Exo
3:2:
On this mountain Moses was vouchsafed
a vision of God. In the sense, And the angel of the Lord [YHWH] appeared
to him, the expression, the angel of the Lord, means a manifestation
of the Lord. (Umberto Moshe David Cassuto, A Commentary on the Book of
Exodus [trans. Israel Abrahams; Varda Books, 2005], 31)
On
Exo 23:20:
The initial words, Behold I send an
angel before you od not imply a being distinct from God. In ancient
through-processes the line of demarcation between the sender and the sent is
liable easily to be blurred; in the final analysis the angel of God is simply God’s
action. From another part of the Bible we learn what is meant by an angel of
the Lord being sent before one. In Gen. xxiv 7 Abraham says to his servant: ‘The
Lord, the God of heaven . . . He will send His angel before you’, but in the continuation
of the narrative there is not the slightest reference to an actual angel
accompanying the servant; it is only related that the Lord prospered his way;
and the servant says (ibid., v. 27): ‘As for me, the Lord had led
me in the way.’ Compare also ibid., vv. 40, 48, 56. It is clear from
the passage, therefore, that the angel stands only for the guidance and help of
the Lord. Similarly it is stated in Num. xx 16: ‘and sent an angel and brought
us forth out of Egypt’; but above (xiv 19) the Bible designates the pillar of cloud
‘the angel of God.’ Hence the words under discussion here mean only: I will
guide you and prosper you. In the continuation of the passage at the end of v.
22 and also further on, it is clear that the reference is to the actions of
God Himself. (Ibid., 305-6)
