There’s a lot of weird stuff we hear about angels that doesn’t show up anywhere in the Bible. For example, the Bible doesn’t say we become angels when we die—that’s from It’s a Wonderful Life.
But on the other hand, there’s some even weirder stuff that the Bible DOES say about angels and demons that we never hear in Sunday school. For example, you’ve heard of cherubim and seraphim—but what about that goat demon in Leviticus 17:7?
I was curious about just what kinds of angels the Bible claims exist. So one rainy Sunday afternoon, I made this list of all the angels and demons the Bible mentions. I probably don’t have to tell you that it would have taken me a lot longer to do without Logos Bible Software.
Beware: some of this is probably going to sound straight-up weird.
8 kinds of angels and demons in the Bible
Let’s take a tour of some of the specific types of angels the Bible mentions. I’m not going to spend time on “angels” or “demons” as general categories—this list focuses specifically on categories of divine beings (excluding the trinity and idols) the Bible mentions.
1. Goat Demons
Alignment: Evil
Number: 2+
Let’s get the weirdest one out of the way first. One obscure passage in Leviticus mentions “Goat demons” or “goat idols” (Lev 17:7). I don’t know what that’s about.
But the Jews drew a connection between these “goat demons” and the demonic figure Azazel—a villainous fallen angel from the book of 1 Enoch.
This connection comes from a nearby passage in Leviticus 16, where the Day of Atonement ritual is being laid out for the people to follow. The Lord tells Moses that one goat should be slaughtered, and another is to be sent away into the wilderness. The actual verse reads like this in most of our Bibles:
“Aaron shall cast lots for the two goats, one lot for the LORD and the other lot for the scapegoat.” (Lev 16:8, NASB)
But the Hebrew word translated “scapegoat” in this passage is azazel—and there’s good reason to believe it’s meant to be a name (just like “Yahweh” is a proper noun translated “LORD”). Dr. Mike Heiser has some more thoughts on this passage here, and even more thoughts on this in his book, The Unseen Realm.*
By the way, if you’d like to study the Old Testament in its original Hebrew, check out this online course from my friends at Zondervan Academic.*
2. Seraphim
Alignment: Good
Number:2+
The singular form of seraphim is “seraph.” (Hebrew uses “-im” similarly to how we add “-s” to words to make them plural.) The Bible mentions seraphim only twice, both in Isaiah’s grand vision of the Lord in the temple in Isaiah chapter 6. We can only discern a few things about the seraphim from this passage:
- Isaiah sees seraphim serving in the presence of God’s throne in the temple.
- Seraphim have six wings. Two are used for covering their faces, two for covering their feet, and two for flight.
- Seraphim have hands.
- The seraphim proclaim God’s holiness to one another.
- At least one seraph plays a part in forgiving Isaiah of his sin.
“Seraphim” is usually defined as “burning ones.” The few other times the Hebrew root of the word (serap) shows up, it’s in reference to the “fiery serpents” that God sent to judge the children of Israel in the wilderness (Nu 21:6, Dt 8:15) or “flying serpents” that Isaiah talks about in two of his oracles (Is 14:29; 30:6).
3. Cherubim
Alignment: Good
Number:4+
Cherubim (singular “cherub”) show up a bit more often in the Bible—and a good deal earlier. They’re mentioned 33 times in the Bible, and only in the Old Testament.
The most vivid descriptions of cherubim come from the prophet Ezekiel:
- Cherubim seem to have multiple faces, but the faces vary in number and nature. However, cherubim with multiple faces seem to have the faces of different creatures on the same body:
- Four faces: man, ox, lion, and eagle (Ezek 1:10)
- Four faces: cherub, man, lion, and eagle (Ezek 10:14)
- Two faces: man and lion (Ezek 41:18–19)
Note: Ezekiel is describing a carved decoration in a vision, so it’s possible that the cherubim are merely carved in such a way that the viewer can only see two of the four faces.
- Cherebim have a generally humanoid form (Ezek 1:5)
- Cherubim have stiff legs with calves’ feet (Ezek 1:6)
- Cherubim have human hands, possibly four of them (Ezek 1:8)
- Cherubim have four wings, two of which cover their bodies (Ezek 1:11)
- Cherubim are accompanied by mysterious “whirring wheels” (Ezek 10:9–11, 13)
There’s a great deal more detail I could go into here, but you should read Ezekiel’s descriptions for yourself in Ezekiel chapters 1 and 10.
