account of their actions, and are liable to punishment', and even to death, if they presume to penetrate into mysteries beyond their appointed sphere. They must, therefore, not be represented in images for the purpose of worship2, nor be appealed to in prayer, which would be regarded as blasphemy3, and certainly not be honoured by one of the four chief modes of homage prostration, sacrifice, burning of incense, and libation. However, it is their office to bring man's supplication before God; therefore, as "they do not understand the Aramaic dialect", except Gabriel who is familiar with all languages, individuals ought not to pray in Chaldee', though congregations may offer up their prayers in any tongue, since God Himself is present among them.

The angels are permitted to exercise only rigid justice ( ), and do not share the Divine privilege of granting pardon. They stand in need of mutual assistance; nay, they are frequently called upon to serve mortals 10; and it was a current maxim, that "good men are superior to angels" 11: thus while the latter were unable to give names to the animals, Adam did so without difficulty 12.

Like the Persian Fervers, the angels are numberless. When Jacob, after his flight from Laban, feared the perilous encounter with Esau, he was protected by two "camps" of well-equipped hosts, each consisting of 120,000 angels 13. They are constantly increasing; for every

3 Talm. Jer. Ber. IX. 1; Talm. Chag. 15a. Yet in that remarkable apocalyptic work, the fourth Book of Esdras, prayers are addressed to angels (XIII. 13), because these appear, as in the earlier Canonical Books, as nearly identical withGod,or as His visible embodiments (see Volkmar, Das vierte Buch Esra, pp. 12, 185,321,401). ▲ Talm. Sanh. 60b; comp. Maim. Hilch. Akk. II. 2 (s.

...

שלא לעבוד אסור לצור דמות המה...) 3.11.III ;(מלאך וכ'

b); Albo, Ikkar. II. 28.

5 Talm. Shabb. 6.

Rabb. Gen. VIII. 1.

12 Pirk. R. Eliez. c. 13; Midr. Rabb. Gen. XVII. med. (bon mann).

13 Midr. Rabb. Gen. LXXV, 6; LXXXIV. 2.

word which God utters becomes an angel 14; every good deed which a man performs, becomes a tutelary angel who never forsakes him 15; the souls of the pious, as Henoch, Moses, and Elijah, are after death offered by Michael, the heavenly High-priest, on the celestial altar, and are then converted into angels 16; new angels are perpetually created to glorify God 17, and 694 myriads join daily at His throne, singing hallelujahs, playing the timbrel, and dancing 18.

There are two chief groups of angels those charged to extol the Divine majesty, and those entrusted with heavenly missions to men 19. The former divided into four sections led by Michael and Gabriel, Uriel and Raphael 20 emerge daily by God's behest from the stream of fire () which flows beneath His throne, and thither they return after having sung His praises 21; or they pass away altogether to be replaced by new creations, since no angelic choir exalts the Lord twice22: the great chiefs only (), as Michael and Gabriel, Metatron and Sandalphon (7), are exempted from this transitory existence, in deference to the holiness of the six days of Creation, during which they were produced 23; Sandalphon, who, when standing on the earth, reaches with his head into heaven, and is so much

14 Talm. Chag. 14a, ¬¬¬¬-¬>

.derived from Ps , שיוצא מפי הקב"ה יכ

XXIII. 6.

15 Midr. Rabb. Ex. XXXII. 3. 16 Talm. Chagig. 12b; comp. Midr. Rabb. Deut. XI fin.

17 Midr. Rabb. Lament. III. 22 (fol. 57 ed. Stett.); see infra.

18 Midr. Rabb. Gen. LXV. 12; Pirk. R. Eliez. c. 12; Talm. Sanh. 59b; comp. Dan. VII. 10; see supra p. 288. A still more lavish number of stars is given there are 291,600,000 heavenly captains, under each of whom serve 365,000 stars (Talm. Berach. 32b).

(); gods (); Sons of God (); Cherubs ("); and Menangels (); see Maim. Yesod. Hattor. II. 7.

20 Pirk. R. Elicz. c. 4; Midr. Rabb. Num. II. 8; Maim. Mor. Nev. II. 10.

21 Talm. Chag. 14a; Midr. Rabb. ad Lament. III. 22 (fol. 57 ed. Stett.); comp. Dan. VII. 10; Henoch XIV. 19; LXXI. 1, 2; Targ. Jon. and Jerus.

