Bible Encyclopedias
Angelology

• A. Dillmann, Handbuch der Alttestamentlichen Theologie, ed. R. Kittel, 1895;
• R. Smend, Lehrbuch der Alttestamentlichen Religionsgeschichte, 2d ed., 1899;
• E. Stave, Ueber den Einfluss des Parsismus auf das Judenthum, 1898;
• G. Brecher, Das Transcendentale, Magie und Magische Heilarten im Talmud, 1850;
• A. Kohut, Ueber die Jüd. Angelologie und Daemonologie in Ihrer Abhängigkeitvom Parsismus, 1866;
• O. H. Schorr, in He-ḤaluU+E93.;
• F. F. Weber, Jüd. Theologie auf Grund des Talmud und Verwandter Schriften, 2d ed., 1897;
• M. Schwab, Vocabulaire de l'Angélologie d'après les Manuscrits Hébreux de la Bibliothèque Nationale, 1897, supplement, 1899.

—General Historical Development:

In the earlier Biblical writings the term "Malak YHWH" (messenger of the Lord) occurs chiefly in the singular, and signifies a special self-manifestation of God (see Genesis 31:11-13, where the angel of God says, "I am the God of Beth-el"; Exodus 3:2-6, where the angel of the Lord who appeared to Moses in the flame of fire says, "I am the God of thy father"; compare Genesis 22:11; Judges, 6:11-22). At times the angel clearly distinguishes himself from the Lord who sends him (see Genesis 16:11, 21:17; Numbers 22:31; Judges, 13:16). Though appearing in human form (see Genesis 18:2 et seq., 32:25; compare Hosea, 12:5), the angel of the Lord has no individuality. Being only a temporary manifestation of God, he can never replace His presence; wherefore Moses, not satisfied with the Lord's saying "I will send an angel before thee" (Exodus 33:2), replies: "If thy presence [face] go not with me, carry us not up hence" (Exodus 33:15).

There prevailed no uniform conception of these angelic beings. In Jacob's dream they ascend and descend the ladder (Genesis 28:12); in the vision of Isaiah (6:2) they are six-winged seraphim; in Ezekiel the cherubim and living creatures (ḥayyot) have the likeness of a man, are winged, and have feet (Ezekiel 1:5-7, 10:19-21). As guests of Abraham, they eat (Genesis 18:8); in the house of Manoah the angel refuses to eat (Judges, 13:16). Whether in the popular mind these angels took the place of the powers of nature deified by the heathen nations elsewhere, or whether the psychological process was a different one, the monotheism of Israel necessitated the assumption of beings representing a heavenly hierarchy ready to mediate between man and God.

The story of Creation makes no mention of the creation of angels, while from Job, 38:7, if not from Genesis 1:26, it rather appears that they looked on, approving and praising God's creative work. According to Job, 4:18, 15:15, the angels are endowed with moral sense, though they fall short of God's own ideal of purity and perfection. According to Psalms 78:25, manna is "angels' food" ("bread of the mighty," R. V.; compare Psalms 103:20). Similarly, the tree in paradise, whose fruit makes man like godly beings "knowing good and evil" (Genesis 3:5), as well as the tree of life, bears food for angels, as may be learned from the word of the Lord spoken obviously to the angelic sons of God: "Behold the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever: therefore, the Lord God sent him forth from the Garden of Eden" (Genesis 3:22,23). Elsewhere the angels are referred to as partaking of God's wisdom (see 2 Samuel 14:17,20, 19:28). Some such view underlies the verse: "Thou madest him a little lower than the angels [godly beings]" (Psalms 8:5); man, though mortal, being endowed with intellect.

Postexilic Period:

During and after the Exile, under the influence of Babylonian and Persian systems of belief, a great change becomes noticeable in the angelic lore of the Jews. The more the monotheistic idea took hold of the people—permitting no being to interfere with the absolute supremacy of YHWH—the greater became the need of personifying the working forces of life, and of grouping them in ranks around the throne of God to form His royal court. His transcendent nature demanded a more definite system of heavenly functionaries attending Him and awaiting His commands. Gradually the celestial government was formed after the pattern of the earthly one, as it presented itself, imposing and well organized, at the Persian court.

Angelology Systematized.

But it is chiefly from a closer contact with Babylonia and her system of upper and lower spirits that the influx of new elements into Jewish Angelology can be traced; and this is confirmed by the rabbinical tradition, "The names of the angels were brought by the Jews from Babylonia" (Yer. R. H. 1:2, Gen. R. ). Ezekiel (9:2) already sees seven angels of God in human form (see Toy's notes, "S. B. O. T." ): six to do the work of destruction, and the seventh the heavenly scribe sent toward the Holy City. While all the revelations he receives come directly from the Lord, in one instance an angel in the form of a man acts as a divine interpreter, when the plan of a new city is mapped out for the prophet (Ezek. 3). The prophet Zechariah, on the other hand, receives all his divine instructions no longer from God directly, but through "the angel of the Lord who talks with him" (Zechariah 1:9; 14, 2:2; 4:1,5; 5:10; compare also 1 Kings, 13:18). Instead of the Lord there appears to him "a man riding upon a red horse" as chief among those who "walk to and fro through the earth" (ib. 1:8-10). The four smiths (ib. 2:3, Heb. [R. V. 1:20]; compare Ezekiel 21:36) as well as "the man with a measuring line" (Zechariah 2:5, Heb. [A. V. 1]) are angels; and the scene of the accusation by Satan of the high priest Joshua while "standing before the angel of the Lord" (ib. 3:1) must be placed in heaven, parallel to the scene in Job, 1:6-12, 2:1-6. However, "the seven eyes of the Lord which run to and fro through the whole earth" (Zechariah 4:10), while betraying Babylonian influence, are only the symbolical representation of Divine Providence, and are not identical with the seven archangels or watchers, as Herzfeld ("Gesch. d. Volkes Israel," 3:287) and Kohut ("Jüd. Angelologie," p. 6, note 17) believe.

