accomplish through but one angel any deed, however wonderful.
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; 11 Sam. xxiv, 16; Mal. iii. 1; 3sa. Ixiii. 9; 1's. lxxviii. 49, R. V.). When, however, the heavenly host is regarded in its mosi comprehensive aspect, a distinction may be made between cherubim, seraphim, ḥayyot ("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 (1 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 ḥayyot (Ezek. i. 5 et seq.) and ofanim as heavenly beings who carry God's throne. In post-Biblical times the heavenly hosts became more highly organized (possibly as early as Zechariah [iii. 9, iv. 10]: certainly in Daniel), and there came to be various kinds of angels, some even being provided with names, as will be shown below.
Angels appear to man as the medium of God's power and will and to execute His dispensations. Angels reveal themselves to individuals as well as to the whole nation, in order to announce events, either good or bad, affecting them. Angels foretell to Alahan the birth of Isaac, to Manoah the birth of Samson, and to Abraham the destruction of Sodom. Guardian angels are mentioned, but not, as was later the case, as guardian spirits of individuals and nations. God sends an angel to protect the 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). In Judges (ii, 1) an angel of the Lord—unless here and in the preceding instances (compare Isa. xlii. 19, Hag. i, 13, Mal. iii. 1) a human messenger of God is meant —addresses the whole people, swearing to bring them to the promised land. An angel brings Elijah meat and drink (I Kings, xix. 5); and as God watched over Jacob, so is very pious person protected by an angel that 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 cureless Ethiopians afraid" (Ezek. xxx. 9); the enemy is scattered before the angel like chaff (Ps. xxxv. 5, 6). 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 he 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" (Ps. xxix. 1, ciii. 20, exlviii. 2; compare Isa. vi. 2 et seq.). 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 is attendants when He appears to man (Deut. xxxiii. 2; Julx, xxxviii. 7). This conception was developed after the Exile; and in 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). In the prophetic books angels also 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): anit 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 brings the divine word to the prophet.
Upon the important problem of the origin of nugets Biblical writers do not touch; but it is inferred 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 already 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, Zechiariah 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 Parsee seven amshaspands (compare Ezek. ix. 2).
2. Talmudical and Midrashic Literature; The writer of the Book of Daniel was the first by whom angels were individualized and endowed with names and titles. Not long after that time Essenism came into existence. It possessed a highly developed Angelology; but knowledge of the system was confined to Essenes. The Sadducees, on the contrary, disputed the very existence of angels.
Upon the foundations of Scripture a gigantic structure was reared at the time of the completion of the Talmud. Post-Talmudic mysticism extravagantly enlarged this structure, until it reached from earth to heaven; and the fanciful ideas of the Apocrypha and pseudepigrapha, of the Talmudic and Midrashic works, and of the mystic and cabalistic literature rush along like a will stream that overflows its banks. From this wealth of material the assumption may be drawn that the Angelology was Development of Angeloogy not systematically organized. The Judaie intellect is little inclined to systematization; and a systematic Angelology was a matter of impossibility with the vast number of haggadists, who lived and taught at different times and places, and under a manifold variety of circumstances. In this regard it is difficult to distinguish between Palestinians and Babylonians, between the Tannaim and the Amoraim; for descriptions of heaven varied according to the exegetic needs of the homily and the social condition of the audience.
Following the Bible as a model, the Maccabean warriors invoked the angel that smote Sennacherib's army (1 Marc. vii. 41; 11 Macc. xv. 22; Syriac Baruch Apocalypse. lxiii. 7; Book of Jubilees, xvii, 11, xxvii. 21 et seq.). But the scholars handled the material after their individual inclinations. It is impossible, in consequence, to fix the boundaries between the speculations of scholars and popular notions, between individual and general views, between transient and permanent ideas. On the whole, however, the dominant beliefs concerning Angelology may be gathered from the traditions that continued even after the extinction of the Essenes. If these traditions did not originate with the people, they were transmitted to them by the scholars, who were held in undisputed popular esteem; and they thus came
