Angels: God's Workforce: A View from Jewish and Christian Scriptures

By Judith Wortman

The existence of angels is recognized by some people and ignored or denied by others. This book serves as a guide for those who want to explore the creation and roles played by angels, including their past communication and interaction with humans here on earth. The book takes you through both Jewish and Christian Scriptures by extracting passages originally written in Hebrew, recounted in Aramaic, or written in Greek as revealed in currently available texts. It is anticipated that readers will be both intrigued and enlightened by their encounter with these celestial beings.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Page Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Dec 14, 2022
• ISBN: 9781662481413

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Angels: God's Workforce

A View from Jewish and Christian Scriptures

Judith Wortman

Copyright © 2022 Judith Wortman

All rights reserved

First Edition

PAGE PUBLISHING

Conneaut Lake, PA

First originally published by Page Publishing 2022

ISBN 978-1-6624-8140-6 (pbk)

ISBN 978-1-6624-8141-3 (digital)

Printed in the United States of America

Table of Contents

Preface

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Bibliography

Organization of Books of the Jewish Study Bible (Tanakah Translation) and of the Old Testament of Most Christian Bibles

Tractates of the Talmud

About the Author

Index

Preface

Are angels real, or are they figures designed to stimulate the imagination or present fables imparting moral principles? If they are real, where do they come from? Why do they exist? And what roles do they fulfill? This book will help the reader draw some conclusions about angels by exploring the religious Scriptures read by Jews and Christians. The combined approach makes this book unique by including the writings and insights of both religions. The Scriptures relate a great deal of information about the nature, mission, and reality of angels. While there might be some curiosity, many Christians and Jews know little regarding who these heavenly beings are and why they were created.

Most of the books written about angels were authored by Christians, especially Christian clergymen, or by Jewish scholars. These books are significant and worthy of review; however, I have researched passages from Bibles frequently referred to by Christians and those in the Torah, following texts, and the Talmud that are important to Judaism. The Jewish Study Bible that I used as a resource includes the Torah (Pentateuch or first five books), as well as the Nevi'im or books of the prophets, and the Ketuvim (writings), which includes the historical books, Psalms and the wisdom literature. The books of this Jewish Bible and Old Testament of the Christian Bible appear in a different order, and there are differences in various passages and their arrangement. Also, a difference in punctuation might give rise to a difference in interpretation. However, the meaning and intention found when comparing most of the texts of the two Bibles are usually similar. Following various quoted passages or background information derived from the texts used, the following abbreviations are employed in parentheses to identify the source:

T: Torah

TM: Talmud

JSB: Jewish Study Bible—Tanakh translation

KJV: King James Version of the Bible

NIV: New International Version of the Bible

ESV: English Standard Version of the Bible

Some readers might ask why I didn't select a single Christian Bible as a reference. I referred to the three that are mentioned because I sometimes found the vocabulary of a passage easier to understand, simpler, or more in keeping with current English usage in one Bible compared to another. At other times, I wanted to reflect the beauty of the translated word in an early Bible, such as that found in the King James Version.

For those who are not familiar with either Jewish or Christian texts, I will provide here a brief explanation. Those who know these texts well can skip these explanations, which cannot, in limited space, capture the full meaning of these resources.

As mentioned, the Torah covers the first five books or Pentateuch often referred to as the Hebrew Bible. Traditional Jewish interpretation holds that the words in these Scriptures were revealed by God to Moses, with the exception of the last eight verses of Deuteronomy describing the death of Moses, which some scholars believe were written by Joshua. The Torah was possibly written down by 550 BCE. The Nevi'im and Kethuvim were likely set into writing around 150 BCE. All the books combined were canonized between the first and second century CE as the all-inclusive text. Standardization occurred between the eighth and ninth centuries. The Jewish Study Bible, Tanakh translation, I use was published in 2004.

