T
twinc
Guest
surely you mean - could you please,please,use punctuation.It would,help,make your meaning clear - twinc
- Status
M
Mea_Culpa
Guest
If the deposit of faith is just a bunch of nonsense dreamed up by an ancient, nomadic tribal group - why do you believe it? (or do you?)
I’d prefer to put my faith in the inspired word of God over “150 years of research and testing” of the theory of evolution, or any other man-made ideas for that matter.
S
StAnastasia
Guest
What do you mean by “just a bunch of nonsense”? Is that all sacred story means to you? You construct a false dichotomy in contrasting a literal interpretation of sacred story with “just a bunch of nonsense.”
T
twinc
Guest
come now how can what is incompatible possibly be compatible - this is non science and nonsense - btw no Pope has or could possibly accept Atheist Evolution and request Catholics accept it and teach it as fact - twinc
S
StAnastasia
Guest
You’re quite right, Twinc – no pope could request Catholics to accept atheist evolution!
M
Mea_Culpa
Guest
In your post, you referred to the inspired word of God as “a nomadic tale” and “the ancient cosmogonic myth of one tribal group” - clearly implying that it is not credible. I did not “construct a false dichotomy.” Dei Verbum asserts that “the books of both the Old and New Testaments in their entirety, with all their parts, are sacred and canonical because written under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, they have God as their author and have been handed on as such to the Church herself.”
This is in sharp contrast to how you characterize Sacred Scripture - as “a nomadic tale” and “the ancient cosmogonic myth of one tribal group.” NO. They have God as their author. The Word of God is not “nomadic tales” or “ancient cosmogonic myths of one tribal group.” The clear connotation of characterizing Sacred Scripture as you have is that it is not credible, that it is the creation of a pre-scientific group of tribal nomads (not the inspired Word of God), and that we can dismiss it because now we know so much better than they did.
By the way, I never said anything about a literal interpretation of anything. While I do not agree with dismissing Sacred Scripture as “nomadic tales” or “ancient cosmogonic myths of one tribal group,” - that doesn’t mean that I think they should be read from a literalist, fundamentalist perspective either. You are the one creating the false dichotomy - either a fundamentalist reading of Scripture, or seeing it as “tales” and “myths.” NO.
S
StAnastasia
Guest
Good!
T
twinc
Guest
of course we must not be too quick to accept either what you or mea culpa or even I intrepet but exac tly what the Church says re interpretation via Augustine and Pope Leo XIII which has not and cannot be rescinded or updated to suit the modernists mentioned by Pope Pius X and XII - twinc
S
StAnastasia
Guest
You’d better tell that to Pope Benedict. Not only did he authorize the evolutionary statement in Communion and Stewardship, but the Vatican authorized a conference last March on Evolution and Catholic thought at the Pontifical Gregorian University. I participated in the conference, and it was excellent, provocative, and prayerful.
StAnastasia
T
twinc
Guest
so why not publish it accurately and in full and also the creation conference against Evolution - these can all and much more can be found on the Ignis Ardens website under a special forum as Creation and science - twinc
J
John_oxios
Guest
— [from Gen. Rabbah 19:1]
ה. כִּי יֹדֵעַ אֱ־לֹהִים כִּי בְּיוֹם אֲכָלְכֶם מִמֶּנּוּ וְנִפְקְחוּ עֵינֵיכֶם וִהְיִיתֶם כֵּאלֹהִים יֹדְעֵי טוֹב וָרָע:
For God knows: Every craftsman hates his fellow craftsmen. He [God] ate of the tree and created the world (Gen. Rabbah 19:4).
** and you will be like angels:
Creators of worlds**. — [from Pirkei d’Rabbi Eliezer , ch. 13]
The serpent knows what will happen if they disobey God, in Jewish literature, Satan is an influencing party, St Michael Battles the prince of persia for what 24 days?
Dan 10:13
And the prince of the kingdom of Persia has been standing against me for twenty-one days, and behold Michael, one of the first princes, has come to help, and I remained there beside the kings of Persia.
commentary:
has been standing against me: **to battle with me in heaven **by requesting an extension for the kingdom for Persia to enable them to subjugate you (Israel). Behold twenty-one days that he has been standing against me.
the first princes: those counted first among those who enter.
and I remained there: to silence the princes of Persia in heaven.
God’s Chosen people know about the accuser, adversary, satan, the serpent as forces opposed to God’s will.
J
juliamajor
Guest
(Some branches of Judaism I’m sure does.Just like reincarnation is acceptable to Hasidim and not to other branches)juliamajor;6285913:
knowing good and evil."
Sorry but the serpent is a fallen Angelthat is your interpretation.I’ve quoted my sources.Jewish Enclopedia, JPS Torah commentary-it says be like angels- not fallen angels.)
Commentary,
Now the serpent was cunning:
What is the connection of this matter here? Scripture should have juxtaposed (below verse 21): “And He made for Adam and for his wife shirts of skin, and He dressed them.” **But it teaches you as a result of what plan the serpent thrust himself upon them. **He saw them naked and engaging in intercourse before everyone’s eyes, and he desired her. — [from Gen. Rabbah 18:6 cunning, more than all: **Commensurate with its cunning and its greatness, was its downfall- [it was] cunning, more than all, [and it was] cursed, more than all. — [from Gen. Rabbah 19:1](Rabbinic -post biblical age.post exilic,post Temple)
ה. כִּי יֹדֵעַ אֱ־לֹהִים כִּי בְּיוֹם אֲכָלְכֶם מִמֶּנּוּ וְנִפְקְחוּ עֵינֵיכֶם וִהְיִיתֶם כֵּאלֹהִים יֹדְעֵי טוֹב וָרָע:
For God knows: Every craftsman hates his fellow craftsmen. He [God] ate of the tree and created the world (Gen. Rabbah 19:4).(You keep proving my point- these are all post exilic writings-look at the text itself)
** and you will be like angels:
Creators of worlds**. — [from Pirkei d’Rabbi Eliezer , ch. 13]
The serpent knows what will happen if they disobey God, in Jewish literature, Satan is an influencing party, St Michael Battles the prince of persia for what 24 days?
