our Righteousness; thus the key to knowing what the "Sun of Righteousness" actually is, or rather WHO he is, stands at the head of the passage. Dentan noted that, "`To fear my name' means `to practice reverently my religion.'"[10]

"And ye shall go forth and gambol as calves of the stall ..." This is an agricultural metaphor from the care and feeding of livestock. Such carefully protected and cared-for animals exhibit a quality of playful happiness that appears most desirable.