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Genesis 48 · a question people ask

Who is "the angel who has redeemed me"?

Interpretation

Jacob says, "The God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, the God who has fed me all my life long to this day, the angel who has redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads" (48:15-16). In Hebrew, all three lines lead into one verb, "bless", and that verb is singular. Protestants read "the angel" in two main ways.

How Christians read it

Where Christians differ, Favor sets out the main views side by side and doesn't pick one.

God himself

Those who hold this view note that elsewhere "the angel of God" says to Jacob, "I am the God of Bethel" (31:11-13), that Jacob said after wrestling, "I have seen God face to face" (32:30), and that Hosea says Jacob "struggled with the angel" and calls him "the LORD, the God of Armies" (Hosea 12:4-5). Many in this view see the angel as God appearing in person, and some Christians see the Son before he became man.

Genesis 31:11-13 · Genesis 32:30 · Hosea 12:3-5

A messenger God sent

Those who hold this view read "the angel" as a created messenger through whom God protected Jacob, as angels met him on his journeys (28:12; 32:1). They take the blessing as coming from God, with the angel named as the one God used.

Genesis 28:12 · Genesis 32:1

The verses

“He blessed Joseph, and said, “The God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, the God who has fed me all my life long to this day, the angel who has redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads, and let my name be named on them, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac. Let them grow into a multitude upon the earth.””
Genesis 48:15-16 · World English Bible

From Favor's study of Genesis 48

Genesis 48: Crossed hands

Jacob took Joseph's sons as his own, "even as Reuben and Simeon", and the birthright passed to Joseph's line (1 Chronicles 5:1-2). With his eyes dim, he put his right hand on the younger, Ephraim, on purpose: "I know, my son, I know." He blessed them in the name of "the God who has fed me all my life long" and "the angel who has redeemed me from all evil".

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Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Every answer cites the verses it rests on. What we believe · All Bible questions