16-2: What exactly was the “Angel of the Lord” that appeared to Hagar?

So we are continuing on the heels of the last post.

Sarai, who is barren, summons her slavegirl Hagar to sleep with Abram.

And just as planned, Hagar gives birth to a child.

However, Sarai is just downright insecure about the whole situation.

She feels like Hagar is parading a sense of superiority around her and that compounded by her own insecurities has made the situation unbearable.

She begins to harass Hagar.

We are not told specifically told what type of abuse was leveled at Hagar but it must have been pretty bad because it caused Hagar to run away.

It is at this point in the Torah that we are introduced for the the first time to an entity that many English Bibles translate as the “Angel of the Lord”.  (The Complete Jewish Bible says the “Angel of Adonai”)

As a result of allegory, hyperbole, fantasy, and all kinds of unkosher hog wild mistaken interpretations, the actual meaning of this term has been so misunderstood, especially by Christians, for so long.

So the best way to solve the problem is to just go to the original Hebrew.

The original Hebrew is MALACH YAHWEH.

So obviously YAHWEH is referring to God.

However, let’s just look only at the term MALACH.

Although many English bibles translate this sole word as “angel”, that is NOT what it means.

MALACH just means “messenger”.

Nothing supernatural, MALACH means just means a deliverer of a message.

And, in the Bible, that is how it is often used.

However, whenever the term “MALACH YAHWEH” appears, we are dealing with something different. 

By attaching YHVH to the word messenger (MALACH), this is when the meaning transforms from just a plain messenger to to a divine manifestation of God Himself.

So based on the original Hebrew, here is the basic rule you can follow:

If the word MALACH is used alone, it can be either a regular man delivering a message or an angel depending on the context.

If you add the word YHVH to it, depending on the context, then it becomes a manifestation of God the Father Himself.

What most Bible translators have mistakenly done is take every instance of MALACH to be an angel and MALACH YHVH to mean some kind of super high-ranking arch angel.