Maleakhi 3:18

3:18 Then once more you will see that I make a distinction between ¹  the righteous and the wicked, between the one who serves God and the one who does not.

Maleakhi 4:2

4:2 But for you who respect my name, the sun of vindication ²  will rise with healing wings, ³  and you will skip about ⁴  like calves released from the stall.

[3:18]  ¹ tn Heb “you will see between.” Cf. NRSV, TEV, NLT “see the difference.”

[4:2]  ² tn Here the Hebrew word צְדָקָה (tsÿdaqah), usually translated “righteousness” (so KJV, NIV, NRSV, NLT; cf. NAB “justice”), has been rendered as “vindication” because it is the vindication of God’s people that is in view in the context. Cf. BDB 842 s.v. צְדָקָה 6; “righteousness as vindicated, justification, salvation, etc.”

[4:2]  sn The expression the sun of vindication will rise is a metaphorical way of describing the day of the Lord as a time of restoration when God vindicates his people (see 2 Sam 23:4; Isa 30:26; 60:1, 3). Their vindication and restoration will be as obvious and undeniable as the bright light of the rising sun.

[4:2]  ³ sn The point of the metaphor of healing wings is unclear. The sun seems to be compared to a bird. Perhaps the sun’s “wings” are its warm rays. “Healing” may refer to a reversal of the injury done by evildoers (see Mal 3:5).

[4:2]  ⁴ tn Heb “you will go out and skip about.”