I. Name

The word ‘angel’ in this phrase is literally ‘messenger’. The juxtaposition of the common noun “messenger” with a following divine name in a genitive construction signifying a relationship of subordination is attested elsewhere in the ancient Near East (e.g. mlak ym, KTU 1.2; mār šipri šaDN, cf. CAD M/1 265). However, most of the appearances in the Bible of the phrase malʾak YHWH are not easily explicable by recourse to Near Eastern paradigms, for the malʾak YHWH in the Bible presents a number…