Exodus 14:19

Hebrew Bible

17 And as for me, I am going to harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they will come after them, that I may be honored because of Pharaoh and his army and his chariots and his horsemen. 18 And the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord when I have gained my honor because of Pharaoh, his chariots, and his horsemen.” 19 The angel of God, who was going before the camp of Israel, moved and went behind them, and the pillar of cloud moved from before them and stood behind them. 20 It came between the Egyptian camp and the Israelite camp; it was a dark cloud and it lit up the night so that one camp did not come near the other the whole night. 21 Moses stretched out his hand toward the sea, and the Lord drove the sea apart by a strong east wind all that night, and he made the sea into dry land, and the water was divided.

Numbers 20:16

Hebrew Bible

14 Moses sent messengers from Kadesh to the king of Edom: “Thus says your brother Israel: ‘You know all the hardships we have experienced, 15 how our ancestors went down into Egypt, and we lived in Egypt a long time, and the Egyptians treated us and our ancestors badly. 16 So when we cried to the Lord, he heard our voice and sent a messenger, and has brought us up out of Egypt. Now we are here in Kadesh, a town on the edge of your country. 17 Please let us pass through your country. We will not pass through the fields or through the vineyards, nor will we drink water from any well. We will go by the King’s Highway; we will not turn to the right or the left until we have passed through your region.’” 18 But Edom said to him, “You will not pass through me, or I will come out against you with the sword.”

 Notes and References

"... there are several texts in which the malak is portrayed in a specifically non-human form. Some of these certainly reflect the kind of immanent anthropomorphism discussed earlier in regard to Yahweh, such as Exodus 3:2, in which the angel appears to Moses as or in fire in the bush, and in Exodus 14:19-20, in which the angel appears as the pillar of cloud who goes before the Israelites. Exodus 23:20-23, 32:34, and 33:2, which refer again to the angel who will go or be sent before the Israelites, should be taken in a similar light, although in 23:21-22 the angel also has a voice that should be obeyed; this may be taken as similar to 3:2, in which the angel appears but Yahweh speaks. Numbers 20:16 similarly refers to Yahweh sending a malak to bring the Israelites out of Egypt, and should be read in the same manner ..."

Hamori, Esther J. When Gods Were Men: The Embodied God in Biblical and Near Eastern Literature (pp. 104-105) De Gruyter, 2008

 User Comments

Do you have questions or comments about these texts? Please submit them here.