Dan 10:13
And the prince of the kingdom of Persia has been standing against me for twenty-one days, and behold Michael, one of the first princes, has come to help, and I remained there beside the kings of Persia.(Post Exilic)
commentary:
has been standing against me: **to battle with me in heaven **by requesting an extension for the kingdom for Persia to enable them to subjugate you (Israel). Behold twenty-one days that he has been standing against me.
the first princes: those counted first among those who enter.
and I remained there: to silence the princes of Persia in heaven.
God’s Chosen people know about the accuser, adversary, satan, the serpent as forces opposed to God’s will.
J
juliamajor
Guest
Angelology-Jewish Encyclopedia
. The Biblical Period:
Denomination.
The Biblical name for angel, , meaning, according to derivation, simply “messenger,” 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 , or (“Sons of God,” Gen. vi. 4; Job, i. 6 [R. V. v. 1]; Ps. xxix. 1 [R. V. margin]); and (“the Holy Ones” [perhaps equivalent to “fiery ones,” “unapproachable”; see Holiness. K.], Ps. lxxxix. 6, 8 [R. V. 5, 7]).
Angels appear to man in the shape of human beings of extraordinary beauty, and are not at once recognized as angels (Gen. xviii. 2, xix. 5; Judges, vi. 17, xiii. 6; II Sam. xxix. 9); they fly through the air; they become invisible; sacrifices touched by them are consumed by fire; they disappear in sacrificial fire, like Elijah, who rode to heaven in a fiery chariot; and they appear in the flames of the thornbush (Gen. xvi. 13; Judges, vi. 21, 22; II Kings, ii. 11; Ex. iii. 2). They are pure and bright as heaven; consequently they are formed of fire and are encompassed by light (Job, xv. 15), as the Psalmist says (Ps. civ. 4, R. V.): “Who maketh winds his messengers; his ministers a flaming fire.” Although they have intercourse with the daughters of men (Gen. vi.), and eat heavenly bread (Ps. lxxviii. 25), they are immaterial, not being subject to the limitations of time and space.
Appearance of Angels.
Though superhuman, they assume human form. This is the earliest conception. Gradually, and especially in post-Biblical times, they come to be bodied forth in a form corresponding to the nature of the mission to be fulfilled—generally, however, the human form. They bear drawn swords or 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.). 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, probably written 165 B.C., 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). It is an open question whether at that time angels were imagined to possess wings (Dan. ix. 21).
Angels are powerful and dreadful, endowed with wisdom and with knowledge of all earthly events, correct in their judgment, holy, but not infallible; for they strive with 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).
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?”
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 by God Himself or one particular angel was designated: the expression was given simply to God’s power toaccomplish 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; 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, 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 (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 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.
Read more: jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=1521&letter=A&search=angelology#ixzz0fSrYqMez
. The Biblical Period:
Denomination.
The Biblical name for angel, , meaning, according to derivation, simply “messenger,” 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 , or (“Sons of God,” Gen. vi. 4; Job, i. 6 [R. V. v. 1]; Ps. xxix. 1 [R. V. margin]); and (“the Holy Ones” [perhaps equivalent to “fiery ones,” “unapproachable”; see Holiness. K.], Ps. lxxxix. 6, 8 [R. V. 5, 7]).
Angels appear to man in the shape of human beings of extraordinary beauty, and are not at once recognized as angels (Gen. xviii. 2, xix. 5; Judges, vi. 17, xiii. 6; II Sam. xxix. 9); they fly through the air; they become invisible; sacrifices touched by them are consumed by fire; they disappear in sacrificial fire, like Elijah, who rode to heaven in a fiery chariot; and they appear in the flames of the thornbush (Gen. xvi. 13; Judges, vi. 21, 22; II Kings, ii. 11; Ex. iii. 2). They are pure and bright as heaven; consequently they are formed of fire and are encompassed by light (Job, xv. 15), as the Psalmist says (Ps. civ. 4, R. V.): “Who maketh winds his messengers; his ministers a flaming fire.” Although they have intercourse with the daughters of men (Gen. vi.), and eat heavenly bread (Ps. lxxviii. 25), they are immaterial, not being subject to the limitations of time and space.
Appearance of Angels.
Though superhuman, they assume human form. This is the earliest conception. Gradually, and especially in post-Biblical times, they come to be bodied forth in a form corresponding to the nature of the mission to be fulfilled—generally, however, the human form. They bear drawn swords or 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.). 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, probably written 165 B.C., 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). It is an open question whether at that time angels were imagined to possess wings (Dan. ix. 21).
Angels are powerful and dreadful, endowed with wisdom and with knowledge of all earthly events, correct in their judgment, holy, but not infallible; for they strive with 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).
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?”
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 by God Himself or one particular angel was designated: the expression was given simply to God’s power toaccomplish 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; 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, 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 (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 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.
Read more: jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=1521&letter=A&search=angelology#ixzz0fSrYqMez
J
juliamajor
Guest
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 Abraham 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, Ḥag. 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 every 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 careless 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 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” (Ps. xxix. 1, ciii. 20, cxlviii. 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 His attendants when He appears to man (Deut. xxxiii. 2; Job, 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); 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 brings the divine word to the prophet.
Upon the important problem of the origin of angels 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, 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 Parsee seven amshaspands (compare Ezek. ix. 2).
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Upon the important problem of the origin of angels 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, 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 Parsee seven amshaspands (compare Ezek. ix. 2).
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J
juliamajor
Guest
. 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.
Development of Angelology.
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 wild stream that overflows its banks. From this wealth of material the assumption may be drawn that the Angelology was not systematically organized. The Judaic 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 (I Macc. vii. 41; II. 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 cameto form part of the popular belief. Since the Bible was interpreted only in the light of tradition, haggadic teachings are quite as important for the understanding of the religion and its forms as is the Bible itself.
Embellishment of Biblical Accounts.
