The sun of righteousness
The Old Testament
“But for you who fear My name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings, and you will go out and leap like calves from the stall.”
Malachi 4:2
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In the New Testament
“to shine on those who live in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the path of peace.”
Luke 1:79
BSB
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For those who fear my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings. You will go out and leap like calves from the stall.
One of the last promises of the Old Testament in the Christian order, just before the announcement of Elijah. The 'wings' of the sun are its rays; in the ancient Near East the sun was often shown as a winged disc. Zacharias, the father of John the Baptist, sings at his son's birth of 'the dayspring from on high' that will give light to those who sit in darkness (compare no. 8). Christians linked the Sun of righteousness with Christ early on; Charles Wesley put the image into the Christmas carol 'Hark! the herald angels sing'. And: with healing in his wings.