Reference: Ambassador
Easton
In the Old Testament the Hebrew word tsir, meaning "one who goes on an errand," is rendered thus (Jos 9:4; Pr 13:17; Isa 18:2; Jer 49:14; Ob 1:1). This is also the rendering of melits, meaning "an interpreter," in 2Ch 32:31; and of malak, a "messenger," in 2Ch 35:21; Isa 30:4; 33:7; Eze 17:15. This is the name used by the apostle as designating those who are appointed by God to declare his will (2Co 5:20; Eph 6:20).
The Hebrews on various occasions and for various purposes had recourse to the services of ambassadors, e.g., to contract alliances (Jos 9:4), to solicit favours (Nu 20:14), to remonstrate when wrong was done (Jg 11:12), to condole with a young king on the death of his father (2Sa 10:2), and to congratulate a king on his accession to the throne (1Ki 5:1).
To do injury to an ambassador was to insult the king who sent him (2Sa 10:5).
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Moses sent messengers from Kadesh to the king of Edom, saying: "Thus says your brother Israel: You know all the travail that has happened to us:
they also resorted to a ruse, and went and made as if they had been ambassadors, and took old sacks on their donkeys, and wineskins, old and torn and bound up,
they also resorted to a ruse, and went and made as if they had been ambassadors, and took old sacks on their donkeys, and wineskins, old and torn and bound up,
Jephthah sent messengers to the king of the children of Ammon, saying, "What have you to do with me, that you have come to me to fight against my land?"
David said, "I will show kindness to Hanun the son of Nahash, as his father showed kindness to me." So David sent by his servants to comfort him concerning his father. David's servants came into the land of the children of Ammon.
When they told it to David, he sent to meet them; for the men were greatly ashamed. The king said, "Wait at Jericho until your beards have grown, and then return."
Hiram king of Tyre sent his servants to Solomon; for he had heard that they had anointed him king in the place of his father: for Hiram was ever a lover of David.
However in [the business of] the ambassadors of the princes of Babylon, who sent to him to inquire of the wonder that was done in the land, God left him, to try him, that he might know all that was in his heart.
But he sent ambassadors to him, saying, "What have I to do with you, you king of Judah? I come not against you this day, but against the house with which I have war. God has commanded me to make haste. Beware that it is God who is with me, that he not destroy you."
A wicked messenger falls into trouble, but a trustworthy envoy gains healing.
that sends ambassadors by the sea, even in vessels of papyrus on the waters, saying, "Go, you swift messengers, to a nation tall and smooth, to a people awesome from their beginning onward, a nation that measures out and treads down, whose land the rivers divide!"
Behold, their valiant ones cry outside; the ambassadors of peace weep bitterly.
I have heard news from Yahweh, and an ambassador is sent among the nations, [saying], Gather yourselves together, and come against her, and rise up to the battle.
But he rebelled against him in sending his ambassadors into Egypt, that they might give him horses and many people. Shall he prosper? shall he escape who does such things? shall he break the covenant, and yet escape?
The vision of Obadiah. This is what the Lord Yahweh says about Edom. We have heard news from Yahweh, and an ambassador is sent among the nations, saying, "Arise, and let's rise up against her in battle.
We are therefore ambassadors on behalf of Christ, as though God were entreating by us: we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.
for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.
Fausets
Stands for two Hebrew words: malahch, "messenger," and tzeer, "ambassador." Israel's commanded isolation rendered embassies an infrequent occurrence; they were mere nuncios rather than plenipotentiaries. The earliest instances occur in the case of Edom, Moab, and the Amorites (Nu 20:14; 21:21). Gibeon feigned an ambassage (Jos 9:4). The ambassador's person was regarded as inviolable (2Sa 10:2-5; 12:26-31).
Men of high rank usually; as Sennacherib sent his chief captain, Chief cupbearer, and chief eunuch, Tartan, Rabsaris, Rabshakeh, whom Hezekiah's chief men of the kingdom, Eliakim over the household, Shebna the secretary, and Joab the recorder, met (2Ki 18:17-18; Isa 30:4; 33:7; compare Isa 18:2). Once in New Testament, "we are ambassadors for Christ" (2Co 5:20); treating with men "in Christ's stead": God "beseeching," and His ambassadors "praying" men to be reconciled to God. Majesty, faithfulness, yet withal tenderness, are implied. Our part is to send prayers, as our ambassage, to meet God's ambassadors, desiring His conditions of peace (Lu 14:32; Isa 27:5).
