Commenting on the phrase "sun of righteousness" (שֶׁמֶשׁ צְדָקָה) in Mal
4:2 (Heb. 3:20), David L Petersen noted the following:
. . . unlike the oven (v. 1), the sun may also
illumine a scene and induce certain forms of behavior. However, the poet does
much more than refer to the general power of the sun. The language is both
conceptual and graphic: “a sun of righteousness . . .with healing in its wings.”
How may the sun be related to righteousness and what does it mean to speak of a
winged sun? Fortunately, it is possible to proffer answers for both these questions.
First, Othmar Keel has collected abundant examples of a winged sun disk in the artifactual
remains of both ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt (O. Keel, The Symbolism of the Biblical World: Ancient Near Eastern Iconography
and the Book of Psalms, New York, 1978, 27-30). Throughout the ancient Near
East, the upper tier of the universe could be represented by a circle or disk,
which has wings on either side. The disk surely symbolizes the sun, and the
wings symbolize the heavenly vault or sky, or possibly the rays of the sun. The
wings symbolize the heavenly vault or sky, or possibly the rays of the sun. The
wings signify not so much the movement of the sun through the sky but rather
the sheltering presence of the firmament, which held back the heavenly ocean.
Moreover, the winged sun disk could serve as an icon for the Mesopotamian god
associated with the sun, Shamash. This last connection helps answer the second
question, which involves the significance of “righteousness.” Shamash served as
the god associated with the principles of law, namely, the distributive
principles of justice and the principles of beneficence, “righteousness” (in
Akkadian, mešarum and kittum respectively). Hence, it is altogether
proper to think of the sun as signifying righteousness (the more so since this “sun
of righteousness” is to shine on the righteous, v. 18).
These notions were not foreign to Israel.
There is mounting evidence that Yahweh was venerated using solar imagery in
ancient Israel, particularly with the rise of monarchy. The notion of the sun
shining may symbolize the effect of the deity functioning as ruler. Compare the
analogical description of the human king in 2 Sam. 23:3-4: “One who rules over
people justly, ruling in the fear of God, he shines on them . . . “ (It is
striking that in both 2 Sam. 23:4 and in Mal. 3:13-21 [3:13-18; 4:1-3] “fear” is
prominent.) The accompanying notion of health is emblematic of the well-being
associated with a king ruling properly; compare Isa. 58:8, another late
prophetic text that links light, health, and righteousness. (David L. Petersen,
Zechariah 9-14 and Malachi [Old
Testament Library; London: SCM Press, 1995], 225)
