The Angel of The Lord In The Old Testament—Part II -- By: John M. Baze, Jr.
Journal: Conservative Theological Journal
Volume: CTJ 02:4 (Mar 1998)
Article: The Angel of The Lord In The Old Testament—Part II
Author: John M. Baze, Jr.
CTJ 2:4 (March 1998) p. 65
The Angel of The Lord
In The Old Testament—Part II
Associate Professor of Biblical Languages
Tyndale Theological Seminary, Ft. Worth, TX
As God preserves His truth throughout history, reviewing past interpretations for a consistent testimony of Biblical truth can enhance the understanding of the development of specific theological concepts. But this must be done cautiously, always keeping in mind that to a certain extent Biblical doctrine determines tradition, but that tradition may not always accurately represent Biblical doctrine.
With this in mind, two of the major translations from the original Hebrew, the Septuagint and the Latin Vulgate and selected quotations from two of the early church fathers, will be considered along with some later testimonies with contrasting Jewish viewpoints of this subject.
Historical Interpretations
Earliest Translations of the Old Testament
In the Septuagint (LXX)1 , the Greek term ἄγγελος closely parallels the Hebrew definition for malʾāk̮ (מַלְאָךְ) possessing the identical meaning of “angel or messenger”. The corresponding Greek phrase rendered for the Hebrew construct relationship, “the Angel of the Lord”, may be the anarthrous phrase angelos kuriou (ἄγγελος κυρίου) (21 occurrences with different case forms of angelos) in a context of general reference (e.g., Gen. 16:7). At other times, it appends the definite article—ho angelos kuriou (ὁ ἄγγελος κυρίου) (25 occurrences with different case forms of angelos) within a context of direct discourse as represented by, “the Angel of the Lord said” (e.g., Gen. 16:8, 9, 10, 11), “And Balaam said to the Angel of the Lord” (Num. 22:34) or “And Manoah said to the Angel of the Lord”, (Judg. 13:15). It also arbitrarily substitutes the genitive form of tou theou (ὁ ἄγγελος τοῦ θεοῦ - “the angel of the God”, 8 occurrences with different case forms of angelos) for kuriou (κυρίου) (“of [the] Lord”, which represents YHWH in Hebr...
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