Not infrequently the ministration of angels is inferred in Biblical narratives when no mention is made of them. For instance, when God wishes to create man, the angels ask, “Wherefore dost Thou create him?” (Gen. R. viii. 5); Sarah is protected from Pharaoh by an angel holding a whip uplifted in his hand and making it dependent on Sarah whether he should use it or not (Gen. xii. 14 et seq.); five angels appear to Hagar; an angel leads Rebekah to the well (Gen. R. xli., near beginning, xlv., lix.); when Abraham is about to sacrifice Isaac, the angels intercede, protesting to the Lord that the intended act is unnatural (Bacher, “Ag. Pal. Amor.” iii. 29); angels transfer the animals of Laban’s flock to that of Jacob (Gen. R. lxxiii., near end); in Gen. xxxi. 8 an angel speaks to Jacob (Tan. ed. Buber, Wayeẓe, 24); Jacob employs some of the angels who meet him as messengers to Esau (Gen. xxxii. 4, Gen. R. lxxv.); when Joseph seeks his brethren (Gen. xxxvii. 15 et seq.) three angels meet him (Gen. R. lxxv.); angels gather together the sons of Jacob (Gen. xlix. 2; Gen. R. xcviii., near beginning); an angel speaks out of the mouth of Balaam and compels him to pronounce a blessing (Sanh. 105b); the ministering angels wait on Ehud (Judges, iii. 23) in order to assist him
Read more: jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=1521&letter=A&search=angelology#ixzz0fSsM7fHx
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.
Development of Angelology.
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 wild stream that overflows its banks. From this wealth of material the assumption may be drawn that the Angelology was not systematically organized. The Judaic 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 (I Macc. vii. 41; II. 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 cameto form part of the popular belief. Since the Bible was interpreted only in the light of tradition, haggadic teachings are quite as important for the understanding of the religion and its forms as is the Bible itself.
Embellishment of Biblical Accounts.
Not infrequently the ministration of angels is inferred in Biblical narratives when no mention is made of them. For instance, when God wishes to create man, the angels ask, “Wherefore dost Thou create him?” (Gen. R. viii. 5); Sarah is protected from Pharaoh by an angel holding a whip uplifted in his hand and making it dependent on Sarah whether he should use it or not (Gen. xii. 14 et seq.); five angels appear to Hagar; an angel leads Rebekah to the well (Gen. R. xli., near beginning, xlv., lix.); when Abraham is about to sacrifice Isaac, the angels intercede, protesting to the Lord that the intended act is unnatural (Bacher, “Ag. Pal. Amor.” iii. 29); angels transfer the animals of Laban’s flock to that of Jacob (Gen. R. lxxiii., near end); in Gen. xxxi. 8 an angel speaks to Jacob (Tan. ed. Buber, Wayeẓe, 24); Jacob employs some of the angels who meet him as messengers to Esau (Gen. xxxii. 4, Gen. R. lxxv.); when Joseph seeks his brethren (Gen. xxxvii. 15 et seq.) three angels meet him (Gen. R. lxxv.); angels gather together the sons of Jacob (Gen. xlix. 2; Gen. R. xcviii., near beginning); an angel speaks out of the mouth of Balaam and compels him to pronounce a blessing (Sanh. 105b); the ministering angels wait on Ehud (Judges, iii. 23) in order to assist him
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J
juliamajor
Guest
Gen. R. xcviii.); and an angel causes weapons to be found for Saul and Jonathan (I Sam. xiii. 22).
The rabbis most frequently give angelological embellishments to the story of Esther; thus transforming the plain, straightforward account into a miraculous tale. Gabriel drastically prevents Queen Vashti from appearing before Ahasuerus and his guests, in order to bring about the election of Esther in her place; and when Esther appears in the court of the king’s house (Esth. v. 1), three ministering angels hurry to her help: one raises her head; the second invests her with grace; and the third holds out to her the king’s scepter. When Ahasuerus has the “book of records of the chronicles” read to him, it is found that Shimshai, the scribe (see Ezra, iv. 8), has stricken out the passage recording Mordecai’s rescue of the king; but the angel Gabriel rewrites it. On Esther’s complaint to Ahasuerus that she and her people have been sold, the king asks who has done this thing. Esther is about to point her finger to Ahasuerus, to designate him as the wrongdoer, when an angel turns her hand in the direction of Haman. Ahasuerus then goes out in wrath to the garden, and, seeing there men tearing up the trees, asks the reason for their action; they reply that Haman has commanded it. The men were angels, of course. Angels, too, throw Haman upon Esther’s couch. Ahasuerus’ statement that the Jews had “slain and destroyed five hundred men” (ibid. ix. 12) sounds like a reproach against the queen; but an angel, touching the king’s mouth, causes his speech to end kindly (Meg. 15b, 16a, 16b). In two cases an angel strikes Nebuchadnezzar on the mouth: when he begins to praise God (Dan. iii. 33 [A. V. iv. 3]), so that he may not cast David’s psalms into the background, and when he says of the form of one of the four men “walking in the midst of the fire” (ibid. iii. 25) that it is like the Son of God, the angel thereupon thunders, “Has God a Son?” (Sanh. 92b, below; Yer. Shab. vi., end).
There are many such examples in the Talmud of the addition of angels to the Biblical narrative which give the impression that angels are merely to voice men’s opinions. Where there are possible objections to the act of divine justice, these are put into the mouth of the angels who represent God’s council; and His reply to them is the justification of His doings. Many other haggadot in which God and angels converse are to be similarly construed as the figurative representation of differing opinions; and quite as often such intercourse between God and angels serves to present in a vivid and impressive form certain ethical doctrines—a fact which has been misunderstood and misconstrued by Weber (“Jüdische Theologie,” 2d ed., pp. 176 et seq., Leipsic, 1897).
Jewish tradition frequently gives distinct and unmistakable expression to God’s sublime superiority over the angels. When, in order to remove the anthropomorphism from the Biblical passage, Ex. xxxiii. 20, “There shall no man see me and live” (), Akiba interprets it, “Not even the holy ḥayyot who carry the throne of glory, see the glory itself,” Simon improves upon this; saying, “Not even the ever-living ones, the angels” (Sifra, Lev. i. 1). God’s dwelling-place is in the seventh heaven, next to which is the abode of the pious; and the angels rank after the latter (Ḥag. 12b; Midr. Teh. on Ps. xxi. 7; Weber, ibid. pp. 162 et seq.).
The dignity of the pious is greater than that of the angels (Sanh. 93a, top). “God is first praised by Ezekiel; then by the angels” (Gen. R. lxv.). Adam reclined in paradise; and the ministering angels roasted meat for him (Sanh. 59b). When Israel recited the Shema’, the angels were silent till the end, and then sang their song of praise (Gen. R. lxv.). The angelic hosts praise God during the night; for during the day, when Israel’s praise is heard, they are silent (Ḥag. 12b). The pious command the angels (Bacher, “Ag. Pal. Amor.” ii. 262, note 6); angels are not allowed to condone sins (Midr. Teh. xvii. 2). When Rabbi Joshua discourses concerning the throne of God, the angels gather about him in curiosity (Ḥag. 14b). In the laudation of God, Israel is given precedence. Israel praises every day; angels praise but once (Midr. Teh. ciii., beginning; Ḥul. 91b, below).
