The Fallen Angels

A Brief Definition

Fallen Angels: The notion of fallen angels is not found in the Old Testament. In books like Job, the God-appointed adversary is ha-satan (meaning "the adversary" and the title of an office, no the designation or name of an angel). The possible exceptions are I Chronicles 21 and II Samuel 24, where Satan seems to emerge as a distinct personality and is identified by name; but scholars are inclined to believe that in these 2 instances the definite article was inadvertently omitted in translation and that the original read "the satan," i.e., "the adversary." In the New Testament, specifically in Revelation 12, the notion of a fallen angel and of fallen angels is spelt out: "And his [the dragon's or Satan's] tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven [angels] and did cast them to earth...and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world; he was cast out into the earth and his angels were cast out with him." Enoch I claims that 200 fell, naming about 19 (allowing for variant spellings and repetitions) and listing "chiefs of ten," the most prominent among them being Semyaza, Azazel, Sariel, Rumiel, Danjal, Turel, Kokabel. In Ginzberg, The Legends of the Jews I, 125, the chiefs are given as Shemhazai (Semyaza), Armaros, Barakel, Kawkabel (Kokabel), Ezekeel, Arakiel, Samsaweel, Seriel. William Auvergne, bishop of Paris (1228-1249), in his De Universo, held that, of the 9 orders of angels that were created, a "10th part fell," some (as Cardinal Pullus also claimed) from each order, and that in their fallen state they retain their relative rank. [Rf. Lea, Materials Toward a History of Witchcraft I, 89.] According to Cardinal Bishop of Tusculum (1273), reaffirmed by Alphonso de Spina (c.1460), the one-third that fell totaled 133,306,668, those that remained loyal 266,613,336. As opposed to the contention that angels fell from each of the 9 orders, an opinion backed by papal authority holds that only the angels of the 10th (sic) order fell. [See Moore's The Loves of the Angels, p. 155.] In this book, Moore quotes Tertullian (De Habitu Mulieb) to the effect that all the chief luxuries of female adornment and enticement - "the necklaces, armlets, rouge, and the black powder for the eye-lashes" are to be traced to the researches and discoveries of the fallen angels. After the apostate angels fell, "the rest were confirmed in the perseverance of eternal beatitude," as Isidor of Seville assures us in his Sententiae - although Bible references to God's finding his angels (long after the Fall) untrustworthy point to a contrary conclusion. The cause of Satan's downfall has commonly been attributed to the sin of pride or ambition ("by the sin fell the angels"). Another explanation sometimes offered with regard to the origin of fallen angels goes back to Genesis 6, were the sons of God (angels) "saw the daughters of men...and took them wives: from among them. Enoch saw 7 great stars like burning mountains which (so Enoch's guide told him) were being punished because they failed to rise at the appointed time. In other early writings, fallen angels were said to be shooting stars. Aquinas identified the fallen angels with demons. The Christian writers of the later Middle Ages looked upon all heathen divinities as demons. In most sources, the leader of the apostates is Satan, but in apocryphal writings the leader has also been called Mastema, Beliar (Beliel), Azazel, Belzebub, Sammael, etc. In Mohammedan lore he is Iblis. In Levi 3 (Testament of the Twelve Patriarchs) the fallen angels are "imprisoned in the 2nd Heaven." Enoch II, 7:1 also speaks of the fallen angels in the 2nd Heaven as "prisoners suspended [there], reserved for [and] awaiting the eternal judgment." "in most Jewish literature," says Caird in Principalities and Powers, "it was on account of mankind that the angels fell," and cites the Apocalypse of Baruch which goes so far as to say that it was "the physical nature of man which not only became a danger to his own soul but resulted in the fall of the angels." According to legend (Budge, Amulets and Talismans) the rebel angels fell for 9 days. (a)

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The Fallen Angels (up)