The best-known image in Malachi is the celestial figure of “the sun of
righteousness” rising “with healing in its wings” (Mal 4:2 [mt 3:20]). The sun
is a symbol for God in Psalm 84:11, but “the sun of righteousness” probably is
an adaptation of the winged sun-disc icon of Persian art. In ancient
Mesopotamia the winged sun-disc icon was widely used and represented the
guardianship of the deity for the king. Malachi applies the solar epithet to
God as the deity who will truly provide blessing and protection for those
people overshadowed by his wings. As early as Hippolytus, Christian
interpreters have understood the word picture as a messianic title fulfilled in
Jesus Christ (see Ferreiro, 307–11). (A. E. Hill, “Malachi,
Book of,” in Dictionary of the Old
Testament: Prophets, ed. Mark J. Boda and Gordon J. McConville [Downers
Grove, Ill.: IVP Academic, 2012], 532)
The imagery of the sun seems to belong to the Near Eastern
“description of the winged sun disk,” which brings to mind the royal figure of
the king as the protector of right order and justice (cf. Ps 72). Even so,
various Old Testament images of Yahweh as the sun might more readily facilitate
our understanding of “sun of righteousness” here in Mal 3:20. For example, in
Ps 84:11 (MT 12), Yahweh is šemeš ûmāgēn,
“sun and shield”:
For the Lord God is a sun and shield; he bestows favor and honor. No
good thing does the Lord withhold from those who walk uprightly. (Ps 84:11[12]
NRSV)
In Isa 60:19–20 Yahweh will be the people’s light so that they have no
need for the sun; Yahweh will be their sun.
The wing (kānāp) as a place
of refuge referring to Yahweh’s protection also portrays a clear picture of
Yahweh’s future acts on behalf of Yahweh-fearers (cf. Pss 17:8; 36:7 [MT 8];
57:1 [MT 2]; 61:4 [MT 5]; 63:7 [MT 8]; 91:4; Ruth 2:12). Accordingly, one might
consider Yahweh to be the sun and the protective imagery as being manifested in
healing and restoration. God both heals and devastates, depending on the
circumstances and the people involved (Deut 32:39; Isa 19:22; Job 5:18). Here
in Mal 4:2 (MT 3:20), healing is not for all but for those who fear Yahweh.
(Mignon R. Jacobs, The Books
of Haggai and Malachi [New International Commentary on the Old and New
Testament; Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 2017], 322-23).
The sun was understood in many ancient religions as a prominent deity
and was revered accordingly. In Mesopotamia, the sun-god Shamash was also
associated with the theme of righteousness. Because Mal 3:20 speaks pointedly
of the sun’s wings, we should think
more precisely of the symbol of a winged sun-disk as background; the image was
widespread in the ancient Near East—including Palestine—for millennia. Within
Palestine we find depictions of the winged sun-disk especially on royal seals;
thus the sun-symbol is associated with the king, to whom life-sustaining
functions were thereby attributed. If we date this text to the Persian period
the specific background would be the Persian version of the sun-disk: that
image was distinguished by the presence of an anthropomorphic figure at the
center of the sun’s disk; the figure was probably meant to represent the
supreme god, Ahura Mazda. The Persian winged sun is depicted, for example, on
the famous Behistun inscription.
The sun is designated particularly as “the sun of justice.” It is not
a representation of Yhwh himself, but of one of his central attributes. The
concept of צדקה, “justice, righteousness,” thus
encompasses much more than the merely juridical sphere. Justice includes all
the rules of action and thus constitutes the basis for overall harmony, in
Nature as well. The use of the sun as symbol for a central attribute of God
transfers essential traits of the sun god to the God of Israel. On the other
hand there is an implicit assertion that Yhwh is superior to the sun god. (Aaron
Schart, Malachi [trans. Linda M. Maloney ; International Exegetical
Commentary on the Old Testament; Stuttgart: Verlag W. Kohlhammer, 2021],
123-24)
