that very thing which they rule, if we take" to rule" in its proper sense. We will add another chapter on this subject.
CHAPTER VI
As for the existence of angels, there is no necessity to cite any proof from Scripture, where the fact is frequently mentioned. The term elohim signifies" judges": comp." The cause of both parties shall come before the 'judges" ' (ha-elohim; Exod. xxii. 8). It has been figuratively applied to angels, and to the Creator as being judge over the angels. When God says," I am the Lord your God," the pronoun" your" refers to all mankind; but in the phrase elohe ha-elohim, He is described as the God of the angels, and in adone ha-adonim, as the Lord of the spheres and the stars, which are the masters of the rest of the corporeal creation. The nouns elohim and adonim in these phrases do not refer to human judges or masters, because these are in rank inferior to the heavenly bodies: much less do they refer to mankind in general, including masters and servants, or to objects of stone and wood worshipped by some as gods; for it is no honour or greatness to God to be superior to stone, wood, or a piece of metal. The phrases therefore admit of no other meaning than this: God is the judge over the judges; i.e., over the angels, and the Lord over the spheres.
We have already stated above that the angels are incorporeal. This agrees with the opinion of Aristotle: there is only this difference in the names employed -- he uses the term" Intelligences," and we say instead" angels." His theory is that the Intelligences are intermediate beings between the Prime Cause and existing things, and that they effect the motion of the spheres, on which motion the existence of all things depends. This is also the view we meet with in all parts of Scripture: every act of God is described as being performed by angels. But" angel" means" messenger": hence every one that is intrusted with a certain mission is an angel. Even the movements of the brute creation are sometimes due to the action of an angel, when such movements serve the purpose of the Creator, who endowed it with the power of performing that movement; e.g.," God hath sent His angel, and hath shut the lions' mouths that they have not hurt me" (Dan. vi. 22). Another instance may be seen in the movements of Balaarn's ass, described as caused by an angel. The elements are also called angels. Comp." Who maketh winds His angels, flaming fire His ministers" (Ps. civ. 4). There is no doubt that the word" angel" is used of a messenger sent by man; e.g.," And Jacob sent angels" (Gen. xxxii. 4): of a prophet, e.g.," And an angel of the Lord came up from Gilgal to Bochim" (judges ii. I):" And He sent an angel, and hath brought us forth out of Egypt" (Num. xx. 16). It is also used of ideals, perceived by prophets in prophetic visions, and of man's animal powers, as will be explained in another place.
When we assert that Scripture teaches that God rules this world through angels, we mean such angels as are identical with the Intelligences. In some passages the plural is used of God, e.g.," Let us make man in our image" (Gen. i. 26)" Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language" (ibid. xi. 7). Our Sages explain this in the following manner: God, as it were, does nothing without contemplating the host above. I wonder at the expression"
