Jewish philosophy -- Early works to 1800; Judaism -- Works to 1900; Philosophy, Medieval -- Early works to 1800
l.) as follows: “One angel does not perform two things, and two
angels do not perform one thing”; this is exactly the property of all
forces. We may find a confirmation of the opinion that the natural and
psychical forces of an individual are called angels in a statement of
our Sages which is frequently quoted, and occurs originally in Bereshit
Rabba (chap. lxxviii.): “Every day God creates a legion of angels; they
sing before Him, and disappear.” When, in opposition to this statement,
other statements were quoted to the effect that angels are eternal—and,
in fact, it has repeatedly been shown that they live permanently—the
reply has been given that some angels live permanently, others perish;
and this is really the case; for individual forces are transient,
whilst the genera are permanent and imperishable. Again, we read (in
Bereshit Rabba, chap. lxxxv.), in reference to the relation between
Judah and Tamar: “R. Jochanan said that Judah was about to pass by
[without noticing Tamar], but God caused the angel of lust, i.e., the
libidinous disposition, to present himself to him.” Man’s disposition
is here called an angel. Likewise we frequently meet with the phrase
“the angel set over a certain thing.” In Midrash-Koheleth (on Eccles.
x. 7) the following passage occurs: “When man sleeps, his soul speaks
to the angel, the angel to the cherub.” The intelligent reader will
find here a clear statement that man’s imaginative faculty is also
called “angel,” and that “cherub” is used for man’s intellectual
faculty. How beautiful must this appear to him who understands it; how
absurd to the ignorant!
We have already stated that the forms in which angels appear form part
of the prophetic vision. Some prophets see angels in the form of man,
e.g., “And behold three men stood by him” (Gen. xviii. 2); others
perceive an angel as a fearful and terrible being, e.g., “And his
countenance was as the countenance of an angel of God, very terrible”
(Judges xiii. 6); others see them as fire, e.g., “And the angel of the
Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire” (Exod. iii. 2). In Bereshit
Rabba (chap. 1.) the following remark occurs: “To Abraham, whose
prophetic power was great, the angels appeared in the form of men; to
Lot, whose power was weak, they appeared as angels.” This is an
important principle as regards Prophecy; it will be fully discussed
when we treat of that subject (chap. xxxii. sqq.). Another passage in
Bereshit Rabba (ibid.) runs thus: “Before the angels have accomplished
their task they are called men, when they have accomplished it they are
angels.” Consider how clearly they say that the term “angel” signifies
nothing but a certain action, and that every appearance of an angel is
part of a prophetic vision, depending on the capacity of the person
that perceives it.
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