And an angel of the LORD came up from Gilgal to Bochim, and said, I made you to go up out of Egypt, and have brought you unto the land which I sware unto your fathers; and I said, I will never break my covenant with you.
An angel of the Lord came up from Gilgal to Bochim. Jewish commentators generally have supposed the reference is to a prophet or commissioned messenger, whom they conceive to have been Phinehas the high priest. We are inclined to think, from the authoritative tone of his language, that he was "the Angel of the Covenant" (Exodus 23:20; Joshua 5:14); the same who appeared in human form and announced himself captain of the Lord's host. His coming from Gilgal had a special significance, because there the Israelites made a solemn dedication of themselves to God on their entrance into the promised land; and the memory of that religious engagement, which the angel's arrival from Gilgal awakened, gave emphatic force to his rebuke of their apostasy. Bochim, 'the weeping,' was a name bestowed, evidently in allusion to this incident and the profound emotions of the people, on the place, which was at or near Shiloh.
I said, I will never break my covenant with you.