The Angel in the Bush

Exodus 3:2–6 in full: the angel of the LORD appears "in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush," and when Moses turns aside, "God called unto him out of the midst of the bush… I am the God of thy father." The whole identity question lives in three verses: the angel appears; God speaks; Moses hides his face, "for he was afraid to look upon God." The verbal echo at Joshua 5:15 — "loose thy shoe from off thy foot; for the place whereon thou standest is holy" — binds the captain of the LORD's host before Jericho back to this scene. Sources: KJV text (PD); atlas lens 35 rows 4 and 11.