Angel of the Lord

Jacob Wrestling with the Angel by Gustave Doré, 1855, Granger Collection, New York.

The Angel of the Lord (or the Angel of God) is one of many terms in the Hebrew Bible (also: Old Testament) used for an angel. The Biblical name for angel, מלאך mal'ach, which translates simply as "messenger," obtained the further signification of "angel" only through the addition of God's name, as ("angel of the Lord," or "angel of God", Zech. 12:8).

Hebrew Bible

In the Hebrew Bible the noun mal'ak "messenger" is used 214 times, of which approximately (according to translations in the King James Version) 103 times concern human messengers and 111 times concern heavenly messengers.^[1]

In the Hebrew Bible the term "מַלְאָךְ יהוה" (mal'ak YHWH), Hebrew for "messenger of Yahweh", in the King James Version "angel of the LORD", occurs 65 times and always in the singular. In English translation it is usually accompanied with the definite article.

Appearances of the "angel of the Lord" are often presented as theophanies:^[2] in Genesis 31:11–13 the angel of God says, "I am the God of Beth-el"; in Exodus 3:2–6 the angel of the Lord who appeared to Moses in the flame of fire says, "I am the God of thy father"; compare Genesis 22:11; Judges 6:11–22. At times the angel of the Lord speaks in such a way as to assume authority over previous promises (see Gen. 16:11 and 21:17).

The following are examples of use of the term "angel of the Lord":

• Genesis 16:7–14. The angel of the Lord appears to Hagar. The angel speaks as God in the first person, and in verse 13 Hagar identifies the visitor as a god.
• Genesis 22:11–15. The angel of the Lord appears to Abraham and refers to God in the first person.
• Exodus 3:2–4. The angel of the Lord appears to Moses in a flame in verse 2, and God speaks to Moses from the flame in verse 4.
• Numbers 22:22–38. The angel of the Lord meets the prophet Balaam on the road. In verse 38, Balaam identifies the angel who spoke to him as delivering the word of God.
• Judges 2:1–3. The angel of the Lord appears to Israel.
• Judges 6:11–23. The angel of the Lord appears to Gideon, and in verse 22 Gideon fears for his life because he was in the presence of God.
• Judges 13:3–22. The angel of the Lord appears to Manoah and his wife. In verse 16, differentiates himself from God. ("And the angel of the Lord said unto Manoah. . .if thou wilt offer a burnt offering, thou must offer it unto the Lord.")

The ancient Greek translation of the Old Testament known as the Septuagint translates the phrase as ἄγγελος Κυρίου, angelos Kyriou, "angel of the Lord", a phrase used also in the New Testament.^[3] The Hellenistic Jewish philosopher Philo identified the angel of the Lord (in the singular) with the Logos.^[4]

The term "angel of God" occurs 12 times (2 of which are plural). The following are examples:

• Genesis 31:11. The angel of God calls out to Jacob in a dream and tells him "I am the God of Bethel".
• Exodus 14:19. The angel of God leads the camp of Israel, and also follows behind them, with the pillar of fire.
• Judges 13:9. The angel of God approached the wife of Manoah after the Lord heard Manoah.

The following are examples of God "sending an angel":

• Exodus 23:20-21. The LORD says he will send an Angel before the Israelites, and warns them to obey the Angel's voice, and that the Angel "will not pardon transgressions" because the LORD's "name is in him".
• Exodus 33:2. God says he will send an angel before the Israelites, and that God will drive out the Canaanites, Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites.
• Numbers 20:16. The LORD sent an angel and brought the people of Israel forth from Egypt.
• 1 Chronicles 21:15. God sent an angel to destroy Jerusalem, but then repented and told the angel to stay his hand.
• 2 Chronicles 32:21. The LORD sent an angel, which cut off all the mighty men of valour and the leaders and captains in the camp of the king of Assyria.

Somewhat similar expressions are "the redeeming angel", המלאך הגאל, hammal'ak haggoel (Gen 48:16); "the angel of his (the Lord's) presence", מלאך פניו, malakh panaiv (Isaiah 63:9); "the angel of the covenant", מלאך הברית, malakh habrit (Malachi 3:1); and in the Septuagint "Angel (or Messenger) of Great Counsel", μεγάλης βουλῆς ἄγγελος, megalēs boulēs angelos (Isaiah 9:6).^[5]

On the expression "the angel of his presence", see Angel of the Presence.

