The (or an) Angel of the Lord (Hebrew: מַלְאַךְ יְהוָה mal’āḵ YHWH "messenger of Yahweh") is an entity appearing repeatedly in the Hebrew Bible on behalf of the God of Israel.
The guessed term malakh YHWH, which occurs 65 times in the text of the Hebrew Bible, can be translated either as "the angel of the Lord" or "an angel of the Lord". The King James Version usually translates it as "the angel of the Lord"; less frequently as "an angel of the Lord".[1] The Septuagint (LXX) sometimes uses ἄγγελος Κυρίου (an angel of the Lord), sometimes ὁ ἄγγελος Κυρίου (the angel of the Lord): in Genesis 16:7–11, it gives first the sounded word without a Greek article, then, in all the subsequent mentions with the article,[2] as in the anaphoric use of the article.[3]
A closely related term is "angel of God" (mal'akh Elohim), mentioned 12 times (2 of which are plural). Another related expression, Angel of the Presence, occurs only once (Isaiah 63:9).
The New Testament uses the term "angel of the Lord" (ἄγγελος Κυρίου) several times. In one instance (Luke 1:11–19) the angel's name is Gabriel, although described as "an" angel of the Lord.
- ^ Judges 2:1; 6:11, 22; 13:16, 21
- ^ Genesis 16:7–11
- ^ "The anaphoric article is the article denoting previous reference. The first mention of the substantive is usually anarthrous because it is merely being introduced. But subsequent mentions of it use the article, for the article is now pointing back to the substantive [referent, abstract idea referenced] previously mentioned" (The Berean Christian Bible Resources: Greek article and others).