It is in the Book of Daniel that a systematic classification of angels is first presented. In Joshua 5:15 reference is made to "the captain of the Lord's host" (), still without name and individuality, and rather a mere manifestation of the Lord, as is seen from Joshua 6:2. In Daniel 10:13, mention is made of "captains of the first rank," A. V. "chief princes" (compare ib. 12:1, "sar ha-gadol," "the great captain," A. V. "prince") and "captains" (princes) of a lower rank, these being tutelary spirits of the nations, "the prince of Persia and the prince of Grecia" (ib. 10:20). Obviously, the underlying idea is the one expressed, if not already in Deuteronomy 32:8, at least in the Septuagint reading, "according to the number of the sons of God" (compare Targ. Yer. to the verse and to Genesis 11:7, Ecclus. [Sirach] 17:17, Pirḳe R. El. , Isaiah 24:21), that the seventy nations of Genesis 10 each had their guardian angel in heaven; and that Michael, the guardian angel of Israel, ranks above the rest. He is one of the chief princes, his name signifying, "Who is like God?" being expressive of God's greatness. The angel who interprets the visions to Zechariah appears in Daniel 8:16, 9:21, under the name of Gabriel ("the mighty man of God"). Above these two ranks a man-like being "clothed in linen," whose fiery appearance overawes Daniel (8:15-17, 10:5-10,16-18), and who swears "by him that liveth for ever" (12:7). He is probably identical with the angel who stands before the Lord,the malak panaw (Isaiah 63:9), according to the Masoretic text—not to be confounded, however, as is done by Oehler (p. 446) with "the son of man" mentioned in Daniel 7:13, who is only a personification of Israel.

Of particular interest is the name for angel (Daniel 4:10,14 [A. V. 13, 17]), which is taken by some (recently Behrmann) to be the Aramean word for (Obad. 1, "messenger"; Isaiah 67:9, "angel"), but which most commentators in accordance with tradition (Aquila, Symmachus, Jerome) explain by the term "watcher." The 'ir we-ḳaddish ("watcher and holy one"), who comes down from heaven to announce the destiny decided "by the decree of the watchers and by the word of the holy ones," evidently represents a high class of angels forming God's "council of the holy ones" (Psalms 89:7, R. V.); while "thousands and ten thousand times thousands of angels stand before Him" to minister to Him (Daniel 7:10, Heb.). Whether the name 'ir (from ur, "being awake") is to be derived (see Herzfeld 3:291, note 342, and Kohut, "Jüd. Angelologie," p. 6) from the seven amshaspands, the Persian archangels—according to Bopp, "the sleepless ones"; according to Spiegel and Darmesteter, "the undying holy ones"—or not, the watchers certainly occupy a high rank in the Book of Enoch.

In the Book of Tobit the name of a third angel appears—namely, Raphael ("God healeth," Tobit, 3:17)—called thus after his mission. "God hath sent me," he says, "to heal thee and Sarah, thy daughter-in-law. I am Raphael, one of the seven holy angels, which present the prayers of the saints, and which go in and out before the glory of the Holy One" (Tobit, 12:14-15). "He presented Tobit's prayer on account of the latter's blindness, and the prayer of Sarah on account of the humiliation of her parents," and was sent to heal them both (ib. 3:17), to remove the blindness of the one and bind the evil spirit Asmodeus, in order to give a husband to the other. He presented himself to Tobias as an ordinary man to accompany him (ib. 5:4), and ate with him (ib. 6:5, 8:1).

A Heavenly Hierarchy.

The process begun in Daniel, and continued in the entire apocalyptic literature, finally led to the assumption of a heavenly hierarchy of stupendous proportions. The mystic lore, intended only for the initiated few, dwelt on the prophetic theophanies (Ma'aseh Merkabah, "the heavenly throne chariot," Ezekiel 1-, ,; Isaiah 6:1-3; see Ḥag. 2:7); turning the imagery of the seer into gross realities, and greatly amplifying it in accordance with an expanded view of the universe and of its cosmic forces. Yet this angelic lore, the knowledge of which was the special property of the Essenes or Ḥasidim (Josephus, "B. J." 2:8, § 7), while the Sadducees rejected it (Acts, 23:8), was not merely a theoretical speculation, but was also practical in so far as it enabled its possessor to control the spiritual forces by use of the specific names of the angels in incantations and conjurations. It was the application of this principle, derived from the Babylonian magi and Mazdaism, that brought about a well-developed system of Angelology such as is found already in the writings preserved under the name of Enoch. The strange story of the "sons of God" (in Genesis 6:1-4), which, combined with Isaiah 14:12-15, gave rise to the story of the fall of the angels, offered the means of establishing a relationship between the good and the bad angels and, through that, between legitimate and illegitimate magic. These two ideas then—the celestial throne with its ministering angels, and the cosmos with its evil forces to be subdued by superior angelic forces —are the determining factors of Angelology.

According to Enoch, , as the text has now been critically fixed (see Charles, "Book of Enoch," p. 357), there are seven archangels ('irin we-ḳaddishin, "holy ones who watch"):

Whether corresponding with the seven amshaspands of Persia or with the seven planetary spirits of Babylonia (see Herzfeld, Kohut, and Beer in Kautzsch's "Apokryphen u. Pseudepig. d. A. T." p. 251), these seven archangels recur in Enoch, xc. 21-22 (compare Pirḳe R. El. and Hekalot,; the Revelation of John, 5:6, and Hermas Sim. 9:31; 6, 2; Vis. 3:4,1; see Spitta, "Zur Gesch. u. Lit. d. Urchristenthums," 2:361). Michael, named as the fourth, is probably meant to stand in the middle as chief (Luecken, "Michael," p. 37). He is the leader of the seven (Enoch, xc. 21, 22).

Four Angels of the Throne.

On the other hand, Michael, Gabriel, Uriel, and Fanuel (Penuel) are introduced as "the four angels of the face of the Lord." After the watchers ("those that sleep not") have been described (ibid. 39:12,13) as chanting the "Holy, holy, holy!" and mutually responding, "Blessed be the name of the Lord!" the following passage occurs (ibid. 2):

In Enoch, 71:7-13, these four stand near the crystal throne of God, which, encircled by fire, is surrounded by the seraphim, cherubim, and ofanim ("wheels," Ezekiel 1:15), "those that sleep not, and guard the throne of His glory" amidst a thousand times thousand and ten thousand times ten thousand, the Head (Ancient) of Days being with the four. Four angels standing before the face of God as leaders of four troops of angels glorifying the Most High, who is seated in the midst of them, are mentioned also in Pirḳe R. El. and Hekalot,; but their names are given as Michael, Uriel, Gabriel, and Raphael (Sibylline Books, 2:215). Compare the four archangels, Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, and Uriel, in Enoch, 9:1, 2. They correspond with the four tutelary spirits or rulers of the four parts of the earth in the Babylonian mythology (Beer, following Jensen, "Cosmologie d. Babylonier," p. 169). (For the twenty-four elders seated around the throne of God in heaven next to the four beasts and the seven spirits, Apoc. John, 4:4, see Gunkel, "Schöpfung und Chaos," p. 308.)

