Malachi — Chapter 4

Quia ecce dies veniet succensa quasi clibanus

'For behold the day shall come kindled as a furnace; and all the proud and all that do wickedly shall be stubble; and the day that cometh shall set them on fire.' À Lapide reads the furnace (clibanus) as the fire of divine judgment and specifically of hell. The pride and wickedness of the reprobate makes them into dry stubble that the divine fire easily consumes. He notes that this is the definitive judgment separating the righteous from the wicked—no intermediate state for the hardened sinner.

Vobis autem timentibus nomen meum orietur sol iustitiae

'But unto you that fear my name the Sun of Justice shall arise and health in his wings; and you shall go forth and shall leap like calves of the herd.' À Lapide's commentary on 'Sol Iustitiae' is one of the most celebrated in his entire oeuvre. He identifies the Sun of Justice with Christ, following Origen, Jerome, Augustine, and the liturgical tradition (the Advent O-Antiphons: O Oriens). The wings of healing are the arms of the Cross, the wings of Providence, and the gifts of the Holy Spirit. The leaping calves figure the joy of the resurrection. He notes that Luke 1:78 ('Dayspring from on high') is Zechariah's New Testament echo of this verse.

Mementote legis Moysi servi mei

'Remember the law of Moses my servant, which I commanded him in Horeb for all Israel, the precepts and judgments.' À Lapide reads this as the Old Testament's final injunction to fidelity to the written Law as a preparation for the Gospel. Christ did not come to abolish but to fulfil (Matt. 5:17). The Law of Moses, kept in its spirit, disposes the soul for the New Law of grace. The command to remember is the Old Testament equivalent of the anamnesis of the Eucharist.

Ecce ego mittam vobis Heliam prophetam

'Behold I will send you Elias the prophet before the great and dreadful day of the Lord cometh.' Christ identifies this prophecy with John the Baptist (Matt. 11:14; 17:12-13). À Lapide notes that the Fathers debate a second fulfilment: the literal Elias who will return before the Last Judgment (following Revelation 11:3-12 and the Fathers' universal tradition). He concludes both are true: John the Baptist comes 'in the spirit and power of Elias' (Luke 1:17), and the literal Elias will return at the end. The book of the Twelve Prophets ends with this promise, placing all prophetic hope in the figure who heralds the final coming of the Lord.

Et convertet cor patrum ad filios

'And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the earth with anathema.' À Lapide reads the turning of hearts as the reconciliation effected by penitential preaching—John the Baptist's specific mission. He cites Luke 1:17 where the angel applies this verse to John. The 'anathema' (cherem: utter destruction) that will fall if hearts are not turned is the eschatological judgment averted only by conversion. À Lapide closes his commentary with a meditation on the entire arc of the Twelve Prophets as a single extended call to repentance and hope, culminating in this final promise and warning.