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Moses sent messengers from Kadesh to the king of Edom, saying: "Thus says your brother Israel: You know all the travail that has happened to us:
Moses sent messengers from Kadesh to the king of Edom, saying: "Thus says your brother Israel: You know all the travail that has happened to us:
they also resorted to a ruse, and went and made as if they had been ambassadors, and took old sacks on their donkeys, and wineskins, old and torn and bound up,
they also resorted to a ruse, and went and made as if they had been ambassadors, and took old sacks on their donkeys, and wineskins, old and torn and bound up,
David said, "I will show kindness to Hanun the son of Nahash, as his father showed kindness to me." So David sent by his servants to comfort him concerning his father. David's servants came into the land of the children of Ammon.
David said, "I will show kindness to Hanun the son of Nahash, as his father showed kindness to me." So David sent by his servants to comfort him concerning his father. David's servants came into the land of the children of Ammon. But the princes of the children of Ammon said to Hanun their lord, "Do you think that David honors your father, in that he has sent comforters to you? Hasn't David sent his servants to you to search the city, and to spy it out, and to overthrow it?"
But the princes of the children of Ammon said to Hanun their lord, "Do you think that David honors your father, in that he has sent comforters to you? Hasn't David sent his servants to you to search the city, and to spy it out, and to overthrow it?" So Hanun took David's servants, and shaved off the one half of their beards, and cut off their garments in the middle, even to their buttocks, and sent them away.
So Hanun took David's servants, and shaved off the one half of their beards, and cut off their garments in the middle, even to their buttocks, and sent them away. When they told it to David, he sent to meet them; for the men were greatly ashamed. The king said, "Wait at Jericho until your beards have grown, and then return."
When they told it to David, he sent to meet them; for the men were greatly ashamed. The king said, "Wait at Jericho until your beards have grown, and then return."
Now Joab fought against Rabbah of the children of Ammon, and took the royal city.
Now Joab fought against Rabbah of the children of Ammon, and took the royal city. Joab sent messengers to David, and said, "I have fought against Rabbah. Yes, I have taken the city of waters.
Joab sent messengers to David, and said, "I have fought against Rabbah. Yes, I have taken the city of waters. Now therefore gather the rest of the people together, and encamp against the city, and take it; lest I take the city, and it be called after my name."
Now therefore gather the rest of the people together, and encamp against the city, and take it; lest I take the city, and it be called after my name." David gathered all the people together, and went to Rabbah, and fought against it, and took it.
David gathered all the people together, and went to Rabbah, and fought against it, and took it. He took the crown of their king from off his head; and its weight was a talent of gold, and [in it were] precious stones; and it was set on David's head. He brought forth the spoil of the city, exceeding much.
He took the crown of their king from off his head; and its weight was a talent of gold, and [in it were] precious stones; and it was set on David's head. He brought forth the spoil of the city, exceeding much. He brought forth the people who were therein, and put them under saws, and under iron picks, and under axes of iron, and made them pass through the brick kiln: and he did so to all the cities of the children of Ammon. David and all the people returned to Jerusalem.
He brought forth the people who were therein, and put them under saws, and under iron picks, and under axes of iron, and made them pass through the brick kiln: and he did so to all the cities of the children of Ammon. David and all the people returned to Jerusalem.
The king of Assyria sent Tartan and Rabsaris and Rabshakeh from Lachish to king Hezekiah with a great army to Jerusalem. They went up and came to Jerusalem. When they were come up, they came and stood by the conduit of the upper pool, which is in the highway of the fuller's field.
The king of Assyria sent Tartan and Rabsaris and Rabshakeh from Lachish to king Hezekiah with a great army to Jerusalem. They went up and came to Jerusalem. When they were come up, they came and stood by the conduit of the upper pool, which is in the highway of the fuller's field. When they had called to the king, there came out to them Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, and Shebnah the scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph the recorder.
When they had called to the king, there came out to them Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, and Shebnah the scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph the recorder.
that sends ambassadors by the sea, even in vessels of papyrus on the waters, saying, "Go, you swift messengers, to a nation tall and smooth, to a people awesome from their beginning onward, a nation that measures out and treads down, whose land the rivers divide!"
that sends ambassadors by the sea, even in vessels of papyrus on the waters, saying, "Go, you swift messengers, to a nation tall and smooth, to a people awesome from their beginning onward, a nation that measures out and treads down, whose land the rivers divide!"
