Acts 7:30

7:30 “After ¹  forty years had passed, an angel appeared to him in the desert ²  of Mount Sinai, in the flame of a burning bush. ³ 

Exodus 14:19

14:19 The angel of God, who was going before the camp of Israel, moved and went behind them, and the pillar ⁴  of cloud moved from before them and stood behind them.

Exodus 14:24

14:24 In the morning watch ⁵  the Lord looked down ⁶  on the Egyptian army ⁷  through the pillar of fire and cloud, and he threw the Egyptian army ⁸  into a panic. ⁹ 

Exodus 23:20-23

The Angel of the Presence

23:20 ¹⁰ “I am going to send ¹¹  an angel ¹²  before you to protect you as you journey ¹³  and to bring you into the place that I have prepared. ¹⁴  23:21 Take heed because of him, and obey his voice; do not rebel against him, for he will not pardon your transgressions, for my name ¹⁵  is in him. 23:22 But if you diligently obey him ¹⁶  and do all that I command, then I will be an enemy to your enemies, and I will be an adversary to your adversaries. 23:23 For my angel will go before you and bring you to the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, and I will destroy them completely. ¹⁷ 

Exodus 32:34

32:34 So now go, lead the people to the place I have spoken to you about. See, ¹⁸  my angel will go before you. But on the day that I punish, I will indeed punish them for their sin.” ¹⁹ 

Exodus 33:2

33:2 I will send an angel ²⁰  before you, and I will drive out the Canaanite, the Amorite, the Hittite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite. ²¹ 

Exodus 33:12-15

33:12 Moses said to the Lord, “See, you have been saying to me, ‘Bring this people up,’ ²²  but you have not let me know whom you will send with me. But you said, ‘I know you by name, ²³  and also you have found favor in my sight.’ 33:13 Now if I have found favor in your sight, show me ²⁴  your way, that I may know you, ²⁵  that I may continue to find ²⁶  favor in your sight. And see ²⁷  that this nation is your people.”

33:14 And the Lord ²⁸  said, “My presence ²⁹  will go with you, ³⁰  and I will give you rest.” ³¹ 

33:15 And Moses ³²  said to him, “If your presence does not go ³³  with us, ³⁴  do not take us up from here. ³⁵ 

Numbers 20:16

20:16 So when we cried to the Lord, he heard our voice and sent a messenger, ³⁶  and has brought us up out of Egypt. Now ³⁷  we are here in Kadesh, a town on the edge of your country. ³⁸ 

Isaiah 63:9

63:9 Through all that they suffered, he suffered too. ³⁹ 

The messenger sent from his very presence ⁴⁰  delivered them.

In his love and mercy he protected ⁴¹  them;

he lifted them up and carried them throughout ancient times. ⁴² 

Colossians 1:15

The Supremacy of Christ

1:15 ⁴³ He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn ⁴⁴  over all creation, ⁴⁵ 

Hebrews 2:2

2:2 For if the message spoken through angels ⁴⁶  proved to be so firm that every violation ⁴⁷  or disobedience received its just penalty,

[7:30]  ¹ tn Grk “And after.” Because of the difference between Greek style, which often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” and contemporary English style, which generally does not, καί (kai) has not been translated here.

[7:30]  ² tn Or “wilderness.”

[7:30]  ³ sn An allusion to Exod 3:2.

[14:19]  ⁴ sn B. Jacob (Exodus, 400-401) makes a good case that there may have been only one pillar, one cloud; it would have been a dark cloud behind it, but in front of it, shining the way, a pillar of fire. He compares the manifestation on Sinai, when the mountain was on fire but veiled by a dark cloud (Deut 4:11; 5:22). See also Exod 13:21; Num 14:14; Deut 1:33; Neh 9:12, 19; Josh 24:7; Pss 78:14; 105:39.

[14:24]  ⁵ tn The night was divided into three watches of about four hours each, making the morning watch about 2:00-6:00 a.m. The text has this as “the watch of the morning,” the genitive qualifying which of the night watches was meant.

[14:24]  ⁶ tn This particular verb, שָׁקַף (shaqaf) is a bold anthropomorphism: Yahweh looked down. But its usage is always with some demonstration of mercy or wrath. S. R. Driver (Exodus, 120) suggests that the look might be with fiery flashes to startle the Egyptians, throwing them into a panic. Ps 77:17-19 pictures torrents of rain with lightning and thunder.

