6281. As regards “redeeming,” in the proper sense this signifies to restore and appropriate to Himself that which had been His; and it is predicated of slavery, of death, and of evil; when of slavery, they are meant who have been enslaved, in the spiritual sense enslaved by hell; when of death, they are meant who are in condemnation; and when of evil, as here, they are meant who are in hell, for the evil from which the angel redeems is hell (see n. 6279). As the Lord delivered man from these evils by making the Human in Himself Divine, therefore His Divine Human is called in the Word the “Redeemer,” as in Isaiah:

I aid thee, saith Jehovah, and thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel (Isaiah 41:14).

Again:

Thus hath said Jehovah, the Redeemer of Israel, his Holy One (Isaiah 49:7, 26).

Again:

Jehovah Zebaoth is His name; and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel; the God of the whole earth shall He be called (Isaiah 54:5).

In these passages, the Divine Itself, which is called “Jehovah,” is distinguished from the Divine Human, which is called the “Redeemer the Holy One of Israel.”

[2] But that it is Jehovah Himself in the Divine Human, is evident from the following passages.

In Isaiah:

Thus hath said Jehovah, the King of Israel, and his Redeemer, Jehovah Zebaoth, I am the first, and I am the last, and besides Me there is no God (Isaiah 44:6).

Thus hath said Jehovah thy Redeemer, I am Jehovah thy God, that teacheth thee (Isaiah 48:17).

Again:

Thou art our Father, for Abraham knoweth us not, and Israel doth not acknowledge us; Thou Jehovah art our Father, our Redeemer; from everlasting is Thy name (Isaiah 63:16).

In David:

Jehovah who redeemed thy life from the pit (Psalms 103:4).

[3] From these passages also it is plain that by “Jehovah” in the Word no other is meant than the Lord (see n. 1343, 1736, 2921, 3035, 5663); and that “Jehovah the Redeemer” is His Divine Human. Therefore also those who have been redeemed are called the “redeemed of Jehovah” in Isaiah:

Say ye to the daughter of Zion, Behold thy salvation cometh; Behold His reward is with Him, and the price of His work before Him. They shall call them, The people of holiness, the redeemed of Jehovah (Isaiah 62:11-12).

That it is the Lord from whom they are called the “redeemed of Jehovah,” is very clear; for it is said of His coming: “Behold thy salvation cometh; behold His reward is with Him.” See besides Isaiah 43:1; 52:2-3; 63:4, 9; Hos. 13:14; Exodus 6:6; 15:13; Job 19:25, where it is evident that “redemption” is predicated of slavery, of death, and of evil.

6279. The Angel who redeemeth me from all evil. That this signifies the Lord’s Divine Human by which is effected deliverance from hell, is evident from the signification of “angel,” as being the Lord’s Divine Human (of which below); from the signification of “redeeming,” as being to deliver (of which also below); and from the signification of “evil,” as being hell. The reason why “evil” denotes hell is that hell itself is nothing but evil; for whether you say that all in hell are evil, or that hell is evil, it is the same. In the spiritual sense, when “evil” is mentioned, hell is meant, for they who are in the spiritual sense, as are the angels in heaven, think and speak abstractedly from persons, because universally, and therefore to them evil is hell. It is the same with “sin,” when thereby is meant the ruling evil, as in Genesis:

Jehovah said unto Cain, If thou doest not well, sin coucheth at the door; and unto thee is his desire, and thou shall rule over him (Genesis 4:6-7); where “sin” denotes hell, which is at hand when a man does evil. The very evil with man is nothing else than hell, for it inflows therefrom, and the man is then a hell in the least form, as also is everyone there. So on the other hand, the very good in man is nothing else than heaven in him; for good flows in through heaven from the Lord; and the man who is in good, is heaven in the smallest image, as also is everyone in heaven.