Archangel
ARCHANGEL
This world is only twice used in the Bible, 1Th 4:16 Jud 1:9 . In this last passage it is applied to Michael, who, in Dan 10:13,21 12:1, is described as having a special charge of the Jewish nation, and in Jer 12:7-9 as the leader of an angelic army. So exalted are the position and offices ascribed to Michael, that many think the Messiah is meant.
Fuente: American Tract Society Bible Dictionary
Archangel
See Angel.
Fuente: Dictionary of the Apostolic Church
ARCHANGEL
According to some divines, means an angel occupying the eighth rank in the celestial hierarchy; but others, not without reason, reckon it a title only applicable to our Saviour. Compare Jud 1:9. with Dan 12:1. 1Th 4:16.
Fuente: Theological Dictionary
archangel
(Greek: ruling angel)
In its wider meaning, any angel of higher rank, thus all the higher orders of angels . Saint Michael, therefore, is called Archangel although he is the prince of the Seraphim. In its more restricted sense, the archangels are those blessed spirits who compose the second choir of the lowest order in the angelic hierarchy (see angel ). As distinct from the guardian angels, the archangels are God’s messengers to man in matters of graver moment, e.g., Gabriel to the Virgin Mary, Raphael to Tobias; and to the archangels God entrusts the care of persons of exalted rank or sanctity.
Fuente: New Catholic Dictionary
Archangel
(, chief angel, 1Th 4:16; Jud 1:9). Those angels are so styled who occupy the highest rank in the celestial order or hierarchy, which consists, according to the apostles, of thrones, dominions, principalities, and powers (Eph 1:21; Col 1:16; 1Pe 3:22). Of these there are said to be seven, who stand immediately before the throne of God (Luk 1:19; Rev 8:2), who have authority over other angels, and are the patrons of particular nations (Rev 12:7; Dan 10:18). In Mat 26:53; 2Th 1:7, hosts of angels are spoken of in the same manner as human armies. These the Almighty is said to employ in executing his commands, or in displaying his dignity and majesty, in the manner of human princes. These armies of angels are also represented as divided into orders and classes, having each its leader, and all these are subject to one chief, or: archangel. The names of two only are found in the Scripture Michael, the patron of the Jewish nation (Dan 10:13; Dan 10:21; Dan 12:1; Jud 1:9; Rev 12:7); and Gabriel (Dan 8:16; Dan 9:21; Luk 1:19; Luk 1:26). The apocryphal book of Tobit (Tob 3:17; Tob 5:4) mentions one, Raphael; and 2 Esdras (2Es 4:34) another, Uriel; while the book of Enoch names the whole seven (enoch 20:1-7). SEE ANGEL.
The fathers are not agreed on the number and order of the celestial hierarchy. Dionysius the Areopagite admits but three hierarchies, and three orders of angels in each hierarchy. In the first are Seraphim, Cherubim, and thrones; in the second, dominions, mights, and powers; in the third, principalities, archangels, and angels. These titles of ranks are probably allusions to the customary order of the courts of the Assyrian, Chaldean, and Persian kings; hence Michael the archangel tells Daniel that he is one of the chief princes in the court of the Almighty. Extraordinary powers and functions were conferred on angels by the different Gnostic sects. They all held that angels were the fabricators or architects of the universe, and Cerinthus affirmed they were superior to Christ himself. These opinions were early entertained, and the Apostle Paul thought it necessary to warn the Colossians against such errors. Let no man beguile you of your reward in a voluntary humility and worshipping of angels, intruding into those things which he hath not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind (Col 2:18). They also affirmed, according to Theodoret, that the law was given by angels, and that to one had access to God except through them. Hence we find on the Gnostic gems the names of numbers of their angels; on one are those of Michael, Gabriel, Uriel, Raphael, Ananael, Prosorael, and Chabsael. But the chief and most highly venerated was Michael, insomuch that oratories were erected in Asia Minor, where divine honors were paid to him. SEE MICHAEL.
Fuente: Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature
Archangel
(1Thess. 4:16; Jude 1:9), the prince of the angels.
Fuente: Easton’s Bible Dictionary
Archangel
ARCHANGEL.See Angel.
