When you picture an angel, you probably envision a beautiful human-like figure adorned with a white robe and radiant wings. Or perhaps you think of a tiny chubby baby with wings. We’ve see this same imagery time and time again in paintings and drawings from great artists throughout history. But according to Scripture, what do angels really look like?

As it turns out, describing what angels look like is not so simple. We see in the Bible several different accounts of angels displaying themselves in different ways. Angels are not of the physical world, instead they are spiritual beings that don’t even have to be visible at all, as seen in Colossians 1:16. For example, Elisha, the disciple of Elijah, prayed to reveal to his servant the angels protecting the city and the Lord made them visible to him.

Then he prayed, “O LORD, open his eyes, that he may see.” And the LORD opened the eyes of the servant, and he saw that the mountainside was filled with fiery chariots and horses around Elisha. – 2 Kings 6:17

When angels do appear in a physical form to us on Earth, they often come in the unsuspecting form of men. In the narrative of Genesis 18 and 19, Abraham first welcomes three visitors that at first appeared to be no more than travelers passing through. In the next chapter, two angels go to Sodom where they also assumed to be human visitors to the city. Although Angels appear predominantly as men, they can also appear as women as well.

Then I raised my eyes and saw two women coming forth with wind under their wings—they had wings like the wings of a stork—and they lifted the basket into the air. – Zechariah 5:9

At other times, angels may appear to humans as unusual figures. For example, Daniel saw an angel with arms and legs made of dazzling stones and polish metal, with a face like lightning in Daniel 10:5-6. The angel that rolled the stone away from the entrance to Jesus Christ’s tomb was seen to be radiating a bright light in Matthew 28:3. Quite possibly the strangest form an angel has taken is shown in Revelation 4:6-8, where a figure of a lion, calf, eagle, and human face covered in eyes is described.

“In the center and around the throne, there were four living creatures covered with eyes in front and in back. The first creature resembled a lion, the second was like a calf, the third had a face like that of a human being, and the fourth looked like an eagle in flight. The four living creatures, each of them with six wings, were covered with eyes inside and out.” – Revelation 4:6-8

What is certain about angels, however, is that they never appear to us as cute chubby infants. In fact, the usual response to first seeing an angel is to fall the ground and cower in fear. This is why the first words spoken by an angel are usually “Fear Not!”

Photo credit: Elena Nechiporenko / Shutterstock.com
Love uCATHOLIC?
Get our inspiring content delivered to your inbox every morning - FREE!

12 COMMENTS

  1. Dear St. Michael The Archangel,
    Please guide us today… we are on our way to meet and get our 2 new angel.
    Bless my doctor and nurses today.
    In Jesus name. Amen.

  2. The Arch Angels Michael, Gabriel an Raphael please intercede to Jesus for us. My niece is going for her test tomorrow and I leave her in your hands for protection and lead her to good health Amen. Thank you Jesus.

  3. I figure the angel as my guardian, especially at times that I can’t explain the happiness inside me when I call my angels to hug me.

  4. I’ve seen an angel. I was young and he appeared to be a teen boy, around 14. His Robe was a natural fabric. It could have been my guardian angel or maybe Jesus himself as a young boy. He was seated on the floor at the end of my bed. He turned his face to me, but didn’t say a word. Of course I freaked out and ran off. I’ll never forget him and I love telling the story.

  5. At other times, angels may appear to humans as unusual figures. For example, Daniel saw an angel with arms and legs made of dazzling stones and polish metal, with a face like lightning in Daniel 10:5-6.

    There is funny thing they used to say about god. God works through humans so as not to destroy the careful balance of the world least humanity be in vain. I know how that armour was built, what I don’t know is who or what wore it. The years still messed up due to the asmption that carbon dating is infalible while being set based on a point in history that came from a group that said they know the date is wrong. The catholic church sets year zero as the the fall of the roman empire. In english then then becomes christ’s birth the end of the holy roman empire or the dominion of christ. AntoDominoi is simply if you speak Italian but well English is a melting pot of cultures. But anyway so the armor of god or the Angelic Armour that shown like the sun, it is tempered high speed steel that is put into a cemerics kiln and slow fired until the glass and low carbon steel become granite. The swords use the same process, the edges are so sharp that you can not actually see the edge it is about ten edges of piece of paper from the edge and it is basically a glass edge. The process would have been possible back then but how they came up with the idea when everyone else was using zinc, copper, nickle and alum is very interesting.

    If you speak latin you can read the beutifaction of the virgin mary an unusal roman, you can see things about how the greeks were through of as hecula or hecules, and a great effort hectorum or a work of many greeks. So you can find where the stories hercules comes from. Someone in the dark ages saying I know who the greeks are who is hecula? must have been some great hero. Perocules is likely who it refers to from the greek illiad. still a h not a p in greek and s in latin and italian. hespirtos and espirtos is the key to understanding what the characters mean.

    Clearly God is there laughing at all of us thinking we are important when we have the very history books in front of us showing how little we are remembered in truth.

    Another good point is thus
    Mine home is neither in jungle or desert,
    None of my soliders live there,
    yet I am accused by King David’s High Priest’s Justice
    and his self important names of raping them of their souls.
    Upon reflecting upon mine reflection and the
    essence of the mater,
    I have deduced that everything in it’s own
    time and place, not at evil’s pacing,
    for mercies sake, tell them that
    I sleep only with women and only for
    their pleasure’s and mine’s consolation.
    I march to beat all mine own,
    and not the one mine advasary impinges mine
    character to suggest that all men captured
    by mine own are raped of their souls,
    over some drunken rambling of mine when
    comparing stories with caliphax? What
    care is what is said when one is drunk?
    It has reduced all mine own lifes work
    to a diltrabe of one of the greatest
    works dirsion of all that live within
    my 21 first parrabelum (longtitudal line
    but not the current curved ones).

    How many people say this as pray against evil but think it is about a kid in a field with a bunch of sheep? is that not what he was complaing about to the king of juda at the time?
    It is letters to david
    1 [Psalmus David.]
    Dominus regit me, et nihil mihi deerit:
    Mine Regal Domain, is neither jungle nor desert
    2 in loco pascuæ, ibi me collocavit.
    in the local tougne, inhibated by my followers,
    Super aquam refectionis educavit me;
    Reflecting upon mine image in water enlightens me to
    3 animam meam convertit.
    the very esseense of matter (meam is measure, convertit is soil)
    Deduxit me super semitas justitiæ
    Mine deduction about the high priests justice,
    propter nomen suum.
    and all proper names,
    4 Nam etsi ambulavero in medio umbræ mortis,
    The natural movement in maters of life and death,
    non timebo mala, quoniam tu mecum es.
    not at evils pacing, what for mercies want,
    Virga tua, et baculus tuus,
    Virgines for, and sexual pastimes,
    ipsa me consolata sunt.
    is mine only consulation,
    5 Parasti in conspectu meo mensam
    Marching in mine own distict flow,
    adversus eos qui tribulant me;
    than what mine advesery has attributed to me.
    impinguasti in oleo caput meum:
    suggusting (impinging) that all men surender to me,
    et calix meus inebrians, quam præclarus est!
    at mine drunken rambling, what particule care is?
    6 Et misericordia tua subsequetur me
    And in shared misery for mine subquntial
    omnibus diebus vitæ meæ;
    ditrabate of all mine life works.
    et ut inhabitem in domo Domini
    and it all the primary lands
    in longitudinem dierum.
    of the 21 E longitude line.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here