Or else let him take hold of my strength, that he may make peace with me. Let him make peace with me."
Or else let him take hold of my strength, that he may make peace with me. Let him make peace with me."
Behold, their valiant ones cry outside; the ambassadors of peace weep bitterly.
Behold, their valiant ones cry outside; the ambassadors of peace weep bitterly.
Or else, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends an envoy, and asks for conditions of peace.
Or else, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends an envoy, and asks for conditions of peace.
We are therefore ambassadors on behalf of Christ, as though God were entreating by us: we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.
We are therefore ambassadors on behalf of Christ, as though God were entreating by us: we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.
Morish
There are three Hebrew words thus translated, signifying 'an interpreter,' 'a messenger.' They were not, as in modern times, residents in foreign lands, but were officers sent from one sovereign to another with any message of importance, or to negotiate matters of mutual interest. The men from Gibeon pretended to be ambassadors come from a distance to make an alliance with Israel. Jos 9:4. Ambassadors came from Babylon to visit Hezekiah, 2Ch 32:31; and from the king of Egypt to Josiah. 2Ch 35:21. Such persons represented the kings who sent them, and, whatever the message, were usually treated with due respect. David severely resented the insult offered to the messengers sent by him in kindness to Hanun, king of the children of Ammon. 2Sa 10:1-14. In 2 Sam. 9 the kindness of God was accepted; here kindness was rejected. In the N.T. the apostles were ambassadors for Christ to a guilty world, to beseech their hearers to be reconciled to God. 2Co 5:20; Eph 6:20; and judgement will fall on those who obey not the gospel. 2Th 1:8; 1Pe 4:17.
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they also resorted to a ruse, and went and made as if they had been ambassadors, and took old sacks on their donkeys, and wineskins, old and torn and bound up,
It happened after this, that the king of the children of Ammon died, and Hanun his son reigned in his place. David said, "I will show kindness to Hanun the son of Nahash, as his father showed kindness to me." So David sent by his servants to comfort him concerning his father. David's servants came into the land of the children of Ammon. read more. But the princes of the children of Ammon said to Hanun their lord, "Do you think that David honors your father, in that he has sent comforters to you? Hasn't David sent his servants to you to search the city, and to spy it out, and to overthrow it?" So Hanun took David's servants, and shaved off the one half of their beards, and cut off their garments in the middle, even to their buttocks, and sent them away. When they told it to David, he sent to meet them; for the men were greatly ashamed. The king said, "Wait at Jericho until your beards have grown, and then return." When the children of Ammon saw that they were become odious to David, the children of Ammon sent and hired the Syrians of Beth Rehob, and the Syrians of Zobah, twenty thousand footmen, and the king of Maacah with one thousand men, and the men of Tob twelve thousand men. When David heard of it, he sent Joab, and all the army of the mighty men. The children of Ammon came out, and put the battle in array at the entrance of the gate: and the Syrians of Zobah and of Rehob, and the men of Tob and Maacah, were by themselves in the field. Now when Joab saw that the battle was set against him before and behind, he chose of all the choice men of Israel, and put them in array against the Syrians: The rest of the people he committed into the hand of Abishai his brother; and he put them in array against the children of Ammon. He said, "If the Syrians are too strong for me, then you shall help me; but if the children of Ammon are too strong for you, then I will come and help you. Be courageous, and let us be strong for our people, and for the cities of our God; and Yahweh do that which seems good to him." So Joab and the people who were with him drew near to the battle against the Syrians: and they fled before him. When the children of Ammon saw that the Syrians had fled, they likewise fled before Abishai, and entered into the city. Then Joab returned from the children of Ammon, and came to Jerusalem.
However in [the business of] the ambassadors of the princes of Babylon, who sent to him to inquire of the wonder that was done in the land, God left him, to try him, that he might know all that was in his heart.
But he sent ambassadors to him, saying, "What have I to do with you, you king of Judah? I come not against you this day, but against the house with which I have war. God has commanded me to make haste. Beware that it is God who is with me, that he not destroy you."