Every man that does not practise magic enters a department of heaven to which even the ministering angels are not allowed access (Ned. 32a).
In addition to the Biblical name (“angel”) the term (“the upper ones”) often occurs in contrast with (“the lower ones”). The former name designates them as inhabitants of heaven (Sanh. 20b, Ket. 104a, Midr. Teh. xxv. 14, etc.). By the creation of mankind God established peace between the upper ones and the lower ones (Lev. R. ix.). The upper household ()—from familia, servants, meaning the angels forming the heavenly court—is often contrasted with Israel as God’s servants on earth below () (Ber. 17a; Sifre, Num. 42; Sanh. 98b, 99b; Ḥag. 13b, below). The angelic host is even called “exercitus” and “strateia”; and angels of the lowest rank are called “galearii” (army servants; Cant. R. viii. 13; Num. R. xii. 8; Pesiḳ. R. xv. 69a; Pesiḳ. v. 45b).
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The rabbis most frequently give angelological embellishments to the story of Esther; thus transforming the plain, straightforward account into a miraculous tale. Gabriel drastically prevents Queen Vashti from appearing before Ahasuerus and his guests, in order to bring about the election of Esther in her place; and when Esther appears in the court of the king’s house (Esth. v. 1), three ministering angels hurry to her help: one raises her head; the second invests her with grace; and the third holds out to her the king’s scepter. When Ahasuerus has the “book of records of the chronicles” read to him, it is found that Shimshai, the scribe (see Ezra, iv. 8), has stricken out the passage recording Mordecai’s rescue of the king; but the angel Gabriel rewrites it. On Esther’s complaint to Ahasuerus that she and her people have been sold, the king asks who has done this thing. Esther is about to point her finger to Ahasuerus, to designate him as the wrongdoer, when an angel turns her hand in the direction of Haman. Ahasuerus then goes out in wrath to the garden, and, seeing there men tearing up the trees, asks the reason for their action; they reply that Haman has commanded it. The men were angels, of course. Angels, too, throw Haman upon Esther’s couch. Ahasuerus’ statement that the Jews had “slain and destroyed five hundred men” (ibid. ix. 12) sounds like a reproach against the queen; but an angel, touching the king’s mouth, causes his speech to end kindly (Meg. 15b, 16a, 16b). In two cases an angel strikes Nebuchadnezzar on the mouth: when he begins to praise God (Dan. iii. 33 [A. V. iv. 3]), so that he may not cast David’s psalms into the background, and when he says of the form of one of the four men “walking in the midst of the fire” (ibid. iii. 25) that it is like the Son of God, the angel thereupon thunders, “Has God a Son?” (Sanh. 92b, below; Yer. Shab. vi., end).
There are many such examples in the Talmud of the addition of angels to the Biblical narrative which give the impression that angels are merely to voice men’s opinions. Where there are possible objections to the act of divine justice, these are put into the mouth of the angels who represent God’s council; and His reply to them is the justification of His doings. Many other haggadot in which God and angels converse are to be similarly construed as the figurative representation of differing opinions; and quite as often such intercourse between God and angels serves to present in a vivid and impressive form certain ethical doctrines—a fact which has been misunderstood and misconstrued by Weber (“Jüdische Theologie,” 2d ed., pp. 176 et seq., Leipsic, 1897).
Jewish tradition frequently gives distinct and unmistakable expression to God’s sublime superiority over the angels. When, in order to remove the anthropomorphism from the Biblical passage, Ex. xxxiii. 20, “There shall no man see me and live” (), Akiba interprets it, “Not even the holy ḥayyot who carry the throne of glory, see the glory itself,” Simon improves upon this; saying, “Not even the ever-living ones, the angels” (Sifra, Lev. i. 1). God’s dwelling-place is in the seventh heaven, next to which is the abode of the pious; and the angels rank after the latter (Ḥag. 12b; Midr. Teh. on Ps. xxi. 7; Weber, ibid. pp. 162 et seq.).
The dignity of the pious is greater than that of the angels (Sanh. 93a, top). “God is first praised by Ezekiel; then by the angels” (Gen. R. lxv.). Adam reclined in paradise; and the ministering angels roasted meat for him (Sanh. 59b). When Israel recited the Shema’, the angels were silent till the end, and then sang their song of praise (Gen. R. lxv.). The angelic hosts praise God during the night; for during the day, when Israel’s praise is heard, they are silent (Ḥag. 12b). The pious command the angels (Bacher, “Ag. Pal. Amor.” ii. 262, note 6); angels are not allowed to condone sins (Midr. Teh. xvii. 2). When Rabbi Joshua discourses concerning the throne of God, the angels gather about him in curiosity (Ḥag. 14b). In the laudation of God, Israel is given precedence. Israel praises every day; angels praise but once (Midr. Teh. ciii., beginning; Ḥul. 91b, below).
Every man that does not practise magic enters a department of heaven to which even the ministering angels are not allowed access (Ned. 32a).
In addition to the Biblical name (“angel”) the term (“the upper ones”) often occurs in contrast with (“the lower ones”). The former name designates them as inhabitants of heaven (Sanh. 20b, Ket. 104a, Midr. Teh. xxv. 14, etc.). By the creation of mankind God established peace between the upper ones and the lower ones (Lev. R. ix.). The upper household ()—from familia, servants, meaning the angels forming the heavenly court—is often contrasted with Israel as God’s servants on earth below () (Ber. 17a; Sifre, Num. 42; Sanh. 98b, 99b; Ḥag. 13b, below). The angelic host is even called “exercitus” and “strateia”; and angels of the lowest rank are called “galearii” (army servants; Cant. R. viii. 13; Num. R. xii. 8; Pesiḳ. R. xv. 69a; Pesiḳ. v. 45b).
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. 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.
Development of Angelology.
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 wild stream that overflows its banks. From this wealth of material the assumption may be drawn that the Angelology was not systematically organized. The Judaic 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 (I Macc. vii. 41; II. 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 cameto form part of the popular belief. Since the Bible was interpreted only in the light of tradition, haggadic teachings are quite as important for the understanding of the religion and its forms as is the Bible itself.
Embellishment of Biblical Accounts.
Not infrequently the ministration of angels is inferred in Biblical narratives when no mention is made of them. For instance, when God wishes to create man, the angels ask, “Wherefore dost Thou create him?” (Gen. R. viii. 5); Sarah is protected from Pharaoh by an angel holding a whip uplifted in his hand and making it dependent on Sarah whether he should use it or not (Gen. xii. 14 et seq.); five angels appear to Hagar; an angel leads Rebekah to the well (Gen. R. xli., near beginning, xlv., lix.); when Abraham is about to sacrifice Isaac, the angels intercede, protesting to the Lord that the intended act is unnatural (Bacher, “Ag. Pal. Amor.” iii. 29); angels transfer the animals of Laban’s flock to that of Jacob (Gen. R. lxxiii., near end); in Gen. xxxi. 8 an angel speaks to Jacob (Tan. ed. Buber, Wayeẓe, 24); Jacob employs some of the angels who meet him as messengers to Esau (Gen. xxxii. 4, Gen. R. lxxv.); when Joseph seeks his brethren (Gen. xxxvii. 15 et seq.) three angels meet him (Gen. R. lxxv.); angels gather together the sons of Jacob (Gen. xlix. 2; Gen. R. xcviii., near beginning); an angel speaks out of the mouth of Balaam and compels him to pronounce a blessing (Sanh. 105b); the ministering angels wait on Ehud (Judges, iii. 23) in order to assist him (Gen. R. xcviii.); and an angel causes weapons to be found for Saul and Jonathan (I Sam. xiii. 22).
The rabbis most frequently give angelological embellishments to the story of Esther; thus transforming the plain, straightforward account into a miraculous tale. Gabriel drastically prevents Queen Vashti from appearing before Ahasuerus and his guests, in order to bring about the election of Esther in her place; and when Esther appears in the court of the king’s house (Esth. v. 1), three ministering angels hurry to her help: one raises her head; the second invests her with grace; and the third holds out to her the king’s scepter. When Ahasuerus has the “book of records of the chronicles” read to him, it is found that Shimshai, the scribe (see Ezra, iv. 8), has stricken out the passage recording Mordecai’s rescue of the king; but the angel Gabriel rewrites it. On Esther’s complaint to Ahasuerus that she and her people have been sold, the king asks who has done this thing. Esther is about to point her finger to Ahasuerus, to designate him as the wrongdoer, when an angel turns her hand in the direction of Haman. Ahasuerus then goes out in wrath to the garden, and, seeing there men tearing up the trees, asks the reason for their action; they reply that Haman has commanded it. The men were angels, of course. Angels, too, throw Haman upon Esther’s couch. Ahasuerus’ statement that the Jews had “slain and destroyed five hundred men” (ibid. ix. 12) sounds like a reproach against the queen; but an angel, touching the king’s mouth, causes his speech to end kindly (Meg. 15b, 16a, 16b). In two cases an angel strikes Nebuchadnezzar on the mouth: when he begins to praise God (Dan. iii. 33 [A. V. iv. 3]), so that he may not cast David’s psalms into the background, and when he says of the form of one of the four men “walking in the midst of the fire” (ibid. iii. 25) that it is like the Son of God, the angel thereupon thunders, “Has God a Son?” (Sanh. 92b, below; Yer. Shab. vi., end).
).
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.
Development of Angelology.
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 wild stream that overflows its banks. From this wealth of material the assumption may be drawn that the Angelology was not systematically organized. The Judaic 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 (I Macc. vii. 41; II. 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 cameto form part of the popular belief. Since the Bible was interpreted only in the light of tradition, haggadic teachings are quite as important for the understanding of the religion and its forms as is the Bible itself.
Embellishment of Biblical Accounts.
Not infrequently the ministration of angels is inferred in Biblical narratives when no mention is made of them. For instance, when God wishes to create man, the angels ask, “Wherefore dost Thou create him?” (Gen. R. viii. 5); Sarah is protected from Pharaoh by an angel holding a whip uplifted in his hand and making it dependent on Sarah whether he should use it or not (Gen. xii. 14 et seq.); five angels appear to Hagar; an angel leads Rebekah to the well (Gen. R. xli., near beginning, xlv., lix.); when Abraham is about to sacrifice Isaac, the angels intercede, protesting to the Lord that the intended act is unnatural (Bacher, “Ag. Pal. Amor.” iii. 29); angels transfer the animals of Laban’s flock to that of Jacob (Gen. R. lxxiii., near end); in Gen. xxxi. 8 an angel speaks to Jacob (Tan. ed. Buber, Wayeẓe, 24); Jacob employs some of the angels who meet him as messengers to Esau (Gen. xxxii. 4, Gen. R. lxxv.); when Joseph seeks his brethren (Gen. xxxvii. 15 et seq.) three angels meet him (Gen. R. lxxv.); angels gather together the sons of Jacob (Gen. xlix. 2; Gen. R. xcviii., near beginning); an angel speaks out of the mouth of Balaam and compels him to pronounce a blessing (Sanh. 105b); the ministering angels wait on Ehud (Judges, iii. 23) in order to assist him (Gen. R. xcviii.); and an angel causes weapons to be found for Saul and Jonathan (I Sam. xiii. 22).
The rabbis most frequently give angelological embellishments to the story of Esther; thus transforming the plain, straightforward account into a miraculous tale. Gabriel drastically prevents Queen Vashti from appearing before Ahasuerus and his guests, in order to bring about the election of Esther in her place; and when Esther appears in the court of the king’s house (Esth. v. 1), three ministering angels hurry to her help: one raises her head; the second invests her with grace; and the third holds out to her the king’s scepter. When Ahasuerus has the “book of records of the chronicles” read to him, it is found that Shimshai, the scribe (see Ezra, iv. 8), has stricken out the passage recording Mordecai’s rescue of the king; but the angel Gabriel rewrites it. On Esther’s complaint to Ahasuerus that she and her people have been sold, the king asks who has done this thing. Esther is about to point her finger to Ahasuerus, to designate him as the wrongdoer, when an angel turns her hand in the direction of Haman. Ahasuerus then goes out in wrath to the garden, and, seeing there men tearing up the trees, asks the reason for their action; they reply that Haman has commanded it. The men were angels, of course. Angels, too, throw Haman upon Esther’s couch. Ahasuerus’ statement that the Jews had “slain and destroyed five hundred men” (ibid. ix. 12) sounds like a reproach against the queen; but an angel, touching the king’s mouth, causes his speech to end kindly (Meg. 15b, 16a, 16b). In two cases an angel strikes Nebuchadnezzar on the mouth: when he begins to praise God (Dan. iii. 33 [A. V. iv. 3]), so that he may not cast David’s psalms into the background, and when he says of the form of one of the four men “walking in the midst of the fire” (ibid. iii. 25) that it is like the Son of God, the angel thereupon thunders, “Has God a Son?” (Sanh. 92b, below; Yer. Shab. vi., end).
