They said to her, “You are crazy!” But she insisted that it was so. They said, “It is his angel.”
ExplanationCommentary
Verse 15. Thou art mad, or talkest idly.—Then said they, it is his Angel. It seems ridiculous to translate here a messenger. Does a messenger speak with the very voice of him that sends him? Saint John Chrysostom [2] and others on this place observe, that they believed that every one, at least of the faithful, hath a good Angel. Witham.—“If proper Angels,” saith S. Chrysostom, ( Tirinus. iii. hom. 7. in laud. Paul.) “be deputed by our Lord to such as have only charge of their own existence, (as Israel said, Genesis 48:16. the Angel that delivereth me from all evils, bless these boys) much more are super-human spirits at hand to help those unto whom the charge and burden of the world is committed.” Such persons as can believe that God permits evil spirits to tempt us, can find no difficulty surely in believing that the same good, just, and merciful Creator will permit good spirits to guide, protect, and assist us. Repeated proofs of both are found in holy writ. The learned Protestant commentator, Polus, on this text, says: Hujusmodi visis assueverat eo tempore Ecclesia, quæ etiam novit fideles præsidio angelorum esse circumseptos. The Church at that period had been accustomed to similar apparitions, nor is she ignorant that the faithful are secured by the protection of Angels. Tirinus. iv. p. 1494.