Emissary: The Case for a Literal English Translation of Hebrew malʾak

Abstract

Despite possessing the literal meaning “one who is sent,” Hebrew malʾak is almost universally translated into English as “angel” (a transcription of Greek angelos) when the referent is a divine being and as “messenger” when the referent is a human being. However, the Hebrew makes no such distinction between divine and human malʾakîm. Moreover, it is both unnecessary and confusing, since Greek angelos also carries the literal meaning “messenger” in English. More importantly, the biblical malʾakîm, whether human or divine, do not exclusively serve as messengers. While they are often sent to relay a message, this is certainly not always the case. Acknowledging this, Bible translations tend to inconsistently render malʾak based on the perceived context (e.g., ambassador, messenger, angel), as determined by the modern interpreter. For all of the above reasons, it is argued that the English “emissary” (from Latin emissarius, “one who is sent”) can and should be employed in all cases, since the purpose of a Bible translation ought to be to provide an accurate account of what was written, with as little subjectivity or bias as possible.