מטת שעתהון דמלאכיא) 27 .Gen. XXXII

snavn); Midr. Rabb. Ex. XXIII. 2, 3; ib. Lev. XXXI. 3; comp. ib. Gen. LXV. 12.

22 Talm. Chagig. 14a, No No ba

נבראין מלאכי השרת מנהר די נור ואמרו שירה

bea; Midr. Rabb. Gen. LXXVIII. 1,

-ib. La ; אין כת של מעלה מקלסת ושינה וכ' בכל יום ויום בורא הקב"ה, 22 .ment. III כה של מלאכים חדשים ואומרין שירה חדשה והולכין להם

23 Midr. Rabb. Gen. LXXVIII. 1; Bechai on Gen. XXVIII. 12 p. 86a,

יש מלאכים קיימים נצחיים לעד וכ'

taller than his companions "as the distance a man can walk in 500 years", usually takes his place behind the Divine chariot (2), and wreathes crowns for his Maker1.

The messenger-angels receive their orders "behind the curtain” (71707 ¬¬1782)2, like the ministers of the Persian kings; for God is mysteriously enthroned in the seventh heaven3, which is also the abode of the Chajoth, the Ophannim, and the Seraphim, who carry the Divine chariot'. He executes no decree without having first consulted His heavenly host. As a rule, a single angel never performs more than one mission at a time, nor are several angels charged with the same mission. They must not stay on earth longer than seven successive days; if they exceed this time, they are forbidden to return into heaven.

They plead before God for the pious: thus they offered to cool down the fiery furnace into which, according to a Talmudic legend, Abraham was thrown by Nimrod; they interceded for Isaac when he was about to be sacrificed; they saved Moses when Pharaoh sought his life, "an angel descending from heaven, and taking the place of Moses, who in the mean time escaped"; and they delivered Hananiah and his two companions from the flames. — Every man has his own guardian angel, or even two 10. Corresponding to the seventy nations and the seventy languages which were supposed to exist on earth, seventy chief protecting angels were counted; and though in reality

5 Talm. Jerus. Sanh. I. fol. 18a ed.

Krotosh.; Talm. Sanh. 38 ("p

(see p. 290 note 5), who then became evil demons.

8 Talm. Pesach. 118 (...

דבר אלא א"כ נמלך בפמליא עושה [בעולמי] , איד ואצטנן וכ' ......... איך and אמר יורקמי

.Targ. Jon. Gen ;([בבית דין] של מעלה

XI. 7 (where a ma is thus paraphrased: "God said to the seventy angels that were standing before Him"); Midr. Rabb. Gen. VIII. 2;

הקב"ה ובית דיני) 12 .ibid. Eccl. II

1); comp. Maim. Mor. Nev. II. 6; Bechai on Gen. I. 26.

6 Midr. Rabb. Gen. L. 1 (7 8

.Targ. Jon ;(אחד עושה שתי שלחיות וכ'

and Jerus. Gen. XVIII. 2 (¬¬-S

'); Midr. Rab. Gen. LV. 3, 6; ib. Ex. I. 22; Yalk. Shim. II. §. 969.

9 Targ. Jon. Gen. XXXIII. 10 (828ND

מלאכא דזמינת לי) 16 .id. XLVIII ;(דִידָךְ .(למפרק יתי

10 Talm. Chag.16a; Taan. 11a; comp. Matth. XVIII. 10; Acts XII. 15; Origen. Contr. Cels. VIII. 34; also Max. Tyr. Diss. 26 fin.; Arrian, Epictet. I. 14; Censorin. De Die Nat. c. 3. 11 Sept. Deut. XXXII. 8 (xarà ȧpið

the Hebrews require no tutelary or interceding spirit, since, by virtue of their faith, they can always approach God Himself 12, they are yet watched over by the arch-angels Michael and Gabriel 13, who ever defend them. Thus Michael warded off Haman's calumnies 14; and angels were supposed to have been concerned in all important incidents of history, especially the revelation on Mount Sinai, when twenty-two, nay sixty myriads descended with God 15; although the Law proceeded from the Lord Himself and from Him only.

