Judges 6:22

22 And Gideon realized that he [was] the angel of Yahweh; and Gideon said, "Oh, my lord Yahweh! For now I have seen the angel of Yahweh 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 The angel of God said to him, "Take the meat and the unleavened cakes and put [them] on this rock; pour the broth [over it]." And he did so.

21 Then the angel of Yahweh reached out the tip of the staff that [was] in his hand, and he touched the meat and the unleavened cakes; and fire went up from the rock and consumed the meat and the unleavened cakes. And the angel of Yahweh went {from his sight}.

22 And Gideon realized that he [was] the angel of Yahweh; and Gideon said, "Oh, my lord Yahweh! For now I have seen the angel of Yahweh face to face."

23 And Yahweh said to him, "Peace be with you. Do not fear; you will not die."

24 And Gideon built there an altar to Yahweh, and he called it "Yahweh [is] peace." To this day it is still in Ophrah [of the] Abiezrites.