Then again mention is made of seven classes of angels (Enoch, 61:10 et seq.): (1) the cherubim,(2) seraphim, (3) ofanim, (4) all the angels of power, (5) principalities, (6) the Elect One (Messiah), and (7) the (elementary) powers of the earth and the water. They are endowed with seven angelic virtues—one more than is ascribed to the Messiah (ibid.; after Isaiah 11:2): "In the spirit of faith, of wisdom, of patience, of mercy, of judgment, of peace, and of goodness they glorify, saying: 'Blessed is He, and may the name of the Lord of spirits be blessed for ever and ever.'"

A parallel to this is offered by the Testaments of the Patriarchs in Test. Levi, , where this description of the seven heavens is given:

In another vision (ibid. ) Levi sees seven men in white raiment, the seven archangels, each consecrating him and investing him with some insignia of the priesthood; while Michael, "the angel who intercedeth for the race of Israel," opens the gates of heaven for him, where he sees the holy Temple and the Most High upon a throne of glory (ibid. ).

The Slavonic Enoch.

In the Slavonic Book of Enoch, written a little before the beginning of the common era, the heavenly hierarchy is still more fully developed. Enoch, taken up by two angels of fiery appearance (Shemiel and Raziel, 33:6), sees in the third heaven the sun and the stars (1:5), the former surrounded by phenixes and other winged creatures and attended by 400 (Version B, 15,000) angels, who take off his crown each evening to bring it to the Lord, and set it upon his head again each morning (14:2,3; compare Pirḳe R. El. ); in the fourth heaven he sees hosts of angels armed (for judgment), while serving God with cymbals and singing. In the fifth he sees the watchers, four orders, in grief over their fallen fellow angels, but still singing, at his monition, and sounding four trumpets in praise of the Lord. In the sixth heaven legions of angels more resplendent than the sun, the archangels set over the sun, the stars, the seasons, the rivers, the vegetation, the living things, and the souls of men, with seven phenixes (seraphim?), seven cherubim, and seven six-winged creatures (ḥayyot?) in the midst of them, sing with one voice, indescribably beautiful, while rejoicing before the Lord. And finally, in the seventh heaven:

(For the thrones, principalities, dominions, and powers, compare Colossians 1:16; Ephesians 1:21; Romans 8:38; , 3:22; and the "Prières des Falashas," ed. Halévy, p. 20, Paris, 1877).

With this corresponds the rabbinical tradition as given by Rabbi Meir of the second century in Ḥag. 12b, Aḅ R. N., A. 37 (see Bacher, "Ag. Tan." 2:65).

The Seven Heavens in the Talmud.

Maimonides, in his "Yad ha-Ḥazaḳah, Yesode ha-Torah," , counts ten ranks of angels, beginning from the highest:

The cabalists (Zohar, Exodus, 43) have a different list:

Still more elaborate is the description of the seven heavens with their angelic chiefs, and of the twelve degrees of angels instead of ten, in "Sode Raza," quoted in Yalḳ. Reubeni to Genesis 1:1.

In "Maseket Aẓilut" the ten ranks of angels are given in the following order:

Of the vastness of the armies of heaven the following description is given by R. Simon b. Laḳish:

This ascension of Moses is described more elaborately in the Shir ha-Shirim Rabba fragment, ed. Wertheimer, "Bate Midrashot," , Jerusalem, 1897 (compare with this the Hekalot in Jellinek, "B. H." 2:41-46, 3:94f, 5:170-190, 6:110-111; also Merkabah de-R. Yishmael in Wertheimer, "Bate Midrashot," , Jerusalem, 1893; and Jellinek's introduction to each of the treatises).

Fall of the Angels.

Hebrew theology knows of no principle of evil such as is the Persian Ahriman. Satan is one of the sons of God (Job, 1:6, 2:1). This makes the problem of evil all the more difficult. The Biblical story of the sons of God marrying the daughters of men (Genesis 6:1-4), implying the possibility of angels lusting and sinning, suggested the idea of a fall, not only of man, but of pure heavenly beings as well. Taken together with the (Babylonian?) mythology of Lucifer (Isaiah 14:12), it seemed to take for granted the existence of evil spirits working antagonistically to God through the evil practises of witchcraft, astrology, and the like. Fallen angels became progenitors of hosts of evil spirits and seducers of men to crime and vice. Still, they were finally subjugated by the power of heaven, and punished by the archangels Raphael and Gabriel, and consequently a knowledge of their names would enable one to control them. This is the idea pervading the Enoch story of the fall of the angels, which rests on two different sources, now incorporated, in a fragmentary form, into one (Enoch, -). According to the one, Azazel (Leviticus 16:10; Targ. Yer. Naḥmanides; also a Mandæan god, Brandt, "Mandäische Religion," p. 198) was the leader of the rebellion, and the chief debaucher of women; and his place of punishment was in the neighborhood of Jerusalem, by the rocks of Bet Ḥaduda (see Charles, "Enoch," p. 72), where the scapegoat was cast down: this shows the legend to be of ancient Judean origin (compare with this the reading of the chapter on incestuous marriages on the Day of Atonement, and the song of the maiden in Ta'anit, 4:8). According to the other, Samiaza, or Samḥazai (Enoch, 6:3-8, 8:1-3, 9:7, 10:11; compare Targ. Yer. Genesis 6:4; Midr. Abkir in Yalḳ., Gen. 44; Hebrew Enoch in Jellinek, "B. H." ), is the chief seducer. He forms the center of rabbinical groups of legends (see Grünbaum, "Z. D. M. G." 21:225248). As the story is presented in Enoch, the two rebel leaders, when they take the oath on Mount Hermon to subvert the rule of heaven, have each ten chieftains and one hundred angels at their command. But the punishment they receive at the hands of Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, and Uriel (Enoch, 9:1; compare 2) does not altogether annihilate them. Uzza (Samḥazai) and Azael (Azazel) still betray the secrets of heaven to King Solomon as they did in Enoch's time (see Jellinek, "B. H." 2:86; compare with "B. H." 5:173). Some angels were afterward guilty of betraying divine secrets heard from behind the curtain (, Ber. 18b), and were, therefore, expelled from their positions (see Gen. R. , ).

Book of Jubilees, 2:2, reads:

Creation of Angels.

Pirḳe R. El. says that the angels were created on the second day. In Gen. R. R. Johanan places the creation of the angels on the second day, referring to Psalms 104:4. "He maketh his angels of winds" ("who maketh winds his messengers," R. V.); R. Ḥanina, on the fifth day, classified them among the winged creatures (Isaiah 6:2).