The stars, then still more closely associated with the angels than in the Biblical times (p. 286), were considered to exercise a paramount influence over men as well as over the animal and vegetable kingdoms: "the stars make rich, and the stars make wise”, said Rabbi Chanina 16; they grant life, children, and sustenance 17; they join the angels in their glorification of God 18; they existed from the beginning as intellectual and highly endowed beings; and though their knowledge does not equal the wisdom of the angels, it far surpasses that of men 19. Like the Persian Fravashis, they are both the prototypes and the guardians (b) of all visible creations, and "there is no single plant on earth which has not its pattern in heaven” 20.

.III ;(יש להם גרמים ונפשות) 11 .Ikkar. II .IV. 4; etc ;(הם בעלי גוף ונפש משכלת) 3

כל מה שהיה המן מקטרג את ישראל,.Stett מלמטה היה מיכאל מלמד עליהם סניגוריא למה מיכאל .ib. Exod. XVIII ; מלמעלה דומין לסניגור וקטיגור עומדין בדין יכ' .וסמאל

19 Maim. Yesod. Hattor. II. 9; Albo,

15 Midr. Rabb, Num. II. 2; Tanchum on Exod. XX. 1 ( 16); Bechai on Ex. XIX. 16, p. 643. This idea was derived from the Bible itself: Deut. XXXIII. 2, Sept. ἐκ δεξιῶν αὐτοῦ ἄγ yeλo: μer abτoù; Ps. LXVIII.18; Acts VII. 53; Gal. III. 19; Hebr. II. 2; comp. Jos. Ant. XV. v. 3 (èv tois vóμοις δι' ἀγγέλων παρὰ τοῦ θεοῦ μα θέντων).

20 Talm. Shabb. 156a; Pesach. 2b; Bab. Kam. 16; Sanh. 91; Midr. Rabb. Gen. X. 1; LXV. 12; Maim. Mor. Nev. II. 10; Spiegel, Avesta, I. Exc. 1; comp. Origen. in Num. XIV. 2, opus est angelis qui praesint animalium nativitati, virgultorum plantationumque, et ceteris pluralibus incrementis, etc.

These were the views of the Pharasaic schools. The Essenes also not only attached very high importance to the functions of the angels, but searched the mystic significance of their names. The Sadducees alone rejected the belief in angels, for the same reason which induced them to reject the doctrines of immortality and resurrection because they doubted the existence of disembodied spirits 2; but their sect was in later times neither large nor influential.

--

The evil spirits or shedim (7) assume in Jewish writings even larger dimensions than the devs in the works of the Parsees, who dwell with predilection upon the creatures of light. But their power is significantly circumscribed; for they are never allowed, like the devs, to attack or to disturb the good angels; and hence they are not, like their Persian originals, laden with curses and imprecations; on the contrary, as they must perform the commands of God, they contribute to His glory, in spite of their knavish trickery. Men may even make them obedient and useful. The half-shedim, who resemble human beings in appearance, are especially docile and tractable; one of them, "the shed Joseph", enlightened a Rabbi as to the attributes of his king Asmodeus; another was compelled by his master Rabbi Papa to perform for him all kinds of domestic services 3. But no mortal exercised more absolute dominion over the spirits than king Solomon; he subjected and governed them at his pleasure, as he subjected and governed the winds. "Whenever he was in a cheerful mood, he summoned before him the wild beasts and the birds of heaven, the demons and the night-spectres, to let them dance in his presence, and to awe them with his power". He understood their speech as they understood his. For never could human hands alone have accomplished all his wonderful buildings. Securing the help of supernatural beings', he commanded an army of "genii and men and birds" 5. Some of the demons dived for him into the seas, and brought up precious pearls, others obtained in distant lands valuable works of art for the adornment of his palaces. But all assisted him in the erection of the Temple; for this, the most splendid of his works, he forced into his service even the formidable Asmodeus, who lives on a high mountain,

1 Joseph. Bell. Jud. II. vin. 7.

2 Acts XXIII. 8.

3 Talm. Pesach. 110a; Chull. 105"; comp. Yevam. 122a.

4 Thus were interpreted the words

in Eccles. II. 8, "I procured mistress and mistresses" (rinzy mq¿).

جنوده من الجن .Koran XXVII 5 والانس والطير

ومن الشياطين من 82 .Koran XXI 6 يغوصون له