Are angels male or female? What does the Bible say
Are angels male or female?
Angels are not male or female in the way humans understand and experience gender. But whenever angels are mentioned in the Bible, the translated word "angel" is always used in the masculine form. Also, when angels appeared to people in the Bible, they were always seen as men. And when names were given, the names were always masculine.
The Hebrew and Greek word for angel is always male.
The Greek word angelos and the Hebrew word מֲלְאָךְ (malak) are both masculine nouns translated "angel", meaning a messenger of God (Strong's 32 and 4397).
"Praise the LORD, you his angels [malak], you mighty ones who do his order, who obey his word." (Psalm 103: 20)
“Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels [angelos], numbering thousands and thousands and ten thousand times ten thousand. They surrounded the throne, living creatures and the elderly. They said in a loud voice: "Worthy is the Lamb, who was killed, to receive power, wealth, wisdom, strength, honor, glory and praise!" "(Revelation 5: 11-12)
When angels appeared to people in the Bible, they were always seen as men.
Two angels appeared as men when they ate at Lot's home in Sodom in Genesis 19: 1-22 and sent him and his family away before destroying the city.
"The angel of the Lord" said to Samson's mother that he would have a son. She described the angel to her husband as "a man of God" in Judges 13.
An "angel of the Lord" appeared as a man described as "like enlightenment and his clothes were white as snow" (Matthew 28: 3). This angel rolled the stone in front of Jesus' grave in Matthew 28.
When they received names, the names were always male.
The only angels mentioned in the Bible are Gabriel and Michael.
Michael was mentioned first in Daniel 10:13, then in Daniel 21, Jude 9 and Revelation 12: 7-8.
Gabriel was mentioned in Daniel 8:12, Daniel 9:21 in the Old Testament. In the New Testament, Gabriel announced the birth of John the Baptist to Zechariah in Luke 1, then the birth of Jesus to Mary later on in Luke 1.
Two women with wings in Zechariah
Some read the prophecy in Zechariah 5: 5-11 and interpret the two winged women as female angels.
"Then the angel who was speaking to me came forward and said to me, 'Look up and see what is appearing.' I asked: "What is it?" He replied, "It's a basket." And he added: "This is the iniquity of people across the country." Then the lead cover was lifted, and a woman sat in the basket! He said, "This is wickedness," and pushed it back into the wastebasket and pushed the lead lid over it. Then I looked up - and there were two women in front of me, with the wind in my wings! They had wings similar to those of a stork and raised the basket between heaven and earth. "Where are they carrying the trash?" I asked the angel who was speaking to me. He replied: “In the land of Babylon to build a house there. When the house is ready, the basket will be placed in its place ”(Zechariah 5: 5-11).
The angel who speaks with the prophet Zechariah is described with the masculine word malak and masculine pronouns. However, confusion arises when, in prophecy, two women with wings fly away with the basket of wickedness. Women are described with the wings of a stork (an impure bird), but not called angels. Since this is a prophecy full of images, readers are not required to take metaphors literally. This prophecy conveys images of Israel's unrepentant sin and its consequences.
As Cambridge's comment states, “It is not necessary to seek any meaning for the details of this verse. They simply convey the fact, dressed in images in line with the vision, that wickedness was quickly brought from the earth. "
Why are angels often depicted as females in art and culture?
A Christianity Today article links female depictions of angels with ancient pagan traditions that may have been integrated into Christian thought and art.
“Many pagan religions featured servants of the winged gods (like Hermes), and some of these were distinctly female. Even some pagan goddesses had wings and behaved in some way like angels: making sudden appearances, delivering messages, fighting battles, wielding swords ".
Outside of Christianity and Judaism, pagans worshiped winged idols and other attributes associated with biblical angels, such as the Greek goddess Nike, who is depicted with angel-like wings and is considered the messenger of victory.
While angels are not male or female in human terms and popular cultures artistically express them as female, the Bible constantly identifies angels in male terms.