According to the Slavonic Book of Enoch, God created them on the second day out of fire. The bodies of angels are radiant, their faces like lightning, their eyes as flaming torches (Prayer of Aseneth,; compare Pesiḳ. I. 3a; Cant. R. 3:11; Matthew 28:3; Luke, 2:9; Acts, 12:7). The food of angels is manna, of which Adam and Eve ate before they sinned (Vita Adæ et Evæ, 4; compare Akiba, Yoma, 75b on Psalms 78:25, and Yoma, 4b with regard to Moses).

Angels worship God at certain hours of the day (Apoc. Mosis, 17; Testament of Abraham, B,; see James's notes, p. 121; compare Sifre, Deut. 306; Gen. R.; Targ. Yer. Genesis 32:27 and Exodus 14:24). There are 496,000 myriads of angels (the numerical value of the Hebrew word sovereignty, or 499,000, the equivalent of hosts) glorifying God from sunrise to sunrise (Tanna debe Eliyahu. R. ,; Zuṭṭa,; see ed. Friedman, pp. 32, 34, 193).

A guardian angel of Israel is mentioned in the apocryphal Epistle of Jeremy, 7. An angel carries Habakkuk by the hair of his head from Judea to Babylon to bring the pottage he has prepared for Daniel in the lions' den (apocryphal additions to Daniel 5:36).

Angels as Instructors.

Angels endowed with divine knowledge (Ḥag. 16a) appear in the apocalyptic and rabbinic literature as the teachers of men. This is the so-called "whisper of the angels" () referred to in Zunz, "G. V." 2d ed. 173; compare p. 363 (). Michael initiated Adam and Seth into the secrets of creation (Apoc. Mosis, 3:13) and taught Adam agriculture (Vita Adæ et Evæ, 22). The angels Michael, Uriel, and Raziel initiated Enoch into the mysteries of the world (Book of Jubilees, 4:21; the Ethiopian Enoch, 4, 5, 19:1, 72:1; and Slavonic Enoch, 22:11, 33:6). Raphael imparted to Noah the secret of healing herbs ("Sefer Noah," Jellinek, "B. H." 3:155; compare Book of Jubilees, 10:9-10). Michael initiated Abraham into the secret lore (Testament of Abraham, -). The angel of the face instructed Abraham in Hebrew, the language of creation; revelation thus enabling him to study the holy writings of the first fathers (Book of Jubilees, 12:25). The angels understand only Hebrew (Ḥag. 16a; Soṭah, 33a), but the angel Gabriel knows seventy languages, all of which he taught to Joseph (Soṭah, 36b; compare Shir ha-Shirim Rabbah fragment in Wertheimer, "Bate Midrashot," 4:25, where Zagzagael is mentioned as instructor in the seventy languages). Moses, who received all his knowledge from the angel of the face (Book of Jubilees, , , etc.), was taught the art of healing by the angels when on Mount Sinai (Pirḳe R. El.; Jellinek, "B. H." 1:61). Yefehfiah ("Divine Beauty"), the angel of the Law, and Meṭaṭron ("the Prince of the Face") taught him the mystery of the practical Cabala (Jellinek, "B. H." 1:61). The angel Zagzagael ("Divine Splendor") instructed Moses in the knowledge of the Ineffable Name (Deut. R. ). Uriel disclosed to Ezra the mysteries of life (II Esd. 4:1). Suriel, the angel of the face, instructed R. Ishmael b. Elisha in laws of hygiene (Ber. 51a; compare also Ned. 20a). Occasionallythe angels themselves gather amid joy and singing to listen to the sage initiated into the sacred lore of heaven (see Ḥag. 14b). But at times they also betray jealousy and fear, begrudging man his knowledge of hidden things. Thus, they sought to dissuade the Most High from giving the Law to Moses (Pesiḳ. R. , Shab. 88b); but Moses pacified them by his arguments. In like manner they sought to drive Akiba out of the realm of paradise, as they did his colleagues Ben 'Azzai and Ben Zoma; but God Himself interceded, saying, "Leave this venerable sage unscathed; for he is worthy to make use of My glory" (Ḥag. 15b).

Mediate between God and Men.

The angels mediate between God and man. They carry the prayers up to the throne of God (Tobit, 12:12,15; Baruch Apoc., Greek, ). According to Ex. R. , an angel set over the prayers weaves them into crowns for the Most High. Angels intercede for those who dwell on earth (Enoch, 6; compare Job, 33:23, which is to be translated: "If there be on his side one single messenger among a thousand pleading for him"). They pray for Adam's pardon (Apoc. Mosis, 33), and offer praise to God after the same has been granted (ibid. 37). But in the same manner in which they place the prayers and good deeds of the righteous before God, they also bring the sins of the evil-doers before Him (Enoch, 99:3). They "write down all the deeds and lives before the face of the Lord" (Slavonic Book of Enoch, 19:5). These records, in the Testament of Abraham, B, , are called the "Books of the Cherubim" because they are kept by the cherubim. From these they read off in the great Judgment Hall of the nether world the register of the sins or the righteous deeds of the soul.

Angels minister to Adam (Sanh. 59b; Pirḳe R. El.; compare Matthew 4:11; Luke, 22:43; Hebrews 1:13-14) and bring him to his last resting-place (Apoc. Mosis, 38), attend the funeral of Abraham (Testament of Abraham, A, ), and bury Moses (Deut. R. , Targ. Yer. Deuteronomy 34:6). Angels bring the souls of the righteous to heaven (Testament of Abraham, A,; Targ. Yer. Song of Solomon, 4:12; compare Luke, 16:22).

Angels accompany the dead on their departure from this world. "Three bands of angels of the divine ministry [mal'ake ha-sharet], or peace [hashalom], accompany the righteous: the first singing, 'He shall enter in peace'; the second, 'They shall rest on their couches'; and the third, 'The one who walketh in uprightness'" (Isaiah 57:2). But when a wicked man departs, three bands of angels of destruction (mal'ake ḥabbalah) are described as accompanying him singing, "There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked" (Isaiah 57:21, Ket. 104a, Num. R. ).

The angels that execute God's judgment are called "the angels of punishment" (Enoch, 56:1, 70:11, 63:1), Saṭanim (Enoch, 7), mal'ake ḥabbalah (Shab. 55a; Yer. Shebu. 6:37a; compare Apoc. John, 7:2, 12:7), "angels of the dragon" = Satan; Matthew 25:41. Their fierceness and their mode of punishment are described in the Testament of Abraham, A, , B, They "sling the souls of the wicked from one end of the world to the other" (Shab. 152b, after 1 Samuel 25:29). These are under the leadership of six or seven archangels: Ḳeẓef, Af, Ḥemah (Deuteronomy 9:19), Mashḥit, Meshabber, Mekalleh (compare Psalms 78:49: 'ebrah, za'am, ẓarah); and above these is the angel of death (Shab. 89a; Ex. R.; Testament of Abraham, A, ). Af and Ḥemah threatened to devour Moses because of his neglect to circumcise his son (Ned. 32a). God keeps these angels of destruction far from Himself, lest they strike at once, thus affording the people no opportunity for repenting (Yer. Ta'anit, 2:65b).

Angels of the Nether World.

According to John's Apocalypse (Revelation 9:11) Abaddon (Job, 31:12; Shab. 89a) is the angel of the abyss. In the Talmud, Dumah, the angel of silence (after Psalms 115:17), is the prince of the nether world in whose charge are the spirits (Sanh. 94a, Shab. 152b). He announces the arrival of newcomers in Sheol (Ber. 18b). According to the Midrash Konen, there are three princes placed at the three upper gates: (1) Ḳipod (the Persian ḳapod = "wolf"; see "Zendavesta," tr. by Darmesteter, in "Sacred Books of the East," 23:295); (2) Nagrasagiel, or Nasragiel, the prince of Gehinnom, who shows Moses the nether world and the sufferings of the wicked (Shir ha-Shirim fragment in Wertheimer's "Bate Midrashot," 4:24; Jellinek, "B. H." 3:63, 5:130); the messenger of Ahuramazda, Nairyo Sangha, to whose care the souls of the righteous are entrusted ("Vendidad," 19:34; Darmesteter, "Zendavesta," 1:214, and elsewhere). In Testament of Abraham, A, , two archangels are mentioned as assisting at the judgment of the souls: Doḳiel ("the weigher," from daḳ., Isa. 15) and Puruel ("the fiery and pitiless angel," probably from para', "paying"; pur'anut, "punishment"). In the Midrash Konen and Maseket Gan Eden and Gehinnom (Jellinek, "B. H." 5:44) the following angels of punishment are mentioned for the seven departments: (1) Ḳushiel ("the rigid one of God"); (2) Lahatiel ("the flaming one"); (3) Shofṭiel ("the judge of God"); (4) Makatiel ("the plague of God"); (5) Ḥuṭriel ("the rod of God"); (6) Pusiel (Puriel)—certainly not Hadriel (Jellinek, "B. H." 2:31)—and (7) Rogziel ("wrath of God").

The tendency to individualize and to give each angel a distinct name and assign to him a particular charge or position grew among the haggadists and devotees of secret lore:—

"Each angel has a tablet on his heart on which his name, combined with the name of God [El], is inscribed," says Simon b. Laḳish (Pesiḳ. 12:108b). In Ex. R. this doctrine is based upon Psalms 68:18: "The Lord dwells in them," wherefore they are called Michael, Gabriel, Raphael. They receive their name in accordance with their message, wherefore they can not tell their names (Num. R. , commenting upon Judges, 13:18). "No single angel can carry out two messages, nor can two angels fulfil only one message. Of the three angels that came to Abraham, Michael, the guardian angel of Israel, brought the tidings of Isaac's birth; Gabriel, the angel of heavenly vengeance and of fire, had to overthrow Sodom; and Raphael rescued Lot" (B. M. 86b, Gen. R. , Targ. Yer. Genesis 18:2). Michael to the right, Uriel to the left, Gabriel in front, and Raphael in the rear of the throne (Num. R. ), are stationed on the four sides of heaven (Midrash Konen, at end; compare Hekalot, ). Padael is the name given to the angel who appeared to Samson's parents in the apocryphal history of Philo ("Jew. Quart. Rev." 1898, p. 324). Zeroel ( = "Arm of God") was one of the angels who supported Kenaz in his battle against the Amorites; Nathaniel (Nuriel? = "Fire of God"), the angel who saved the men cast into the fire by Jair, the judge, for refusing to worship his idols (ibid.). Over each force and element of life an angel is placed: one over the winds (Revelation 7:1); one over fire (ibid. 14:18); and one over water (ibid. 16:5).In the Hebrew Enoch (Jellinek, "B. H." 5:176) the following angel-princes are named:

A few of these names recur in Enoch, and The angel of hail is introduced under the obscure name of Yurḳemo (Pes. 118a). The angel of night is called Lailah (Sanh. 16a). The one set over the sea, Sar shel yam (Gen. R. ), is called Rahab (B. B. 74b, after Job, 26:12). He was slain by God at the Creation, because he refused to swallow the water for the drying of the land; and his body is covered by water lest all creatures should perish from his stench (compare also Pes. 118b). The angel set over the rain is Ridya, ("the Irrigator"); according to Kohut, "Jüd. Angelologie," p. 45, Rediyao (Persian, Areduyao, Ardoi); Ta'anit, 25b; Yoma, 21a (Rashi): "He resembles a calf, and is stationed between the upper and the lower abyss, saying to the one, 'Let your waters run down'; and to the other, 'Let your waters spring up.'" Of the seven names of the earth (Ab. R. N. A,; Pesiḳ. R. K. 155a) seven angel names were formed: (1) Arẓiel, (2) Admael, (3) Ḥarabael, (4) Yabbashael, (5) 'Arẓiel (compare 'Arḳas, Slavonic Book of Enoch, 24:2), (6) Ḥaldiel, and (7) Tebliel. They were stationed in the second heaven (see "Merkabah de-Rabbi Ishmael" in Wertheimer's "Bate Midrashot," 1:22.

An angel set over the beasts is mentioned in Hermas' "Visions," 4:2; his name is Thegri (see Hekalot, ) (Turiel = "bull-god," Jerome on Habakkuk 1:14). In Abraham of Granada's "Berit Menuḥah," p. 37, are mentioned the angel Jeḥiel (Hayyel?), set over the wild beasts; 'Anpiel, over the birds; Hariel (Behemiel), over the tame beasts; Shaḳẓiel, over the water-insects; Dagiel, over the fish; Ilaniel, over the fruit-bearing trees; Seraḳel, over the trees not bearing fruit.

"There is not a stalk on earth that has not its angelic star [mazzal] in heaven" (Gen. R. )—a genuinely Persian notion. "Every single flower is appropriate to an angel" ("Bundahish," 27:24).

Guardians of the Nations.

