This happens in the Passover story, as well as the "angel of the Lord" narratives referenced above. This is actually a reoccurring issue in the Hebrew Bible: a passage will sometimes say that an angel carried out an action acting on behalf of God, but will later say that it was handed by Godself. However, Gen 19:24 places that action directly in the hands of YHWH. Gen 19:13 records the angels as saying that they will be the ones who destroy the region. that last part)? Re-read the story about the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah in Genesis 19. In all of the cases above, the deaths are caused by beings whose actions are directed by God, or whose action is synonymous with God’s action. However, the Hebrew translation may be referring to death itself.īut beyond arcane biblical nerdity (which we love), why is this even important? What is the deeper meaning or message that this all conveys? We believe it is this: In the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament, Death is not a function outside of God's control. However the context of the metaphor leaves open the possibly that these are not referring to divine beings, but court assassins/hit-men. Some interpret Job 33:22 as referring to “killers” or “dealers of death” who are angels. Proverbs 16:14 mentions "angels of death" (plural). Some argue that the Bible includes other mentions of savage seraphs, but each have textual issues. The ever-present " angel of the Lord," who periodically is called to slaughter by the hundreds (c.f.T he Adversary (הַשָּׂטָן - has-satan) in Job's story, who kills his family, as well as a stupid amount of his servants and animals, and.
The angel at Passover, the Destroyer (הַמַּשְׁחִית - masḥit), famous for killing the first-born in Egypt (c.f. Exodus 12).There are multiple angels/messengers (מַלְאָךְ - ma’lak) in the Hebrew Bible who take lives, but none of them are ever called “THE angel of death." Those angels have been mostly conflated into one being through Western literature and pop culture. These include: There is no “Angel of Death” in the Bible. Death Angels in the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament