Angel

Angel. (Gk. (ἄγγελος), angelos, messenger). The English word denotes a superhuman being intermediate between God and man. But the original meaning was simply that of a “messenger,” either human or superhuman. It is doubtful whether the word was used at all in preexilic times as a designation of a being greater than man. In Genesis vi : 2, the term “sons of God” was rendered “angels” by the Greek version ; in earlier days they were no doubt regarded as divino beings. The “angel of Yahweh” is thought by many scholars to be a manifestation of this deity, and it was probably so understood in antiquity ; but the “angel” is likely to have been brought into the text as a substitute for Yahweh himself, appearing in the original form of the narrative. In Jacob’s vision the “angels” seem also to have been originally “gods” or “sons of gods.” As long as Yahweh manifested himself in human shape, no had no need of a messenger. There were beside him “gods many and lords many” with their habitat in the sky or on the earth, in trees and fountains and stones, by the hearth and in the tomb ; but they were not messengers. Some of them appear to have been associated with Yahweh as his council or retinue. In the story of the Garden of Eden. Yahweh says : “Man has become like one of us.” Possibly the title “Yahweh of hosta” refers to armies of such spirits. But they were simply called Elohim, or “sons of gods” not “angels.”