[14:24]  ⁷ tn Heb “camp.” The same Hebrew word is used in Exod 14:20. Unlike the English word “camp,” it can be used of a body of people at rest (encamped) or on the move.

[14:24]  ⁸ tn Heb “camp.”

[14:24]  ⁹ tn The verb הָמַם (hamam) means “throw into confusion.” It is used in the Bible for the panic and disarray of an army before a superior force (Josh 10:10; Judg 4:15).

[23:20]  ¹⁰ sn This passage has some of the most interesting and perplexing expressions and constructions in the book. It is largely promise, but it is part of the Law and so demands compliance by faith. Its points are: God promises to send his angel to prepare the way before his obedient servants (20-23); God promises blessing for his loyal servants (24-33). So in the section one learns that God promises his protection (victory) and blessing (through his angel) for his obedient and loyal worshipers.

[23:20]  ¹¹ tn The particle הִנֵּה (hinneh) with the active participle indicates imminent future, something God is about to do.

[23:20]  ¹² sn The word is מַלְאָךְ (mal’akh, “messenger, angel”). This angel is to be treated with the same fear and respect as Yahweh, for Yahweh will be speaking in him. U. Cassuto (Exodus, 305-6) says that the words of the first clause do not imply a being distinct from God, for in the ancient world the line of demarcation between the sender and the sent is liable easily to be blurred. He then shows how the “Angel of Yahweh” in Genesis is Yahweh. He concludes that the words here mean “I will guide you.” Christian commentators tend to identify the Angel of Yahweh as the second person of the Trinity (W. C. Kaiser, Jr., “Exodus,” EBC 2:446). However, in addition to being a preincarnate appearance, the word could refer to Yahweh – some manifestation of Yahweh himself.

[23:20]  ¹³ tn Heb “protect you in the way.”

[23:20]  ¹⁴ tn The form is the Hiphil perfect of the verb כּוּן (kun, “to establish, prepare”).

[23:21]  ¹⁵ sn This means “the manifestation of my being” is in him (S. R. Driver, Exodus, 247). Driver quotes McNeile as saying, “The ‘angel’ is Jehovah Himself ‘in a temporary descent to visibility for a special purpose.’” Others take the “name” to represent Yahweh’s “power” (NCV) or “authority” (NAB, CEV).

[23:22]  ¹⁶ tn The infinitive absolute here does not add as great an emphasis as normal, but emphasizes the condition that is being set forth (see GKC 342-43 §113.o).

[23:23]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “will cut them off” (so KJV, ASV).

[32:34]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “behold, look.” Moses should take this fact into consideration.

[32:34]  ¹⁹ sn The Law said that God would not clear the guilty. But here the punishment is postponed to some future date when he would revisit this matter. Others have taken the line to mean that whenever a reckoning was considered necessary, then this sin would be included (see B. Jacob, Exodus, 957). The repetition of the verb traditionally rendered “visit” in both clauses puts emphasis on the certainty – so “indeed.”

[33:2]  ²⁰ sn This seems not to be the same as the Angel of the Presence introduced before.

[33:2]  ²¹ sn See T. Ishida, “The Structure and Historical Implications of Lists of Pre-Israelite Nations,” Bib (1979): 461-90.

[33:12]  ²² tn The Hiphil imperative is from the same verb that has been used before for bringing the people up from Egypt and leading them to Canaan.

[33:12]  ²³ tn That is, “chosen you.”

[33:13]  ²⁴ tn The prayer uses the Hiphil imperative of the verb “to know.” “Cause me to know” is “show me, reveal to me, teach or inform me.” Moses wanted to know more of God’s dealings with people, especially after all that has happened in the preceding chapter.

[33:13]  ²⁵ tn The imperfect tense of the verb “to know” with the vav follows the imperative of this root, and so this indicates the purpose clause (final imperfect): “in order that I may know you.” S. R. Driver summarizes it this way: that I may understand what your nature and character is, and shape my petitions accordingly, so that I may find grace in your sight, and my future prayers may be answered (Exodus, 361).

[33:13]  ²⁶ tn The purpose clause simply uses the imperfect, “that I may find.” But since he already has found favor in God’s eyes, he is clearly praying that it be so in the future as well as now.

[33:13]  ²⁷ tn The verb “see” (an imperative) is a request for God to acknowledge Israel as his people by providing the divine leadership needed. So his main appeal will be for the people and not himself. To underscore this, he repeats “see” the way the section opened.

