Exodus 23:20
in Exodus 23Behold, I am sending an angel before you to protect you along the way and to bring you to the place I have prepared.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Behold, I send an angel before thee, to keep thee by the way, and to bring thee into the place which I have prepared.
KJV
Behold, I send an Angel before thee, to keep thee in the way, and to bring thee into the place which I have prepared.
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This verse in Exodus 23
Commentary
9 notes on this verseBehold, I send an Angel before thee - Some have thought that this was Moses, others Joshua, because the word מלאך malach signifies an angel or messenger; but as it is said, Exo 23:21, My name is in him, (בקרבו bekirbo, intimately, essentially in him), it is more likely that the great Angel of the Covenant, the Lord Jesus Christ, is meant, in whom dwelt all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.
This site's exposition
Behold, I am sending an angel before you
on Exodus 23:20-21
Matthew Henry, John Gill and John Calvin read him as the Son, since pardon and the Name belong to God alone. Others take him as a created messenger, pointing to 33:2, where God offers an angel in place of his presence and Moses refuses at 33:15.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers3 voices
Consider these words. Let the Jew, not to speak of the Manichaean, say what other angel he can find in Scripture to whom these words apply, but this leader who was to bring the people into the land of promise. Then let him inquire who it was that succeeded Moses and brought in the people. He will find that it was Jesus and that this was not his name at first but after his name was changed. It follows that he who said, "My name is in him" is the true Jesus, the leader who brings his people into the inheritance of eternal life, according to the New Testament, of which the Old was a figure. No event or action could have a more distinctly prophetical character than this, where the very name is itself a prediction.
For Joshua was to introduce the people into the land of promise, not Moses. Now he called him an angel on account of the magnitude of the mighty deeds which he was to achieve (which mighty deeds Joshua the son of Nun did, as you can yourselves read) and on account of his office of prophet announcing the divine will. Similarly the Spirit, speaking in the person of the Father, calls the forerunner of Christ, John, a future angel, through the prophet: "Behold, I send my angel before your"—that is, Christ's—"face, who shall prepare your way before you."
He called him an angel indeed, because of the greatness of the powers which he was to exercise and because of his prophetic office, while announcing the will of God. He is called Joshua (also Jesus), because it was a type of his own future name.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Behold, I send an angel before thee - The angel of the covenant: Accordingly the Israelites in the wilderness are said to tempt Christ. It is promised that this blessed anger should keep them in the way, though it lay through a wilderness first, and afterwards through their enemies country; and thus Christ has prepared a place for his followers.
Behold, I send an angel before thee,....
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
Behold, I send an Angel before thee, to keep thee in the way--The communication of these laws, made to Moses and by him rehearsed to the people, was concluded by the addition of many animating promises, intermingled with several solemn warnings that lapses into sin and idolatry would not be tolerated or passed with impunity.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
An Angel - See Exo 3:2, Exo 3:8; Jos 5:13; Isa 63:9.
The words behind it
12 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| הִנֵּ֨ה | hineh | here! | H2009 → | 843 times |
| אָנֹכִ֜י | ʾanokhi | I | H595 → | 359 times |
| שֹׁלֵ֤חַ | sholeach | [am] about to send | H7971 → | 845 times |
| מַלְאָךְ֙ | malokh | an angel | H4397 → | 213 times |
| לְפָנֶ֔יךָ | lefaneikha | <to> before you | H6440 → | 2123 times |
| לִשְׁמָרְךָ֖ | lishmarekha | to guard you | H8104 → | 468 times |
| בַּדָּ֑רֶךְ | badarekh | on the journey | H1870 → | 707 times |
| וְלַהֲבִ֣יאֲךָ֔ | velahaviakha | and to bring you | H935 → | 2568 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | into | H413 → | 5510 times |
| הַמָּק֖וֹם | hamakom | the place | H4725 → | 401 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֥ר | ʾasher | which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| הֲכִנֹֽתִי׃ | hakhinoti | I have prepared | H3559 → | 217 times |
הִנֵּ֨הhere!
hinehH2009 →843 times
אָנֹכִ֜יI
ʾanokhiH595 →359 times
שֹׁלֵ֤חַ[am] about to send
sholeachH7971 →845 times
מַלְאָךְ֙an angel
malokhH4397 →213 times
לְפָנֶ֔יךָ<to> before you
lefaneikhaH6440 →2123 times
לִשְׁמָרְךָ֖to guard you
lishmarekhaH8104 →468 times
בַּדָּ֑רֶךְon the journey
badarekhH1870 →707 times
וְלַהֲבִ֣יאֲךָ֔and to bring you
velahaviakhaH935 →2568 times
אֶל־into
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
הַמָּק֖וֹםthe place
hamakomH4725 →401 times
אֲשֶׁ֥רwhich
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
הֲכִנֹֽתִי׃I have prepared
hakhinotiH3559 →217 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Psalms 91:11For He will command His angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways.
it leads to
- Luke 4:10–11
For it is written: ‘He will command His angels concerning You to guard You carefully;
- Psalms 34:7
The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear Him, and he delivers them.
- Hebrews 1:14
Are not the angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?
- Proverbs 3:6
in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.
- Luke 4:10–11
Through
Exodus 33:14And the LORD answered, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.”
it leads to
- Isaiah 63:9
In all their distress, He too was afflicted, and the Angel of His Presence saved them. In His love and compassion He redeemed them; He lifted them up and carried them all the days…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Matthew 11:28
Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.
- Joshua 21:44
And the LORD gave them rest on every side, just as He had sworn to their fathers. None of their enemies could stand against them, for the LORD delivered all their enemies into their…
- Joshua 1:5
No one shall stand against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so will I be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you.
- Isaiah 63:9
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies16
On this verse
On this chapter
About Exodus
This page draws on 10 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Augustine of Hippo, AGAINST FAUSTUS, A MANICHAEAN 16.19; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Calvin, Commentary on the Four Last Books of Moses Arranged in the Form of a Harmony; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Tertullian, ANSWER TO THE JEWS 9.23 and Tertullian, AGAINST MARCION 3.16.5.