Angel

An angel is an ethereal creature (meaning it is "of the air"), found in many mythologies, whose duties are to assist and serve God or the gods of many religious traditions.

Angels in the Tanakh

The Biblical name for angel, ??? melekh (meaning "king"), obtained the further signification of "angel" only through the addition of God's name, as "angel of the Lord", or "angel of God" (Zech. xii. 8). Other appellations are "Sons of God", (Genesis vi. 4; Job, i. 6 ) and "the Holy Ones" (Psalms lxxxix. 6, 8).

Related Topics:
King - Genesis - Job

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According to Jewish interpretation, Elohim is almost entirely reserved for the one true God; but at times 'Elohim (powers), bn? 'Elohim, bn? Elim (sons of gods)(i.e. members of the class of divine beings) were general terms for beings with great power (i.e. judges or alternately, some kind of super powerful human beings). Hence they came to be used collectively of super-human beings, distinct from Yahweh and, therefore, inferior and ultimately subordinate (e.g. Genesis 6:2; Job 1:6; Psalms 8:5).

Related Topics:
Jewish - Yahweh

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See also: Names of God in Judaism

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Angels are referred to as "holy ones" (Zechariah 14:5) and "watchers" Daniel 4:13). They are spoken of as the "host of heaven" (Deuteronomy 17:3) or of "Yahweh" (Joshua 5:14). The "hosts," ????? Sebaoth in the title Yahweh Sebaoth, Lord of Hosts, were probably at one time identified with the angels. The identification of the "hosts" with the stars comes to the same thing; the stars were thought of as being closely connected with angels. However, YHWH is very jealous of the distinction between Himself and angels, and consequently, the Hebrews were forbidden by Moses to worship the "host of heaven". It is probable that the "hosts" were also identified with the armies of Israel, whether this army is human, or angelic. The New Testament often speaks of "spirits," ???????? (Revelation 1:4).

Related Topics:
Zechariah - Daniel - Heaven - Deuteronomy - Joshua - Revelation

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Prior to the emergence of monotheism in Israel the idea of an angel was the Mal'akh Yahweh, Angel of the Lord, or Mal'akh Elohim, Angel of God. The Mal'akh Yahweh is an appearance or manifestation of Yahweh in the form of a man, and the term Mal'akh Yahweh is used interchangeably with Yahweh (cf. Exodus 3:2, with 3:4; 13:21 with 14:19). Those who see the Mal'akh Yahweh say they have seen God (Genesis 32:30; Judges 13:22). The Mal'akh Yahweh (or Elohim) appears to Abraham, Hagar, Moses, Gideon, &c., and leads the Israelites in the Pillar of Cloud (Exodus 3:2). The phrase Mal'akh Yahweh may have been originally a courtly circumlocution for the Divine King; but it readily became a means of avoiding anthropomorphism, and later on, when angels were classified, the Mal'akh Yahweh meant an angel of distinguished rank. The identification of the Mal'akh Yahweh with the Logos, or Second Person of the Trinity, is not indicated by the references in the Hebrew scriptures; but the idea of a Being partly identified with God, and yet in some sense distinct from him, illustrates a tendency of Jewish religious thought to distinguish persons within the unity of the deity. Christians think that this foreshadows the doctrine of the Trinity, whereas Kabbalist Jews would show how it developed into kabbalistic theological thought and imagery.

Related Topics:
Monotheism - Israel - Cf. - Exodus - Judges - Abraham - Hagar - Moses - Gideon - Anthropomorphism - Logos - Second Person - Trinity - Kabbalist Jews

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In earlier literature the Mal'akh Yahweh or Elohim is almost the only angel mentioned. However, there are a few passages which speak of subordinate superhuman beings other than the Mal'akh Yahweh or Elohim. There are the cherubim who guard Garden of Eden. In Genesis 18, 19. (J) the appearance of Yahweh to Abraham and Lot is connected with three, afterwards two, men or messengers; but possibly in the original form of the story Yahweh appeared alone (Cf. 18:1 with 18:2, and note change of number in 19:17). At Bethel, Jacob sees the angels of God on the ladder (Genesis 28:12), and later on they appear to him at Mahanaim (Genesis 32:1). In all these cases the angels, like the Mal'akh Yahweh, are connected with or represent a theophany. Similarly the "man" who wrestles with Jacob at Peniel is identified with God (Genesis 32:24, 30). In Isaiah 6 the seraphim, superhuman beings with six wings, appear as the attendants of Yahweh. Thus, the pre-exilic literature rarely mentions angels, or other superhuman beings other than Yahweh and manifestations of Yahweh; the pre-exilic prophets hardly mention angels. An angel of I Kings 13:18 might be the Mal'akh Yahweh, as in 19:5, cf. 7, or the passage, at any rate in its present form, may be exilic or post-exilic. Nevertheless we may well suppose that polytheists in ancient Israel believed in superhuman beings other than Yahweh, but that the inspired writers have mostly suppressed references to them as unedifying.

