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Part Two · Chapter Forty-Two — Every Angel-Appearance is a Prophetic Vision
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We have already shown that wherever the sight of an angel or his address is mentioned, it is always in a prophetic vision or a dream — whether this is stated explicitly or not, as has been explained. Know this well and understand it very thoroughly. There is no difference between whether the text states from the start that he saw an angel, or whether the apparent meaning at first is that he took the person to be a human being and only at the end was it clarified to him that it was an angel — from the moment you find that what was seen and addressed was an angel, know and be certain that from the very beginning of the event it was a prophetic vision or a prophetic dream. For in a prophetic vision or prophetic dream, the prophet may see God speaking to him — as we will explain — or may see an angel speaking to him, or may hear someone addressing him without seeing any speaking figure, or may see a human figure addressing him and only afterwards learn that the speaker was an angel. In this kind of prophecy the prophet relates that he saw a man doing or saying something, and afterwards knew it was an angel.
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On this great principle one of the Sages, of blessed memory — indeed one of the greatest of them — R. Ḥiyya the Great, based his interpretation of the scriptural text 'And the Lord appeared to him in the plain of Mamre' etc. (Gen. 18:1). For once the general statement was made — that God appeared to him — he proceeded to explain in what form that appearance occurred: he said that Abraham first saw three men, ran toward them, spoke to them, and things were said to them. The one who gave this interpretation held that Abraham's words 'My Lord, if now I have found favor in your eyes, do not pass from your servant' etc. (Gen. 18:3) — these too describe what he said in the prophetic vision to one of them. He said: Abraham addressed these words to the greatest of them. Understand this story as well — it is one of the mysteries.
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Likewise, I say about Jacob's story — 'And a man wrestled with him' (Gen. 32:25) — that this was in the form of a vision, since it was ultimately made clear that it was an angel. It is parallel to Abraham's story, the difference being that Abraham's account begins with a general statement 'And the Lord appeared to him' etc., then proceeded to explain how that occurred; so too with Jacob: it says 'And the angels of God met him' (Gen. 32:2), then proceeded to explain how they met him — saying that he sent messengers, did things, made preparations, 'and Jacob remained alone' etc. (ibid. 32:25). This is the 'angels of God' spoken of at first as 'meeting him'; the wrestling and all the speech were in a prophetic vision. Likewise the entire story of Balaam on the road and the donkey's speech — all of that was in a prophetic vision, since it was ultimately clarified that an angel of the Lord spoke to him. Similarly, what Joshua perceived when 'he lifted his eyes and saw — behold, a man stood before him' (Josh. 5:13) — that was in a prophetic vision, since it was clarified in the end that it was 'the prince of the host of the Lord.' As for the passage 'And an angel of the Lord came up from Gilgal' etc. (Judg. 2:1), 'And it came to pass when the angel of the Lord spoke these words to all the children of Israel' (ibid. 2:4) — the Sages explicitly stated that the angel of the Lord mentioned here is Phineas, and they said: 'This is Phineas — when the Shekhinah rests on him he resembles an angel of the Lord.'
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We have shown that the term 'angel' is homonymous and that a prophet too is called 'angel,' as the text states: 'And He sent an angel and brought us out of Egypt' (Num. 20:16); 'And Haggai the angel of the Lord spoke in the Lord's message' (Hag. 1:13); 'And they mocked the angels of God' (2 Chron. 36:16). Daniel's statement too — 'And the man Gabriel whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, made to fly swiftly, touched me at the time of the evening offering' (Dan. 9:21) — all that was in a prophetic vision. It should never enter your mind that an angel can be seen or his speech heard except in a prophetic vision or a prophetic dream, as was established: 'In a vision I make myself known, in a dream I speak to him' (Num. 12:6). From what I have mentioned you can infer what I have not mentioned.
From our earlier statement about the requirement of preparation for prophecy, and from our discussion of the homonymy of the term 'angel,' you will infer that Hagar the Egyptian was not a prophetess, nor were Manoah and his wife prophets — for the speech they heard or experienced in their minds was like the bat-qol frequently mentioned by the Sages: a state that accompanies a person not prepared for prophecy. The error in this arises only from the homonymy of the name. This principle removes most of the difficulties in the Torah.
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Consider the words 'And an angel of the Lord found her by the spring of water' etc. (Gen. 16:7) — similar to what is said of Joseph: 'And a man found him, and behold he was wandering in the field' (Gen. 37:15). All the midrashic texts hold that in the latter case it was an angel.