Sun of Righteousness--Malachi 4:1, 2
Posted: Wed Sep 10, 2014 10:34 pm
"For, look! the day is coming that is burning like the furnace, and all the presumptuous ones and all those doing wickedness must become as stubble. And the day that is coming will certainly devour them," Jehovah of armies has said, "so that it will not leave to them either root or bough. And to YOU who are in fear of my name the sun of righteousness will certainly shine forth, with healing in its wings; and YOU will actually go forth and paw the ground like fattened calves." (Malachi 4:1-2)
Greetings,
I searched the site to see if any comments had been made on this and I didn't see any, though I could have missed them. I was having a discussion with another person on another Board and this issue was raised. In listening recently to Steve Gregg's comments on Church History, he had made passing reference to this verse and applied it to Jesus, so it kindled my interest in light of my recent conversation on another Board. I thought I would post my thoughts here and see what you all thought.
I would say as a prefatory remark that I have no problem applying this passage to the Messiah, as it appears that much of the OT prophecies have their fulfillment in Him and many commentators have applied this to Jesus, starting it would seem with Justyn Martyr.
In this case, though, I wonder if the Jew reading this in the centuries before Christ would have seen this as applying to the Messiah at all? For starters, it appears that the "sun of righteousness" is being contrasted with the "burning oven" of Jehovah's day. The oven would completely consume the wicked, but for the ones fearing God the "sun" would have healing in it's wings. The "wings" in question to the reader could have merely been a poetic way of referring to the "rays" of the sun. The visual image being the dawning of a new day with the warmth of the sun's rays shining. Interestingly, the Hebrew text appears to say the sun has healing in "it's" rays, not "his" rays.
The Septuagint text reads, "And for you, those fearing my name, the sun of righteousness will rise, and healing will be in its wings. And you will go forth and leap like calves loosened from bonds."
The Masoretic Text reads, "And for you, those fearing my name, the sun of righteousness will rise, and healing will be in its wings. And you will go out and leap like calves of a stall."
The following is from Keil and Delitzsch:
"To the righteous, on the other hand, the sun of righteousness will arise. Tsedâqâh is an epexegetical genitive of apposition. By the sun of righteousness the fathers, from Justin downwards, and nearly all the earlier commentators understand Christ, who is supposed to be described as the rising sun, like Jehovah in Psa_84:12 and Isa_60:19; and this view is founded upon a truth, viz., that the coming of Christ brings justice and salvation. But in the verse before us the context does not sustain the personal view, but simply the idea that righteousness itself is regarded as a sun. Tsedâqâh, again, is not justification or the forgiveness of sins, as Luther and others suppose, for there will be no forgiving of sins on the day of judgment, but God will then give to every man reward or punishment according to his works. Tsedâqâh is here, what it frequently is in Isaiah (e.g., Isa_45:8; Isa_46:13; Isa_51:5, etc.), righteousness in its consequences and effects, the sum and substance of salvation. Malachi uses tsedâqâh, righteousness, instead of יֶשַׁע, salvation, with an allusion to the fact, that the ungodly complained of the absence of the judgment and righteousness of God, that is to say, the righteousness which not only punishes the ungodly, but also rewards the good with happiness and salvation. The sun of righteousness has מַרְפֵּא, healing, in its wings. The wings of the sun are the rays by which it is surrounded, and not a figure denoting swiftness. As the rays of the sun spread light and warmth over the earth for the growth and maturity of the plants and living creatures, so will the sun of righteousness bring the healing of all hurts and wounds which the power of darkness has inflicted upon the righteous."
Any thoughts?
Regards, Brenden.
Greetings,
I searched the site to see if any comments had been made on this and I didn't see any, though I could have missed them. I was having a discussion with another person on another Board and this issue was raised. In listening recently to Steve Gregg's comments on Church History, he had made passing reference to this verse and applied it to Jesus, so it kindled my interest in light of my recent conversation on another Board. I thought I would post my thoughts here and see what you all thought.
I would say as a prefatory remark that I have no problem applying this passage to the Messiah, as it appears that much of the OT prophecies have their fulfillment in Him and many commentators have applied this to Jesus, starting it would seem with Justyn Martyr.
In this case, though, I wonder if the Jew reading this in the centuries before Christ would have seen this as applying to the Messiah at all? For starters, it appears that the "sun of righteousness" is being contrasted with the "burning oven" of Jehovah's day. The oven would completely consume the wicked, but for the ones fearing God the "sun" would have healing in it's wings. The "wings" in question to the reader could have merely been a poetic way of referring to the "rays" of the sun. The visual image being the dawning of a new day with the warmth of the sun's rays shining. Interestingly, the Hebrew text appears to say the sun has healing in "it's" rays, not "his" rays.
The Septuagint text reads, "And for you, those fearing my name, the sun of righteousness will rise, and healing will be in its wings. And you will go forth and leap like calves loosened from bonds."
The Masoretic Text reads, "And for you, those fearing my name, the sun of righteousness will rise, and healing will be in its wings. And you will go out and leap like calves of a stall."
The following is from Keil and Delitzsch:
"To the righteous, on the other hand, the sun of righteousness will arise. Tsedâqâh is an epexegetical genitive of apposition. By the sun of righteousness the fathers, from Justin downwards, and nearly all the earlier commentators understand Christ, who is supposed to be described as the rising sun, like Jehovah in Psa_84:12 and Isa_60:19; and this view is founded upon a truth, viz., that the coming of Christ brings justice and salvation. But in the verse before us the context does not sustain the personal view, but simply the idea that righteousness itself is regarded as a sun. Tsedâqâh, again, is not justification or the forgiveness of sins, as Luther and others suppose, for there will be no forgiving of sins on the day of judgment, but God will then give to every man reward or punishment according to his works. Tsedâqâh is here, what it frequently is in Isaiah (e.g., Isa_45:8; Isa_46:13; Isa_51:5, etc.), righteousness in its consequences and effects, the sum and substance of salvation. Malachi uses tsedâqâh, righteousness, instead of יֶשַׁע, salvation, with an allusion to the fact, that the ungodly complained of the absence of the judgment and righteousness of God, that is to say, the righteousness which not only punishes the ungodly, but also rewards the good with happiness and salvation. The sun of righteousness has מַרְפֵּא, healing, in its wings. The wings of the sun are the rays by which it is surrounded, and not a figure denoting swiftness. As the rays of the sun spread light and warmth over the earth for the growth and maturity of the plants and living creatures, so will the sun of righteousness bring the healing of all hurts and wounds which the power of darkness has inflicted upon the righteous."
Any thoughts?
Regards, Brenden.