[33:14]  ²⁸ tn Heb “and he said”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[33:14]  ²⁹ sn Heb “my face.” This represents the presence of Yahweh going with the people (see 2 Sam 17:11 for an illustration). The “presence” probably refers to the angel of the presence or some similar manifestation of God’s leading and caring for his people.

[33:14]  ³⁰ tn The phrase “with you” is not in the Hebrew text, but is implied.

[33:14]  ³¹ sn The expression certainly refers to the peace of mind and security of knowing that God was with them. But the expression came to mean “settle them in the land of promise” and give them rest and peace from their enemies. U. Cassuto (Exodus, 434) observes how in 32:10 God had told Moses, “Leave me alone” (“give me rest”), but now he promises to give them rest. The parallelism underscores the great transition through intercession.

[33:15]  ³² tn Heb “and he said”; the referent (Moses) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[33:15]  ³³ tn The construction uses the active participle to stress the continual going of the presence: if there is not your face going.

[33:15]  ³⁴ tn “with us” has been supplied.

[33:15]  ³⁵ tn Heb “from this.”

[20:16]  ³⁶ tn The word could be rendered “angel” or “messenger.” Some ambiguity may be intended in this report.

[20:16]  ³⁷ tn The Hebrew text uses הִנֵּה (hinneh) to emphasize the “here and now” aspect of the report to Edom.

[20:16]  ³⁸ tn Heb “your border.”

[63:9]  ³⁹ tn Heb “in all their distress, there was distress to him” (reading לוֹ [lo] with the margin/Qere).

[63:9]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “the messenger [or “angel”] of his face”; NIV “the angel of his presence.”

[63:9]  ⁴¹ tn Or “redeemed” (KJV, NAB, NIV), or “delivered.”

[63:9]  ⁴² tn Heb “all the days of antiquity”; KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV “days of old.”

[1:15]  ⁴³ sn This passage has been typeset as poetry because many scholars regard this passage as poetic or hymnic. These terms are used broadly to refer to the genre of writing, not to the content. There are two broad criteria for determining if a passage is poetic or hymnic: “(a) stylistic: a certain rhythmical lilt when the passages are read aloud, the presence of parallelismus membrorum (i.e., an arrangement into couplets), the semblance of some metre, and the presence of rhetorical devices such as alliteration, chiasmus, and antithesis; and (b) linguistic: an unusual vocabulary, particularly the presence of theological terms, which is different from the surrounding context” (P. T. O’Brien, Philippians [NIGTC], 188-89). Classifying a passage as hymnic or poetic is important because understanding this genre can provide keys to interpretation. However, not all scholars agree that the above criteria are present in this passage, so the decision to typeset it as poetry should be viewed as a tentative decision about its genre.

[1:15]  ⁴⁴ tn The Greek term πρωτότοκος (prwtotokos) could refer either to first in order of time, such as a first born child, or it could refer to one who is preeminent in rank. M. J. Harris, Colossians and Philemon (EGGNT), 43, expresses the meaning of the word well: “The ‘firstborn’ was either the eldest child in a family or a person of preeminent rank. The use of this term to describe the Davidic king in Ps 88:28 LXX (=Ps 89:27 EVV), ‘I will also appoint him my firstborn (πρωτότοκον), the most exalted of the kings of the earth,’ indicates that it can denote supremacy in rank as well as priority in time. But whether the πρωτό- element in the word denotes time, rank, or both, the significance of the -τοκος element as indicating birth or origin (from τίκτω, give birth to) has been virtually lost except in ref. to lit. birth.” In Col 1:15 the emphasis is on the priority of Jesus’ rank as over and above creation (cf. 1:16 and the “for” clause referring to Jesus as Creator).

[1:15]  ⁴⁵ tn The genitive construction πάσης κτίσεως (pash" ktisew") is a genitive of subordination and is therefore translated as “over all creation.” See ExSyn 103-4.

[2:2]  ⁴⁶ sn The message spoken through angels refers to the OT law, which according to Jewish tradition was mediated to Moses through angels (cf. Deut 33:2; Ps 68:17-18; Acts 7:38, 53; Gal 3:19; and Jub. 1:27, 29; Josephus, Ant. 15.5.3 [15.136]).

[2:2]  ⁴⁷ tn Grk “through angels became valid and every violation.”