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juliamajor
Guest
There are many such examples in the Talmud of the addition of angels to the Biblical narrative which give the impression that angels are merely to voice men’s opinions. Where there are possible objections to the act of divine justice, these are put into the mouth of the angels who represent God’s council; and His reply to them is the justification of His doings. Many other haggadot in which God and angels converse are to be similarly construed as the figurative representation of differing opinions; and quite as often such intercourse between God and angels serves to present in a vivid and impressive form certain ethical doctrines—a fact which has been misunderstood and misconstrued by Weber (“Jüdische Theologie,” 2d ed., pp. 176 et seq., Leipsic, 1897).
Jewish tradition frequently gives distinct and unmistakable expression to God’s sublime superiority over the angels. When, in order to remove the anthropomorphism from the Biblical passage, Ex. xxxiii. 20, “There shall no man see me and live” (), Akiba interprets it, “Not even the holy ḥayyot who carry the throne of glory, see the glory itself,” Simon improves upon this; saying, “Not even the ever-living ones, the angels” (Sifra, Lev. i. 1). God’s dwelling-place is in the seventh heaven, next to which is the abode of the pious; and the angels rank after the latter (Ḥag. 12b; Midr. Teh. on Ps. xxi. 7; Weber, ibid. pp. 162 et seq.).
The dignity of the pious is greater than that of the angels (Sanh. 93a, top). “God is first praised by Ezekiel; then by the angels” (Gen. R. lxv.). Adam reclined in paradise; and the ministering angels roasted meat for him (Sanh. 59b). When Israel recited the Shema’, the angels were silent till the end, and then sang their song of praise (Gen. R. lxv.). The angelic hosts praise God during the night; for during the day, when Israel’s praise is heard, they are silent (Ḥag. 12b). The pious command the angels (Bacher, “Ag. Pal. Amor.” ii. 262, note 6); angels are not allowed to condone sins (Midr. Teh. xvii. 2). When Rabbi Joshua discourses concerning the throne of God, the angels gather about him in curiosity (Ḥag. 14b). In the laudation of God, Israel is given precedence. Israel praises every day; angels praise but once (Midr. Teh. ciii., beginning; Ḥul. 91b, below).
Every man that does not practise magic enters a department of heaven to which even the ministering angels are not allowed access (Ned. 32a).
In addition to the Biblical name (“angel”) the term (“the upper ones”) often occurs in contrast with (“the lower ones”). The former name designates them as inhabitants of heaven (Sanh. 20b, Ket. 104a, Midr. Teh. xxv. 14, etc.). By the creation of mankind God established peace between the upper ones and the lower ones (Lev. R. ix.). The upper household ()—from familia, servants, meaning the angels forming the heavenly court—is often contrasted with Israel as God’s servants on earth below () (Ber. 17a; Sifre, Num. 42; Sanh. 98b, 99b; Ḥag. 13b, below). The angelic host is even called “exercitus” and “strateia”; and angels of the lowest rank are called “galearii” (army servants; Cant. R. viii. 13; Num. R. xii. 8; Pesiḳ. R. xv. 69a; Pesiḳ. v. 45b).
Nomenclature and Essence.
The essence of the angels is fire; they sustain themselves in fire; their fiery breath consumes men; and no man can endure the sound of their voices (Cant. R. v. 10; Pesiḳ. v. 57a; Ḥag. 14b, above; Shab. 88b, below; Tan., Yitro, xvi.). “The angel of the Lord” in Judges, ii. 1, was Phinehas, whose countenance, when the Holy Spirit rested upon it, glowed like a torch (Lev. R. i.,beginning). To Joshua b. Hananiah the emperor Hadrian said: “You say that no portion of the heavenly hosts sings praise to the Lord twice, but that God daily hears new angels who sing his praise [based on Lam. iii. 23] and then go. Whither do they go?” Whereupon Joshua replied: “To the stream of fire whence they emanated” (Dan. vii. 10). H.: “What is the character of this stream?” J.: “It is like the Jordan, which ceases not to flow by day or by night.” H.: "And whence comes the stream of fire? " J.: “From the sweat of the living creatures of God’s chariot, which drops from them under the burden of God’s throne” (Gen. R. lxxviii., beginning, and parallel passages; compare Bacher, “Ag. Tan.” i. 178). Another theory is, that angels are half fire, half water, and that God makes peace between the opposing elements (Yer. R. H. ii. 58a). They feed on the rays of God’s majesty, for “in the light of the king’s countenance is life” (Prov. xvi. 15, Pesiḳ. vi. 57a).
A characteristic and well-known passage is the followingḤag. 16a and parallel passages)
"In three respects demons resemble angels; in three others, mankind. Like the angels they have wings, they move from one end of the earth to the other, and are prescient. Like men they eat and drink, propagate themselves, and die. In three respects men resemble the angels; in three others, the animals. Like animals they eat and drink, propagate themselves, and discharge waste matter ".
In order that Moses might become like the angels, all food and drink had to be consumed in his entrails (Yoma, 4b). The angels that appeared to Abraham only pretended to eat (Targ. Yer. Gen. xviii. 8, and in the Midrash).
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Jewish tradition frequently gives distinct and unmistakable expression to God’s sublime superiority over the angels. When, in order to remove the anthropomorphism from the Biblical passage, Ex. xxxiii. 20, “There shall no man see me and live” (), Akiba interprets it, “Not even the holy ḥayyot who carry the throne of glory, see the glory itself,” Simon improves upon this; saying, “Not even the ever-living ones, the angels” (Sifra, Lev. i. 1). God’s dwelling-place is in the seventh heaven, next to which is the abode of the pious; and the angels rank after the latter (Ḥag. 12b; Midr. Teh. on Ps. xxi. 7; Weber, ibid. pp. 162 et seq.).
