BSN: ANGEL OF THE LORD

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Since “angel” can be translated as “messenger,” “angel of the Lord” can be translated as “messenger of the Lord.” Note also that this gets us close to “the word of the Lord” or “the word of God” as in Jn 1:1; Lk 1:2; Rev 19:13.

Related: ANGEL OF THE EXODUS

The expression “ANGEL OF THE LORD” occurs 64x in the NASB 1995 (OT 52x; NT 12x):

  • Old Testament (Hebrew): Of the 52 verses containing this phrase, four have a second occurrence in the verse (Judges 6:21, 22; 13:16, 21). Of these 56 occurrences of the phrase, all are rendered “the angel of the LORD” – that is, all are preceded with “the” and all are “of YHWH,” none being “of “ADONAI.”
  • Septuagint (Greek): Presumably, all 52x are rendered “ANGEL OF KURIOS.” A sample of half of dozen verses indicates this.
  • New Testament (Greek): The expression “ANGEL OF THE LORD” occurs 12x. In every case it is “ANGEL OF KURIOS.” 11x are preceded with “an” and 1x with “the.”

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