Scripture also shows specific responsibilities given to some cherubim:
- Cherubim guard things. When God expels Adam and Eve from Eden, he stations a cherub with a flaming sword to guard the pathway to the tree of life (Gn 3:24).
- Cherubim support God’s throne. In Ezekiel’s visions, the throne of God rests above the cherubim. The ancient Hebrews described God as “enthroned above the cherubim” (2 Ki 19:15; Ps 18:10; Isaiah 37:16, etc.). However, not every description of God’s throne includes cherubim. Daniel sees the Ancient of Day’s throne simply has flaming wheels (Dan 7:9), with no note of cherubim supporting it. Note: two golden cherubim figures were attached to the ark of the covenant (Exodus 25:18–22).
- Cherubim play a part in judgment. In Ezekiel 10, a cherub hands a burning coal to another character in Ezekiel’s vision who has just slaughtered the disobedient residents of Jerusalem.
Was the devil originally a cherub? Ezekiel’s oracle against the king of Tyre is sometimes interpreted to be an account of Satan’s fall from glory (Ezek 28:11–19). I’m not sold on this interpretation myself, but it’s such a popular enough view that I should probably address it here. God via Ezekiel says that this “king of Tyre” was “the anointed cherub who covers,” someone who has been on “the holy mountain of God.”
4. Archangels
Alignment: Good
Number:1+
There’s only one character in the Bible called an archangel, and that’s Michael. We don’t know much about the specific duties archangels perform, nor do we know how many there are.
“Arch-” means “chief,” and the book of Daniel calls Michael a “chief prince” (Dan 10:13; 12:1). So it’s possible that archangels are a rank up from the next kind of angelic being: princes.
5. Princes
Alignment: Good and evil
Number:3+
We only see good seraphim. Cherubim seem to be good, too (unless Satan is a cherub, of course). But there’s one type of supernatural being that we see on both sides of the heavenly war: princes.
We don’t know much about angelic or demonic princes. But we do see a conversation between the wise man Daniel and an angel about the matter in Daniel’s tenth chapter.
In this passage, an angel has a message for Daniel that should be delivered post-haste. But an opposing figure known only as the Prince of Persia stands in this angel’s way. This prince blocks the angel for three weeks, until Michael the archangel intervenes. This buys the angel enough time to rush his message off to Daniel before returning to the fray.
The angel mentions three specific princes:
- The Prince of Persia (Dan 10:13, 20)
- The Prince of Greece (20)
- Michael, a “chief prince” who stands guard over Israel (10:13; 12:1)
At least a few nations seem to have supernatural princes over them. We don’t know what it means to be a prince, nor what the specific princely responsibilities are. But it looks as though at the time of Daniel, there was a great deal of conflict between the princes. The prince of Persia does not the angel to deliver his message to Daniel, and only Michael is willing to step in to aid the messenger.
Perhaps the most intriguing thing the Bible tells us is that while the conflict between the princes is fierce enough to interfere with God’s messages to his prophet, the conflict doesn’t seem to concern the whole heavenly host. The angel speaking to Daniel tells him that no other angels stand firmly against the other princes—only Michael.
6. Kings
Alignment: Evil
Number:2+
We’re still in Daniel 10. Remember how the Prince of Persia was standing against Daniel’s angel? Well, he wasn’t alone. The Prince of Persia is accompanied by “the kings of Persia” (Dan 10:13).
I don’t know why there would be one prince and multiple kings. It’s possible that princes outrank kings in the celestial hierarchy—or maybe this Prince of Persia was a prize fighter on the battlefield and the kings of Persia were the strategic brain trust. We could speculate on this all day.
7. Rulers, powers, etc.
Alignment: Evil
Number: 2+
The people of the New Testament believed that there were spiritual forces at work that had some degree of power over our physical world and the spiritual world, too.
For example:
- The Pharisees disparage Jesus by saying he casts out demons by the authority of “the ruler of demons” (Mt 9:34; Mk 3:22, Lk 11:15).
- Jesus refers to “the ruler of this world” as someone who has nothing to do with him (Jn 12:31; 14:30; 16:11)
- Jesus prophesies that “the powers of heaven will be shaken” when he returns (Mt 24:29; Mk 13:25; Lk 21:26)
- Paul believes that the church’s struggle is against the rulers and forces of darkness “in the heavenly places” (Eph 3:10; 6:12).
