AMBASSADOR
It is designated in the Old Testament by three Hebrew terms:
(a) The official title of a messenger (Is. 18:2).
(b) Intermediary; the same voice means “interpreter” in Is. 43:27 and “intercessor” in Jb. 33:23.
(c) More frequently, messenger. Our versions rarely translate “ambassador,” as in Ex. 17:15; Jer. 27:3. It is usually translated “messenger” (Rom. 20:2).
As a general rule, they are identified with diplomats who represent some high dignitary.
Their functions vary from ambassador of a large metropolis, such as Nineveh, to emissaries among the ten tribes or even among heads of families (Judg. 20:12; Gen. 32:2).
The messages vary between:
a respectful plea,
a declaration of war,
an act of submission,
a friendly settlement,
an economic understanding or
the making of an alliance (Num. 21:21; 2 Kings 14:8; 16:7; Judges 11:12; 2 Sam. 3:12).
The same terms apply to prophets as messengers of the Most High (2 Chron. 36:15; Jer. 49:14; Hag. 1:13).
Malachi means “my messenger” (Mal. 3:1).
Jesus, in the New Testament, uses “presbeia”, a term used in the relationships between the kings and between the Greek cities of his time (Lk. 19:14).
Paul uses “presbuein,” which designates the functions of the emperor’s legate, as the proper title of the minister of Christ (2 Cor. 5:20; Eph. 6:20).