As a result, these angels are called evil spirits, spirits and demons , evil angels and fallen angels. The term fallen angels refers to the fact that they were cast out of heaven and sent to earth Daniel ; Revelation Our question is what do these fallen angels look like?
What can demons look like? What does the Bible say angels look like? Sadly, the movie industry, books, magazines and religious paintings have popularized the idea that holy angels have female features or are distinctly feminine. Frequently they are shown as having breasts and look seductive. In addition, these publishers and artists depict demons or fallen angels as red or black and having horns and tails. They are usually characterized as being wicked. They may have long forked tongues.
All of these characterizations of holy and evil angels are not biblical. How could a holy angel be seductive? If evil angels were so sinister looking, they would be easy to identify.
Yet, Scripture warns us that Satan is an angel of light. That is, Satan and his followers are deceptive and not easily identified. They want to appear moral. They are the power behind idols and false gods 1 Corinthians What do I mean then? That a thing sacrificed to idols is anything, or that an idol is anything?. What do biblical angels look like? It appears that all angels have wings. Some angels, such as the seraphim and four living creatures, have six wings Isaiah ; Revelation and the cherubim have only four wings Ezekiel The Bible states that the cherubim have four faces, but we have little information about the seraphim.
The passage found in chapter 6 of the Book of the Watchers 1 Enoch unveils the motifs of mysterious promises and curses with which the rebellious angels decided to bind themselves, thus securing their ominous mission and fellowship. All aforementioned details point to familiarity of the authors of the Slavonic apocalypse with the features of the original Enochic template. One of the puzzles here is a discrepancy about the location of the angelic group encountered by the patriarch earlier — the incarcerated rebels, whose memory is invoked again and again in chapter Later, in verse seven, Enoch himself reaffirms this connection between the two angelic groups when he unveils to the Watchers in the fifth heaven the sad destiny of their rebellious brothers in the lower realm:.
It is apparent that both passages about angelic rebellious groups in chapters 7 and 18 are interconnected by a series of allusions and familiar motifs intended to persuade the reader that both groups are interrelated and now are separated because of their previous deeds. It is possible that the discrepancy pertaining to the location of the imprisoned angels can be explained by the topological peculiarities of the Slavonic apocalypse whose main theological emphasis is centered on the ascension of the translated hero into the heavenly realm.
It appears that this phrase strives to underline the otherworldly, possibly even subterranean, nature of the darkness encountered by the patriarch in the second heaven. Moreover, it appears that the interaction between the two paradigmatic templates in 2 Enoch can be seen not merely as an attempt at mechanical mixture of the elements of both trends but rather the progressive movement toward their organic union when the mutual interaction is able to generate a qualitatively different tradition which is not equal anymore to their initial parts.
One of the crucial signs of such qualitative transition can be seen in the literary destiny of the main protological and eschatological opponent of the Adamic tradition — Satan ail , 52 who is now invited into the new unfamiliar entourage of the rival mythological trend, where he is being fashioned as the leader of the rebellious Watchers. The fact that this identification represents not just an accidental slip of the pen or an interpolation, but a sign of the consistent and well-designed theological strategy of the text becomes evident if we compare the description found in chapter 18 with the Watchers tradition found in chapter 7.
There again the group of the incarcerated Watchers is described by the authors as the rebellious group who turn away with their prince :. Both passages are interconnected through identical Slavonic terminology since the leader of the rebellious angels in both cases is designated as a prince Slav.
But how really novel and original was this conceptual move for the Enochic trend? It should be noted that the leadership of Satan over the fallen Watchers is unknown in the earliest Enochic booklets. Yet, in the late Second Temple Enochic text, the Book of the Similitudes , one can see the extensive appropriation of the Satan terminology, both in the generic and in the titular sense. Yet, despite its promising nature, the origin of the Satan tradition found in the Parables remains clouded in mystery.
It is really difficult to discern from this terse and enigmatic passage found in the Similitudes 54 if the authors of the book did really have the knowledge of the full-blown Adamic template, including the story of the angelic veneration, or if they were merely borrowing the titular usage of Satan from the biblical materials.
Now it is time to return to the Slavonic apocalypse where the mutual interaction between two mythologies of evil appears to be exercising a lasting influence not only on the story of the Watchers but also on the account of the negative protagonist of the Adamic stream - Satan ail who is now acquiring some novel features from the Enochic tradition. It describes that after his transgression described there as the violation of the ranks of the angelic hierarchy in an attempt to exalt himself Satanail was cast out from heaven with his angels.
Here again one can see the profound dialogue between two formative traditions of the fallen angels that alters or enhances the features of the original templates, reshaping the stories of their infamous heroes.