Already in Daniel 10:20-21, the idea prevails that each nation has a heavenly guardian angel or prince. In Enoch, 89:59, the seventy shepherds are the guardian angels of the seventy nations over whom Michael, as Israel's angel-prince, is set as ruler. With these seventy-one angel-princes of the world God sits in council when holding judgment over the world (Hebrew Enoch; Jellinek, "B. H." 5:181); each pleading the cause of his nation before God (Targ. Yer. Genesis 11:7-8, Pirḳe R. El. ). At times they accuse Israel (Pesiḳ. 27:176a); at times they find especial merit in him (Suk. 29a). They are the "gods" whom the Lord crushes before He executes His punishment upon the nations in their charge (Suk. 29a, according to Exodus 12:12; Soṭah, 9a). These angel-princes of the nations— of Babel, Media, Greece, Syria, and Rome—Jacob saw in his dream ascending and descending the ladder (Gen. R. , Pesiḳ. 23:151a). The angel with whom Jacob wrestled was the angel-prince of Edom (Gen. R. ), Samael, the head of all Satans (Tan., Wayishlaḥ, 2:25). The name of the angel of Egypt is Miẓraim (Ex. R. ) or Uzza (Midr. Wayosha'; Jellinek, "B. H." 1:39; Hekalot, 5:172); that of Persia's angel-prince is Dubbiel (= Beargod; Yoma, 77a, after Daniel 7:5). But Michael, the angel-prince of Jerusalem (Zion, Targ. Psalms 137:7-8), is set over all the seventy angels (Midr. Abkir; Yalḳ., Gen. § 132).

There is, however, a special angel-prince set over the world, Sar ha-'olam (Yeb. 16b, Ḥul. 60a, Sanh. 94a). He composed the verses, Psalms 37:25, 104:31, and, partly, Isaiah 24:16. An angel of mankind is mentioned also (Apoc. Mosis, 32). He has been identified, whether correctly or incorrectly (see Tos. Yeb. 16b; Wiener, "Ben Chananja," 9:600; Kohut, "Jüd. Angelologie," p. 42), with Meṭaṭron. In order fully to resemble the court of the Persian King of Kings, the heavenly court is put in charge of a vice-regent, the sar ha-Panim ("prince of the divine face"). According to the Testament of Job (), this vice-regent "sitteth upon the great chariot" (see Kohler, "Semitic Studies," p. 299); he is, according to Philo "On Dreams" (1:25), "the driver of the chariot" (ἡνιōχōς ἆρματōς). His "name is like the name of his Master" (Sanh. 38b, according to Exodus 23:21), known under the name of "Meṭaṭron" (Mithra; see Dio Chrysostomus, "Oratio," Windischmann, "Zoroastrische Studien," pp. 309-312; frequently explained as "Metator," "Metathronos," and "Metatyranos." See Sachs, "Beiträge," 1:108; Jellinek, "Die Kabbala," p. 43; id., "B.H." 2:30; Levy, "Chal Wörterb." s.; Kohut, "Aruch," s.).

This vice-regent is probably identical with the archangel Jehoel mentioned in Apoc. Abraham, , as mediator of the ineffable name of God; also with Yehadriel ("Hekalot" in Jellinek, "B.H." 2:47); and perhaps also with Akathriel, the occupant of God's throne (Ber. 7a).

But alongside of Meṭaṭron is mentioned in "Maseket Aẓilut" (based on Job, 41:9), as "brother" and above him, Sandalfon, explained as Synadelphon ("twin-brother") and as "Sardonyx" (see Jellinek, in "Ben Chananja," 4:182,329,365; compare Slavonic Book of Enoch, ). The later Cabala places Akathriel above the twin-brothers Meṭaṭron (= Enoch) and Sandalfon (= Elijah) (see Yalḳ. Ḥadash, s. "Malakim," pp. 38-39). Of well-nigh equal rank with Meṭaṭron are Sandalfon and Akathriel ("the crown of God"; Ber. 7a).

Beneath these are the seven heavens with Michael, Gabriel, Shateiel ("angel of silence"), Shaḥaḳiel, ("angel of shahaḳim"), Baradiel, Baraḳiel, and Sadriel ("angel of order") as chiefs; and beneath them in the Velon, Galgaliel, and Ofaniel, Rehaṭiel, and Kokbiel as the angels of sun-wheel, moon-wheel, planets, and the other stars with all their hosts; the seventy-two angel-princes of the nations being stationed above these (Hekalot, published by Jellinek, "Ḳontros ha-Maggid," pp. 31 et seq.).

Besides these, sixty-three angels are mentioned as janitors of the seven heavens ("Hekalot,"; Jellinek," B. H." et seq.), and others stationed at each of the seven heavens as seal-bearers (ibid. -); and above all these, as head and chief, Anfiel, whose crown "branches out" to "cover the heaven with the divine majesty" (Habakkuk 3:3). Mention is made also of Ofaniel, Seraphiel, Cherubiel, as chiefs of the ofanim, seraphim, and cherubim; of Rikbiel and Hailael (Hayael?) as chiefs of the divine chariot and the ḥayyot; Sofriel as "bookkeeper"; Dabriel as interpreter of the "word"; Ḳafẓiel ("speed of God"); Hadriel, or Hadraniel ("majesty of God");Adiririon (Adiryah? "might of God"; see Jellinek, "B. H." 5:178-180, and "Hekalot" fragment in "Ḳontros ha-Maggid," pp. 34-36; idem, "B. H." 1:58). Zunz counts forty angels mentioned in the liturgy ("S. P." p. 476). These are increased to the extent of thousands, with names far beyond intelligibility or recognition, but scarcely, as Zunz thinks ("G. V." p. 177), altogether invented.

Conjuring by Names of Angels.

The names of angels formed a favorite study of the Essenes or Ḥasidim in view of the magical cures effected by means of these names; for upon the accurate knowledge of the name and sphere of each angel, and of the power exerted by him on certain evil spirits, depended the efficacy of the conjurers. In the Testament of Solomon (translated by Conybeare, "Jew. Quart. Rev." 1898, pp. 1-45)—an apocryphal book belonging probably to the first century —King Solomon is introduced as giving his experiences on meeting the various demons, of each of whom he asks his name as well as the name of the angel that can overpower him. Asmodeus answers that he is frustrated by Raphael, the archangel; another demon answers Paltiel is his antagonist; a third, Uriel, etc. (see pp. 24, 38, 40). The magic book "The Sword of Moses," published and translated by M. Gaster (London, 1896), is based upon the same principle, as are parts of the Book of Raziel ascribed to Eleazar of Worms. In Pseudo-Sirach (ed. Steinschneider, p. 23a) the three angels, Sanuy, Sansanuy, and Samangaluf are said to have brought Lilith back to Adam, and when she turned child-murderess like Lamia, they were set in control over her; see Brueck, "Rabbinische Ceremonial-bräuche," pp. 50-55; see also Amulet.

