Comparison of 3 Nephi 25 and Malachi 4

This is a side-by-side comparison of 3 Nephi 25 and Malachi 4.

Differences in the text are marked in RED. Variations in the text are marked in ROSE. 3 Nephi 25	Differences in the text are marked in BLUE. Variations in the text are marked in GREEN. Malachi 4
1 For behold, the day cometh that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble; and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of Hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.	1 For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.
2 But unto you that fear my name, shall the Son of Righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth and grow up as calves in the stall.	2 But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall.
3 And ye shall tread down the wicked; for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I shall do this, saith the Lord of Hosts.	3 And ye shall tread down the wicked; for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I shall do this, saith the Lord of hosts.
4 Remember ye the law of Moses, my servant, which I commanded unto him in Horeb for all Israel, with the statutes and judgments.	4 Remember ye the law of Moses my servant, which I commanded unto him in Horeb for all Israel, with the statutes and judgments.
5 Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord;	5 Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord:
6 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 smite the earth with a curse.	6 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 smite the earth with a curse.

For regular readers of my blog you know that I am currently working on doing a side-by-side comparison of all of the Isaiah verses in the Book of Mormon. When ever I work on it I try to think about what to do with it when I am done. I might begin to post commentary or I might find all the places where the Book of Mormon quotes the Bible. That meant that I always thought about doing a side-by-side comparison of the two verses of Malachi that are quoted in the Book of Mormon. I didn't think I would get around to it until today while I was reading something completely unrelated which quoted Malachi 4:2. I read it, saw it and thought, "Wait! I always thought it said 'Son of Righteousness'!"

So I had to go look it up, and then I had to go check other translations to make sure that it wasn't a peculiarity of the KJV. It wasn't. It really does say, "Sun of righteousness". In all my years I never had anyone point that out to me and because I had never done a side-by-side comparison of verse 2 (some of the other verses yes, but not verse 2) I never noticed that difference.

Now the question is whether or not the "Son" in the Book of Mormon was intentional or whether it was a mistranslation. Both renderings are quite interesting and have a multitude of interpretations that could be considered to be doctrinally sound. Perhaps this is a variation that should be pointed out more because it can be used to teach a variety of doctrinal topics about Christ (i.e. Light of the world, and also given the names of God). Some pretty interesting things to think about.