Angel Names

The Bible gives the names of two angels: Michael (in the Old Testament) and Gabriel (in the New Testament).

These are the highest of the Angels of God. Tradition, following the classical system of dividing the Angels into 9 ranks, places Michael and Gabriel in the highest rank and calls them Cherubim.

Michael, whose name is translated from Hebrew as "Who is like God?" and who is sometimes called the Archangel, that is, the Military Leader, is one of the closest to God and the most powerful Angels. According to a number of instructions from the Holy Scriptures, it was he who was entrusted with the fight against the rebellious Satan and cast him down from Heaven: "And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought [against them], but they did not stand, and there was no longer a place for them in heaven. And the great dragon was cast out, the old serpent, called the devil and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world, cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him."22

Gabriel, "God is mighty" or "Man of God" (Hebrew), appears in the pages of the Old and New Testaments. In the presence of God, he stands,23 which, according to the ritual of the royal court, means that he is a personal servant of God.

It is Gabriel who gives people the most important messages from God. In the book of the prophet Daniel, he appears to the prophet, interprets his visions and admonishes him, in the New Testament he brings Mary the news that She will become the Mother of the Savior of the world.

In Jewish works, in which much space and attention is paid to angels, Gabriel is mentioned among the highest.

In both the Old and New Testaments, there is another Angel. His name is not given, but it is specifically stipulated that he is not just an Angel, but an "Angel of the Lord". Many biblical scholars believe that we are not talking here about any angel in general, but about a concrete, higher one. This is also indicated by the fact that he is called the Lord's Angel. He appeared to Moses in the flames of the burning bush,24 he appeared before Balaam,25 and inspired Gideon.26 He is said to have sown death among the enemies of Israel,27 and in general he often helps God's people. Sometimes the visitation of this angel is difficult to distinguish from the visitation of God Himself. Some people, having been vouchsafed the visitation of the Angel of the Lord, thought that the Lord Himself appeared before them, and as to the Lord, they turned to the Angel.28

According to the Gospels, an angel of the Lord appeared to Zechariah to announce the birth of John the Baptist, he also informed Joseph that Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit, announced to the shepherds the birth of Christ, rolled away the stone from His tomb. Most likely, both the Old and New Testaments speak of the same Angel. Who is he? Michael, Gabriel, someone else? We don't know. Perhaps this is another higher Angel acting on behalf of God, whose name for some reason is not revealed to us.

In the time of the Savior, the Jews paid a lot of attention to angels. Numerous apocryphal, non-canonical books, as well as texts found in Qumran, speak about Angels and their participation in human life. But the New Testament avoids these conversations because the reader's attention should be focused on the person of Jesus Christ.

About the number of angels

I remember how once, when I was studying at the Theological Seminary, a certain student who had not learned the lesson (we were just studying the topic of Angels), in response to the teacher's suggestion to make a report on any topic, babbled: "I will tell you about the number of Angels..." The teacher stood up from the table menacingly: "Did you count them?.."