A strange story is told in Yalk., Lam. 1001: "At the siege of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar, after the mighty hero Abiḳa ben Gafteri had fallen, Hananeel, the uncle of Jeremiah, conjured up angels who struck terror into the hearts of the Chaldeans, thus setting them to flight. But God, having decreed the fall of the city, had changed the names of the angels when Hananeel summoned up the prince of the world by using the Ineffable Name, and he lifted Jerusalem into the air, but God cast it down again. To this the verse Lamentations 2:1 refers." According to another story (ibid. 1012), the leading men of the city had conjured up the angels of water and of fire to surround the city with walls of fire and water; but God changed the names of the angels.

Angel Worship.

The charge of angel-worship raised against the Jews, based upon Colossians 2:18, is decidedly unfounded. Paul had probably the same Gnostic sect in mind that Celsus refers to when he repeats the charge of Aristides ("Apology," 14:4; see Origen, book 1:26, 5:6-34,41), telling us (Origen, 6:30) of magical figures on which he found the seven angels inscribed: (1) Michael, with the figure of a lion; (2) Suriel, as a bull (shor or tura = Turiel; see Jerome on Habakkuk 1:14); (3) Raphael in a serpentine form; (4) Gabriel as an eagle; (5) Yalda Bahut with the countenance of a bear; (6) Erathaol as a dog; and (7) Onoel in the shape of an ass. Of these seven archons (Celsus, 6:27) Paul speaks continually in his letters (1 Corinthians 2:6-8; Colossians 2:8,20). But this Ophite sect has nothing to do with the Jews. On the contrary, R. Ishmael, in Mek., Yithro, , expressly applies the prohibition of idolatry to the likeness of angels of the ofanim and cherubim (compare Targ. Yer. to Exodus 20:20). "He who slaughters an animal in the name of sun, moon, stars, and planets, or in the name of Michael, the great captain of the heavenly hosts, renders the same an offering to dead idols" (Ḥul. 40a; 'Ab. Zarah, 42b). "Not as one who would first send his servant to a friend to ask for aid in his hour of need should man apply to Michael, or Gabriel, to intercede for him; but he should turn immediately to God Himself; for 'whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be delivered'" (Joel, 3:5 [A. V. 2:32]; Yer. Ber. 9:13a; compare Revelation 19:10, 22:8-9). "Four keys are in the keeping of God exclusively and not in that of the angels: the keys of rain, of nourishment, of birth, and of resurrection" (Targ. Yer. to Genesis 30:22; Deuteronomy 28:12; compare Ta'anit, 2a, where only three keys are mentioned). This is rightly interpreted by Gfrörer, "Jahrhundert des Heils," 1:377, as meant to exclude prayer to the angels. The invocations of angels occurring in the liturgy were addressed to them as mediators, not as helpers. Still many rabbinical authorities disapproved of such invocations (see the literature in Zunz, "S. P." p. 148).

Inferior to Man.

However great the tendency to enlarge the number and the influence of the angels over life, there is, on the other hand, great stress laid upon the fact that the angels are in many respects inferior to man. Already Enoch (15:2) intercedes on behalf of the angels, instead of having them intercede for him; and none of the angels could see what he saw of God's glory (ibid. 14:21), or learn the secrets of God as he knew them (Slavonic Book of Enoch, 24:3; compare Sifra, 2b; Ascensio, Isaiah 9:27-38). Adam was to be worshiped by the angels as the image of God (Vita Adæ et Evæ, p. 14; Gen. R. ). Before his fall his place was within the precincts of God's own majesty, where the angels can not stay (Gen. R. ); and so in the future will the righteous again be placed nearer to God than the angels (Deut. R. 1, Yer. Shab. 6:8d, Ned. 32a). Indeed, "they were inferior in intelligence to Adam, when names were given to all things" (Pirḳe R. El. ). "The righteous rank above the angels" (Sanh. 93a; Midr. Teh., Psalms 103:18; compare 1 Corinthians 6:3; Hebrews 2:5). "When Aaron in his vestments as high priest entered the Holy of Holies, the ministering angels fled in awe before him" (Pesiḳ. R. 47; compare Ex. R. ). "Israel is dearer to God than the angels; for Israel's praise is not confined to stated hours as that of the angels. Israel pronounces the name of God after two words: 'Hear, Israel'; the angels after three: 'Holy, Holy, Holy!' Israel begins the song of praise on earth and the angels in heaven chime in" (Ḥul. 91b; Midr. Teh., Psalms 104:1). "Angels minister to the saints" (Hebrews 1:13-14).

Philo on Angels.

Philo was inclined to accept the existence of angels as a fact far more than his allegorical system would lead one to surmise. He was prompted to do so through the example of the Stoics: "Beings whom other philosophers called demons, Moses usually called angels"; they are "souls hovering in the air"; "some have descended into bodies; others have not thought fit to approach any part of the earth; and these, hallowed and surrounded by the ministrations of the Father, the Creator employs as assistants and ministers for the care of the mortals." "They report the injunctions of the Father to His children, and the necessities of the children to the Father. And, with reference to this, Holy Scripture represents them as 'ascending and descending.' . . . Not God, but we mortals are in need of a mediator and intercessor" (idem, "On Dreams," 1:22). "Souls, demons, and angels are things differing in name, but identical in reality. Yet, as men speak of God and of evil demons and of good and evil souls, so theyspeak of angels, calling them ambassadors of man to God and of God to man; and they are holy because of this blameless and honorable office. Others, on the contrary, are profane and unworthy, as is seen in Psalms 78:49" (idem, "On Giants," pp. 3-4).

But Philo also calls them logoi, "words," or "intellects" (idem, "On Confusion of Language," p. 8; "On Dreams," 1:12,19; "Allegory," 3:62; compare Hag. 14a, based on Psalms 33:6). They are also called "God's own powers with whom the Father of the Universe consulted when saying: 'Let us make man.' To them He gave the mortal part of our soul to form by imitating His art when He shaped the rational principle in us" (idem, "On Fugitives," p. 13). Angels are the priests in the heavenly temple (idem, "Monarchy," 2:1). And in the same manner as the rabbis speak of Michael (Meṭaṭron) as the captain of the heavenly host, as the high priest that offers sacrifice in the upper temple, and as the charioteer of God, Philo says:

Saadia, Ha-Levi, Ibn Daud, Maimonides.