Paul makes several lists of spiritual opponents that may either be demonic or under demonic influence. He refers to rulers, authorities, principalities, thrones, dominions, powers, names, and world forces (Ro 8:38; Eph 1:21; Col 1:16).
It’s interesting to note that while Paul believes the church is at war with the rulers and powers in the spiritual realm, he often lumps together the spiritual forces with the physical ones when describing Christ’s supremacy. Remember how in Daniel 10, each prince and king seemed to represent a particular people group?
The authors of the Bible seem to believe that there is more at work in human authority structures than mere humans.
8. Living creatures
Alignment: Good
Number:4
John the Revelator sees a vision of the heavenly throne room in Revelation chapter 4, and instead of cherubim or seraphim, he sees four “living creatures” surrounding the throne.
These creatures seem to combine the attributes of both the seraphim and cherubim—which is interesting, as John should have been familiar with both Isaiah’s and Ezekiel’s visions of God seated on his throne.
Like the cherubim, the living creatures resemble a man, an ox, an eagle, and a lion. They are four in number, and full of eyes. The living creatures also play a part in administering judgments from God on the earth (Rev 15:7).
Unlike the cherubim, the living creatures seem to have one face each. Instead of all four having the face of the man, ox, lion, and eagle, one living creature resembles a man, one an ox, etc. There’s also no mention of those whirring wheels.
Like the seraphim, the living creatures have six wings each and never cease to proclaim God’s holiness.
Unlike the seraphim, we get a more thorough physical description of the living creatures!
I wroteThe Beginner’s Guide to the Bible to give people a non-preachy, jargon-free overview of what the Bible is, what it’s for, and what it’s all about. You’ll walk away from it with enough knowledge to have a thoughtful conversation about the Bible with a pastor, an atheist, or anyone else.
What about Guardian angels?
OK … well, the Bible’s actually not too clear on this one.
Jesus does warn that little children have angels who stand before God the Father—but it is a warning against causing children to stumble. It could mean that at the time of Jesus, little children received special attention from angels. But Jesus’ message seems to have more to do with the deep trouble you’ll be in if you mess with these kids than it does with the angels protecting them.
There’s one other passage that indicates there may be angels assigned to watch over specific humans. When Peter escapes from jail in the book of Acts, he goes to a nearby house where a group of believers has gathered. A girl answers the door and sees Peter outside, and before letting him in, announces to the group that Peter is out of jail and their prayers are answered. The whole group thinks the girl is crazy, and insists that she’s just seeing Peter’s angel (Ac 12:15) … which is weird, because an angel did just release Peter from prison.
Does this mean that Peter and children had specific angels assigned to them? My guess is that that’s not the case. If every human had a powerful, personal guardian accompanying them, I would think that such important information would be addressed a bit more head-on in the New Testament. Paul might have mentioned something when he was going on about the armor of God. But that’s just my opinion. When it comes to Scripture, I’m not sure there’s enough material to confirm or deny the idea of guardian angels for individual humans.
I used my favorite Bible study tool, Logos Bible software, to do research that made this post possible. If you're a Bible geek like me, you might want to check it out.
I so Appreciate this web site………I want to continue followed it.
It brings clarity to many issue I have dealt with over the years……..
Just saying, study of the Bible can be very overwhelming….
Thanks, for the “marker” along this path
Dear Jeffrey, nice post. I do believe the kings mentioned in Dan. 10:13 are just human kings, and in this case the kings of Medo-Persia. It does not fit the context that suddenly these kings are also fallen angels. Gabriel keeps talking about princes, and chief princes, several times, why suddenly kings? Because part of the responsibility assigned to these good angels is to support and protect the kings; Gabriel was strengthening and protecting Darius the king as seen in Dan. 11:1
Consider Dan. 11:1, 2 “And I, in the first year of Darius the Mede, stood up to strengthen and protect him. Now then, I will tell you the truth: Three more kings will arise in Persia, and then a fourth, who will be far richer than all the others. By the power of his wealth, he will stir up everyone against the kingdom of Greece.”
So here Gabriel is clearly talking about earthly kings. And we know Cyrus was also raised up to do God´s will. So surely they are being strengthened and guided somehow by the good angels, probably Gabriel.
