Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition | Page 9

and yet in some sense distinct from
Him, illustrates the tendency of religious thought to distinguish persons
within the unity of the Godhead, and foreshadows the doctrine of the
Trinity, at any rate in some slight degree.
In the earlier literature the _Mal'akh Yahweh_ or Elohim is almost the
only _mal'akh_ ("angel") mentioned. There are, however, a few
passages which speak of subordinate superhuman beings other than the
_Mal'akh Yahweh_ or Elohim. There are the cherubim who guard Eden.
In Gen. xviii., xix. (J) the appearance of Yahweh to Abraham and Lot is
connected with three, afterwards two, men or messengers; but possibly
in the original form of the story Yahweh appeared alone.[11] At Bethel,
Jacob sees the angels of God on the ladder,[12] and later on they appear
to him at Mahanaim.[13] In all these cases the angels, like the _Mal'akh
Yahweh_, are connected with or represent a theophany. Similarly the
"man" who wrestles with Jacob at Peniel is identified with God.[14] In
Isaiah vi. the seraphim, superhuman beings with six wings, appear as
the attendants of Yahweh. Thus the pre-exilic literature, as we now
have it, has little to say about angels or about superhuman beings other
than Yahweh and manifestations of Yahweh; the pre-exilic prophets
hardly mention angels.[15] Nevertheless we may well suppose that the
popular religion of ancient Israel had much to say of superhuman
beings other than Yahweh, but that the inspired writers have mostly
suppressed references to them as unedifying. Moreover such beings
were not strictly angels.
The doctrine of monotheism was formally expressed in the period
immediately before and during the Exile, in Deuteronomy[16] and
Isaiah;[17] and at the same time we find angels prominent in Ezekiel
who, as a prophet of the Exile, may have been influenced by the
hierarchy of supernatural beings in the Babylonian religion, and
perhaps even by the angelology of Zoroastrianism.[18] Ezekiel gives
elaborate descriptions of cherubim;[19] and in one of his visions he
sees seven angels execute the judgment of God upon Jerusalem.[20] As
in Genesis they are styled "men," _mal'akh_ for "angel" does not occur
in Ezekiel. Somewhat later, in the visions of Zechariah, angels play a

great part; they are sometimes spoken of as "men," sometimes as
_mal'akh_, and the _Mal'akh Yahweh_ seems to hold a certain primacy
among them.[21] Satan also appears to prosecute (so to speak) the High
Priest before the divine tribunal.[22] Similarly in Job the _bne Elohim_,
sons of God, appear as attendants of God, and amongst them Satan, still
in his rôle of public prosecutor, the defendant being Job.[23]
Occasional references to "angels" occur in the Psalter;[24] they appear
as ministers of God.
In Ps. lxxviii. 49 the "evil angels" of A.V. conveys a false impression;
it should be "angels of evil," as R.V., _i.e._ angels who inflict
chastisement as ministers of God.
The seven angels of Ezekiel may be compared with the seven eyes of
Yahweh in Zech. iii. 9, iv. 10. The latter have been connected by Ewald
and others with the later doctrine of seven chief angels,[25] parallel to
and influenced by the Ameshaspentas (Amesha Spenta), or seven great
spirits of the Persian mythology, but the connexion is doubtful.
In the Priestly Code, _c._ 400 B.C., there is no reference to angels apart
from the possible suggestion in the ambiguous plural in Genesis i. 26.
During the Persian and Greek periods the doctrine of angels underwent
a great development, partly, at any rate, under foreign influences. In
Daniel, _c._ 160 B.C., angels, usually spoken of as "men" or "princes,"
appear as guardians or champions of the nations; grades are implied,
there are "princes" and "chief" or "great princes"; and the names of
some angels are known, Gabriel, Michael; the latter is pre-eminent,[26]
he is the guardian of Judah. Again in Tobit a leading part is played by
Raphael, "one of the seven holy angels."[27]
In Tobit, too, we find the idea of the demon or evil angel. In the
canonical Old Testament angels may inflict suffering as ministers of
God, and Satan may act as accuser or tempter; but they appear as
subordinate to God, fulfilling His will; and not as morally evil. The
statement[28] that God "charged His angels with folly" applies to all
angels. In Daniel the princes or guardian angels of the heathen nations
oppose Michael the guardian angel of Judah. But in Tobit we find
Asmodaeus the evil demon, [Greek: to poneros daimonion], who
strangles Sarah's husbands, and also a general reference to "a devil or
evil spirit," [Greek: pneuma].[29] The Fall of the Angels is not properly
a scriptural doctrine, though it is based on Gen. vi. 2, as interpreted by

the Book of Enoch. It is true that the _bn[=e] Elohim_ of that chapter
are subordinate superhuman beings (cf. above), but they belong