Judges 6:22

22 And Gideon saw that he was an angel of the Lord, and he said, Lord God, alas to me, for I saw the angel of the Lord face to face. (And Gideon saw that he was the angel of the Lord, and he said, Lord God, alas for me, 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 To whom the angel of the Lord said, Take thou the flesh, and the therf loaves, and put them on that stone, and pour the broth above. And when he had done so, (To whom the angel of the Lord said, Take thou the flesh, and the unleavened bread, and put them on that stone, and pour the broth upon it. And when he had done so,)

21 the angel of the Lord held forth the end of the staff, which he held in the hand (which he held in his hand), and he touched the fleshes, and the therf loaves; and fire ascended from the stone, and wasted the fleshes, and [the] therf loaves. And the angel of the Lord vanished from his eyes.

22 And Gideon saw that he was an angel of the Lord, and he said, Lord God, alas to me, for I saw the angel of the Lord face to face. (And Gideon saw that he was the angel of the Lord, and he said, Lord God, alas for me, for I have seen the angel of the Lord face to face.)

23 And the Lord said to him, Peace be with thee; dread thou not (fear not ), thou shalt not die.

24 Then Gideon builded there an altar to the Lord, and he called it the Peace of the Lord, (and it is there) unto this present day. And when he was yet in Ophrah, which is of the family of Abiezrites, (Then Gideon built an altar there to the Lord, and he called it Jehovahshalom, and it is there unto this present day, in Ophrah, which is of the family of the Abiezrites.)