Judges 6:22

22 And Gedeon saw that he was an angel of the Lord; and Gedeon said, Ah, ah, Lord my God! for I have seen the angel of the Lord face to face.

Judges 6:22 Meaning and Commentary

Judges 6:22

And when Gideon perceived he was an angel of the Lord
By the miracle wrought, and the manner of his departure:

Gideon said, alas! O Lord God;
woe to me, what will become of me, or befall me, I shall surely die:

for because I have seen an angel of the Lord face to face;
and whom he had reason to believe was the Lord himself, a divine Person, by the miracle wrought; and it was a commonly received notion even among good men, in those times, that the Lord was not to be seen by them and live, as appears from Jacob, Manoah, and others; at least the appearance of a divine Person, and even of any messenger from heaven, was startling, surprising, and frightful to them; which arose from a sense they had of the divine Being, and of their own sinfulness and frailty.

Judges 6:22 In-Context

20 And the angel of God said to him, Take the flesh and the unleavened cakes, and put them on that rock, and pour out the broth close by: and he did so.
21 And the angel of the Lord stretched out the end of the rod that was in his hand, and touched the flesh and the unleavened bread; and fire came up out of the rock, and consumed the flesh and the unleavened bread, and the angel of the Lord vanished from his sight.
22 And Gedeon saw that he was an angel of the Lord; and Gedeon said, Ah, ah, Lord my God! for I have seen the angel of the Lord face to face.
23 And the Lord said to him, Peace be to thee, fear not, thou shalt not die.
24 And Gedeon built there an altar to the Lord, and called it The peace of the Lord, until this day, as it is still inEphratha of the father of Esdri.

The Brenton translation of the Septuagint is in the public domain.