Destroying angel (Bible)


The destroying angel in the Hebrew Bible is an entity sent out by Yahweh on several occasions to kill Israelites. In 2 Samuel 24:15, he kills the inhabitants of Jerusalem. In I Chronicles 21:15, the same "Angel of the Lord" is seen by David to stand "between the earth and the heaven, with a drawn sword in his hand stretched out against Jerusalem." Later, in II Kings 19:35, the angel kills 185,000 men of Sennacherib's Assyrian army, thereby saving Hezekiah's Jerusalem.
The angel is referred to under various terms, including Mashḥit, meaning "destroyer" or -kheet , מַשְׁחִית and Ha-Mashchit, "destroying angel", Angel of the Lord, is found in Job 33:22 and in Proverbs 16:14 in the plural, "Messengers of death".
In Judaism, such angels might be seen as created by one's sins. As long a person lives, God allows him to repent. But after death, the angels of destruction are allowed to execute the sentence proclaimed in the heavenly court. Further, they feature as tormentors in Gehinnom.
Mashchith was also used as an alternate name for one of the seven compartments of Gehenna.