Our investigation of the mixed demonological template found in 2 Enoch is important not only because it witnesses to the portentous dialogue between Enochic and Adamic mythologies of evil but also because it helps to illuminate another important theological transition taking place for the first time in the Slavonic apocalypse - that is the paradigm shift from the Jewish apocalypticism to early Jewish mysticism, thus in many ways anticipating future developments inside the Enochic lore and serving as a blueprint for the later Watchers traditions reflected in the Sh c iur Qomah and Hekhalot lore.
In this respect it is therefore useful to discuss some early signs and facets of this ideological transition taking place at the end of the Second Temple period through the exploration of several pioneering aspects of the Watchers traditions found in 2 Enoch and the afterlife of these novel developments in later Jewish mysticism. I have previously argued about the formative value of Enochic traditions reflected in the Slavonic apocalypse for late Jewish mysticism and particularly for the Enochic developments attested in Sefer Hekhalot.
Yet, in the light of the current investigation it becomes clear that the lessons which 2 Enoch provides for the later Hekhalot developments appear to be not limited solely to the transformation of the narrative involving the chief positive protagonist of the Enochic tradition — the seventh antediluvian hero, but also involve the peculiar reworking of the story of its anti-heroes — the fallen Watchers.
In this section of my study I would like to concentrate on two motifs found in 2 Enoch that appear to be anticipating future Jewish mystical developments: the motif of the three watchers and the theme of the liturgical duties of Enoch-Metatron.
This study has already drawn attention to the intriguing fact that the Slavonic apocalypse operates with the tradition of the descent of the three Watchers. One of them is situated in chapter four and another in chapter five. It is possible that the influence of the Adamic template in the Hekhalot passage is even more decisive than it might appear at first glance since besides the theme of the angelic veneration of the seer it also invokes the motifs of the protological situation of the creation of humanity and the angelic opposition to this act of the Deity.
Although the tradition of the veneration of Adam is not mentioned directly in this unit — it is indirectly similarly to the Slavonic apocalypse reaffirmed by the veneration that angels offer to Enoch. As has been mentioned already in this study, previous scholars have noticed the presence of the pseudepigraphical matrix of the Adamic tradition in this passage. It is noteworthy that both passages about three fallen angels from Sefer Hekhalot have distinctive features of the mixed template, very similar to the one found in the Slavonic apocalypse.
Both texts are trying to bring the whole array of the Adamic motifs, including the account of the angelic veneration, into the framework of the Watchers story. Although the transmission history of the post-Second Temple Enochic traditions is clouded in mystery — it is possible that the developments detected in the Slavonic apocalypse exercised a formative influence on the later Enochic lore, including Sefer Hekhalot. Another portentous aspect of the Watchers traditions found in 2 Enoch that appears to exercise a long-lasting influence on later Jewish mystical developments is its liturgical dimension.
The repeated and persuasive invocation of the idea of angelic veneration in many ways hints directly and indirectly to this peculiar sacerdotal aspect, since this motif is often placed in the Second Temple and rabbinic materials in the context of celestial worship. In this respect one should not ignore the persistent liturgical concern that permeates the Watchers story in the Slavonic apocalypse. Indeed, the authors of the Watchers narratives of 2 Enoch do not shy away from expressing their interest in the theme of the heavenly liturgy.
The liturgical dimension of the Watchers tradition in 2 Enoch is intriguing and deserves further investigation. Yet, in order to apprehend the full meaning of this tradition for the later Enochic developments a short excursus in the Hekhalot and Sh c iur Qomah materials is necessary. The later Merkabah materials emphasize the crucial role that Enoch-Metatron occupies in celestial worship by serving as the leader of the angelic hosts. The passages found in the Shi c ur Qomah texts attest to a similar tradition in which Metatron is portrayed as a liturgical leader.
Thus, Sefer Haggomah reads:. It is possible that this tradition of Enoch-Metatron as the one who encourages and prepares angels for their liturgical praxis in heaven might have its early roots already in 2 Enoch. As we remember in the beginning of chapter 18 the patriarch is depicted as the one who laments about the absence of angelic liturgy in the fifth heaven and the silence of the Watchers. In the light of the Hekhalot and Sh c iur Qomah materials, his concern about the pause in the angelic liturgical routine appears to be not just a matter of curiosity.
Further in the same unit Enoch encourages the celestial Watchers to start their liturgy before the face of God. The longer recension of 2 Enoch relates:. One can notice that the imagery of this account represents a rather vague sketch that only distantly alludes to the future prominent liturgical role of Enoch-Metatron.
Yet here, for the first time in the Enochic tradition, the seventh antediluvian patriarch dares to assemble and direct the angelic creatures for their routine job of delivering praise to the Deity. These later specimens of Jewish mystical lore provide an important interpretive framework that allow us to discern the traces of these later fully developed liturgical traditions already in 2 Enoch. In this respect the Slavonic apocalypse can be seen as the crucial conceptual nexus loaded with several portentous transitions that become instrumental in shaping the angelological template prominent in the later Shi c ur Qomah and Hekhalot lore.