The tradition of oral law through the Centuries led to a proliferation of interpretations. It was feared that the oral traditions of the Pharisees from the second temple period (536 BCE to 70 CE) would be lost. These were redacted by Judah the prince in the second century CE into a document written in Hebrew known as the Mishnah, which is also sometimes referred to as the oral Torah.

Although the Mishnah doesn't mention angels, during the Talmudic period (roughly from the third century BCE through the sixth century CE), there was a strong belief in angels among Jews. During this period, the Talmud was the authoritative writing on Judaism. It is a set of books that amplify the Mishnah. It consists of the opinions and commentaries of about two thousand rabbis that form the basis of Jewish law, including religious rulings and traditions and their application to daily life. It includes the Mishnah and Gemara and transmits its messages in both Hebrew and Aramaic, the latter being the spoken language of Babylonians. The commentaries have a great deal to say about angels, and I occasionally refer to one of the sixty-three tractates (treatises) and teaching. A list of tractates is included at the back of this book. A second part of the Talmud, the Gemara, contains legislative, anecdotal, and ethical remarks that were originally spoken in the Aramaic dialect. It contains the opinions and clarifications of a large number of rabbis, most of whom lived during the Talmudic period.

The Talmud is like an encyclopedia of the Jewish faith. It is both historical and literary. Aside from being a commentary on the Mishnah, it quotes abundantly from the early part of the Midrash, which was written between 400 and 1200 CE to interpret and reconcile biblical contradictions. As a consequence of the incorporation of the Mishnah and Gemara, the Talmud became a very large document. The Babylonian Talmud most referred to contains 2.5 million words and 4,894 folio pages. Another earlier version, the Jerusalem Talmud, is shorter and more succinct and more pertinent to the land of Israel. The final version of the Babylonian Talmud was compiled between 550 and 600 CE. Rather than using footnotes, when any part of the text of this book refers to the Talmud, the reference occurs in parentheses immediately following the statement. The letter R pertains to ordained rabbinical scholars that justify the reference as cited by Abraham Cohen in his Everyman's Talmud (see bibliography). A letter a or b after a numerical citation refers to the side of the page noted when the book is open. The side is indicated in the upper outside corner. For example, a 60b refers to tractate 60 side b.

While the Torah and Talmud are sources of wisdom for Jews, Jesus Christ's appearance in the New Testament is the source of wisdom for Christians enhanced by the Holy Spirit. The Christian Bible includes the same books in its Old Testament as the Jewish Bible although, as noted, the two are arranged in a different order. The New Testament part of the Christian Bible cannot be considered apart from the Old Testament because Jesus Christ is considered the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy and God's promise of a Messiah. For example, the prophecies of Isaiah, Daniel, and Zacharias are often referred to in the New Testament. This New Testament Christian Bible includes the words and actions of Jesus Christ and events following his death and believed resurrection as reported by disciples who followed him reaching out to Jews and others, such as the apostle Paul who visited and wrote many letters addressed to gentiles. The last book of the New Testament, Revelation, is based upon the visions experienced by John, thought to be a man who was a disciple of Jesus. It includes prophecies about the end of the world as it is presently known and the creation of a new heaven and a new earth and is, in some cases, a repeat of the prophecies in the early Hebrew texts.

There are a number of versions of the Christian Bible. Historically, there was much debate among Christians regarding which of the many gospels and apostolic epistles and hundreds of apocalyptic prophecies should be included in the Bible. It was not until 382 CE that the New Testament canon was decided by the Council of Trent to include twenty-seven books in the New Testament and thirty-nine books in the Old Testament. Although there were several gospels (meaning good news), four were selected for the New Testament: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Still, in subsequent years, there were revisions, additions, and subtractions. An early version of the Bible was developed by Tyndale in the 1500s, and then a broadly accepted version emerged in 1611 during the reign of King James of England. This is one of the reference Bibles I use in this book. Following the King James Bible and to the present day, many versions of the Bible have been produced, including the Revised Standard Version (1952 and 1971) often referred to by biblical scholars. In addition to the King