Talk:Cherubim Physiology/@comment-173.212.111.130-20120508210237

Our Angels Are Different - Television Tropes & Idioms

Angels in The Bible can belong to several classes. The Bible doesn't mention an exact ranking for these classes; only the "archangel" class is mentioned as being higher than the others, with the other classes presumably being of the same rank but having different job descriptions. In Christian Tradition
 * Archangel — The highest class. Michael is the only angel specified to hold this rank in the Protestant and Jewish Bible canons. It's worth noting that "Arch-" as a prefix has a dictionary definition along the lines of "Pre-eminent among all others of its kind", so linguistically there should only ever be one Archangel (Or Arch-Enemy, or Arch-Anything).
 * Elders — (AKA Thrones) There are 24 of this class as mentioned in Revelation.
 * Living Creatures — These angels are a specific set of four Cherubim mentioned in both Ezekiel and Revelation. Their descriptions vary slightly from both accounts, but they seem to have faces varying from that of a lion, ox, man, and eagle, eyes all over their bodies, and more than one pair of wings. (In other words, they are the angels most likely to fit the page image.)
 * In Ezekiel, each is paired with one of the four Ophanim, meaning "wheels", which are eye-covered, wheel-like interlocking chariot wheels. (Note: In this listing the Thrones and Ophanim are NOT identified as the same.)
 * Cherubim — (singular Cherub) The Bible is silent on what normal angels of this class looked like, but according to Jewish tradition, they were human looking, as both the Ark of the Covenant and Solomon's Temple included images of angels of this class in their design.
 * Seraphim — (singular Seraph) Mentioned to have six wings, four of which are used to cover themselves. Their name means "burning ones". If they spread there wings, a human would be reduced to ashes.
 * Angels — These are the ordinary inhabitants of Heaven; if something needs doing on earth, these are the guys who generally do it.


 * Seraphim — (singular Seraph) Traditionally six-winged, red, and fiery; represent God's love. The reason they have six wings is to cover their true form, which is so bright and glorious that all who gave upon it (sometimes including lesser angels) are incinerated instantly. They are also associated with snakes (their name is a corruption of "sarap", "fiery", more often than not connected with the word "nahash", "serpent"). Their chief is St. Michael. Satan used to be one of these (hence his six wings in Dante's Divine Comedy). If they're not covered and won't set you on fire, they're described as handsome... but tall, terrifying, fiery, and speaking in Earth-shaking (quite literally) voices.
 * Cherubim — (singular Cherub) Tend to be depicted in blue, or as blue (or red, or lots of different colors); represent God's knowledge and act as soldiers and guardian angels. St. Gabriel is Head Cherub. In The Middle Ages, often misunderstood to be a single angel named "Cherubin". In The Renaissance, the Putti, chubby little children or even a chubby face between two or more wings, were later confused with Cherubim (or even Seraphim, as in this painting◊by Ghirlandaio).
 * Thrones or Ophanim — Hold up God's throne, or are the living wheels of His chariot. They serve as the headquarters of the Virtues and the Upper Choirs and control the natural laws as well as being the bringers of God's justice who represent His authority (and badassery). They have the most alien physical descriptions of all the angels: wheels nested within wheels, constantly spinning, with rims covered in eyes. They may be "beryl-colored" (probably a greeny-yellow) and/or on fire.
 * Dominions — Not mentioned in Protestant and Jewish Bible canons. Wear crowns; represent God's power. Each serves as the patron angel of a nationand ruler of all angels assigned to that nation.
 * Virtues — Not mentioned in Protestant and Jewish Bible canons. Traditionally wear armor and swords and are considered to control the heavenly bodies. They live in the Thrones. The previous three choirs form the bulk of the heavenly army.
 * Powers — Not mentioned in Protestant and Jewish Bible canons. Carry flaming swords and chains to bind The Devil; serve as guardians. In Christian tradition the Angel with the Flaming Sword in Eden was one of these, the Archangel Jophiel. Are considered Angels Of Justice and are considered perfect, incorruptible ultimate angels created by God himself. (Sound familiar?) Naturallysome beliefs list Satan as a former Power.
 * Principalities — Not mentioned as a group in Protestant and Jewish Bible canons, but the Book of Daniel refers to a spirit that Gabriel calls "the Prince of Persia." Gabriel also identifies Michael as the Prince of Israel. Principalities traditionally bear armor and swords, and watch over rulers and nations. As well as acting as the head of a specific group of angels.
 * Archangels — According to apocryphal works there are seven, including Michael, Gabriel (mentioned in The Bible canon but only as a normal angel), andRaphael (appears in the deuterocanonical book of Tobit). (Names for the others, such as Zadkiel, Uriel, and Ithuriel, don't seem to have caught on.) Each archangel is the head of one of the remaining upper choirs.
 * In the Eastern Orthodox Church, there are seven major archangels; however, other than the Archangels Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael the names of the others vary radically. Also the arrangement of the choirs and the status of archangels vary. In Christianity, archangels often embody a particular function or idea: for instance, Raphael is the archangel of Healing, Raguel the archangel of justice and Jegudiel of politics.
 * Angels — Used as a name of an angelic choir, these are usually the lowest rung of the hierarchy. They function as messengers to and from Earth.