In the last days, the Triumphant Messiah will come again. The Nephites, hearing this promise of return from the Savior’s own lips, could not have doubted it. “As calves in the stall” communicates protection and care from all dangers.
Variant: Malachi 4:2 reads: “But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings.” In 3 Nephi, it appears as “Son of righteousness.” Stan Larson comments:
A possible case of an error of the ear is 3 Nephi 25:2.… The phrase “the Son of Righteousness” occurs instead of the suggested emendation “the Sun of Righteousness.” In 1959 Sidney B. Sperry discussed this passage in some detail and pointed out that although in English sun and son are homophones, the Hebrew of Malachi 4:2 (which is being quoted) has shemesh meaning “sun,” and not ben which is the word for “son.” Also, the Hebrew text says literally “the sun of righteousness shall arise with healing in her wings,” the feminine pronoun agreeing with the feminine gender of shemesh. He concluded that, due to this “compelling evidence” from the Hebrew text, one is “driven inevitably to the view that ‘Sun of Righteousness’ is the correct reading.” While proposing this correction to the text, Dr. Sperry adds that “the meaning is not changed at all, because most conservative scholars through the centuries have agreed that ‘Sun of Righteousness’ refers to the Savior.
The simplest explanation for this variant is that Oliver Cowdery, while acting as scribe heard “sun/son” and wrote down “son” as the more plausible. It also indicates that the text was dictated, not copied from the KJV Malachi.