The medieval philosophers treated the belief in angels in a far more rationalistic spirit than did Philo. Saadia, finding man to be the object of Creation, and therefore in the center of the world, claims for him a rank higher than that of the angels ("Emunot we-De'ot," 4:1). They are to him creatures of light, ethereal beings, created for special purposes (2:8), visions of the prophet rather than realities. So is the fiery angel of death (4:6). Satan to him is a human being (see Ibn Ezra to Numbers 22:22). Judah ha-Levi also sees in the angels beings created of ethereal matter; some for a certain time, and those of the upper world for eternity ("Cuzari," 4:13; see Cassel's note). Concerning Gabirol's angels formed of fire, see Kaufmann, "Attributenlehre," pp. 184, 505. To Ibn Daud angels are intelligences, created, yet eternal and spiritual; the motors of the soul; the highest of these intelligences being the active intellect of the Tenth Sphere, identified by the Mohammedan thinkers (according to "Cuzari," 1:87) with the angel Gabriel and the Holy Ghost, but mentioned already in Job, 32:8 as "the spirit in man; and the breath [A. V. "inspiration"] of the Almighty that giveth them understanding." Maimonides, taking as his guide Aristotle, who places the "Intelligences" as intermediate beings between the Prime Cause and existing things—by the agency of which is produced the motion of the spheres on which all existence depends—declares the Biblical angels to be the beings with whom God consults before taking action (Gen. R. ). Differing, however, from Aristotle, whose "Intelligences" are coexistent with the First Cause, he asserts that the angels are created by God, and endowed with the power of governing the spheres; that they are conscious beings possessed of a free will, but that, unlike human beings, they are in constant action and without evil ("Moreh," 2:6-7). Far from accepting Scripture in its literal meaning, when angels are introduced, he finds the term "angel" applied to men, to elements, and to animals, as well as to ideals perceived by the Prophets. "Natural forces and angels are identical. When the rabbis (Midr. Ecclesiastes 10:7) say: 'When man sleeps, his soul speaks to the angel, and the angel to the cherub,' man's imaginative faculty is called angel, and his intellectual faculty is called cherub. The form in which angels appear characterizes the mental vision of the seer." He thus distinguishes between angels endowed with eternal life—such as the Spheric Intelligences—and the perishable phenomena. But then these spheres and angels were not created for our sake, says Maimonides ("Moreh," 3:13) in opposition to Saadia, who says: "Man is superior to everything formed of earthly matter, but exceedingly inferior to the spheres and intelligences." Of such spheres, Aristotle counted fifty, numbering as many ideals. Maimonides, with later philosophers, assumes these to be ten, the Tenth Intelligence being the Active Intellect. For this reason, Maimonides follows the Cabala in counting ten classes of angels ("Yesode ha-Torah," 2:7).

Cabalistic View.

In the Cabala two currents run in parallel lines. The practical Cabala, bent upon overruling, through incantations, the destinies of earthly life by the higher powers, is ever busy finding new names of angels able to control the lower forces. Such attempts are made in "Sefer ha-Razim," which is a list of angels for the months of the year, in the "Sefer Raziel," and the like. On the other hand, the Neoplatonic view of Emanation, and the idea of the macrocosm, or the world in its totality, being the evolution of the image of God, the type of which is man as microcosm, necessarily made man the object of Creation, so that in this view he ranks above the angels (Zohar, 3:68); while they (the angels) belong to the lower realm, to the world of formation (yeẓirah), and not to that of Creation (beriah), to which the higher spirits belong. The angels are intellectual, spiritual beings, yet invested with a shining garb to make them visible to man (Jellinek," Die Kabbala" (transl. from Franck) p. 161; Joel, "Religionsphilosophie d. Zohar," pp. 278-279).

Relation to non-Jewish Religions.

How far Jewish Angelology was influenced by Babylonian and Persian mythology, and what its relations are to Mandæan lore and to Egyptian-Hellenistic gnosticism, is still a matter of dispute among students (see Kohut, "Jüd. Angelologie"; Schorr, "He-Ḥaluẓ," 8:1-120; Gunkel, "Schöpfung und Chaos"; Dieterich, "Abraxas"; Kessler, "Mandæans" in Schaff and Herzog's "Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge." The Mandæans also speak of angels of light (not kings, Brandt, "Mandäische Schriften," p. 14) surrounding the king of light (Brandt, "Mandäische Religion," p. 42; "Mandäische Schriften," p. 14), and of angels of wrath surrounding the evil spirit Ruaḥ (Brandt, "Mandäische Religion," p. 123); of three angels, or guardian spirits, accompanying Adam (ibid. pp. 44, 122); of the angel Yofim (Yofafin) (ibid. pp. 26, 198); of Ptahil (Gabriel), the assistant of the Lord of Life at the world's creation (ibid. pp. 34, 35, 44, 50-55); of the great sardonyx (p. 221) as well as of Azazel (p. 198); of the seven nether worlds with their archdemons as rulers ("Mandäische Schriften," pp. 137-183). But Persian mythology is throughout interwoven with Angelology (see Brandt, "Mandäische Religion," pp. 194-198). Coptic gnosticism, also, has Ariel as king of the nether world, corresponding with Ur of the Mandæans (see Schmidt, "Gnostische Schriften in Koptischer Sprache," p. 413).

That the archons, the seventy-two rulers of theworld (Schmidt, ibid. p. 194), are alluded to in 1 Corinthians 2:6-8; Galatians 4:3,9; and elsewhere, by Paul, has been shown by Everling, "Die Paulinische Angelologie und Dämonologie," pp. 12, 75. The "angel worship" (Colossians 2:18) is of the Gnostics, not of the Jews. For Christian Angelology in general, Zunz ("S. P." p. 148) may be quoted: "The Coptic, the Abyssinian, the Greek, and the Roman churches adopted the invocation of angels in their liturgy; and since the tenth century the whole earth has been divided among the various tutelary angels and saints."

Mohammedan Angelology.

In the Koran, Jewish and Gnostic angelologies seem to be intermingled. In Mohammed's time the old Arabian goddesses—Al-Lat, Al-Uzza, and Manat —were spoken of as angels and daughters of God (Koran, sura § 150, § 20). The chief of all the archangels is Gabriel (Jibril); Michael comes next; Israfil (Sarafiel) sounds the trumpet of the resurrection; and Azrael is the angel of death (the etymology of the last name is obscure). Instead of four, there are eight angels that support the throne of God (sura § 17). Some angels have two, some three, others four wings (sura § 2). "They celebrate the praise of their Lord and ask forgiveness for those that are on earth" (sura § 2). "Each man hath a succession of angels before and behind him" (sura § 12). The chief angel, who has charge of hell, is Malik (etymology unknown). Hell has seven doors (sura § 44). Nineteen angels are set over the fire (sura §§ 30-31). Munkar and Nakir are the angels that interrogate the dead; and another angel, Ruman, makes each man write down his deeds (Wolff, "Muhammedanische Eschatologie," pp. 69, 166). Regarding the names of other angels, used for invocations and exorcism, see Hughes, "Dict. of Islam," under "Da'wah" (incantation).