‘angel of death’ בני אלוהים ( b’nei elohim sons of God) and הקדושים ( ha-q’doshim the holy ones) to refer to beings traditionally interpreted as angelic messengers. The Hebrew Bible uses the term מלאכי אלוהים ( malakhi Elohim Angels of God), The Hebrew word for angel is “malach,” which means messenger, for the angels מלאכי יי ( malakhi Adonai Angels of the Lord) are God’s messengers to perform various missions – e.g. The Amesha Spentas (amesha meaning eternal and spenta meaning brilliance and beneficence) as attributes of God are: The Amesha Spentas were charged with protecting these holy lands and through their emanation, also believed to align each respective population in service to God. Then he oversaw the development of sixteen lands, each imbued with a unique cultural catalyst calculated to encourage the formation of distinct human populations. Ahura Mazda also distinguished from himself six more Amesha Spentas, who, along with Spenta Mainyu, aided in the creation of the physical universe. To maintain equilibrium, Ahura Mazda engaged in the first act of creation, distinguishing his Holy Spirit Spenta Mainyu, the Archangel of righteousness. The Avesta explains the origin and nature of archangels or Amesha Spentas. They individually inhabit immortal bodies that operate in the physical world to protect, guide, and inspire humanity and the spirit world. The Amesha Spentas of Zoroastrianism are likened to archangels. Seven archangels depicted in the stained-glass window at St Michael’s Church, Brighton from left: Michael, Gabriel, Uriel, Chamuel (Camael), Raphael, Jophiel, and Zadkiel In ZoroastrianismĪn increasing number of experts in anthropology, theology and philosophy, believe that Zoroastrianism contains the earliest distillation of prehistoric belief in angels. In Zoroastrianism, sacred texts allude to the six great Amesha Spenta (literally “Bounteous/Holy Immortals”) of Ahura Mazda. Gabriel, Michael, and Raphael are always mentioned the other archangels vary, but most commonly include Uriel, who is mentioned in 2 Esdras.

Some branches of the faiths mentioned have identified a group of seven Archangels, but the named angels vary, depending on the source. Jewish literature, such as the Book of Enoch, also mentions Metatron as an archangel, called the “highest of the angels”, though the acceptance of this angel is not canonical in all branches of the faith. The named archangels in Islam are Jibrael, Mikael, Israfil, and Azrael. Gabriel, Michael, and Raphael are venerated in the Roman Catholic Church with a feast on September 29 (between 19, March 24 for Gabriel and October 24 for Raphael), and in the Eastern Orthodox Church on November 8 (if the Julian calendar is used, this corresponds to November 21 in the Gregorian). Raphael-mentioned in the deuterocanonical Book of Tobit-is also recognized as an archangel in the Catholic and Orthodox churches.

Some Protestants consider Michael to be the only archangel. Michael and Gabriel are recognized as archangels in Judaism, Islam, the Baha’i Faith, and by most Christians. The corresponding but different Hebrew word in the Hebrew Scripture (Old Testament) is found in two places as in “Michael, one of the chief princes” (Dan 10:13) and in “Michael, the great prince” (Dan 12:1). It appears only twice in the New Testament in the phrase “with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God” (1 Thessalonians 4:16) and in relation to ‘the archangel Michael’ (Jude 9). The English word archangel is derived from the Greek ἀρχάγγελος ( arch- + angel, literally “chief angel” or “angel of origin”).

The word “ archangel” itself is usually associated with the Abrahamic religions, but beings that are very similar to archangels are found in a number of religious traditions.

Qarc angel