New Testament

In the New Testament the Greek phrase ἄγγελος Κυρίου (aggelos kyriou – "angel of the Lord") is found in Matthew 1:20, 1:24, 2:13, 2:19, 28:2; Luke 1:11, 2:9; Acts 5:19, 8:26, 12:7, 12:23. None of these are citations from the Old Testament and in English they are translated as referring to an angel of the Lord, not, as in the Old Testament, to the angel of the Lord. However, the mentions of "his angel" (the Lord's angel) in Acts 12:11 and Revelation 22:6 can be understood as referring to the angel of the Lord, rather than an angel of the Lord.

Walter A. Elwell writes: "In the New Testament, there is no mention of the angel of the Lord; the Messiah himself is this person."^[6] It is generally understood by Eastern Orthodox and most Protestants that the reason that "the" Angel of the Lord is not mentioned in the New Testament is because the Messiah Himself was this person, made Flesh.^{[6][not in citation given][7][not in citation given]} Knofel Staton writes that "the idea that this angel was Christ is unlikely for many reasons, which include the following: 1) God never said to any angel (including the 'angel of the Lord') 'you are my son' (Heb 1:5) ...";^[8] and Ben Witherington says: "The angel of the Lord is just that - an angel. ... the divine son of God ... was no mere angel of the Lord, nor did he manifest himself in some observable form prior to the Incarnation."^[9]

The angel of the Lord who is mentioned in Luke 1:11 identifies himself as Gabriel in Luke 1:19.^[10]

Christian views

The KJV and NKJV capitalize "Angel" in the Old Testament references to "the" Angel of the Lord, possibly to indicate that it is a specific angel, while using lower-case "angel" in the New Testament references to "an" angel of the Lord. Most versions, including NASB, RSV, ESV, etc., do not capitalise "angel" in the Old Testament mentions of "the angel of the Lord".

Roman Catholic

In The Catholic Encyclopedia (1907) Hugh Pope treats the angel of the Lord as an angel bearing the name of God.^{[Need quotation to verify]} He writes that "the earlier Fathers, going by the letter of the text, maintained that it was God Himself who appeared. He who appeared was called God and acted as God. It was not unnatural then for Tertullian, as we have already seen, to regard such manifestations in the light of preludes to the Incarnation, and most of the Eastern Fathers followed the same line of thought." He quotes the view of Theodoret that this angel was probably Christ, "the Only-begotten Son, the Angel of great Counsel", and contrasts Theodoret's view with the opposite view of the Latin Fathers, which, he says, "was destined to live in the Church, and the Scholastics reduced it to a system". As an exponent of this view he quotes Augustine of Hippo, who declared that "the angel is correctly termed an angel if we consider him himself, but equally correctly is he termed 'the Lord' because God dwells in him."^[7]

Eastern Fathers

Most Eastern Fathers followed the line of thought that the "Angel of the Lord" was "the Word of God", who was "foreshadowing the sublime character in which He is one day to reveal Himself to men",^{[citation needed]} and that his appearances in the Old Testament were preludes to the Incarnation.^[7]

Protestant and Evangelical Christianity

During the Reformation the Angel of the Lord was usually considered a general representative of God the Father, due to several verses stating that no one can look upon the face of YHWH and live.^[11]

In Evangelical Christianity, some commentators interpret the phrase "Angel of the Lord" in the Hebrew Scriptures to refer to a pre-human appearance of Jesus Christ or Christophany. Others comment the functions of the Angel of the Lord prefigure Christ, and there is no clear mention in the New Testament because the Messiah himself is this person.^[12]

Jehovah's Witnesses

The official position of Jehovah's witnesses is that the "Angel of the Lord" who led the Israelites in the wilderness, who had "God's Name within him", and who would pardon transgressions, was the pre-existent Christ. They believe that the Angel of the Lord is also the Archangel Michael, the Prince of Israel, who is mentioned in Daniel. They teach that this was God's "first-begotten Son".^[13]

References

Further reading

• P.E. Kretzmann. The Angel of the Lord in the Old Testament. Theological Monthly 2(2) pp. 33–36.
• Vogel, Heinrich. The Angel Of The Lord
• A Messianic Jewish Perspective: An Angel You Ought to Know. Who is the Messenger?