Related Topics:
Cherubim - Garden of Eden - Lot - Bethel - Jacob - Ladder - Mahanaim - Theophany - Peniel - Isaiah - Seraphim - Prophet - I Kings - Polytheists - Ancient Israel - Inspired

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Once the doctrine of monotheism was formally expressed, in the period immediately before and during the Exile (Deuteronomy 6:4-5 and Isaiah 43:10), we find angels prominent in the Book of Ezekiel. Ezekiel, as a prophet of the Exile, may have been influenced by the hierarchy of supernatural beings in the Babylonian religion, and perhaps even by the angelology of Zoroastrianism (it is not, however, certain that these doctrines of Zoroastrianism were developed at so early a date). Ezekiel 9 gives elaborate descriptions of cherubim (a class, or type of angels); and in one of his visions, he sees seven angels execute the judgment of God upon Jerusalem. As in Genesis, they are styled "men"; mal'akh, for "angel", does not occur in Ezekiel. Somewhat later, in the visions of Zechariah, angels play a great part; they are sometimes spoken of as "men", sometimes as mal'akh, and the Mal'akh Yahweh seems to hold a certain primacy among them (Zecharias 1:11). The Satan also appears to prosecute (so to speak) the High Priest before the divine tribunal (Zecharias 3:1). Similarly in the Job the bne Elohim, sons of God, appear as attendants of God, and amongst them, Satan (Hebrew ha satan), again in the role of public prosecutor, the defendant being Job (Job 1, 2. Cf. I Chronicles 21:1). Occasional references to "angels" occur in the Psalter (Pss. 91:11, 103:20 &c.); they appear as ministers of God.

Related Topics:
Book of Ezekiel - Ezekiel - Babylonian religion - Zoroastrianism - Zechariah - Satan - Job - I Chronicles

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In Psalms 78:49 the "evil angels" of the Authorized Version conveys a false impression; it should be "angels of evil", i.e. angels who inflict chastisement as ministers of God.

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The seven angels of Ezekiel may be compared with the seven eyes of Yahweh in Zecharias 3:9, 4:10. The latter have been connected by Ewald and others with the later doctrine of seven chief angels (Tobit 12:15; Revelations 8:2), parallel to and influenced by the Ameshaspentas (Amesha Spenta), or seven great spirits of the Persian mythology, but the connection is doubtful.

Related Topics:
Amesha Spenta - Persian mythology

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In the Priestly Code, c. 400 BC, there is no reference to angels, apart from the possible suggestion in the plural in Genesis 1:26.

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During the Persian and Greek periods, the doctrine of angels underwent a great development, partly, at any rate, under foreign influences. In Daniel, c. 160 BC, 71 angels, usually spoken of as "men" or "Angel-princes", appear as guardians or champions of the individual nations, defending them as God sits in council with them over the world; grades are implied, there are "princes" and "chief" or "great princes"; and the names of some angels are known, Gabriel, Michael; the latter is pre-eminent (Dan. 8:16; 10:13, 20-21), he is the guardian of Israel's leading Kingdom of Judah. Again in Tobit a leading part is played by Raphael, "one of the seven holy angels". (Tob. 12:15.)

Related Topics:
Persian - 160 BC - Gabriel - Michael - Kingdom of Judah - Tobit - Raphael

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In Tobit, too, we find the idea of the demon or evil angel. In the canonical Hebrew/Aramaic scriptures, angels may inflict suffering as ministers of God, and Satan may act as accuser or tempter; but they appear as subordinates to God, fulfilling His will, and not as independent, morally evil agents. The statement (Job 4:18) that God "charged his angels with folly" applies to all angels. In Daniel, the princes, or guardian angels, of the heathen nations oppose Michael, the guardian angel of Judah. But in Tobit, we find Asmodaeus the evil demon, ?? ??????? ?????????, who strangles Sarah's husbands, and also a general reference to "a devil or evil spirit", ?????? (Tobit 3:8, 17; 6:7).

Related Topics:
Demon - Aramaic - Asmodaeus

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The Fall of the Angels is not properly a scriptural doctrine, though it is based on Gen. 6:2, as interpreted by the Book of Enoch. It is true that the bn? Elohim of that chapter are subordinate superhuman beings (cf. above), but they belong to a different order of thought from the angels of Judaism and of Christian doctrine; and the passage in no way suggests that the bne Elohim suffered any loss of status through their act.

