Why are there no female angels? Gender diversity in heaven

Why are there no female angels? Gender diversity in heaven.

In art there is a large number of images of female angels, however, in biblical myths the femininity of angels is largely absent. Contrary to what happens in hell, where gender diversity seems more balanced, with a large number of female demons, the Bible does not propose a single name, nor a single reference, about a female angel.

To get around this uncomfortable lack of references, many theologians maintain that angels are not men or women, that is, masculine or feminine, at least in the way in which human beings understand and experience gender differences.

However, whenever the Bible mentions the word “angel” it is always used in its masculine form. In fact, when angels appear before people, in the Bible, they are always seen as men; and when they are given a name, it is always masculine.

Where, then, are the female angels?

The Hebrew word for angel is מֲלְאָךְ (Malak), which would later be translated into Greek angelos. Both mean “messenger,” and both are masculine nouns. In this sense, if we take the Bible as the only reference on the subject, everything seems to indicate that there are no female angels, however, perhaps the word angel does not designate a species after all, but rather a position, an office. exclusively male.

As we said previously, all the appearances of angels in the Bible describe male physiognomies. Most of these appearances are generic, that is, the angel does not say his name, and simply does his job, often announcing something. But when they are given a name, they are always masculine, although they are not too many. The Bible only names two angels by name: Gabriel and Michael.

The only one who makes a reference to what could be female angels is Zechariah, who mentions the appearance of two women with wings. Some interpret that they could be female angels, but the truth is that Zechariah does not use the word angel to refer to them, and he does use winged beings with a masculine appearance.

To make matters worse, Zechariah observes that these two winged women fly carrying the basket of evil. He describes them as having stork wings, an unclean bird in Hebrew myths. This is the only possible reference to female angels in the Bible: women behaving evil, basically, and assuming the form of an unclean bird.

But, if there are no female angels in the Bible, why are angels often depicted in art as female?

Since they do not have biblical references, that is, with official support, let’s say, it is possible that these female representations of angels are related to ancient pagan traditions, which little by little were integrated into Christian thought and, above all, art.

Many mythologies, especially Greek myths, use the figure of winged women. Some pagan goddesses also had wings—such as Nike, the messenger of victory—and in some ways behaved like angels, appearing suddenly, delivering messages, wielding swords, and fighting on battlefields, like the Valkyries of Norse myths.

Perhaps the theologians are right, and angels are not men or women in human terms, but in that case there should be at least a single reference to a female angel, or at least with attributes traditionally associated with femininity. The problem may ultimately come down to a question of perspective.

The Bible provides very little on the subject of angels. Something about angelic hierarchies, something about the reproductive unproductivity of angels, and not much else. Although it is made clear that angels cannot produce angelic offspring, this does not mean that they do not possess gender; In fact, there are a large number of female fallen angels, and others who, after the fall, like Semihazah, gave birth to hybrid creatures with human women, the Nephilim (see: About the Celestial Wars).

One can die of literality here, because we could use the same resource to say that the epithet: children of Israel does not refer to the women of that land, which is absurd.

The fact that fallen angels can engage in reproductive activities, albeit illegitimate, and subject to divine punishment, argues in favor of the possibility that there is more than one gender among angels. So why are there no mention of female angels? Well, here the question of perspective that we talked about before comes into play.

The fact that there are no female angels is perhaps because all angelic activity on Earth described in the Bible is military in nature.

Angels either send messages or fight, sometimes in a kind of cold war against demons. In this context, it was unthinkable to imagine women directly involved in these traditionally masculine issues.

For this reason, perhaps, the word angel does not refer to a particular type of celestial entity, but rather to an office, a mission, embodied in a being of an intermediate nature between the spiritual and the corporeal. Being jobs that, on Earth, belonged to the male gender, it is logical to assume that their celestial representatives assume an analogous form on our plane.

We also know that angels are restricted in terms of time and space, and that they have a limited form and existence, like humans, although with broader parameters. They are not absolutely spiritual beings, but rather they possess some degree of corporeality, or spiritual density, so to speak.

The traditional focus between the material and the spiritual becomes diffuse here, and even incorrect; for angels exist only within Creation, such that their spirituality, in a sense, possesses some degree of materiality, even if it is far beyond our ability to understand.

By not having physical bodies, at least as we conceive them, gender differences between angels are irrelevant. However, when they interact with the material world they do assume a human form, predominantly male, but as we have already seen, this is related to a question of occupations; but also logistics. A female angel, in biblical times, would have been ignored or considered a deception.

In short: we do not have a precise idea about how relationships between angels work, and even less so between angels and mortals. Within the Bible all interactions of angels with humans involve the fulfillment of duties traditionally associated with the masculine. In this sense, it really shouldn’t be surprising that there is no evidence of female angels in Scripture.

Up to this point we are referring only to the Bible, but there are also other interesting references, such as John Dee, who claimed to have learned Enochian: the language of angels, and to have discovered a subtle plot of intrigue and passions among angels in The Book of Enoch; profane work, blasphemous to a certain point, and perhaps for that reason charming.

There, for example, they talk about Yecum, a female angel, fallen from grace, sent by God to seduce the fallen angels; and also from Aradia, none other than Lucifer’s sister.

Angels. I Biblical myths.

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