What the Bible has to say about angels
Unless otherwise noted, all scripture quotations herein
are from the New International
Version (NIV).
Angelology is a branch of theology that deals with
a hierarchical system of angels,
messengers, celestial powers or emanations,
and the study of these systems.
A Hierarchy of Angels?
Besides the angels and archangels, the Bible mentions by name two other specific types of heavenly supernatural beings which humans have seen, cherubim and seraphim. Neither is ever given the designation “angel” in the Bible. Neither is ever portrayed as performing the function of “messenger” implied by the terms malak or aggelos. And neither is ever portrayed as “ministering to the saints” as Hebrews 1:14 defines the role of an angel.
But for some reason they have been referred to historically as part of an “angelic hierarchy,” and as being, in that hierarchy, a type of angel … above the angels. This seems to make little sense. It might be more useful to refer to them as “celestial beings.” Thus one could say that angels are celestial beings, but not all celestial beings are angels.
Cherub/Cherubim
The English word cherub is derived directly from the Hebrew term kerub used in the Old Testament. We first encounter the word in the account of the expulsion of Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden. God is said to have stationed guarding cherubim, along with a flaming sword, at the entrance to the Garden, to prevent Adam or Eve (or anyone else from then on) from approaching the Tree of Life in the Garden. (Gen 3:24) In Hebrew, the addition of the suffix im at the end of a word indicates the plural of that word. So cherubim is the Hebrew word that refers to two or more cherubs. (The translators of the King James Version of the Bible seemed not to have understood this, and chose to use the word cherubims with an unneeded, added “s” on the word.)
The author of Genesis gives no description of these cherubim. But the word shows
up again when Moses was being given instructions for building the Tabernacle. In
Exodus 25 Moses was commanded to have a golden lid made for the Mercy Seat (the Ark
of the Covenant chest, holding the Ten Commandments, that would be in the room of
the Tabernacle called the Holy of Holies). The lid was to have a cherub at each end
of it, facing each other. Again there is no detailed description of the cherubim,
but we do learn that they had wings, and each was to be designed so that his wings
arched over the lid. Moses was also commanded to have tapestries made to hang inside
the Tabernacle, with images of cherubim embroidered into the fabric. By the time
Solomon created the magnificent Temple in Jerusalem to house the Ark of the Covenant,
he also ordered the crafting of two huge, free-
The only specific evidence we are given in the Bible as to the appearance of any cherubim is in a vision described in the book of Ezekiel. In this instance they seem to be fantastic creatures transporting what appears to be a portable throne for God. There are four in the vision. Each has a body like a man, feet like a calf, four wings—two that are spread when it flies, and two that remain covering its body. Underneath the covering wings are what appear to be a man’s hands. And each of the creatures has four faces, looking in four different directions. One looks like an ox, one like a lion, one like an eagle, and one like a man.
Are these exactly what the carved and embroidered cherubim of the Tabernacle and later the Temple looked like? We have absolutely no way of knowing, as the Bible just doesn’t say. In the Book of Revelation, John has a vision in which he sees four creatures around the throne of God in Heaven:
Also before the throne there was what looked like a sea of glass, clear as crystal.
In the center, around the throne, were four living creatures, and they were covered
with eyes, in front and in back. The first living creature was like a lion, the second
was like an ox, the third had a face like a man, the fourth was like a flying eagle.
Each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around,
even under his wings. Day and night they never stop saying: "Holy, holy, holy is
the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come." (Rev 4:6-
Were these creatures cherubim, related to the ones that Ezekiel saw, but with slightly
different characteristics? Again we have no way of knowing, since the Bible doesn’t
elaborate on any connection. There are plenty of extra-
When God gave directions to Moses regarding making the cherubim, the fact that He gave no specific instructions about what they looked like seems to indicate that He expected that Moses and the Israelite craftsmen who were to make them already knew what they looked like. And archaeological excavations of civilizations in the Middle East that were thriving during the era of ancient Israel, including those of Egypt and Assyria, have unearthed many examples of royal thrones and buildings flanked by and decorated with figures that certainly bear some resemblance to the descriptions in Ezekiel. They are creatures that combine various animal and human body parts, such as the body of a lion, feet of an ox, head of a man, and wings of a bird, or similar combinations and variations. One such example is this huge winged bull figure with a human head from the Temple of Sargon II of Assyria (c. 700 BC).
Another is this small carved ivory plaque representing a winged sphinx-
Whether the Biblical cherubim looked similar to one of these ancient artifacts or not, one thing is certain: They did not look like the figure that has inherited the label “cherub” in Christian art for over 1000 years, as seen in this section of a painting by Raphael from 1514.
It isn’t clear historically how or why artists settled on calling these “baby angels”
by the name cherub, or how or why they invented the notion of such beings at all!
The extremely popular children’s book The Littlest Angel (first published in 1946,
but reissued with updated artwork fairly frequently clear into the 21st century)
presents the notion that children who die “become” angels when they arrive in heaven,
so perhaps the notion was that babies and toddlers who die become the chubby little
winged “cherub” figures that are so popular with collectors even today. Whatever
the source of the mythology, the Bible is very clear that humans do not become angels
when they die and that biblical cherubs are not chubby babies.
Seraphim
It is surprising just how much speculation can be spun out of a tiny portion of one chapter in the Bible, and one or two obscure words. The Hebrew term seraph (plural: seraphim) is like that. It is used only twice in the Bible. The prophet Isaiah saw a vision of God:
In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted,
and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him were seraphs, each with six
wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet,
and with two they were flying. And they were calling to one another:
“Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty;
the whole earth is full of
his glory.”
