# Do Jews Believe in Angels? > Maimonides says angels are forms with no bodies, and that fire and wings in the prophets are parables. The Torah still narrates angels who meet people. The Catholic Catechism adds a guardian beside each believer. - Canonical: https://apologetics.wiki/judaism/do-jews-believe-in-angels - Religions: Judaism - Denominations: none - Beliefs: none - Tags: angels, michael, maimonides - Updated: 2026-10-13 Jews receive the Torah’s narratives of angels, and Maimonides teaches that angels have no bodies. In the Mishneh Torah he says fiery or winged angels in the prophets are prophetic visions and parables. [(1)](#ref-1) The [Catechism of the Catholic Church](https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P1A.HTM) [(2)](#ref-2) also teaches that angels are real spiritual creatures, and Catechism 336 adds a sentence he does not teach: beside each believer stands an angel as protector. The Hebrew word is מַלְאָךְ (malʾakh, H4397), “messenger,” on the [word page](/bible/hebrew/malakhe-h4397). ## Key Points - Mishneh Torah, Foundations of the Torah 2.3, Eliyahu Touger’s translation: angels are “forms which are separate from each other,” creations which have form but no matter, and “the angels do not possess bodies or corporeal being.” [(1)](#ref-1) - Foundations of the Torah 2.4: “What is meant by the prophets’ statements that they saw an angel of fire or with wings? All these are prophetic visions and parables.” The same paragraph says the angels do not have physical bodies or weight. [(1)](#ref-1) - Foundations of the Torah 2.7 lists ten names. One of them is malʾachim. The lowest level, ishim, is the level that communicates with the prophets in visions. [(1)](#ref-1) - [Genesis 19:1](/bible/genesis/19/1) [(3)](#ref-3) says two angels came to Sodom. [Genesis 28:12](/bible/genesis/28/12) says the angels of God were ascending and descending. [Exodus 23:20](/bible/exodus/23/20) [(4)](#ref-4) says, “Behold, I send an Angel before thee.” - [Daniel 10:13](/bible/daniel/10/13) [(5)](#ref-5) calls Michael “one of the chief princes.” [Daniel 12:1](/bible/daniel/12/1) calls him “the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people.” [Catechism 336](https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P1A.HTM) [(2)](#ref-2) is the Christian sentence about a guardian angel. It is not a sentence of Maimonides. ## Angels Without Bodies Mishneh Torah, Foundations of the Torah 2.4, Eliyahu Touger’s translation on Sefaria: [(1)](#ref-1) > What is meant by the prophets’ statements that they saw an angel of fire or with wings? All these are prophetic visions and parables, similarly, the angels do not have physical bodies, nor do they have weight, as bodies do. He compares that language to Deuteronomy 4:24, “God, your Lord, is consuming fire,” which he reads as metaphor, and to Psalm 104:4, “He makes His angels as winds.” [(1)](#ref-1) Foundations of the Torah 2.3 puts angels in a third class of creatures: not bodies that come and go, and not the spheres, but forms with no matter at all. “The angels do not possess bodies or corporeal being, but rather are forms which are separate from each other.” Foundations of the Torah 2.7 says the different names reflect levels. The list includes the holy chayyot, ofanim, erʾelim, chashmalim, serafim, malʾachim, elohim, the sons of the elohim, keruvim, and ishim. Ishim, “men,” are the tenth and lowest, the ones who communicate with the prophets and are perceived in prophetic visions. [(1)](#ref-1) He does not say angels are an illusion in the sense that the Torah invented them. He says the bodily pictures are parables, and the forms are real. ## Angels in the Torah and in Daniel The narratives still tell of angels who meet people. [Genesis 19:1](/bible/genesis/19/1) [(3)](#ref-3): two angels came to Sodom at evening, and Lot bowed. [Genesis 28:12](/bible/genesis/28/12): Jacob dreamed of a ladder, “and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it.” [Exodus 23:20](/bible/exodus/23/20) [(4)](#ref-4): “Behold, I send an Angel before thee, to keep thee in the way, and to bring thee into the place which I have prepared.” [Daniel 10:13](/bible/daniel/10/13) [(5)](#ref-5): “Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me.” [Daniel 12:1](/bible/daniel/12/1): “And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people.” The verses call him one of the chief princes and the great prince of Daniel’s people. They do not call him God’s strongest angel, and they do not give him a brother. [What Is Saint Michael the Archangel Patron Saint Of?](/catholic/what-is-saint-michael-the-archangel-patron-saint-of) is the Catholic sentences about Michael. [Jude 9](/bible/jude/1/9) is the New Testament verse in which Michael contends about the body of Moses. [Psalm 91:11](/bible/psalms/91/11) [(6)](#ref-6): “For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.” That is a charge given to angels. It is not Maimonides’ list of ten levels, and it is not Catechism 336. ## A Guardian Beside Each Believer [Catechism 328](https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P1A.HTM) [(2)](#ref-2) says the existence of the spiritual, non-corporeal beings that Scripture usually calls angels is a truth of faith. [Catechism 330](https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P1A.HTM) says that as purely spiritual creatures, angels have intelligence and will, and that they are personal and immortal. Those two paragraphs sit near Maimonides’ “no bodies.” They are still the Church’s text, not his. [Catechism 336](https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P1A.HTM) [(2)](#ref-2) goes further: “From infancy to death human life is surrounded by their watchful care and intercession. ‘Beside each believer stands an angel as protector and shepherd leading him to life.’” That guardian sentence is Christian teaching. Maimonides’ chapters quoted here do not say it. [Do Catholics Believe in Ghosts?](/catholic/do-catholics-believe-in-ghosts) uses Catechism 328 to separate angels from the souls of the dead. Christians confess that these creatures belong to the Son. [The Trinity](/christianity/the-trinity) is the confession that Jesus is God. [Matthew 28:19](/bible/matthew/28/19) names the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit in one baptism. