מַלְאָךְ214 H4397
Messenger or angel; a human envoy sent on a mission, or a divine heavenly being sent by God.
Mal'akh means simply 'one who is sent' — whether a human courier (Gen 32:3) or a heavenly being (Gen 16:7). The word's genius is its ambiguity: the 'angel of the LORD' who appears to Hagar, Moses, and Gideon may be indistinguishable from God himself. Arabic splits the senses cleanly between rasul (human messenger) and malak (angel), while Korean uses 사자 for envoys and 천사 for angels. English 'angel' comes from the Greek angelos, itself a translation of this very Hebrew word — a reminder that the concept of 'angel' begins not with wings and halos but with the act of being sent.
2. messenger, envoy, ambassador — A human agent sent to deliver a message or carry out a diplomatic mission — an envoy, emissary, or ambassador. Jacob sends mal'akhim ahead to Esau (Gen 32:3), Moses dispatches messengers to the king of Edom (Num 20:14), and Rahab hides the Israelite spies whom Jericho's king calls mal'akhim (Josh 6:17). Arabic uses rasul/rusul for this sense, Korean 사자/사신, and Swahili mjumbe — all distinct from their 'angel' vocabulary. The 102 occurrences span military scouts, royal couriers, and prophetic envoys (Mal 3:1). 102×
AR["رُسُلاً","رُسُلًا"]·ben["দূত","দূতদের","বার্তাবাহকদের"]·DE["Boten","messengers"]·EN["messengers"]·FR["messagers","messengers"]·heb["מַלְאָכִים","מלאך","מלאכים"]·HI["दूत","दूतों","दूतों-को","दूतोंको","दोओत"]·ID["utusan-utusan"]·IT["messaggeri","messengers"]·jav["utusan","utusan-ipun","utusan-utusan"]·KO["사자들-을","사자들을","전령들을"]·PT["mensageiros"]·RU["посланников","посланцев","послов"]·ES["mensajeros"]·SW["wajumbe"]·TR["elciler","elçiler","haberciler"]·urd["قاصد","قاصدوں","پیغامبر"]
Gen 32:3, Gen 32:6, Num 20:14, Num 21:21, Num 22:5, Deut 2:26, Josh 6:17, Josh 6:25, Josh 7:22, Judg 9:31, Judg 11:12, Judg 11:14 (+38 more)
▼ 1 more sense below
Senses
1. angel, divine messenger — A supernatural heavenly being dispatched by God, most often in the phrase mal'akh YHWH ('angel of the LORD'). This figure appears to Hagar (Gen 16:7-11), stands in Balaam's path (Num 22:22-35), and commissions Gideon (Judg 6:11-22). Arabic consistently renders this sense as malak/mala'ika, Korean as 천사, and Swahili as malaika — all dedicated 'angel' terms. The 111 occurrences include both individual theophanies and collective references to God's heavenly host (Ps 103:20; 148:2). 111×
AR["مَلاكُ","مَلَاكَ","مَلَاكُ","مَلَاكُ-","مَلَاكِ"]·ben["দূত","দূত-","দূতকে"]·DE["Engel-von","angel-von","der-Engel"]·EN["angel-of","the-angel-of"]·FR["ange-de","angel-de","le-ange-de"]·heb["מלאך"]·HI["दुत","दुत-ने","दूत","दूत-","दूत-ने"]·ID["Malaikat","malaikat","malaikat-"]·IT["angel-di","angelo-di","il-angelo-di"]·jav["malaekat","malaikat","malaékat","malèkat","malékat"]·KO["사자-의","천사-의","천사가"]·PT["anjo-de","mensageiro-de"]·RU["Ангел","ангел","ангела","ангелу","посланник"]·ES["mensajero-de","ángel-de","ángel-de-"]·SW["malaika","malaika-wa","ya-Mungu"]·TR["melek","meleği","meleği-","meleğine","meleğini"]·urd["فرشتہ","فرشتہ-","فرشتے-نے"]
Related Senses
H5921a 1. upon, on, over (spatial) (5443×)H0413 1. directional: to, toward (5366×)H1121a 1. son, male offspring, descendant (4914×)H3808 1. simple negation (not) (4839×)H4428 1. king, human ruler (2518×)H0430 1. God (of Israel) (2502×)G1722 1. locative: in, within (2442×)H1004b 1. house, dwelling, building (2015×)H6440 1. before, in front of (spatial) (1870×)G3756 1. not (negation particle) (1635×)H3027 1. physical hand (body part) (1596×)G2316 1. God, the true God (1315×)H1697 1. word, speech, utterance (1235×)H4480a 1. source or separation (1198×)H5892b 1. city, town (1093×)G1519 1. direction: into, to, toward (1061×)H3427 1. Qal: to dwell, inhabit (937×)G1537 1. from, out of (source/origin) (886×)H8034 1. Name (designation / identifier) (856×)G3361 1. subjective negation (not) (834×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
מַלְאָךְ214 n.m. messenger;—מ׳ Ex 23:20 + 48 times; cstr. מַלְאַךְ Gn 16:7 + 69 times; sfs. מַלְאָכִי Ex 23:23 + 3 times; מַלְאָכוֹ Gn 24:7, 40; pl. מַלְאָכִים Gn 32:4 + 63 times + מלאכים 2 S 11:1 Kt (מלכים); cstr. מַלְאֲכֵי Gn 28:12 + 11 times; מַלְאָכֶיךָ Nu 24:12, 2 K 19:23; מַלְאָכֵכֵה Na 2:14 error for מַלְאָכֵכִי = מַלְאָכַיְכִי Ges§ 91, (2), Anm. 2 or מַלְאָכֵךְ by dittogr. from foll. הוֹי…