Fuente: Hastings’ Dictionary of the Bible
Archangel
I should not have thought it necessary, in a work of this kind, to have noticed this name, but for the purpose of noticing at the same time an error, into which, as I humbly conceive, not a few have fallen. I cannot find in all the Bible, the name archangel but twice; once in 1Th 4:16; and once in Jud 1:9. And as for archangels, as if there were more than one, or many, the very name itself implies that it is an error. For arch-angel signifies the first, or prince of the order of angels, consequently, there cannot be many firsts, without making it necessary to altar the term. So that, what is said of angels and archangels, together in hymns of praise, seems to be founded in a misapprehension of Scripture in relation to one arch-angel only, for the word of God speaks of no more, and the name is not plural.
The question is, who is this archangel, twice, and but twice only, noticed as such in Scripture? if the reader will consult both places, he will find that of whomsoever it be spoken of it is only spoken of him in office. And if the reader will compare the passage, particularly in Jude, with what the prophet Daniel saith, (Dan 10:13-21) I conceive that both together will throw light upon the subject. “Lo!” saith the prophet, “Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me.” And again, he calls the same person, (Dan 10:21) “Michael, your prince.” In the passage of the apostle Jude’s Epistle, he saith,”Michael, the archangel, when contending with the devil, he disputed about the body of Moses.” It should seem, therefore, pretty plain, that this Michael is one and the same person. In one he is called prince, in the other, archangel. But in both, it is evident, that the name is a name of office. For my own part, I do not hesitate to believe that it is Christ himself, which is meant by the name archangel in Scripture; and of whom it is said, in relation to his coming at the last day, that “he shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels.” (2Th 1:7) And elsewhere, the Lord Jesus describes this advent in similar words. (Mat 25:31; Zec 14:5; Mat 16:27) And whether this appearing of Christ hath respect to his coming in his thousand years’ reign upon earth, or to the universal judgment, the sense of the words (in reference to the subject of the archangel we are now considering) is the same. Some have thought that the archangel spoken of by Jude cannot mean Christ, because it is there said, that he durst not bring against Satan a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee. But this is not an objection in the smallest degree. The Lord Jesus durst not do it; not because he dared not, or had not the power, but because it belonged not to the Redeemer’s character, “who, when reviled, reviled not again, but committed himself judgeth righteously.” (See Zec 3:1-4) Here we have a similar contest. Now that he who spake was the Lord, appears by his saying, “Behold, I have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee, and I will clothe thee with a change of raiment.” Hence, therefore, it is plain from this passage, that the angel before whom Joshua, as a type of the church, stood, was Christ, who is elsewhere called the angel of the covenant; (Mal 3:1) the same as Jacob spake of. (Gen 48:16) So that both the angel of the covenant and the archangel are one and the same; and both spoken of in the nature of the office and character of Christ, for Christ “took not on him the nature of angels, but the seed of Abraham.” (Heb 2:16)
From the whole view of this subject, I venture to believe, that, as Scripture speaks but of one arch-angel, and that officially, that archangel is Christ. For on the supposition, that it be not so, it becomes a matter of greater difficulty to say, who this arch-angel can be. If it be not Christ, it must be some created angel. And is there a created angel higher than Christ. If, while Jesus is called the angel of the covenant, is there an archangel also, above this angel of the covenant? I leave these questions with any one, not satisfied with my former observations, that the Lord Jesus Christ is the person spoken of twice in Scripture as the arch-angel.
See Malachi and Michael
Fuente: The Poor Mans Concordance and Dictionary to the Sacred Scriptures
Archangel
ark-anjel. See ANGEL.
Fuente: International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
Archangel
See ANGEL.
Fuente: Concise Bible Dictionary
Archangel
General references
1Th 4:16; Jud 1:9 Angel (1)
Fuente: Nave’s Topical Bible
Archangel
Archangel, a chief angel, only twice used in the Bible. 1Th 4:16; Jud 1:9. In this last passage it is applied to Michael, who, in Dan 10:13; Dan 10:21; Dan 12:1, is described as “one of the chief princes,” having a special charge of the Jewish nation, and in Rev 12:7-9 as the leader of an angelic army.