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The guardian angels of the nations in Daniel probably represent the gods of the heathen, and we have there the first step of the process by which these gods became evil angels, an idea expanded by Milton in Paradise Lost. The development of the doctrine of an organized hierarchy of angels belongs to the Jewish literature of the period 200 BC to A.D. 100. In Jewish apocalypses especially, the imagination ran riot on the rank, classes and names of angels; and such works as the various books of Enoch and the Ascension of Isaiah supply much information on this subject.

Related Topics:
Milton - Paradise Lost - 200 BC - 100 - Enoch - Ascension of Isaiah

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Appearance of angels

In the Hebrew Bible, angels often appear to people in the shape of humans of extraordinary beauty, and often are not immediately recognized as angels (Gen. xviii. 2, xix. 5; Judges, vi. 17, xiii. 6; II Sam. xxix. 9); some fly through the air; some become invisible; sacrifices touched by them are consumed by fire; and they may disappear in sacrificial fire, like Elijah, who rode to heaven in a fiery chariot. Angels, or the Angel, appeared in the flames of the thorn bush (Gen. xvi. 13; Judges, vi. 21, 22; II Kings, ii. 11; Ex. iii. 2). They are described as pure and bright as Heaven; consequently, they are said to be formed of fire, and encompassed by light (Job, xv. 15), as the Psalmist said (Ps. civ. 4, R. V.): "Who makes winds his messengers; his ministers a flaming fire."

Related Topics:
Hebrew Bible - Elijah - Thorn bush

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Though superhuman, angels can assume human form; this is the earliest conception. Gradually, and especially in post-Biblical times, angels came to be bodied forth in a form corresponding to the nature of the mission to be fulfilled?generally, however, the human form. Angels bear drawn swords or other destroying weapons in their hands?one carries an ink-horn by his side?and ride on horses (Num. xxii. 23, Josh. v. 13, Ezek. ix. 2, Zech. i. 8 et seq.). It is worth noting that these angels carry items that are contempory to the time in which they visit (perhaps angels are bound by the technology which humans have achieved). A terrible angel is the one mentioned in I Chron. xxi. 16, 30, as standing "between the earth and the heaven, having a drawn sword in his hand". In the Book of Daniel, reference is made to an angel "clothed in linen, whose loins were girded with fine gold of Uphaz: his body also was like the beryl, and his face as the appearance of lightning, and his eyes as lamps of fire, and his arms and his feet like in color to polished brass, and the voice of his words like the voice of a multitude" (Dan. x. 5, 6). This imagery is very similar to the description of Jesus in the book of Revelation. Angels are thought to possess wings (Dan. ix. 21), as they are described in the Bible, and depicted in Christian, Jewish and Zoroastrian art. They are commonly depicted with halos.

Related Topics:
Sword - Book of Daniel - Beryl - Lightning - Brass - Halo

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Images of angels in Christian art are identical to prior depictions of gods such as Zeus and Nike, in pre-Christian classical art, and some divine beings in Mesopotamian art. The use of wings suggests an original artistic convention merely intended to denote the figure as a spirit.

Related Topics:
Zeus - Nike - Mesopotamia - Spirit

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Angels are portrayed as powerful and dreadful, endowed with wisdom and with knowledge of all earthly events, correct in their judgment, holy, but not infallible: they strive against each other, and God has to make peace between them. When their duties are not punitive, angels are beneficent to man (Ps. ciii. 20, lxxviii. 25; II Sam. xiv. 17, 20, xix. 28; Zech. xiv. 5; Job, iv. 18, xxv. 2).

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The number of angels is enormous. Jacob meets a host of angels; Joshua sees the "captain of the host of the Lord"; God sits on His throne, "all the host of heaven standing by Him on His right hand and on his left"; the sons of God come "to present themselves before the Lord" (Gen. xxxii. 2; Josh. v. 14, 15; I Kings, xxii. 19; Job, i. 6, ii. 1; Ps. lxxxix. 6; Job, xxxiii. 23). The general conception is the one of Job (xxv. 3): "Is there any number of his armies?" In the book of Revelation, the number is "a thousand thousands, and many tens of thousands".

Related Topics:
Jacob - Joshua - Job

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Though the older writings usually mention one angel of the Lord, embassies to men as a rule comprised several messengers. The inference, however, is not to be drawn that God Himself or one particular angel was designated: the expression was given simply to God's power to accomplish through but one angel any deed, however wonderful.

