Journal: Tyndale Bulletin
Volume: TYNBUL 50:2 (NA 1999)
Article: Angel Of The Lord: Messenger Or Euphemism?
Author: Stephen L. White

TynBul 50:2 (1999) p. 299

Angel Of The Lord:
Messenger Or Euphemism?

Stephen L. White

Summary

The figure of the ‘angel of the Lord’ as a messenger is a familiar one throughout the Bible. But in a number of passages the angel speaks, acts, and is addressed not as a messenger, but as God himself. In some passages the text switches from angel of the Lord to God, and in others there is a juxtaposition of God and the angel of the Lord. This paper suggests that the phrase ‘angel of the Lord’ is a euphemism for God used both to create tension in the narrative and to emphasise the transcendence of Yahweh.

Introduction

The figure of the ‘angel of the Lord’ as a messenger is a familiar figure throughout the Bible and particularly in the Old Testament. Indeed, the word angel comes from the Greek ἄγγελος and means ‘messenger’ or ‘one who is sent’. A close reading of the Old Testament that carefully considers context will reveal that in a number of passages the angel speaks, acts, and is addressed not as a messenger, but as God himself. In some passages the text switches from angel of the Lord to God, and in others there is a more subtle but nonetheless clear juxtaposition of God and the angel of the Lord. Indeed, after noting that the ‘angel of the Lord’ is a common device in OT narrative, Noll goes on to say, ‘The most remarkable and persistent feature of this tradition is the interchangeability of Yahweh and his angel.’1 This paper will examine this phenomenon to explore why this interchangeable use of the phrase ‘angel of the Lord’ and Lord or God occurs.

Heidt says it makes no theological difference how God chooses to communicate with humanity.2 This is certainly true, but it is also true

TynBul 50:2 (1999) p. 300

that how this communication is portrayed does have theological significance as Heidt himself later acknowledges.

The Angel Of The Lord In Hebrew And Greek

The Hebrew word used in the passages we will examine is măl’k (מַלְאָךְ). There is only one word in Hebrew for ‘messenger’ and ‘angel’—מַלְאָךְ—and it is found 213 times in the OT.3 It means messenger or representative, both human and divine. It can also be the word for a theophanic angel; that is, a manifestation of God. It is this latter meaning that we shall explore in this...