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Four Hebrew words and one Greek word are translated "angel" in the A.V. which we
will first of all consider:
(1)
Abbir "mighty". "Man did eat angel's food" (margin the bread of the mighty)
(Psa. 78: 25). The translation `angels' here is by reason of the employment of that
word by the Septuagint, but there is nothing in the context or in the general usage of the
word to warrant this rendering. The expression seems rather to draw attention to the
miraculous sustenance provided by the manna that fell from heaven throughout Israel's
wilderness journeys.
(2)
Elohim "God, or gods". "For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels."
This translation is confirmed by the rendering in Heb. 2: 7. While elohim in the bulk
of occurrences is rightly translated "God", it is rendered `gods' 240 times, `judges'
5 times, `great', `mighty' and `very great' once each.
Upon consulting the Septuagint we find that elohim is rendered in that version
`angel' on four occasions, namely Gen. 31: 24; Psa. 8: 5; 97: 7; and
138: 1. Of these translations, Heb. 1: 6 "And let all the angels of God worship
Him" endorses the LXX rendering of Psa. 97: 7. Thus in two passages quoted in
Hebrews, namely in Heb. 1: 6 and 7 the word `angel' is in the original Hebrew elohim.
(3)
Shinan "repetition". "The chariots of God are twenty thousand, even thousands of
angels" (Psa. 68: 17). The employment of the word `angels' here is gratuitous.
Shinan is a term indicating `repetition' and refers to the preceding enumeration. It
must be remembered that neither the Hebrews nor the Greeks had the use of the
numerals employed by us today in our arithmetic. They used the letters of the alphabet,
and the Greeks were able to represent any sum up to 9,999 but after that they were
obliged to resort to the expedient of prefixing the letter "M" which turned the number
into a "myriad". By this method the ancient Greek could represent any number up to
99,999,999 but he could get no further. Ten thousand times ten thousand is a multitude
`which no man can number'. Similarly, different expedients were employed by the
Hebrews, and Psa. 68: 17 is an example.
A literal translation is "The chariots of God are myriads twice told thousands of
repetition". While angels may be intended in this passage, it cannot be legitimately
quoted as a proof text.
Before w take up the examination of the two main words malak and angelos that are
translated `angel' in the O.T. and in the N.T., there are buried in the Septuagint version a
number of references that must be included in our survey in order that the fullest light
upon this subject shall be obtained.
We wish to avoid overloading this article with transliterations of either Hebrew or
Greek words, and will dispense with their citations wherever it can be done without
endangering the argument, believing that any reader who desires, can verify every
reference with ease.
We have seen that elohim is rendered `angel' in the LXX and to this, one or two other
references must be added.
El (Job 20: 15). No reason is offered for translating this by the word angel, we merely
record the fact. The title `sons of God' found in Job 1: 6 and 38: 7 is translated