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Angels are referred to in connection with their special missions as, for instance, the "angel which hath redeemed," "an interpreter," "the angel that destroyed," "messenger of the covenant," "angel of his presence," and "a band of angels of evil" (Gen. xlviii. 16; Job, xxxiii. 23; II Sam. xxiv. 16; Mal. iii. 1; Isa. lxiii. 9; Ps. lxxviii. 49, R. V.). When, however, the heavenly host is regarded in its most comprehensive aspect, a distinction may be made between cherubim, seraphim, ?ayyot ("living creatures"), ofanim ("wheels"), and arelim (the meaning of which term is unknown). God is described as riding on the cherubim and as "the Lord of hosts, who dwelleth between the cherubim"; while the latter guard the way of the Tree of Life (I Sam. iv. 4, Ps. lxxx. 2, Gen. iii. 24). The seraphim are described by Isaiah (vi. 2) as having six wings; and Ezekiel describes the ?ayyot (Ezek. i. 5 et seq.) and ofanim as heavenly beings who carry God's throne. Satan ("the adversary") is perhaps a fallen cherub, possibly the mightiest of God's angels in creation, now a potent foe.

Related Topics:
Cherub - Seraph - Tree of Life - Isaiah - Ezekiel

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In post-Biblical times, the heavenly hosts became more highly organized (possibly as early as Zechariah ; certainly in Daniel), and there came to be various kinds of angels; some even being provided with names, as will be shown below.

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Purpose

In the Bible, angels are a medium of God's power; they exist to execute God's will, and like animals, have no free will, or independent thought. Angels reveal themselves to individuals as well as to the whole nation, in order to announce events, either good or bad, affecting humans. Angels foretold to Abraham the birth of Isaac, to Manoah the birth of Samson, and to Abraham the destruction of Sodom. Guardian angels were mentioned, but not, as was later the case, as guardian spirits of individuals and nations. God sent an angel to protect the Hebrew people after their exodus from Egypt, to lead them to the promised land, and to destroy the hostile tribes in their way (Ex. xxiii. 20, Num. xx. 16).

Related Topics:
Bible - Free will - Abraham - Isaac - Manoah - Samson - Sodom - Hebrew people - Exodus - Egypt - Promised land

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In the Judges (ii. 1) an angel of the Lord?unless here and in the preceding instances (compare Isa. xlii. 19, ?ag. i. 13, Mal. iii. 1), a human messenger of God is meant?addressed the whole people, swearing to bring them to the promised land. An angel brought Elijah meat and drink (I Kings, xix. 5); and as God watched over Jacob, so is every pious person protected by an angel, who cares for him in all his ways (Ps. xxxiv. 7, xci. 11). There are angels militant, one of whom smites in one night the whole Assyrian army of 185,000 men (II Kings, xix. 35); messengers go forth from God "in ships to make the careless Ethiopians afraid" (Ezek. xxx. 9); the enemy is scattered before the angel like chaff (Ps. xxxv. 5, 6).

Related Topics:
Judges - Elijah - Jacob - Pious - Assyria - Ethiopia

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Avenging angels are mentioned, such as the one in II Sam. xxiv. 15, who annihilates thousands. It would seem that the pestilence was personified, and that the "evil angels" mentioned in Ps. lxxviii. 49 are to be regarded as personifications of this kind. "Evil" is here to be taken in the causative sense, as "producing evil"; for, as stated above, angels are generally considered to be by nature beneficent to man. They glorify God, whence the term "glorifying angels" comes (Ps. xxix. 1, ciii. 20, cxlviii. 2; compare Isa. vi. 2 et seq.).

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They constitute God's court, sitting in council with Him (I Kings, xxii. 19; Job, i. 6, ii. 1); hence they are called His "council of the holy ones" (Ps. lxxxix. 7, R. V.; A. V. "assembly of the saints"). They accompany God as His attendants, when He appears to man (Deut. xxxiii. 2; Job, xxxviii. 7). This conception was developed after the Exile; and in the Zechariah, angels of various shapes are delegated "to walk to and fro through the earth" in order to find out and report what happens (Zech. vi. 7).

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In the prophetic books, angels appear as representatives of the prophetic spirit, and bring to the prophets God's word. Thus the prophet Haggai was called God's messenger (angel); and it is known that "Malachi" is not a real name, but means "messenger" or "angel". It is noteworthy that in I Kings, xiii. 18, an angel brought the divine word to the prophet.

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In some places, it is implied that angels existed before the Creation (Gen. i. 26; Job, xxxviii. 7). The earlier Biblical writings did not speculate about them; simply regarding them, in their relations to man, as God's agents. Consequently, they did not individualize or denominate them; and in Judges, xiii. 18, and Gen. xxxii. 30, the angels, when questioned, refuse to give their names. In Daniel, however, there occur the names Michael and Gabriel. Michael is Israel's representative in Heaven, where other nations?the Persians, for instance?were also represented by angelic princes. More than three hundred years before the Book of Daniel was written, Zechariah graded the angels according to their rank, but did not name them. The notion of the seven eyes (Zech. iii. 9, iv. 10) may have been affected by the representation of the seven archangels and also possibly by the seven amshaspands of Zoroastrianism (compare Ezek. ix. 2).

Related Topics:
Michael - Gabriel - Israel - Persia - Amshaspands - Zoroastrianism

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