go before thee' (Ex S2^ S."?'). But how these last pa-ssages are to be interpreted appears fnmi Ex 33"- "(14'") 'My face (1 myself) shall go wiili thee' . . . ' if thy face (thou tliyscli) go not with us, carry us not up hence.' The ' angel of His face ' (presence) is not an angel who sees His face or stands before it, but one in whom His f.aee (pre- sence) is reflected and seen ; cf. Ex 23^' ' My name (fulness of revealed Being, Is 30'-') is in him.' The Sejit. rendering of Is 63" 'not an amiiassador' (reading ns), 'nor an angel, but Himself (Heb. His face) saved them,' is scarcely the meaning of the original. The mere manifestation of J ' creates a distinction between it and J", though the identity remains. The form of manifestation is, so to speak, .something unreal (Dt 4'" '"), a condescen- sion for the purpose of assuring those to whom it is granted that J" in His fulness is present with them. As the manifestation called the angel of the Lord occurred chiefly in redemptive history, older theologians regarded it as an adumbration or premonition of the incarnation of the second Per- son. This idea was just in so far as the angel of the Lord was a manifestation of J" on the earth in human form, and in so far as such temporary manifestations might seem the prelude to a per- manent redemptive self-revelation in this form (Mai 3'- ') ; but it was to go bej'ond the OT, or at any rate beyond the understanding of OT writers, to found on the manifestation distinctions in the Godhead. The only distinction implied is that between J", and J" in manifestation. The angel of the Lord so fully represented or expressed J" that men had the assurance that when he spoke or acted among them J ' was speaking or acting.
iii. As 'messengers' (imtl'akim) sent to men, angels usually appear singly, but in (in 19 two visit Lot ; Gn 28'- ' the angels of God ' ascend and descend upon the ladder, and Gn 32' ' the angels of God ' meet Jacob, who says, ' this is God's host ' (lit. camp) ; 'and he called the name of the place Mahanaim ' (two camps, or as KVm plur., com panies). In Job 1" '2' the ' sons of God ' who present themselves to report upon' their ministrations are numerous. Sometimes the plur. is used inde- finitely, as Ps 78*' 'evil angels,' 91" ' He shall give His angels charge over thee,' Job 33'-^ ' the de- stroyers' ; cf. 2 S 24'*' ". Angels do not usually, at least in early wTitings, mediate the phenomena of the physical world, they operate in the moral and redemptive sphere ; but the angel of the Lord smites with pestilence, 2 S 24 ; and with death, 2 K 19*°; and Satan, on special permission of Goii, sets the lightning and whirlwind in motion against Job, and smites him with sore boils, l'6-i» 2'. It is perhaps rather a poetical and realistic conception of the special providence of God, though with reminiscences of early history, when it is said that tlie angel of the Lord encamps round about those that fear him, Ps 34', and thrusts down their enemies, Ps 35'- °, and that the angels bear np in their hands the righteous, Ps 91", cf. Nu 20'«. More literal is the statement that they interpret to the individual the meaning of God's afllictive [iro- vidences in his life. Job 33^ ; and so .lob 5' the idea is hazarded that they might interest tlieni- selves in the afllictions of men and hear an apjieal from them, or perhaps intercede or mediate in their behalf. In Ezk and Zee the angels interpret divine visions given to men ; but see uniler § v. Pas.sages referring to the intervention of anirels are such as these : 2 S 24", 1 K 19»- ', 2 K 1" 19^, Ezk 9". In some of these cases it may be ditticult to decide whether the angelic manifestation be not the angel of the Lord. The pas.sages 1 S 29", 2 s 14"- *> W are also somewhat obscure. The first passage, where Achish says that David is good in his sight, might be rendered ' as an angel
ANGEL
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of God,' that is, probably iu valour (Zee 12"), ■«-isdom (2 S 14"- **), and iiiorai rectitude ; in the others the natural renderin}; is ' as the angel of God.' The art., however, in comparisons often designates the cla.s3, while our idiom uses the indef. art. 'an angel,' or the plur. 'the angels' of God. The point in tlie comparison is the pene- tration and wisdom of the angel, and reference might be to some such ideal being as is spoken of Job IS'- '. If allusion were to the historical ' angel of the Lord,' the original features of the phenome- non would have somewhat faded and the conception been generalLsed.