Ambassador

The ambassador in the ancient Near East was a diplomatic envoy sent by a ruler to convey messages, negotiate terms, or represent sovereign interests in a foreign court. The Old Testament employs several Hebrew terms for such envoys (tsir, malak), seen in Joshua 9:4 (the Gibeonites' deceptive embassy), Isaiah 18:2 (Egyptian ambassadors), Jeremiah 49:14 and Obadiah 1:1 (envoys called among nations). The sending of ambassadors accompanied treaties, tribute negotiations, and declarations of war throughout the ancient world.

In the New Testament, Paul applies the title to his own apostolic calling: we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us (2 Cor. 5:20), and again in Ephesians 6:20 he calls himself an ambassador in chains. The metaphor frames the apostolic ministry as representing the heavenly sovereign in the world, bearing a message of reconciliation with the full authority of the one who sent the envoy.