Ramban

BEHOLD, I SEND AN ANGEL BEFORE THEE. “Here they were informed that they would sin [by worshipping the golden calf] and that the Divine Glory would be saying to them, For I will not go up in the midst of thee. FOR MY NAME IS IN HIM. This is connected with the beginning of this verse: Take heed of him, for My Name is associated with him. Our Rabbis explained that the angel referred to is Mattatron]. whose name in numerical value is equal to that of his Master, for the sum of the letter-numbers of the name Mattatron is equal to that of Sha-dai (Almighty).” All this is the language of Rashi. In Eileh Shemoth Rabbah I have likewise seen that one of the Sages interprets the verse in this way, referring to the worshipping of the calf. But one must ask that [we find that] this decree of I send an angel before thee did not actually take place, for the Holy One, blessed be He, had said to Moses, And I will send an angel before thee… for I will not go up in the midst of thee, but Moses pleaded for mercy on this and said, If Thy presence go not, carry us not up hence. For wherein now shall it be known that I have found grace in Thy sight, I and Thy people? is it not in that Thou goest with us?, Verses 15-16. And the Holy One, blessed be He, consented to him and told him, I will do also this thing that thou hast spoken., Verse 17. Thus also did the Rabbis interpret it: “Even as a guide we refused to accept him, as it is written, If Thy presence go not, carry us not up hence.”, Verses 15-16. The answer according to this opinion of the Rabbis is that this decree was not fulfilled in the days of Moses, and it is with reference to this that Moses said, So that we are distinguished, I and Thy people,, Verse 16. and G-d answered him, For thou hast found grace in My sight, and I know thee by name,, Verse 17. and He further said, And all the people among which thou art shall see the work of the Eternal [that I am about to do];, 34:10. however, after the death of Moses our Teacher He did send with them the angel. It is with reference to this that Scripture states: And it came to pass, when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes and looked, and, behold, there stood a man over against him with his sword drawn in his hand, and Joshua went unto him, and said unto him: ‘Art thou for us, or for our adversaries? ‘And he said: ‘Nay, but I am captain of the host of the Eternal; I am now come.’ And there you will see that Joshua asked him, What saith my lord unto his servant?, Verse 14. Now the angel did not command Joshua anything in connection with his appearance to him, but merely told him, Put off thy shoe from off thy foot,, Verse 15. nor did he explain why he came. But the vision was for the purpose of informing Joshua that from now on there would be an angel sent before them to go out in the host in battle. It is with reference to this that he said, I am now come. And so did the Sages say in the Tanchuma:, 18. “The angel said to Joshua: ‘I am he who came in the days of Moses your master, and he pushed me away and did not want me to go with him.’” The Rabbis have also said expressly: “The promise that Israel would not be turned over to ‘a captain’ all the days of Moses now became void; thus as soon as Moses died ‘the captain’ returned to his position, for Joshua saw him, as it is said, And it came to pass, when Joshua was by Jericho… And he said, ‘Nay, but I am captain of the host of the Eternal; I am now come.’ This is why it is said, Behold, I send an angel before thee.” By way of the Truth, [the mystic teachings of the Cabala], this angel they were promised here is the redeeming angel, 31:13) where he quotes this text of Ramban, and explains that the reference is to the Shechinah (the Divine Glory). See in the text Note 419. in whom is the Great Name, for in Y-a-h the Eternal is an everlasting Rock. This is [what He meant when] He said, I am the G-d of Beth-el, for it is the custom of the King to dwell in His Palace. He is called mal’ach (angel) because the whole conduct of this world is by that attribute. And our Rabbis have said that this is Mattatron, a name which signifies “the guide of the road” — I have already explained this in Seder Bo]. — and this is the sense of the phrase here, [Behold, I send an angel before thee,] to keep thee in the way. — And to bring thee into the place which I have prepared, referring to the Sanctuary, as it is written, the Sanctuary, O Eternal, which Thy hands have established. The meaning of the expression: which I have prepared, is “for Myself, to be My holy and beautiful house,” for there the Throne is perfect. I will yet mention the Rabbis’ meaning in saying that Mattatron’s name [in the sum of letter-numbers] is even as the Name of his Master. His voice is thus the voice of the living G-d, and it is mandatory upon us to hearken to His voice by the mouth of the prophets. Or the meaning may be that “they should not mutilate the shoots” of faith and thus come to abandon the Oral Torah, just as the Rabbis have interpreted: “And they have spurned the word of the Holy One of Israel — this refers to the Oral Torah.” Thus the explanation of the expression, and hearken unto his voice, is “to My words.” Similarly He said, But if thou shalt indeed hearken unto his voice, and do all that I speak. Onkelos hinted at this, for he translated [‘ki sh’mi b’kirbo’ — for My Name is in him]: “for in My Name is his word,” as he speaks with it. He said, Then I will be an enemy unto thine enemies, for even with the attribute of mercy I will be an enemy to them; and an adversary unto thine adversaries — through him, [the angel], through the attribute of justice. Hence He explained, For Mine angel shall go before thee, and bring thee in unto the Amorite etc. and the Canaanite etc. and I will cut him off, when he will bring you to them, that we may know that it is He [through the attribute of justice] that will cut them off. He mentioned them in the singular [“and I will cut him off], for He will cut them all off as if they were one man. Now when this angel dwelled in the midst of Israel, the Holy One, blessed be He, would not have said, For I will not go up in the midst of thee — [for He said] for My Name is in him, so He was in the midst of Israel! But when they sinned by worshipping the golden calf He wanted to remove His Divine Glory from their midst, and that one of His angels should go before them as His messenger, and Moses pleaded for mercy, and He again caused His Divine Glory to dwell amongst them as before. There I will explain the verses, with the help of G-d. The Rabbis have also hinted to this in Midrash Rabbah in that section. Thus they said: “Behold, I send an angel. The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Moses: ‘The one who guarded the fathers will guard the children.’ And thus you find with Abraham, that when he blessed Isaac he said, He will send His angel before thee. In the case of Jacob we find [that he blessed Joseph’s sons by saying], The angel who hath redeemed me etc., 48:16. He said to them: ‘He redeemed me from the hand of Esau; He redeemed me from the hand of Laban; He fed me and sustained me in the years of famine.’ Said the Holy One, blessed be He, to Moses: ‘Now too, the one who guarded the fathers will guard the children,’ as it is said, Behold, I send an angel before thee.” Again the Rabbis have said there clearly: “The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Israel: ‘Be heedful of the messenger, for he does not go back on his mission; he is the attribute of justice, be not rebellious against him, etc.’” In any case, according to all authorities the Midrash I have mentioned is true, that as long as Moses lived the angel who was captain of the host, Verse 14. did not go with them, for Moses filled his place, similarly to that which is said, And it came to pass, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed. And in the days of Joshua it was necessary that the angel captain of the host of the Eternal, Verse 14. come to him to fight their battles, this being Gabriel who fights for them, and this was why Joshua saw him with his sword drawn in his hand, because he came to execute vengeance upon the nations, and chastisements upon the peoples.