At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was
filled with smoke. “Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean
lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King,
the LORD Almighty.” Then one of the seraphs flew to me with a live coal in his hand,
which he had taken with tongs from the altar. With it he touched my mouth and said,
“See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.”
(Isa 6:1-
That is the full collection of information in the Bible about seraphim. These beings are never mentioned by name again. All that we can determine from this passage is that they are winged beings that can fly, they can speak, they have hands, and they are intimately connected with God. We know nothing about any specific role or function that they have, other than praising God in this specific instance. The Hebrew word itself gives no clue as to the specific appearance of these beings. It seems to have meant something that is “fiery,” but it is not clear whether this is a reference to a color, a glow, or what. But this has not stopped commentators for over 1000 years from spinning this sparse information into elaborate theories about the appearance, nature, and function of the seraphim.
From Wikipedia.com: article: “Seraphim”
The early medieval writer called Pseudo-
"The name Seraphim clearly indicates their ceaseless and eternal revolution about
Divine Principles, their heat and keenness, the exuberance of their intense, perpetual,
tireless activity, and their elevative and energetic assimilation of those below,
kindling them and firing them to their own heat, and wholly purifying them by a burning
and all-
… Thomas Aquinas [1200s] in the Summa Theologiae offers a description of the nature of the Seraphim:
The name "Seraphim" does not come from charity only, but from the excess of charity, expressed by the word ardor or fire. Hence Dionysius (Coel. Hier. vii) expounds the name "Seraphim" according to the properties of fire, containing an excess of heat. Now in fire we may consider three things.
"First, the movement which is upwards and continuous. This signifies that they are borne inflexibly towards God.
"Secondly, the active force which is "heat," which is not found in fire simply, but exists with a certain sharpness, as being of most penetrating action, and reaching even to the smallest things, and as it were, with superabundant fervor; whereby is signified the action of these angels, exercised powerfully upon those who are subject to them, rousing them to a like fervor, and cleansing them wholly by their heat.
"Thirdly we consider in fire the quality of clarity, or brightness; which signifies that these angels have in themselves an inextinguishable light, and that they also perfectly enlighten others."
All of this fanciful interpretation based solely on the meaning of the word seraphim may be interesting, but it is wholly unbiblical and utterly speculative.
Beyond Seraphim and Cherubim: The “Choirs of Angels”
In Ephesians 1:19-
I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion [KJV: principality, power, might, and dominion], and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come.
Paul also wrote in Colossians 1:16 about some of the things created by God:
For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities [KJV: thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers]; all things were created by him and for him.
It isn’t quite clear from these passages why some would conclude that the terms “principality, power, might, and dominion,” in Ephesians, and the added note regarding “thrones” in the listing in Colossians, as listed in the King James Bible version of this passage, are specific names of “ranks” or “types” of angels in a heavenly angelic hierarchy. But that has historically been an interpretation in many Christian circles.
Wikipedia.com article: Angelic Hierarchy
According to medieval Christian theologians, the Angels are organized into several
orders, or Angelic Choirs. The most influential of these classifications was that
put forward by Pseudo-
In this work, the author drew on passages from the New Testament, specifically Ephesians 6:12 and Colossians 1:16 (considered by modern scholars to be very tentative and ambiguous sources in relation to the construction of such a schema), to construct a schema of three Hierarchies, Spheres or Triads of angels, with each Hierarchy containing three Orders or Choirs. In descending order of power, these were:
· First Hierarchy:
· Seraphim
· Cherubim
· Thrones or Ophanim
· Second Hierarchy:
· Principalities
· Virtues
· Powers
· Third Hierarchy:
· Dominions
· Archangels
· Angels
While it is useful to know that some religious groups accept this theory of angelology, it is also important to realize that this is not something that is clearly revealed in the Bible at all—but is primarily a very strained speculation with no real basis in scripture.
The Bible only directly addresses one “type” of angel, which it calls simply an angel (aggelos or malak), with the term archangel evidently designating a “chief angel.” As mentioned above, cherubim and seraphim appear to be names for other supernatural beings not of the same “type” as angels—which are “messengers” and “ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation”—at all.
And thus the elaborate “hierarchy” of angelic “choirs” is not a Biblical notion, but a human invention.
In Summary
In light of the material covered above regarding what we cannot determine about the angelic realm if we rely only on the Old and New Testaments of the Bible as the sole source of information, just what can we know about angels?
§ Angels are supernatural beings that are not normally visible to the human eye as
they go about their business.
§ Angels are able to manifest themselves into the physical realm so that they can
be seen by humans, and when they have done so in situations described throughout
the Bible, they normally appeared as looking just like men.
§ Angels were created by God as a completely separate “kind” of being from man.
§ Some angels are involved in warfare with Satan and those supernatural beings who
serve him.
§ One of the primary roles of angels is to “minister to” those humans whom God calls
to be part of his Family.
§ Major ways in which angels interact with humans are:
§ Delivering messages from God.
§ Protecting and defending humans who are God’s servants.
§ Guiding and delivering from harm humans who are God’s servants.
§ Comforting and providing for humans who are God’s servants.
For an exploration of the traditional features of angels as portrayed in popular art, see the articles on:
Biblical Angelology:
Part 2
