Heavenly Envoys: Angels in Jewish Art

The abstract nature of God in Judaism required the existence of intermediaries between God and the created world. Therefore, angels as servants and agents of God were present in Jewish thought from biblical times. The word for angel in the Bible is maleakh or maleakh ha-shem, that is, messenger or messenger of the Lord. Although the Bible does not have a consistent angelology, besides messengers it mentions various kinds of heavenly beings (cherubim, seraphim), who were later classified within the order of angels. In the Bible, the term maleakh can refer either to human or divine messengers; and vice versa, the messengers of God sometimes are called men (anashim) instead of angels (malakhim), and only later texts call them explicitly angels. Although the outer appearance of these divine messengers is not described, due to this blurry terminology for the interchangeability of men and angels they are usually imagined in human form. Furthermore, they are anonymous; the only exception is the Book of Daniel, where the angels have distinct personalities and names (Gabriel and Michael).