Angel of the Lord

Occurrences in Scripture

The Angel of the Lord appears in several Old Testament narratives. Representative passages include the following:

• Genesis 16:7–13: The angel meets Hagar, who has fled from Sarai into the wilderness, and promises that her descendants will multiply.
• Genesis 22:11–18: The angel calls from heaven to Abraham and stops him as he is about to offer Isaac (the offering on Mount Moriah).
• Exodus 3:2: The angel appears to Moses in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. In verse 4, God calls to Moses out of the midst of the bush.
• Numbers 22:22–35: The angel, sword in hand, blocks the way of Balaam. The donkey sees the angel first and stops; later Balaam's eyes are opened.
• Judges 2:1–4; 6:11–24; 13: The angel rebukes Israel at Bochim, calls Gideon, and announces the birth of a son to Manoah and his wife, the parents of Samson.
• 2 Kings 19:35: In the time of Hezekiah, the angel strikes down 185,000 men in the camp of Assyria.
• Zechariah 1 and 3: In visions, the angel speaks to the Lord and defends Joshua the high priest.

Meaning of the Term

The Hebrew word mal'akh means "one who is sent," that is, a messenger, and it is also used of human messengers. The Greek angelos originally carries the same meaning. Korean Bible translations differ in rendering the phrase: the Revised Korean Version generally uses an expression meaning "the messenger of Jehovah," while the New Korean Standard Version and others use expressions meaning "the angel of the Lord."

Characteristics of the Texts

The texts portray this messenger as distinct from God and yet closely identified with him. In Genesis 22:12 and 16, the angel speaks in the first person as God, and Hagar calls the one who spoke to her the Lord. After seeing the angel, Gideon and Manoah are afraid because they believe they have seen God (Judges 6:22; 13:22). By contrast, in 2 Samuel 24:16 the Lord commands the angel to stay his hand, and in Zechariah 1:12 the angel intercedes with the Lord.

In the New Testament

The New Testament speaks of "the angel of the Lord." This angel appears to Joseph of Nazareth in a dream (Matthew 1:20), announces the birth of Jesus to the shepherds (Luke 2:9), and opens prison doors (Acts 5:19; 12:7). The angel of the Lord in Luke 1:11 identifies himself as Gabriel in Luke 1:19. The New Testament does not directly state who the Angel of the Lord of the Old Testament is.

Interpretations and Points of Debate

• Christophany view: This view regards the angel as the Son before the incarnation. Early church fathers such as Justin Martyr read the texts this way, and John Calvin is also understood to have held this view. Some interpreters connect the name the angel gives himself in Judges 13:18 (KJV: "secret"; rendered "Wonderful" in the Korean Bible) with Isaiah 9:6, and link "the messenger of the covenant" in Malachi 3:1 with Christ.
• Angelic representative view: This view holds that an angel sent by God speaks in the name of the one who sent him. Augustine held that God's appearances in the Old Testament took place through angels. Proponents point out that the New Testament does not identify the two as the same being and that Hebrews 1 distinguishes the Son as superior to the angels.
• Noncommittal view: This view understands the angel simply as a mode of God's self-revelation and refrains from determining the angel's identity.

The debate divides individual scholars and preachers rather than denominations. The texts themselves do not explicitly state the angel's identity.

In the Korean Church

In Korean Protestant preaching, the Angel of the Lord is commonly addressed in sermons on "Jehovah-jireh" in Genesis 22, the story of Balaam's donkey, and the call of Gideon. Psalm 34:7, "The angel of the LORD encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them," is often quoted as a confession of God's protection.