The Meaning of the Word ‘Angel’

Here is a post by Anthony Rogers who happens to be a Christian apologist that writes for Answering.org and also Answeringmuslims.com  and to further read his article here is the link.

"The way the word “angel” is commonly understood creates no little confusion when it comes to this subject. In common usage, the word has come to refer exclusively to created heavenly beings or spirits who inhabit heaven. For this reason it is important to point out that the word angel is not actually found in the Hebrew Old Testament and is not even a translation into English of any word found in the Bible. The word “angel” is simply a transliteration into English of the Greek word angelos (Gr. ἄγγελος), which is used in the Septuagint (LXX), i.e. the Greek translation of the Old Testament, and in the Greek New Testament"

"The word that is used in the Hebrew text is malak (מַלְאָך). The lexical sources are unanimous that the Hebrew word malak, in its original signification and as it is used in the Bible, means “one sent; a messenger” (e.g. Gesenius; Brown, Driver and Briggs;⁵ et al.), as such it refers to the function rather than to the nature of an agent, and could just as well refer to one who is divine or human rather than just to a supernatural being as the word angel is normally understood. In other words, the nature of the agent is something that can’t be determined by the word alone and has to be determined by other factors. Accordingly, after discussing the etymology of the word, James Battenfield concludes: "The root idea of מַלְאָך [malak], then, is one sent, a messenger, or an envoy. Only in context does the term take on specificity."⁶  (James Battenfield, An Exegetical Study of the [Malak Yahweh] In the Old Testament (Postgraduate Seminar: Old Testament Theology, Grace Theological Seminary, 1971), p. 3 

"This is why the word malak is used for any messenger or message-bearer in the Hebrew Old Testament, whether the Angel of Yahweh, whom we will see exists in a class of His own, created angels, or human beings. In fact The Hebrew term מַלְאָך (mal’ak) is used some 214 times⁷ in the Old Testament. Nearly 50 percent of these occurrences clearly have reference in their context to human messengers who bore the messages of ordinary men such as Jacob (32:3) and of kings and military leaders (1 Sam. 19:11-21). Sometimes, even God’s prophets are termed His messengers (2 Chron. 36:15-16 cf. Jer. 25:3-7; 26:20-23; Hag. 1:13; Mal. 3:1a). The postcaptivity priests are also called God’s messengers in Malachi 2:7"

"The remaining Old Testament usages of “messenger” are divided between references to the Messenger of Jehovah (approximately 33 percent) and references to finite, created messengers, commonly called angels (about 17 percent). Thus, only the context can clearly reveal whether the term messenger, or angel, refers to the office of the one who is sent (in which case it could be Christ) or to the nature of created angels as finite beings. The term may denote office, function, or responsibility, rather than the nature of the being"  James Borland, Christ in the Old Testament: Old Testament Appearances of Christ in Human Form (Great Britain: Christian Focus Publications, 1999), p. 36-37