Encountering Angels in the Hebrew Scriptures, the Christian Scriptures, and the Qur’an

Authors

• David J. Zucker, Asbury Theological Seminary

Abstract

Angels appear in the Hebrew scriptures, the Christian scriptures, and the Qur’an. They are very different from the contemporary “popular” view of angels. Sometimes in these three scriptures angels are acknowledged as simply being, other times they appear with, or interact with people. They generally have benevolent roles. At times, in the Hebrew and Christian scriptures they are recognized by humans, at other occasions they appear to be in human form and are not, at least immediately understood to be angels. In Hebrew, the most common word for angel is mal’akh, but a mal’akh can also be a human messenger. In the Christian scriptures, a consistent word for angel is angelos, which depending on the context (or translation) may mean angel or messenger. In the Qur’an the word for angel is malāk; plural: malāʾik/malāʾikah.

DOI

10.7252/Journal.02.2026F.11

Recommended Citation

Zucker, David J. (2026) "Encountering Angels in the Hebrew Scriptures, the Christian Scriptures, and the Qur’an," The Asbury Theological Journal: Vol. 81: No. 2, p. 606-631.
Available at: https://place.asburyseminary.edu/asburyjournal/vol81/iss2/12