In light of the developments discernable in 2 Enoch it is possible that the unique liturgical role that Enoch-Metatron occupies in the Merkabah tradition in relation to the celestial creatures is linked to the tradition of his veneration by the angels. Already in the Slavonic apocalypse the celestial citizens recognize the authority and the leadership of the seventh antediluvian hero by bowing down before him. This peculiar ritual of recognition of the celestial leader appears not to be forgotten in the later mystical lore.
It cannot be excluded that one can have here the liturgical afterlife of the familiar motif of the angelic bowing before the translated hero. It is noteworthy that already in early Adamic lore that constitutes the background of the developments found in 2 Enoch — the theme of the angelic veneration of Adam is placed in the larger framework of divine worship — where the Protoplast appears to be understood not as the ultimate object of veneration but rather as a representation or an icon of the Deity through whom angels are able to worship God.
In conclusion of our study of the intriguing relationships between the Enochic and Adamic templates of the fallen angels in the Slavonic apocalypse we should again draw attention to the broader theological concerns and circumstances for such striking metamorphoses of two previously relatively independent trends. As has been already pointed out in our study, one possible reason why many Adamic themes, including the motif of the angelic veneration, were brought for the first time in 2 Enoch into the framework of the Enochic developments, was the changing status of the main hero of the Enochic tradition.
It appears that in the Slavonic apocalypse the story of the exalted protagonist of the Enochic lore seems to be stepping into the new era of its theological and anthropological development in which the patriarch undergoes a remarkable transition from an exemplar of the transformed angelomorphic humanity, as he appears in the early Enochic literature, to the new conceptual stage in which he is envisioned now as a specimen of the theomorphic humanity.
Scholars previously noted that many future roles of Enoch-Metatron as the lesser representation of the divine Name and the replica of the divine Body, the offices that clearly intend to exalt the translated hero above the angelic world — are already hinted in the Slavonic apocalypse. In this respect it appears to be not coincidental that the authors of the Slavonic apocalypse are repeatedly trying to emphasize the supra-angelic status of the translated patriarch and his unique position in relation to the Deity.
In light of these significant anthropological transitions leading Jewish mediatorial lore into the new era of its evolution, a brief look at another portentous theological account of the divine humanity, also written in the first century CE, might provide additional illuminating insights. Matt tells its readers that after the temptation was over, angels came to worship Jesus. Here, similar to the possibly contemporaneous tradition found in the Slavonic apocalypse, the motif of angelic worship hints at the new divine status of a human character and helps to understand the anthropological paradigm shift which is leading the restored humankind back into the new, but once before lost, abode of its divine existence 85 — the dimension in which a long time ago humanity was exalted above the angels humbly venerated by them.
Gen No references are made to the serpent, deception, the reproach of God, and additional punishments that figure prominently in the Genesis account. In a text concerned with judgment and accountability, Adam and Eve do not appear as actors in the eschatological drama … the Animal Apocalypse from the Book of Dream Visions seems even more favorable in its depiction of the first couple.
The Animal Apocalypse opts to recast exclusively events familiar from Gen 2 and 4…. There is no tree, forbidden or otherwise, no illicit gain of knowledge, no expulsion from Eden, and no recapitulation of any part of Gen 3…. Boccaccini; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, at Related: 20 of the most bizarre stories from the bible. The devil's red tights actually originate in theatre productions. In , composer Charles Gounod adopted the folktale "Faust," which had also inspired Marlowe's earlier play, "Dr.
Faustus," into an opera, in which the devilish character of Mephistopheles wears a Renaissance-era costume, including red tights, also known as hose. In his book " A History of Opera: Milestones and Metamorphoses " Opera Journeys Publishing, , Burton Fisher wrote: "Marcel Journet sang Faust's Mephistopheles over a thousand times, providing the stereotyped image of opera characters as devils in red tights.
During the 20th century, the devil continued to be re-invented by writers and filmmakers, placing him in the guise of mysterious strangers, smart businessmen and even children, as in the horror movie "The Omen". In Mikhail Bulgakov's novel " The Master and Margarita " first published in Moskva magazine, , the devil appears as a smart but secretive stranger, who is accompanied by a talking cat. Scratch Satan fights for his right to a man's soul in a court of law.
But even these modern depictions of Lucifer as a lawyer have their origins in the Middle Ages. In an article from the journal la Revue de l'histoire des religions, Karl Shoemaker, a historian at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, described a medieval court drama in which "the devil and his hellish council selected a demon learned in the law and sent him to the court of heaven in order to sue for a legal title to the human race.
This article was adapted from a previous version published in All About History magazine, a Future Ltd. To learn more about some of history's most incredible stories, subscribe to All About History magazine. All About History is the only history magazine that is as entertaining as it is educational. Bringing History to life for readers of all ages. Live Science. Jump to: 1. The serpent 2. The fallen angel 3. Satan as the beast 4. The winged devil 5. Satan with horns 6.
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