The dignity of the pious is greater than that of the angels (Sanh. 93a, top). “God is first praised by Ezekiel; then by the angels” (Gen. R. lxv.). Adam reclined in paradise; and the ministering angels roasted meat for him (Sanh. 59b). When Israel recited the Shema’, the angels were silent till the end, and then sang their song of praise (Gen. R. lxv.). The angelic hosts praise God during the night; for during the day, when Israel’s praise is heard, they are silent (Ḥag. 12b). The pious command the angels (Bacher, “Ag. Pal. Amor.” ii. 262, note 6); angels are not allowed to condone sins (Midr. Teh. xvii. 2). When Rabbi Joshua discourses concerning the throne of God, the angels gather about him in curiosity (Ḥag. 14b). In the laudation of God, Israel is given precedence. Israel praises every day; angels praise but once (Midr. Teh. ciii., beginning; Ḥul. 91b, below).
Every man that does not practise magic enters a department of heaven to which even the ministering angels are not allowed access (Ned. 32a).
In addition to the Biblical name (“angel”) the term (“the upper ones”) often occurs in contrast with (“the lower ones”). The former name designates them as inhabitants of heaven (Sanh. 20b, Ket. 104a, Midr. Teh. xxv. 14, etc.). By the creation of mankind God established peace between the upper ones and the lower ones (Lev. R. ix.). The upper household ()—from familia, servants, meaning the angels forming the heavenly court—is often contrasted with Israel as God’s servants on earth below () (Ber. 17a; Sifre, Num. 42; Sanh. 98b, 99b; Ḥag. 13b, below). The angelic host is even called “exercitus” and “strateia”; and angels of the lowest rank are called “galearii” (army servants; Cant. R. viii. 13; Num. R. xii. 8; Pesiḳ. R. xv. 69a; Pesiḳ. v. 45b).
Nomenclature and Essence.
The essence of the angels is fire; they sustain themselves in fire; their fiery breath consumes men; and no man can endure the sound of their voices (Cant. R. v. 10; Pesiḳ. v. 57a; Ḥag. 14b, above; Shab. 88b, below; Tan., Yitro, xvi.). “The angel of the Lord” in Judges, ii. 1, was Phinehas, whose countenance, when the Holy Spirit rested upon it, glowed like a torch (Lev. R. i.,beginning). To Joshua b. Hananiah the emperor Hadrian said: “You say that no portion of the heavenly hosts sings praise to the Lord twice, but that God daily hears new angels who sing his praise [based on Lam. iii. 23] and then go. Whither do they go?” Whereupon Joshua replied: “To the stream of fire whence they emanated” (Dan. vii. 10). H.: “What is the character of this stream?” J.: “It is like the Jordan, which ceases not to flow by day or by night.” H.: "And whence comes the stream of fire? " J.: “From the sweat of the living creatures of God’s chariot, which drops from them under the burden of God’s throne” (Gen. R. lxxviii., beginning, and parallel passages; compare Bacher, “Ag. Tan.” i. 178). Another theory is, that angels are half fire, half water, and that God makes peace between the opposing elements (Yer. R. H. ii. 58a). They feed on the rays of God’s majesty, for “in the light of the king’s countenance is life” (Prov. xvi. 15, Pesiḳ. vi. 57a).
A characteristic and well-known passage is the following
Ḥag. 16a and parallel passages)"In three respects demons resemble angels; in three others, mankind. Like the angels they have wings, they move from one end of the earth to the other, and are prescient. Like men they eat and drink, propagate themselves, and die. In three respects men resemble the angels; in three others, the animals. Like animals they eat and drink, propagate themselves, and discharge waste matter ".
In order that Moses might become like the angels, all food and drink had to be consumed in his entrails (Yoma, 4b). The angels that appeared to Abraham only pretended to eat (Targ. Yer. Gen. xviii. 8, and in the Midrash).
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angels are generally represented as good, and as not subject to evil impulses (Gen. R. xlviii. 11). Hence the Ten Commandments are not applicable to them (Shab. 88b); they are called “holy,” while men require a twofold sanctification to merit the epithet (Lev. R. xxiv. 8). Having this character, they show neither hatred nor envy; nor does discord or ill will exist among them (Sifre, Num. 42). Nevertheless, they stand in need of mutual beneficence (Lev. R. xxi., beginning). Although there is nothing hidden from the superior beings (Midr. Teh. xxv. 14), yet they do not know the day of Israel’s redemption (Sanh. 99a); see also Matt. xxiv. 36, “of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.” Though the Israelites, emerging from the sea, knew where God’s glory resided, the angels were in ignorance of it (Ex. R. xxiii., end). Adam’s knowledge exceeded that of the angels (Bacher, “Ag. Pal. Amor.” iii. 125, note 1): not Adam alone, however, but all the pious rank above the ministering angels (Gen. R. xxi., Yer. Shab. vi., end).
Although they render God unfailing obedience, and are ready to serve Him before they hear His commands—in which regard they are imitated by Israel— they are nevertheless fallible. There are fallen angels. Two were expelled from heaven for one hundred and thirty-eight years on account of prematurely disclosing the decree of Sodom’s destruction, or for presumption (Gen. R. l., lxviii.).
The angels appear at times standing; now in the shape of a man or of a woman, and now as wind or as fire (Ex. R. xxv., beginning). Of the three angels that appeared to Abraham (Gen. xviii. 2), one was like a Saracen, one like a Nabatean, and the third like an Arab (Gen. R. xlviii. 9). To Jacob (Gen. xxxii. 25) the angel appeared as a shepherd (Gen. R. lxxvii.), as a heathen, and as a learned man (Ḥul. 91a). An angel assumed the shape of Moses in order to be captured by Pharaoh in Moses’ place; another, taking Solomon’s form, dethroned him (Yer. Ber. ix. 13a; compare Lev. R. vi., Yer. Sanh. ii. 20c). Angels come from heaven on horses, with gleaming weapons (IV Macc. iv. 10); Gabriel smites Sennacherib’s host (II Kings, xix. 35) with a sharpened scythe which had been ready since the Creation (Sanh. 95b). The stone mentioned in Dan. vi. 18 was a stone lion into which an angel had entered (Cant. R., beginning). A high priest was killed by an angel in the Holy of Holies; and the impress of a calf’s foot (compare Ezek. i. 7; Ta’anit, 25b; Yoma, 21a) was found between his shoulders (Yoma, 19b). Angels being generally conceived as endowed with wings, Akiba took the expression “fowls of the heaven” (Ps. civ. 12) to mean angels; but R. Ishmael refuted him (Bacher, “Ag. Tan.” i. 324; compare Gen. R. lxv. 21; Pesiḳ. R. viii., beginning; Yer. Ber. vii., end).
