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The angel of the LORD in the OT sometimes spoke in the first person as God. In some instances, he seems to be the preincarnate Christ.
The angel of the lord in the NT never spoke in the first person as God. The term "the angel of the Lord" is ambiguous.
The following is from Wiki:
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.
The word Angel found numerous times in the scriptures simply means 'messenger' and can either refer to a heavenly entity who delivers a message from God or a human messenger. There is a difference between an angel and the Angel of the Lord: the Angel of the Lord is the only angel appearing continually throughout the old testament referring to himself as the Lord and God in the first person, while the other angels mentioned in the scripture reference to the Lord God as a hallowed third person always humbling themselves and not accepting any type of glory.
Examples of use of the Hebrew term מַלְאַךְ יְהוָה are found in the following verses, here given in the King James Version translation:
Appearances of the "angel of the Lord" may leave the reader with the question of whether an angel or YHWH had appeared. Apart from the view that "the angel of the Lord is just that—an angel",[7] there are a variety of interpretations, e.g. that the angel is an earthly manifestation of the God of Israel or of Jesus Christ.
The angel of the lord in the NT never spoke in the first person as God. The term "the angel of the Lord" is ambiguous.
The following is from Wiki:
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.
The word Angel found numerous times in the scriptures simply means 'messenger' and can either refer to a heavenly entity who delivers a message from God or a human messenger. There is a difference between an angel and the Angel of the Lord: the Angel of the Lord is the only angel appearing continually throughout the old testament referring to himself as the Lord and God in the first person, while the other angels mentioned in the scripture reference to the Lord God as a hallowed third person always humbling themselves and not accepting any type of glory.
Examples of use of the Hebrew term מַלְאַךְ יְהוָה are found in the following verses, here given in the King James Version translation:
- Genesis 16:7–14. The angel of the Lord appears to Hagar. The angel speaks as God himself in the first person, and in verse 13 Hagar identifies "the LORD that spoke to her" as "The God Who sees".
- Genesis 22:11–15. The angel of the Lord appears to Abraham and refers to himself as God in the first person.
- Exodus 3:2–4. The angel of the Lord appears to Moses in a flame in verse 2, and God speaks to Moses from the flame in verse 4, both instances referring to himself in the first person, the text seemingly conflates the two as one.
- Numbers 22:22–38. The angel of the Lord meets the prophet Balaam on the road. In verse 38, Balaam identifies the angel who spoke to him as delivering the word of God.
- Judges 2:1–3. The angel of the Lord appears to Israel.
- Judges 6:11–23. The angel of the Lord appears to Gideon, and in verse 22 Gideon fears for his life because he has seen the angel of the Lord face to face, which is similar to when others in the Tanakh (Old Testament) fear they will die because they have seen God.
- Judges 13:3–22. The angel of the Lord appears to Manoah and his wife and, in verse 16, tells them to offer to the LORD if they are to make an offering ("And the angel of the LORD said unto Manoah [...] if thou wilt offer a burnt offering, thou must offer it unto the LORD. For Manoah knew not that he was an angel of the LORD."). Later Manoah thought he and his wife will die for they "have seen God"
- Zechariah 1:12. The angel of the Lord pleads with the Lord to have mercy on Jerusalem and the cities of Judah.
- Zechariah 3:4. The angel of the Lord takes away the sin of the high priest Joshua.
Appearances of the "angel of the Lord" may leave the reader with the question of whether an angel or YHWH had appeared. Apart from the view that "the angel of the Lord is just that—an angel",[7] there are a variety of interpretations, e.g. that the angel is an earthly manifestation of the God of Israel or of Jesus Christ.
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