In addition, Gabriel himself describes how Michael is a protector of Israel in Dan. 12:1 “At that time Michael, the great prince who stands watch over your people, will rise up…..”
So we can see that it looks like God also has his good angels over countries and kingdoms working to do His will, and protecting and strengthening kings and the people. So it looks like Gabriel was assigned to be with the kings of Medo-Persia, to strengthen and protect them. Then when Daniel prayed for 21 days, the same Gabriel was sent to give him the message, but he could not get through, so Michael came to help. Gabriel gave the message and then went back to continue his job with the human kings.
Also, Gabriel mentions that Michael was one of the chief princes, one of the archangels, so there are several archangels. Now if no one had the courage to stand with Gabriel to fight the prince of Persia except Michael, it would be more logical to think that Gabriel is also an archangel. Because if no other archangel fights the prince of Persia, how could Gabriel be just a “regular angel” and have the courage to fight.
I have seen angels during my near death experience. I saw two angels lift me up going to the throne of God and heard voices singing while we are traveling into the dark tunnel.
I absolutely love this post and your blog, very interesting and insightful.
I like your writting style, your analytic skills : I am a fan :)
I can’t wait for the beginner’s guide to the Bible!
Keep up the great work.
Blessings !
It does say we will become like angels in the new testament Mathew 22:30
Sort of. This passage specifically refers to people not getting married at the resurrection—the resemblance to angels isn’t really Jesus’ point here. He was speaking to religious leaders who did not believe in the resurrection of the dead, who were trying to test him.
No, not really, Jesus is talking about how us, the sons of God in resurrection will not marry, and will not die anymore. So the whole argument of the Sadducees about marriage in the resurrection is completely invalid. Now Jesus adds that the condition of the sons of God in resurrection not marrying and not dying is similar to how angels are.
v. 30 “For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven.”
AND
Luke 20:35,36 But those who are counted worthy to obtain that age and the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage; For neither can they die anymore, for they are equal to angels, and they are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection.
P.S. Holy Water is water “blessed” by a Priest.
Referring back to my statement about Michael the Archangel chasing the devil away from me, I have discovered information that confirms my thesis. I am a Lutheran and Martin Luther wrote Two short prayers. One is the Morning Prayer and the other is the Evening Prayer. Reading the Morning Prayer I found the last sentence to say “Let your holy angel be with me, so that your evil enemy will not gain power over me. Amen” (so be it!). The Evening Prayer also ends with the same last sentence and Amen. What do you think?
An interesting aside, I was raised Roman Catholic and we sprinkled Holy Water on our bed at night to keep the devil away.
When I feel Satan’s presence I pray to Michael the Archangel to fight him. I believe that Archangels are able to fight with Satan on our behalf. What do you think?
Jude references an ancient Jewish legend that says Michael and the devil quarreled over the body of Moses (Jude 9). However, if you specifically want to repel the devil, the author of James has a specific recommendation:
“Submit to God, resist the devil, and he will flee from you” (James 4:7).
Thank you Jeffrey for your reply. I was taking the easy way out and not turning to God and taking any action on my part.
Your Biblical narratives and lists are an inspiration to me and also I enjoy your humor. I think what you are doing makes you a happy person. I am very grateful for the Overview Bible studies.
What does it mean when you see an Angel burning in a fire that you built in your fire
pit and you see some
thing, that looks likea small fairy hovering around the fire pit
I have no idea, Robin, but it sounds like an interesting experience.
This could be true however your faith could also be the reason Lucifers influence stays away do in a way you are fighting evil by just simply believing
Again – timely. I was just commenting that “if” we all indeed have a guardian angel then what is going on when it seems that he doesn’t do anything. Thank you for providing more information to better help me in studying and understanding the Word.
Well written. Thanks for the insights.
Do you have an article detailing which percentage, or how much of the Bible is made up by direct commands of God, or dialogue on God’s part? I’m asking this because too often I see verses mis-attributed to God, when somebody else was behind that quote. Someone once attributed Luke 4:6-7 to God, even though Satan was the one speaking!
Very interesting thank you very much for writing this explanation. I will pass this along to my distribution list with of course credit where credit is due.
Interesting blog post.
But yes, Gabriel qualifies as an angel because the scripture implies that he is an angel. I think the scripture gives enough reasons to consider Gabriel to be good type: I doubt that God would send a demonic/evil or ambiguous angel to announce the good news.