Their bodies were supposed to be like the figure described in Dan. x. 6. Their size is variously given. One angel extends from earth to heaven, where the ḥayyot stand; Sandalfon is taller than his fellows by the length of a journey of five hundred years (Ḥag. 13b). According to one tradition, each angel was one-third of a world; according to another, two thousand parasangs (a parasang = 3.88 miles), his hand reaching from heaven to earth (Bacher, “Ag. Pal. Amor.” iii. 371, 547). The angels do not, of course, always disclose themselves in all their size; they are visible to those only whom their message concerns; and their message is heard by none but those for whom it is intended (Ta’anit, 21a).
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Although they render God unfailing obedience, and are ready to serve Him before they hear His commands—in which regard they are imitated by Israel— they are nevertheless fallible. There are fallen angels. Two were expelled from heaven for one hundred and thirty-eight years on account of prematurely disclosing the decree of Sodom’s destruction, or for presumption (Gen. R. l., lxviii.).
The angels appear at times standing; now in the shape of a man or of a woman, and now as wind or as fire (Ex. R. xxv., beginning). Of the three angels that appeared to Abraham (Gen. xviii. 2), one was like a Saracen, one like a Nabatean, and the third like an Arab (Gen. R. xlviii. 9). To Jacob (Gen. xxxii. 25) the angel appeared as a shepherd (Gen. R. lxxvii.), as a heathen, and as a learned man (Ḥul. 91a). An angel assumed the shape of Moses in order to be captured by Pharaoh in Moses’ place; another, taking Solomon’s form, dethroned him (Yer. Ber. ix. 13a; compare Lev. R. vi., Yer. Sanh. ii. 20c). Angels come from heaven on horses, with gleaming weapons (IV Macc. iv. 10); Gabriel smites Sennacherib’s host (II Kings, xix. 35) with a sharpened scythe which had been ready since the Creation (Sanh. 95b). The stone mentioned in Dan. vi. 18 was a stone lion into which an angel had entered (Cant. R., beginning). A high priest was killed by an angel in the Holy of Holies; and the impress of a calf’s foot (compare Ezek. i. 7; Ta’anit, 25b; Yoma, 21a) was found between his shoulders (Yoma, 19b). Angels being generally conceived as endowed with wings, Akiba took the expression “fowls of the heaven” (Ps. civ. 12) to mean angels; but R. Ishmael refuted him (Bacher, “Ag. Tan.” i. 324; compare Gen. R. lxv. 21; Pesiḳ. R. viii., beginning; Yer. Ber. vii., end).
Their bodies were supposed to be like the figure described in Dan. x. 6. Their size is variously given. One angel extends from earth to heaven, where the ḥayyot stand; Sandalfon is taller than his fellows by the length of a journey of five hundred years (Ḥag. 13b). According to one tradition, each angel was one-third of a world; according to another, two thousand parasangs (a parasang = 3.88 miles), his hand reaching from heaven to earth (Bacher, “Ag. Pal. Amor.” iii. 371, 547). The angels do not, of course, always disclose themselves in all their size; they are visible to those only whom their message concerns; and their message is heard by none but those for whom it is intended (Ta’anit, 21a).
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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 Gen. xxxi. 11-13, where the angel of God says, “I am the God of Beth-el”; Ex. iii. 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 Gen. xxii. 11; Judges, vi. 11-22). At times the angel clearly distinguishes himself from the Lord who sends him (see Gen. xvi. 11, xxi. 17; Num. xxii. 31; Judges, xiii. 16). Though appearing in human form (see Gen. xviii. 2 et seq., xxxii. 25; compare Hosea, xii. 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” (Ex. xxxiii. 2), replies: “If thy presence [face] go not with me, carry us not up hence” (Ex. xxxiii. 15).
There prevailed no uniform conception of these angelic beings. In Jacob’s dream they ascend and descend the ladder (Gen. xxviii. 12); in the vision of Isaiah (vi. 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 (Ezek. i. 5-7, x. 19-21). As guests of Abraham, they eat (Gen. xviii. 8); in the house of Manoah the angel refuses to eat (Judges, xiii. 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, xxxviii. 7, if not from Gen. i. 26, it rather appears that they looked on, approving and praising God’s creative work. According to Job, iv. 18, xv. 15, the angels are endowed with moral sense, though they fall short of God’s own ideal of purity and perfection. According to Ps. lxxviii. 25, manna is “angels’ food” (“bread of the mighty,” R. V.; compare Ps. ciii. 20). Similarly, the tree in paradise, whose fruit makes man like godly beings “knowing good and evil” (Gen. iii. 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” (Gen. iii. 22, 23). Elsewhere the angels are referred to as partaking of God’s wisdom (see II Sam. xiv. 17, 20, xix. 28). Some such view underlies the verse: “Thou madest him a little lower than the angels [godly beings]” (Ps. viii. 5); man, though mortal, being endowed with intellect.
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There prevailed no uniform conception of these angelic beings. In Jacob’s dream they ascend and descend the ladder (Gen. xxviii. 12); in the vision of Isaiah (vi. 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 (Ezek. i. 5-7, x. 19-21). As guests of Abraham, they eat (Gen. xviii. 8); in the house of Manoah the angel refuses to eat (Judges, xiii. 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, xxxviii. 7, if not from Gen. i. 26, it rather appears that they looked on, approving and praising God’s creative work. According to Job, iv. 18, xv. 15, the angels are endowed with moral sense, though they fall short of God’s own ideal of purity and perfection. According to Ps. lxxviii. 25, manna is “angels’ food” (“bread of the mighty,” R. V.; compare Ps. ciii. 20). Similarly, the tree in paradise, whose fruit makes man like godly beings “knowing good and evil” (Gen. iii. 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” (Gen. iii. 22, 23). Elsewhere the angels are referred to as partaking of God’s wisdom (see II Sam. xiv. 17, 20, xix. 28). Some such view underlies the verse: “Thou madest him a little lower than the angels [godly beings]” (Ps. viii. 5); man, though mortal, being endowed with intellect.
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