Fuente: People’s Dictionary of the Bible
ARCHANGEL
1Th 4:16; Jud 1:9
Fuente: Thompson Chain-Reference Bible
Archangel
“is not found in the OT, and in the NT only in 1Th 4:16 and Jud 1:9, where it is used of Michael, who in Daniel is called ‘one of the chief princes,’ and ‘the great prince’ (Sept., ‘the great angel’), Dan 10:13, Dan 10:21; Dan 12:1. Cp. also Rev 12:7 …. Whether there are other beings of this exalted rank in the heavenly hosts, Scripture does not say, though the description ‘one of the chief princes’ suggests that this may be the case; cp. also Rom 8:38; Eph 1:21; Col 1:16, where the word translated ‘principalities’ is arche, the prefix in archangel.” * [* From Notes on Thessalonians, by Hogg and Vine, pp. 142.] In 1Th 4:16 the meaning seems to be that the voice of the Lord Jesus will be of the character of an “archangelic” shout.
Fuente: Vine’s Dictionary of New Testament Words
Archangel
according to some, means an angel occupying the eighth rank in the celestial order or hierarchy; but others reckon it a title only applicable to our Saviour; Jud 1:9; Dan 12:1; 1Th 4:16. On this point Bishop Horsley has the following observations:It has been for a long time a fashion in the church to speak very frequently and familiarly of archangels as beings of an order with which we are perfectly well acquainted. Some say there are seven of them. Upon what solid ground that assertion stands, I know not; but this I know, the word archangel’ is not to be found in any one passage of the Old Testament: in the New Testament it occurs twice, and only twice. One of the two passages is in the First Epistle to the Thessalonians; where the Apostle, among the circumstances of the pomp of our Lord’s descent from heaven to the final judgment, mentions the voice of the archangel;’ the other passage is in the Epistle of St. Jude, where the title of archangel is coupled with the name of Michael the archangel.’ This passage is so remarkably obscure that I shall not attempt to draw any conclusion from it but this, which manifestly follows, be the particular sense of the passage what it may: since this is one of the two texts in which alone the word archangel’ is found in the whole Bible; since in this one text only the title of archangel is coupled with any name; and since the name with which it is here coupled is Michael; it follows undeniably that the archangel Michael is the only archangel of whom we know any thing from holy writ. It cannot be proved from holy writ, and, if not from holy writ, it cannot be proved at all, that any archangel exists but the one archangel Michael, and this one archangel Michael is unquestionably the Michael of the book of Daniel.
I must observe by the way, with respect to the import of the title of archangel, that the word, by etymology, clearly implies a superiority of rank and authority in the person to whom it is applied. It implies a command over angels; and this is all that the word of necessity implies. But it follows not, by any sound rule of argument, that, because no other superiority than that of rank and authority is implied in the title, no other belongs to the person distinguished by the title, and that he is in all other respects a mere
angel. Since we admit various orders of intelligent beings, it is evident that a being highly above the angelic order may command angels.
To ascertain, if we can, to what order of beings the archangel Michael may belong, let us see how he is described by the Prophet Daniel, who never mentions him by that title; and what action is attributed to him in the book of Daniel and in another book, in which he bears a principal part.
Now Daniel calls him one of the chief princes,’ or one of the capital princes,’ or one of the princes that are at the head of all:’
for this I maintain to be the full and not more than the full import of the Hebrew words. Now we are clearly got above the earth, into
the order of celestials, who are the princes that are first, or at the head of all? Are they any other than the three persons in the Godhead? Michael, therefore, is one of them; but which of them? This is not left in doubt. Gabriel, speaking of him to Daniel, calls him Michael your prince,’ and the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people;’ that is, not for the nation of the Jews in particular, but for the children, the spiritual children, of that holy seed the elect people of God; a description which applies particularly to the Son of God, and to no one else; and in perfect consistence with this description of Michael in the book of Daniel, is the action assigned to him in the Apocalypse, in which we find him fighting with the old serpent, the deceiver of the world, and
victorious in the combat. That combat who was to maintain? in that combat who was to be victorious, but the seed of the woman?
From all this it is evident, that Michael is a name for our Lord himself, in his particular character of the champion of his faithful people, against the violence of the apostate faction and the wiles of the devil.
To this opinion there is nothing irreconcilable in the voice of the archangel mentioned in 1Th 4:16 : since the shout, the voice, the trump of God, may all be the majestic summons of the Judge himself. At the same time we must feel that the reasoning of Bishop Horsley, though ingenious, is far from being conclusive against the existence of one or more archangels.