Exodus 23:20-23

The Angel of the Presence

23:20 ¹ “I am going to send ²  an angel ³  before you to protect you as you journey ⁴  and to bring you into the place that I have prepared. ⁵  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 ⁶  is in him. 23:22 But if you diligently obey him ⁷  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. ⁸ 

Exodus 33:2

33:2 I will send an angel ⁹  before you, and I will drive out the Canaanite, the Amorite, the Hittite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite. ¹⁰ 

Psalms 32:8

32:8 I will instruct and teach you ¹¹  about how you should live. ¹² 

I will advise you as I look you in the eye. ¹³ 

Psalms 34:7

34:7 The Lord’s angel camps around

the Lord’s ¹⁴  loyal followers ¹⁵  and delivers them. ¹⁶ 

Psalms 73:24

73:24 You guide ¹⁷  me by your wise advice,

and then you will lead me to a position of honor. ¹⁸ 

Psalms 103:20

103:20 Praise the Lord, you angels of his,

you powerful warriors who carry out his decrees

and obey his orders! ¹⁹ 

Proverbs 3:5-6

3:5 Trust ²⁰  in the Lord with all your heart, ²¹ 

and do not rely ²²  on your own understanding. ²³ 

3:6 Acknowledge ²⁴  him in all your ways, ²⁵ 

and he will make your paths straight. ²⁶ 

Isaiah 63:9

63:9 Through all that they suffered, he suffered too. ²⁷ 

The messenger sent from his very presence ²⁸  delivered them.

In his love and mercy he protected ²⁹  them;

he lifted them up and carried them throughout ancient times. ³⁰ 

Hebrews 1:14

1:14 Are they not all ministering spirits, sent out to serve those ³¹  who will inherit salvation?

[23:20]  ¹ 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]  ² tn The particle הִנֵּה (hinneh) with the active participle indicates imminent future, something God is about to do.

[23:20]  ³ 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]  ⁴ tn Heb “protect you in the way.”

[23:20]  ⁵ tn The form is the Hiphil perfect of the verb כּוּן (kun, “to establish, prepare”).

[23:21]  ⁶ 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]  ⁷ 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]  ⁸ tn Heb “will cut them off” (so KJV, ASV).

[33:2]  ⁹ sn This seems not to be the same as the Angel of the Presence introduced before.

[33:2]  ¹⁰ sn See T. Ishida, “The Structure and Historical Implications of Lists of Pre-Israelite Nations,” Bib (1979): 461-90.

[32:8]  ¹¹ tn The second person pronominal forms in this verse are singular. The psalmist addresses each member of his audience individually (see also the note on the word “eye” in the next line). A less likely option (but one which is commonly understood) is that the Lord addresses the psalmist in vv. 8-9 (cf. NASB “I will instruct you and teach you…I will counsel you with My eye upon you”).

[32:8]  ¹² tn Heb “I will instruct you and I will teach you in the way [in] which you should walk.”

[32:8]  ¹³ tn Heb “I will advise, upon you my eye,” that is, “I will offer advice [with] my eye upon you.” In 2 Chr 20:12 the statement “our eye is upon you” means that the speakers are looking to the Lord for intervention. Here the expression “my eye upon you” may simply mean that the psalmist will teach his pupils directly and personally.

[34:7]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “his”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[34:7]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “those who fear him.”

[34:7]  ¹⁶ tn The prefixed verb with vav (ו) consecutive here carries the same generalizing force as the active participle in the first line. See GKC 329 §111.u.

[73:24]  ¹⁷ tn The imperfect verbal form here suggests this is the psalmist’s ongoing experience.

[73:24]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “and afterward [to] glory you will take me.” Some interpreters view this as the psalmist’s confidence in an afterlife in God’s presence and understand כָּבוֹד (cavod) as a metonymic reference to God’s presence in heaven. But this seems unlikely in the present context. The psalmist anticipates a time of vindication, when the wicked are destroyed and he is honored by God for his godly life style. The verb לָקַח (laqakh, “take”) here carries the nuance “lead, guide, conduct,” as in Num 23:14, 27-28; Josh 24:3 and Prov 24:11.

[103:20]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “[you] mighty ones of strength, doers of his word, by listening to the voice of his word.”

[3:5]  ²⁰ sn The word בְּטַח (bÿtakh, “trust”) is used in the OT in (1) literal physical sense: to physically lean upon something for support and (2) figurative sense: to rely upon someone or something for help or protection (BDB 105 s.v. I בְּטַח; HALOT 120 s.v. I בטח). The verb is often used with false securities, people trusting in things that prove to be worthless. But here the object of the secure trust is the Lord who is a reliable object of confidence.

[3:5]  ²¹ sn The “heart” functions as a metonymy of subject encompassing mind, emotions and will (BDB 524 s.v. לֵב 2).

[3:5]  ²² tn Heb “do not lean.” The verb שָׁעַן (sha’an, “to lean; to rely”) is used in (1) literal physical sense of leaning upon something for support and (2) figurative sense of relying upon someone or something for help or protection (BDB 1043 s.v.). Here it functions figuratively (hypocatastasis: implied comparison); relying on one’s own understanding is compared to leaning on something that is unreliable for support (e.g., Isa 10:20).

[3:5]  ²³ tn Heb “your understanding.” The term בִּינָה (binah, “understanding”) is used elsewhere in this book of insight given by God from the instructions in Proverbs (Prov 2:3; 7:4; 8:14; 9:6, 10; 23:23). Here it refers to inherent human understanding that functions in relative ignorance unless supplemented by divine wisdom (Job 28:12-28; 39:26). The reflexive pronoun “own” is supplied in the translation to clarify this point. It is dangerous for a person to rely upon mere human wisdom (Prov 14:12; 16:25).

[3:6]  ²⁴ tn Heb “know him.” The verb יָדַע (yadah, “to know”) includes mental awareness of who God is and the consequential submission to his lordship. To know him is to obey him. The sage is calling for a life of trust and obedience in which the disciple sees the Lord in every event and relies on him. To acknowledge the Lord in every event means trusting and obeying him for guidance in right conduct.

[3:6]  ²⁵ tn The term דֶרֶךְ (derekh, “way”) is figurative (hypocatastasis: implied comparison) referring to a person’s course of life, actions and undertakings (Prov 2:8; 3:6, 23; 11:5; 20:24; 29:27; 31:3; BDB 203 s.v. 5; cf. TEV “in everything you do”; NCV, NLT “in all you do”). This is a call for total commitment in trust for obedience in all things.

[3:6]  ²⁶ tn The verb יָשָׁר (yashar) means “to make smooth; to make straight” (BDB 444 s.v.). This phrase means “to make the way free from obstacles,” that is, to make it successful (e.g., Isa 40:3). The straight, even road is the right road; God will make the way smooth for the believer.

[63:9]  ²⁷ tn Heb “in all their distress, there was distress to him” (reading לוֹ [lo] with the margin/Qere).

[63:9]  ²⁸ tn Heb “the messenger [or “angel”] of his face”; NIV “the angel of his presence.”

[63:9]  ²⁹ tn Or “redeemed” (KJV, NAB, NIV), or “delivered.”

[63:9]  ³⁰ tn Heb “all the days of antiquity”; KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV “days of old.”

[1:14]  ³¹ tn Grk “sent for service for the sake of those.”