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What angels and fallen angels were named in the Bible and what are they responsible for? I've also heard of works of theologians on that matter, can someone provide some references?

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2 Answers

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Angels

There are only two angels mentioned by name in Scripture:

  1. Michael, the archangel, mentioned in Daniel 10 (and also in Jude). He is described as fighting the prince of Persia.

  2. Gabriel, who announced the birth of Jesus to Mary in Luke 1. Here Gabriel is being an angelos quite literally - a messenger.

Other Angels appear in the OT (One to Manoah in Judges to announce the birth of Samson, three to Abraham in Genesis), but they are unnamed.

An angel has only one job, as implied by the name - they deliver messages.

When they are not doing this job, they are usually in the presence of the Lord, praising him and announcing his glory (Isaiah 6, Revelation)

Fallen Angels

Debatedly, the only fallen angel is Lucifier in Isaiah 14 - the "Star of Morning" who is the Devil.

One could also describe "Legion" as a demon in Luke 5 (at Genesseret), but that isn't a proper name, rather a collection of Demons.

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+1 Lucifer really isn't a name. It's a Latin word that was transliterated rather than translated, so that's doesn't appear to be an actual name. – Narnian Feb 9 '12 at 17:13
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@PeterTurner "Yea, God also hath created four green angels: Leonardo, Michelangelo, Donatello, and St. Raphael, and encrusted them in a protective shell, and given them all sorts of ninja-like powers." - Hezekiah 2:8-9 – Affable Geek Feb 9 '12 at 17:27
One of my favorite verses... – Narnian Feb 9 '12 at 17:29
Haha ;) But we say Ray-fee-al, so as not to confuse him with any heroes in half shells. – Peter Turner Feb 9 '12 at 17:59
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+1 to Narnian. Lucifer was unknown to anyone but the Romans during the life of Jesus. Unless you consider Venus of Willendorf. The same Hebrew word describing the morning star was used to describe Jesus. They were just translated differently. – user1054 Feb 9 '12 at 18:52

@Affable Geek's right, but doesn't mention the Archangel Raphael as his tradition doesn't consider the book of Tobit scripture.

Since Catholics and Orthodox include this book, he's also one of the angels named in the Bible. His name means God Heals and he's the one who took Tobias on his journey and helped him heal his father's blindness. He's actually pretty awesome.

Also, in Catholic tradition (and other traditions), it was two angels who visited Abraham and Sarah, along with God.

...the truth of the matter seems to be this, that one of them was the son of God in an human form, that chiefly conversed with Abraham, and who rained from heaven brimstone on Sodom; and the other two were angels in the like form that accompanied him in that expedition:

from Gill's Exposition

Some Jewish traditions include Raphael and a few others, I can't comment on how ubiquitous those traditions are, you might want to ask on Judaism.SE.

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Yup! Thank you for the addition! – Affable Geek Feb 9 '12 at 17:38
Yeah, I wasn't sure whether to say two angels or three there. It ways sort of a footnote, so I decided not to worry. The clarification is spot on! – Affable Geek Feb 9 '12 at 17:41

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