XLVIII
OF ANGELS, GENII, AND DEVILS OF THE ANCIENT NATIONS, AND AMONGST THE JEWS
EVERY THING has its source in the nature of the human mind; all men in power, magistrates, and princes, had their messengers; it is probable, that the gods had also theirs. The Chaldeans and Persians seem to be the first people who mentioned angels. The Parsees, a religious sect that worshipped fire, and still subsist, communicated to the author of the religion of the ancient Parsees, the names of the several angels which the primitive Parsees acknowledged. They amounted to an hundred and nineteen, amongst which we meet with neither the name of Raphael, nor that of Gabriel, the Parsees having adopted them long afterwards. The names are Chaldean, and were unknown to the Jews before their captivity; for before the history of Tobit, we do not meet with the name of any angel, either in the Pentateuch, or the other Hebrew books.
The Persians in their ancient catalogue prefixed to the Sadder, reckoned but twelve devils, of which Arimanes was the chief. It afforded them at least some consolation, to reflect that there were more good genii in the world than demons, the foes of mankind.
We do not find that this doctrine was followed by the Egyptians. The Greeks, instead of tutelary genii, had their subordinate or secondary deities, their heroes, and demi-gods. Instead of devils, they had their Ates, Erinnis, and Eumenides. Plato, I think, was the first who spoke of a good and evil genius presiding over the actions of men. After him, both the Greeks and Romans piqued themselves upon each having his two genii; the evil one having more business and more success than his antagonist.
When the Jews had, at length, given names to their celestial militia, they divided them into ten distinct classes; namely, the saints, the rapid, the strong, the flames, the sparks, the deputies, the princes, the sons of princes, the images, the animated. But the muster-roll of this hierarchy is only to be found in the Talmud and the Targum, and not in the writings of the Hebrew canon.
These angels had constantly the human form, and thus are they still represented with the addition of wings. Raphael conducted Tobit. The angels that appeared to Abraham and to Lot eat and drank with these patriarchs; and the savage fury of the inhabitants of Sodom too strongly proves, that the angels of Lot were corporeal beings. It would, indeed, be difficult to comprehend how angels could have converted with men, and how these could have answered them, if they had not appeared in a human form.
The Jews had no other idea even of God. He speaks the human tongue with Adam and Eve; he even speaks to the serpent; he walks in the garden of Eden at mid-day. He deigned to converse with Abraham, with the patriarchs, and with Moses. There have been more commentators than one who have imagined that these words of Genesis, “let us make man like unto our image,” should be understood literally; that the most perfect of earthly beings was a feeble resemblance of the form of his creator; and that this idea should induce men never to degenerate.
Though the form of the rebellious angels, and their transformation into demons, be the foundation both of the Jewish and Christian religion, it is remarkable that no mention is made of it either in Genesis, the books of the law, or in any other canonical writings. In Genesis, we are expressly told, that a serpent spoke to Eve, and seduced her. It is there also observed, that the serpent was the most cunning and subtle of all the beasts of the field; and we have before observed, that this was the opinion of all nations in regard to the serpent. It is farther positively asserted in Genesis, that the hatred of mankind towards the serpent arises from the ill office done by that creature to human kind: that from this time, it has endeavored to bite us, and we have endeavored to crush it; and that for its bad actions it is condemned in these words, “upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life.” It must be confessed, indeed, that serpents do not eat dust; but all the people of antiquity believed they did.
We are inclined to believe that occasion hath been taken from this representation to persuade mankind that this serpent was one of the rebellious angels transformed into demons, who came to avenge himself upon the works of God, and to corrupt them. There is not a single passage however in the Pentateuch from which we can make this inference, by the feeble light of human reason.
Satan appears, in Job, to be the master of the earth, subordinate to God; but is there a man a little versed in antiquity, who knows not that Satan is a Chaldean word; that this Satan was the Arimanius of the Persians, adopted by the Chaldeans, the evil spirit that prevailed over man? Job is represented as an Arabian pastor, living upon the confines of Persia. We have already observed that the Arabian words retained in the Hebrew translation of this ancient allegory evince that the book was first written by the Arabians. Flavian Josephus, who does not include it among the writings of the Hebrew canon, removes all doubt upon this head.
Demons and devils, who were banished from a globe of heaven, precipitated into the center of our globe, and escaping from their prison to tempt mankind, have been considered for many ages as the authors of our damnation. But in this case, as in the former, this is an opinion of which no mention is made in the Old Testament. It is a traditional fact.
Some commentators have said, that this passage of Isaiah, “How hast thou fallen from the sky, O Lucifer, who didst appear in the morning?” implies the fall of the angels; and that it was Lucifer who disguised himself in the shape of a serpent to induce Eve and her husband, to eat the apple.
But in truth so foreign an allegory resembles those enigmas, which school-boys were formerly taught to believe. A picture, for example, was displayed of an old man and a young woman. One said this was winter and spring; another snow and fire; another a rose and a thorn, or strength and weakness: and he who solved it the most foreign to the purpose, who gave the most extraordinary explanation, gained the prize.
