Discovery BoxExodus 23:20 
Context23:20 1 “I am going to send 2 an angel 3 before you to protect you as you journey 4 and to bring you into the place that I have prepared. 5
Exodus 23:27-28
Context23:27 “I will send my terror 6 before you, and I will destroy 7 all the people whom you encounter; I will make all your enemies turn their backs 8 to you. 23:28 I will send 9 hornets before you that will drive out the Hivite, the Canaanite, and the Hittite before you.
1 sn This passage has some of the most interesting and perplexing expressions and constructions in the book. It is largely promise, but it is part of the Law and so demands compliance by faith. Its points are: God promises to send his angel to prepare the way before his obedient servants (20-23); God promises blessing for his loyal servants (24-33). So in the section one learns that God promises his protection (victory) and blessing (through his angel) for his obedient and loyal worshipers.
2 tn The particle הִנֵּה (hinneh) with the active participle indicates imminent future, something God is about to do.
3 sn The word is מַלְאָךְ (mal’akh, “messenger, angel”). This angel is to be treated with the same fear and respect as Yahweh, for Yahweh will be speaking in him. U. Cassuto (Exodus, 305-6) says that the words of the first clause do not imply a being distinct from God, for in the ancient world the line of demarcation between the sender and the sent is liable easily to be blurred. He then shows how the “Angel of Yahweh” in Genesis is Yahweh. He concludes that the words here mean “I will guide you.” Christian commentators tend to identify the Angel of Yahweh as the second person of the Trinity (W. C. Kaiser, Jr., “Exodus,” EBC 2:446). However, in addition to being a preincarnate appearance, the word could refer to Yahweh – some manifestation of Yahweh himself.
4 tn Heb “protect you in the way.”
5 tn The form is the Hiphil perfect of the verb כּוּן (kun, “to establish, prepare”).
6 tn The word for “terror” is אֵימָתִי (’emati); the word has the thought of “panic” or “dread.” God would make the nations panic as they heard of the exploits and knew the Israelites were drawing near. U. Cassuto thinks the reference to “hornets” in v. 28 may be a reference to this fear, an unreasoning dread, rather than to another insect invasion (Exodus, 308). Others suggest it is symbolic of an invading army or a country like Egypt or literal insects (see E. Neufeld, “Insects as Warfare Agents in the Ancient Near East,” Or 49 [1980]: 30-57).
7 tn Heb “kill.”
8 tn The text has “and I will give all your enemies to you [as] a back.” The verb of making takes two accusatives, the second being the adverbial accusative of product (see GKC 371-72 §117.ii, n. 1).
9 tn Heb “and I will send.”
