Herein are quotations and citations on Angels from Philo of Alexandria (20 BC-50 AD). The fuller complete result consists of quotations of those sections within the text that refer to Angels, Cherubim, Seraphim, Devil, Satan, demons, serpent and dragon. The point is not to elucidate these references but to provide relevant partial quotations and citations. See my section on Angels here, Cherubim and Seraphim here, Satan here and Demons here.
Angels in Philo of Alexandria’s The Cherubim, On Flight and Finding and On the Unchangableness of God.
The Cherubim Part 1
I …she returned to see her master’s house, having been met by an Angel, as the holy scriptures read: but the second time, she is utterly cast out, and is never to be brought back again.
On Flight and Finding
I And Sarah afflicted her, and she fled from before her face. And the Angel of the Lord found her sitting by a fountain of water in the wilderness, by a fountain which is in the way to Shur. And the Angel of the Lord said unto her: æThou handmaiden of Sarah, whence art thou come? and whither art thou going?’ And she answered and said: æI am fleeing from the face of Sarah, my mistress.’ And the Angel of the Lord said unto her: æReturn unto thy mistress, and be thou humbled beneath her hands.’ And the Angel of the Lord said unto her: æBehold, thou art with child, and thou shalt bring forth a son, and shall call his name Ishmael, because the Lord has heard the cry of thy humiliation…And a proof of this is, that the Angel, that is the word of God, met her, with the intent to recommend her what she ought to do, and to guide her in her return to her mistress’s house…But this Angel, who is reproof, at the same time friendly and full of advice, out of his goodwill teaches her not to feel only shame, but also to entertain confidence, for that modesty is but half a virtue, when separated from proper boldness.
XIII And the practicer of virtue, Jacob, bears his testimony in support of this doctrine of mine, where he says, “The God who has nourished me from my youth up, the Angel who delivered me from all my Evils.”
XXII Having now, therefore, said what was proper on the subject of fugitives, we will proceed with what follows in the regular order of the context. In the first place it is said, “The Angel of the Lord found her in the Way,”{28}{#ge 16:7.} pitying the soul which out of modesty had voluntarily committed the danger of wandering about, and very nearly becoming a conductor of her return to opinion void of error.
XXXII Having now said thus much on the subject of discovery, we will proceed in due order to what comes next in the context. Moses proceeds, “Therefore the Angel of the Lord found her sitting by a fountain of water.”
XXXVII Therefore its convicter, speaking to the soul, says, “Whence comest thou, and whither goest thou?” And it says, not because it doubts, and not so much by the way of asking a question, as in a downcast and reproachful spirit, for an Angel cannot be ignorant of anything that concerns us, and a proof of this is, that he is well acquainted even with the things that are in the womb, and which are invisible to the creature.
XXXVIII But the Angel describes the characteristics of the disposition which is born of Hagar, by saying that he will be a rude man…And the Angels are the servants of God, and are considered actual gods by those who are in toil and slavery; on this account, says Moses, she called the well, “The well where I saw in front of me.”
On the Unchangableness of God
I “And after this,” says Moses, “it came to pass that the Angels of God went in unto the daughters of men, and they bore children unto them.”1 It is worth while, therefore, to consider what is meant by the expression, “And after this.” It is therefore a reference to something that has been said before, for the purpose of explaining it more clearly; (2) and a mention of the divine spirit has already been made, as he has already stated, that it is very difficult for it to remain throughout all ages in the soul, which is divisible into many parts, and which assumes many forms, and is clothed with a most heavy burden, namely its bulk of flesh; after this spirit, therefore, the Angels of God go in unto the daughters of men.
XXXIV Nor therefore would he drink out of a cistern to whom God gives draughts of unmixed wine; at one time, by the ministrations of some Angel whom he has thought worthy to act as cupbearer, and at another time by his own means, placing no one between the giver and the receiver.
XXXVII Balaam…”saw the Angel of God standing against him in the way”…this is the word of God, coming as his Angel and as our guide, and removing the obstacles before our feet.
On the Change of Names
XIII But it was an Angel who altered the name of Jacob, being the Word, the minister of God.
In the next segment, we will consider Philo’s Allegorical Interpretation and On Dreams, that they are God-Sent.
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