How Many Angels Were at Jesus' Tomb, and Why Do the Gospels Differ?
Mark's young man, Matthew's angel of the Lord, Luke's two men, and John's two angels, read passage by passage, with the…
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Biblical Angels
Cherubim, seraphim, the angel of the Lord, and the angels of Daniel, Tobit, Enoch and Revelation, with scripture kept apart from the later nine choirs.
21 guides in this section
One set of pages follows angels through particular books and scenes, from Genesis and Daniel to the empty tomb and Revelation. A second set explains each rank of the nine-choir hierarchy, from seraphim down to plain angels.
Hebrew mal'akh and Greek angelos both mean messenger, and the Bible uses them for human envoys and prophets as well as for heavenly visitors.
The nine choirs are later than scripture: Pseudo-Dionysius set them out around 500 CE, and the Bible uses the word archangel only twice, in 1 Thessalonians 4:16 and Jude 9.
Catholic and Orthodox Bibles include the Book of Tobit, where Raphael travels in disguise, while Jewish Bibles leave it out and Protestant Bibles omit it or place it in a separate Apocrypha section.
The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church counts 1 Enoch among its Old Testament books, and Jewish, Catholic, Eastern Orthodox and Protestant Bibles do not include it.
Isaiah's six-winged seraphim and the cherubim who guard the way to Eden and spread gold wings over the Ark are good first readings on the heavenly beings themselves. For the figure who speaks as God to Hagar, Moses and Gideon, start with the angel of the LORD.
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Is Lucifer in the Bible, and Who Is Isaiah 14 Actually About?
What the Hebrew of Isaiah 14:12 says, which king the taunt addresses, and how Christian writers came to read the verse…
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What Are Cherubim in the Bible, and What Do These Heavenly Beings Do?
From the guards east of Eden and the gold figures on the Ark to Ezekiel's four-faced creatures, and how painters later…
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What Are Dominions Angels, and What Is Their Role in Christian Angelology?
Named in Colossians 1:16 and Ephesians 1:21, ranked fourth by Pseudo-Dionysius, and read by Aquinas as the angels who…
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What Are Powers Angels, and How Do Scripture and Later Traditions Differ?
Paul's word exousiai, the sixth of the nine choirs, and why Orthodox lists call this rank the Authorities
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What Are Seraphim, and What Do They Do in Isaiah 6?
Isaiah's six-winged attendants, the serpent word behind their name, their first place among the nine choirs, and what…
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What Are Virtues Angels, and What Is Their Role in the Angelic Hierarchy?
Their Greek name, dynamis, is also the Gospels' word for a miracle, and Gregory the Great made the virtues the angels…
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What Are the Thrones Angels, and Are They Ezekiel's Wheels?
Paul names them once, Pseudo-Dionysius gave them a rank, and the picture of eyed wheels was attached to them much later
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What Did the Angel Gabriel Say to Mary at the Annunciation?
Luke 1:26-38 line by line, why Zechariah lost his voice and Mary did not, the "full of grace" translation question, the…
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What Do Principalities Rule Over in Biblical Tradition?
Paul's archai, Daniel's princes of Persia and Greece, and how later theology gave one choir the government of nations
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What Do the Cherubim and Wheels in Ezekiel's Vision Mean?
The living creatures and wheels of chapters 1 and 10, the man in linen of chapter 9, the bronze guide of chapters 40 to…
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What Does 'Angel' Actually Mean as a Messenger in Scripture?
Mal'akh and angelos name a job rather than a kind of being: how the Bible uses them for envoys, prophets and heavenly…
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What Happens in the Book of Tobit, and Who Is the Angel Raphael?
The story of Tobit, Tobias, and Sarah, the angel who travels as Azariah, and why Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant…
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What Is the Archangels Choir, and How Does It Fit the Angelic Hierarchy?
Two New Testament verses, one rank in Pseudo-Dionysius, and lists of named archangels that run from one to eight
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Where Do Angels Appear in the Book of Isaiah, and What Do They Do?
The seraphim and the live coal, the saraph serpents, the angel who struck the Assyrian camp, the angel of his presence…
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Which Angels Appear in Genesis, and What Roles Do They Play There?
The cherubim of Eden, the sons of God, Hagar's angel, the visitors at Mamre and Sodom, the voice at Moriah, and Jacob's…
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Which Angels Appear in the Book of Daniel, and What Do They Do?
The furnace, the lions' den, the watcher, Gabriel, the man in linen, the prince of Persia, and Michael, read verse by…
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Who Are the Angels in the Book of Enoch, and What Do They Do?
Seven named holy angels, four archangels sent against the Watchers, and the angel guides of Enoch's journeys, traced…
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Who Are the Watchers, and Where Does the Bible Name Them?
The Aramaic title in Daniel 4, the obedient messenger it names there, and the different Watcher tradition in 1 Enoch
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Who Is the Angel of the Lord, and Is He Jesus?
What Genesis, Exodus, and Judges say, why the angel speaks as God, and how Justin Martyr, Augustine, Rashi, and…
ReadFrequently Asked Questions
Are cherubim angels?
Scripture never calls them angels, and they do none of the messenger work the Hebrew word mal'akh names. Later tradition counted them anyway, and Pseudo-Dionysius ranks them second of the nine choirs.
Is the angel of the Lord Jesus?
Many Christians, following Justin Martyr and John Calvin, read him as the Son of God before the incarnation. Augustine held that God spoke through created angels, and Jewish readers do not accept the identification.
How many seraphim did Isaiah see?
Isaiah does not say. The plural and the phrase "one called to another" (6:3) require at least two, but the text gives no count.
Does the New Testament quote the Book of Enoch?
Yes. Jude 14-15 quotes 1 Enoch 1:9 and attributes it to "Enoch, in the seventh generation from Adam."