Kranz never said Gabriel was evil/ambiguous, his whole point was that Gabriel is a good angel, but it is not clear if he is “just an angel” or an “archangel”.
What about Gabriel? (Daniel 8:16, Daniel 9:21, Luke 1:19, Luke 1:26)
Gabriel’s certainly a prominent angel—but as far as the Bible says, we can’t tell which type of angel he is. The book of 1 Enoch calls Gabriel an archangel (along with Michael, Raphael, and a few others), but that doesn’t qualify for this list. =)
Gabriel is certainly not a demonic being when Luke 1:19 (NLT) says, “Then the angel said, “I am Gabriel! I stand in the very presence of God. It was he who sent me to bring you this good news!”
BUT GABRIEL IS THE ONE WHO TOLD MARY JESUS MOTHER SHE WAS CHOSEN AND HIGHLY FAVORED
Yep. Gabriel is aligned with God, but that doesn’t tell us whether or not he’s an archangel. ;-)
Of course, the only place in the Protestant canon that anyone is referred to as an archangel is in Jude 9, when Jude refers to Michael. It’s possible that Jude (who references 1 Enoch later in his very brief epistle) would have considered Gabriel an archangel, since it’s possible that Jude pulled Michael’s title from a less-than-canonical source.
But that opens an entirely new can of worms, doesn’t it? The Bible says Michael is an archangel. It doesn’t say that Gabriel is. But if Jude only Michael an archangel because he’s referencing a non-Biblical story, and if that non-biblical story says Gabriel is also an archangel, then … would Jude have considered Gabriel an archangel after all? Did God specifically allow Jude to call Michael an archangel but NOT Gabriel because the (non-Scriptural) 1 Enoch was correct about Michael but incorrect about Gabriel? Or did the story of Michael just suit Jude’s purpose in writing?
Tricky, tricky stuff. Might make for a fun video. =)
I love pondering this myself, and it’s interesting to me to contemplate different types of angels. I read in an article there is debate over how many types and the duties associated with each type. I can only remember the specifics of the theory that says there are 4 types, excluding the archangel… 1, angel if death, 2 angel of souls (responsible for placing souls upon labor and delivery; sounding the trumpet at Judgement) … can’t recall specifics of the others BUT this comment made me think Gabriel is responsible for bringing divine ordination to our earthly existence. It’s interesting how frightened the Chosen recipients of messages delivered by Gabriel are. Cherubs are interesting because of their placement at the Throne of God, and have childlike countenance (we are to be childlike before God, inquisitive, dependent upon, obedient….), but they also have that of a lion ( ferocious, mate for life, the pack is a pride -we are called to fellowship with God’s people, keeping watch and edifying each other). Then the man, the ox….. I like that they have wheels of fire, which represents the presence of God in the Bible. Back to Gabriel- I translate that role to overseeing divinely ordained placement from God to us on earth. I will probably ammend that theory but thank you for your comment
In the TV Series Supernatural: Lucifer, Michael, and Gabriel are brothers and all archangels, even though Lucifer is fallen.
Is there a scriptural reference for Raphael. I’ve been unable to find him anywhere in scripture. I’m thinking that he’s an invention of the papists, but am willing to be corrected.
The Raphael character has been around far longer than Christianity—he’s a character in the book of Tobit, which was valuable enough to the Jews of Jesus’ time for some branches of Christianity to consider it Scripture.
Do you not consider the 7 books of the Deutero-canonical classification to be part of the inspired Biblical collection? I would like to see you do a review of those books, why and when they were included/deleted, and what messages they may contain that would be important to modern Christians.
I’d love to do some more material on the deuterocanon, John! Many have asked for this (pseudepigrapha, too), and I hope to deliver something on this soon. =)
I found it interesting that you brought up the belief that people believe they turn into angels when they die. What about the belief that when a person dies they go to heaven?
By the way, good job on explaining the “im” at the end of some Hebrew words.
I am a retired teacher of Jewish feasts, festivals, life events, prayers and blessings (“rabbi”).
I look forward to your next article. Shalom.
Thanks, Ben!
I really want to get into the various ideas about what happens after death that the Tanakh and New Testament put forth. The “die an go to heaven” idea should be more thoroughly checked against Scripture, rather than assumed. ;-)