We are therefore ambassadors on behalf of Christ, as though God were entreating by us: we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.
for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.
giving vengeance to those who don't know God, and to those who don't obey the Good News of our Lord Jesus,
Smith
Ambassador,
a person of high rank employed by a government to represent it and transact its business at the seat of government of some other power. The earliest examples of ambassadors employed occur in
afterwards in that of the fraudulent Gibeonites,
etc., and in the instances of civic strife mentioned
and Judg 20:12 Ambassadors are found to have been employed not only on occasions of hostile challenge or insolent menace,
but of friendly compliment, of request for alliance or other aid, of submissive deprecation and of curious inquiry.
2Ki 14:8; 16:7; 18:14; 2Ch 32:31
Ministers are called ambassadors of Christ.
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Moses sent messengers from Kadesh to the king of Edom, saying: "Thus says your brother Israel: You know all the travail that has happened to us:
they also resorted to a ruse, and went and made as if they had been ambassadors, and took old sacks on their donkeys, and wineskins, old and torn and bound up,
Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, "Didn't you hate me, and drive me out of my father's house? Why have you come to me now when you are in distress?" The elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, "Therefore we have turned again to you now, that you may go with us, and fight with the children of Ammon; and you shall be our head over all the inhabitants of Gilead." read more. Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, "If you bring me home again to fight with the children of Ammon, and Yahweh deliver them before me, shall I be your head?" The elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, "Yahweh shall be witness between us; surely according to your word so will we do." Then Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead, and the people made him head and chief over them: and Jephthah spoke all his words before Yahweh in Mizpah. Jephthah sent messengers to the king of the children of Ammon, saying, "What have you to do with me, that you have come to me to fight against my land?" The king of the children of Ammon answered to the messengers of Jephthah, "Because Israel took away my land, when he came up out of Egypt, from the Arnon even to the Jabbok, and to the Jordan: now therefore restore those [lands] again peaceably." Jephthah sent messengers again to the king of the children of Ammon; and he said to him, "Thus says Jephthah: Israel didn't take away the land of Moab, nor the land of the children of Ammon, but when they came up from Egypt, and Israel went through the wilderness to the Red Sea, and came to Kadesh; then Israel sent messengers to the king of Edom, saying, 'Please let me pass through your land;' but the king of Edom didn't listen. In the same way, he sent to the king of Moab; but he would not: and Israel stayed in Kadesh. Then they went through the wilderness, and went around the land of Edom, and the land of Moab, and came by the east side of the land of Moab, and they encamped on the other side of the Arnon; but they didn't come within the border of Moab, for the Arnon was the border of Moab. Israel sent messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites, the king of Heshbon; and Israel said to him, 'Please let us pass through your land to my place.'
The tribes of Israel sent men through all the tribe of Benjamin, saying, "What wickedness is this that is happen among you?
He sent messengers to Ahab king of Israel, into the city, and said to him, "Thus says Ben Hadad,
but I will send my servants to you tomorrow about this time, and they shall search your house, and the houses of your servants; and it shall be, that whatever is pleasant in your eyes, they shall put it in their hand, and take it away."'"
Then Amaziah sent messengers to Jehoash, the son of Jehoahaz son of Jehu, king of Israel, saying, "Come, let us look one another in the face."
So Ahaz sent messengers to Tiglath Pileser king of Assyria, saying, "I am your servant and your son. Come up, and save me out of the hand of the king of Syria, and out of the hand of the king of Israel, who rise up against me."
Hezekiah king of Judah sent to the king of Assyria to Lachish, saying, "I have offended; return from me. That which you put on me, I will bear." The king of Assyria appointed to Hezekiah king of Judah three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold.
Watsons
AMBASSADOR, a messenger sent by a sovereign, to transact affairs of great moment. Ministers of the Gospel are called ambassadors, because, in the name of Jesus Christ the King of kings, they declare his will to men, and propose the terms of their reconciliation to God, 2Co 5:20; Eph 6:20. Eliakim, Shebna, and Josh, the servants of king Hezekiah, were called "ambassadors of peace." In their master's name they earnestly solicited a peace from the Assyrian monarch, but were made "to weep bitterly" with the disappointment and refusal, Isa 33:7.
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Behold, their valiant ones cry outside; the ambassadors of peace weep bitterly.
We are therefore ambassadors on behalf of Christ, as though God were entreating by us: we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.
for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.