It is precisely the same with regard to the singular application of the morning-star to the devil. Isaiah, chap. xiv insulting the death of a king of Babylon, says to him, “The whole earth is at rest, and is quiet; they break forth in rejoicing and singing. Yea, the fir trees rejoice at thee; and the cedars of Lebanon, saying, Since thou art laid down no feller is come amongst us. Thy pomp is brought down to the grave, and the noise of the viols: the worm is spread under thee, and the worms cover thee. How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer (Helel), son of the morning? how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations?”
This Helel is translated into Latin by the word Lucifer; and this name has been since given to the devil, though there certainly is very little connection between the devil and the morning-star. It has been imagined that this devil, being a star fallen from heaven, was an angel who had waged war against God; he could not do it alone, he must therefore have had accomplices. The fable of the giants armed against the gods, and who were spread through every nation, is, according to many commentators, a profane imitation of the tradition, which teaches us that angels had risen against their masters. This notion received fresh strength from the epistle of St. Jude, where it is said, “And the angels, which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness, unto the judgment of the great day. Woe unto them, for they have gone in the way of Cain, and Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints, etc.”
It has been imagined by some, that Enoch left a written history of the fallen angels. But to this there are two objections. In the first place, Enoch wrote as little as Seth, to whom, nevertheless, the Jews impute some writings: and as to the false Enoch, cited by St. Jude, his testimony is acknowledged to be forged by a Jew. Secondly, this false Enoch says not a word of the rebellion or fall of the angels before the formation of man. He says word for word in his Egregori, or, as they are styled in our version, the “sons of God.”
“The number of men being prodigiously increased, they had very handsome daughters; the angels watching over them, Egregori, became enamored, and were led into many errors. They were provoked, and said among themselves, let us choose wives for ourselves amongst the daughters of the men of the earth. Semianas, their prince, said, I am afraid that you dare not accomplish such a design, and that I alone shall be answerable for the crime. They all replied, let us vow to execute our design, and let us be anathematized, if we fail. They united themselves then by oath, and uttered imprecations. They were two hundred in number. They sat out together in the time of Jared, and went upon the mountains called Hermonim, on account of their oath. The names of their chiefs were, Semiaxas, Atarculph, Araciel, Chobabiel Hosampsich, Zaciel Parmar, Thousael, Samiel, Tiril, Sumiel.
“These and the rest took women unto them, in the year eleven hundred and seventy of the creation of the world. From this commerce sprung three generations of men, the giants Naphilim, etc.”
The author of this fragment writes in a style, which seems to belong to the primitive times; it carries with it the same simplicity. He names the personages, and does not forget the dates; but without either reflections or maxims: this is the ancient oriental manner.
We see that this story is founded on Genesis, chap. vi. “There were giants in the earth in those days; and even after that when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bore children to them; the same became mighty men, which were of old men of renown.”
Both the book of Enoch and Genesis perfectly agree, in regard to the copulation of these angels, or sons of God, with the daughters of men, and also as to the race of giants, their issue. But neither this book of Enoch, nor any one of the Old Testament, mentions a syllable of the war of the angels against God, their defeat, their descent into hell, nor of their enmity to mankind.
No mention is made of evil spirits, or the devil, but in the allegory of Job, which we have spoken of, and which is not a Jewish book; and in the adventure of Tobit. The devil Asmodea, or Shammadey, who killed the first seven husbands of Sarah, and whom Raphael dislodged with the smoke of a fish’s liver, was not a Jew devil, but a Persian. Raphael went and chained him in Upper Egypt; but it is certain, that the Jews having no idea of hell, they could not have any of devils. They began, very late, to believe in a hell and the immortality of the soul; and this was not till the sect of the Pharisees prevailed. They were, therefore, very far from thinking the serpent which tempted Eve was a devil, or fallen angel, precipitated into hell. This opinion, which serves as the foundation-stone of the whole edifice, was laid down last of all. Not that we have the less reverence for the history of the fallen angels; but we know not whence to deduce its origin.
Beelzebub, Belphegor, and Astorath, were called devils; but these were ancient gods of Syria. Belphegor was the god who presided over marriage; Beelzebub, or Bel-se-buth, signified the Lord who preserved insects. Even king Okosias had consulted him as a god, to know if he would be cured of a disorder; and Elijah, who was affronted at this step, said, “Is there no God in Israel, that the God of the Alcoran must be consulted?”
Astorath signified the moon, and the moon did not expect to be transformed into a devil.
The apostle Jude says again, “that the devil quarreled with the angel Michael about the body of Moses.” But we find nothing similar to this in the Jewish canons. This dispute of Michael with the devil, is only in an apocryphal book, entitled the Analysis of Moses, quoted by Origen in the third Book of his Principii.
It is therefore certain, that the Jews acknowledged no devils, till about the time of their captivity in Babylon. They borrowed this doctrine from the Persians, who had it from Zoroaster.
These facts cannot be disputed, except by ignorance, fanaticism, or want of candor; and we should add, that religion has nothing to dread from the consequences. God certainly allowed the belief of good and evil genii, of the immortality of the soul, and of eternal rewards and punishments, to be received by twenty different nations before it reached the Jews. Our holy religion has consecrated those doctrines; it has established what the others had only a glimpse of; and that which among the ancients was nothing more than an opinion, has become by revelation one of the divine truths.