Destroying angel (Bible)

In the Hebrew Bible, the destroying angel (Hebrew: מַלְאָך הַמַשְׁחִית, malʾāḵ hamašḥīṯ), also known as mashḥit (מַשְׁחִית mašḥīṯ, 'destroyer'; plural: מַשְׁחִיתִים, mašḥīṯīm, 'spoilers, ravagers'), is an entity sent out by God on several occasions to deal with numerous peoples.

The destroying angel passes through Egypt.^[1]

These angels (mal’āḵīm) are also variously referred to as memitim (מְמִיתִים, 'executioners, slayers'), or, when used singularly, as the Angel of the Lord. The latter is found in Job 33:22, as well as in Proverbs 16:14 in the plural "messengers of death". Mashchith was also used as an alternate name for one of the seven compartments of Gehenna.^[2][3]

In 2 Samuel 24:15-16, the destroying angel almost destroyed Jerusalem but was recalled by God. In 1 Chronicles 21:15, the same "Angel of the Lord" is seen by David to stand "between the earth and the heaven, with a drawn sword in his hand stretched out against the Hebrews' enemies". Later, in 2 Kings 19:35, the angel kills 185,000 Assyrian soldiers.

In the Book of Enoch, angels of punishment and destruction belong to a group of angels called satans with Satan as their leader. First, they tempt, then accuse, and finally punish and torment both wicked humans and fallen angels.^[4]

In Judaism, such angels might be seen as created by one's sins. As long as a person lives, God allows them to repent. However, the angels of destruction can execute the sentence proclaimed in the heavenly court after death.^[5] Also called Malachei Habala ("Sabotage Angels"), they punish sinners in the underworld and are equated with Shedim (demons) (Berakhot 51a; Ketubot 104a; Sanhedrin 106b).

Islamic view

The angels of punishment as satans are recounted in Islam in the form of a hadith. According to which, a murderer is instructed to repent from their sins by leaving their evil environment and moving to a better one. However, they die on their way, thereupon a disagreement between the angels of mercy and the angels of punishment under the leadership of Iblīs (Satan) occurs, who may take the soul of the repenting murderer.^[6]

However, Satan did not have control over those angels as he had lost authority during the rebellion, instead tempting and manipulating others to do his dirty work.^{[citation needed]} As he was not the one committing the sin, punishment goes to the wrong doer, and Satan instead will become a victim along with other sinners from humankind to be tortured by those angels.^[7][8]

See also

• Abaddon
• Azrael
• Punishment of the Grave
• Dumah (angel)
• Death (personification)
• List of angels in theology
• Mastema
• Mot
• Samael
• Zabaniyah

References

1. Foster, Charles. c. 1879. The Story of the Bible from Genesis to Revelation Told in Simple Language for the Young. PA: Fifty Second Thousand.
2. Boustan, Ra'anan S.; Reed, Annette Yoshiko, eds. (2004). Heavenly Realms and Earthly Realities in Late Antique Religions. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0521121774.
3. Raphael, Simcha Paull. 2019. Jewish Views of the Afterlife. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 978-1-538-10346-3 p. 150
4. Caldwell, William (1913). "The Doctrine of Satan: II. Satan in Extra-Biblical Apocalyptical Literature". The Biblical World. 41 (2): 98–102. doi:10.1086/474708. JSTOR 3142425. S2CID 144698491.
5. Israel Meir Ha-Kohen. 2005. Above All Else: The Chofetz Chaim on Torah Study: Collected from His Writings, Volume 1. Feldheim Publishers. ISBN 9781583308004. p. 112
6. Awn, P. J. (1983). Satan's Tragedy and Redemption: Iblīs in Sufi Psychology. Niederlande: E.J. Brill. ^(p56)
7. Muhammad Husayn (1993). Toward a Better Understanding of Abū Al-ʻAlā'. p. 90. Retrieved 2 September 2023.
8. Muhammad al-Munajjid (2005). "How can Iblees be punished with fire when he has been created from it?". Islamqa. Islamqa. Retrieved 2 September 2023.

External links

• Jewish Encyclopedia Angel of Death
• Samael, Lilith, and the Destroyer