Who is the Angel of Death?

[tonychanyt]

There is no specific angel named as the Angel of Death. The concept appeared in some passages.

Ex 12:

23 When the LORD passes through to strike down the Egyptians, He will see the blood on the top and sides of the doorframe and will pass over that doorway; so He will not allow the destroyer to enter your houses and strike you down.

Strong's Hebrew: 7843. שָׁחַת (shachath) — 147 Occurrences

H7843 was a common word with a broad meaning. BDB:

1. spoil, ruin,
2. pervert, corrupt

29 Now at midnight the LORD struck down every firstborn male in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh, who sat on his throne, to the firstborn of the prisoner in the dungeon, as well as all the firstborn among the livestock.

The LORD used the H7843-destroyer to execute the 10th plague. The Bible did not mention the angel of death. Jewish tradition attributed this act to the angel of death (מלאך המוות).

2S 24:

15 The Lord sent a pestilence on Israel from the morning until the appointed time. And there died of the people from Dan to Beersheba 70,000 men. 16 And when the angel stretched out his hand toward Jerusalem to destroy it, the Lord relented from the calamity and said to the angel who was working destruction among the people, “It is enough; now stay your hand.” And the angel of the LORD was by the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite. 17 Then David spoke to the Lord when he saw the angel who was striking the people, and said, “Behold, I have sinned, and I have done wickedly. But these sheep, what have they done? Please let your hand be against me and against my father’s house.”

The Lord judged Israel and the angel of the LORD killed 70,000 men by a pestilence. Again the proper name "Angel of Death" was not used.

Sennacherib attacked Hezekiah. Isaiah prophesied against Sennacherib in 2K 19:

35 That night the angel of the LORD went out and struck down 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians. And when people arose early in the morning, behold, these were all dead bodies. 36 Then Sennacherib king of Assyria departed and went home and lived at Nineveh.

The Bible never mentions a single, designated "Angel of Death" as a proper name. On three occasions, the LORD killed a large number of people in singular events. Jewish and Christian traditions generalized the concept, rightly or wrongly, and named the agent as the Angel of Death.