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### Do Jews Believe in Guardian Angels? [Psalm 91:11](/bible/psalms/91/11) [(6)](#ref-6) says God gives his angels charge over the person who dwells in the secret place of the Most High, which is the psalm’s setting in [Psalm 91:1](/bible/psalms/91/1). Maimonides, in the paragraphs above, explains angels as bodiless forms and prophetic pictures. He does not say that one angel stands beside each believer from infancy to death. That sentence is [Catechism 336](https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P1A.HTM) [(2)](#ref-2). ### Who Is Michael in Judaism? [Daniel 10:13](/bible/daniel/10/13) [(5)](#ref-5) calls Michael one of the chief princes. [Daniel 12:1](/bible/daniel/12/1) calls him the great prince who stands for the children of Daniel’s people, and says that at that time the people written in the book shall be delivered. The verses do not rank him against every other creature, and they do not tell a story of a rival angel who fell. [What Is Saint Michael the Archangel Patron Saint Of?](/catholic/what-is-saint-michael-the-archangel-patron-saint-of) is a later Catholic account of patronage. ### Do Jews and Christians Mean the Same Thing by Angel? Both read Genesis, Exodus, Daniel, and the Psalms. Maimonides adds that wings and fire are parables and that angels have no bodies. [(1)](#ref-1) The Catechism adds that angels are a truth of faith, personal and immortal, and that a protector stands beside each believer. [(2)](#ref-2) The word page for מַלְאָךְ ([malak, H4397](/bible/hebrew/malakhe-h4397)) is the Hebrew lemma behind “angel” in those narratives. ## Keep Reading - [What Do Jews Believe?](/judaism/what-do-jews-believe) - [Do Jews Believe in Original Sin?](/judaism/do-jews-believe-in-original-sin) - [Do Jews Believe in the Old Testament?](/judaism/do-jews-believe-in-the-old-testament) - [What Is Saint Michael the Archangel Patron Saint Of?](/catholic/what-is-saint-michael-the-archangel-patron-saint-of) - [Do Catholics Believe in Ghosts?](/catholic/do-catholics-believe-in-ghosts) - [Judaism](/judaism) - [Common Arguments](/common-arguments/judaism#do-jews-believe-in-angels) ## Passages Quoted on This Page ### Genesis 19:1 King James Version. > And there came two angels to Sodom at even; and Lot sat in the gate of Sodom: and Lot seeing them rose up to meet them; and he bowed himself with his face toward the ground; ### Genesis 28:12 King James Version. > And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it. ### Daniel 10:13 King James Version. > But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one and twenty days: but, lo, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me; and I remained there with the kings of Persia. ### Daniel 12:1 King James Version. > And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book. ### Jude 1:9 King James Version. > Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee. ### Matthew 28:19 King James Version. > Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: ### Psalms 91:1 King James Version. > He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. ## Sources Numbered to match the HTML References list. Item 1 is `#ref-1` under `#references`. Scripture links to the King James Version on this site. 1. [Mishneh Torah, Foundations of the Torah, 2.3–2.7](https://www.sefaria.org/Mishneh_Torah,_Foundations_of_the_Torah.2.4?lang=en) (English by Eliyahu Touger, Moznaim Publishing, CC-BY-NC, on Sefaria. Angels as forms without matter, and fiery or winged visions as parables.) 2. [Catechism of the Catholic Church, 328; 330; 336](https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P1A.HTM) 3. [Book of Genesis, 19:1; 28:12](https://apologetics.wiki/bible/genesis/19/1). King James Version 4. [Book of Exodus, 23:20](https://apologetics.wiki/bible/exodus/23/20). King James Version 5. [Book of Daniel, 10:13; 12:1](https://apologetics.wiki/bible/daniel/10/13). King James Version 6. [Book of Psalms, 91:11](https://apologetics.wiki/bible/psalms/91/11). King James Version ## See Also - [What Is Saint Michael the Archangel Patron Saint Of?](https://apologetics.wiki/catholic/what-is-saint-michael-the-archangel-patron-saint-of) — A Holy See bulletin calls Saint Michael patron and protector of the Italian State Police and the Vatican Gendarmerie. The Catechism names him in the liturgy with Gabriel and Raphael. Jehovah’s Witnesses identify Michael with Jesus on another page. - [Do Jews Believe in Original Sin?](https://apologetics.wiki/judaism/do-jews-believe-in-original-sin) — Maimonides says each person can be righteous like Moses or wicked like Jeroboam, and that God does not decree either at birth. The Catholic Catechism teaches a sin transmitted from Adam that is not a personal fault. - [Do Jews Believe in the Old Testament?](https://apologetics.wiki/judaism/do-jews-believe-in-the-old-testament) — Jews receive the Tanakh, twenty-four books in the count Chabad publishes, under the names Torah, Prophets, and Writings. That list is not titled the Old Testament, and it does not include the New Testament. - [Does Judaism Believe in Heaven?](https://apologetics.wiki/judaism/does-judaism-believe-in-heaven) — The Mishnah says all Israel have a portion in the world to come. Maimonides says that world is life without a body, and that the righteous delight in the radiance of the Divine Presence. Daniel 12 says the dead will awake. - [Is the Sabbath Saturday or Sunday? Must Christians Keep It?](https://apologetics.wiki/judaism/is-the-sabbath-saturday-or-sunday) — The Sabbath in Exodus is the seventh day, Saturday. The apostles also met on the first day of the week, and Colossians 2 calls sabbath days a shadow. Christians are not bound to keep Saturday.