ἀρχάγγελος

Forms

ἀρχᾰ́γγελος (arkhángelos) m (genitive ἀρχᾰγγέλου); second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is a compound from Ancient Greek ἀρχι- (arkhi-) + ἄγγελος (ángelos, “messenger, angel”), “chief angel”.^[1][2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

It belongs to Jewish Greek: it is found in the Greek Book of Enoch, in Daniel in the Greek Old Testament, and in Philo.^[2][4][5]

Semantic evolution

In the New Testament the word occurs in the first letter to the Thessalonians, and in the letter of Jude, where it is used of Michael.^[5][6][2] It also appears in magical papyri and in non-Christian texts, such as Nicomachus, and in the Neoplatonist Damascius, for one who announces the first principles.^[4][6] Christian writers, from John Chrysostom and Pseudo-Dionysius on, made it a grade of the heavenly hierarchy.^[6]

The word passed into Coptic, recorded from about AD 350.^[7] It was also taken over as Latin archangelus and Old Church Slavonic арханг҄елъ (arxangʹjelŭ).^[1] It is still used in Greek as Modern Greek αρχάγγελος (archángelos).^[8]

Timeline

• 1st century BC to 1st century AD – Philo uses it in several treatises.^[5][2]
• 1st century AD – The first letter to the Thessalonians and the letter of Jude use it, the latter of Michael.^[2][6]
• 1st–2nd century AD – Nicomachus of Gerasa uses it outside the Jewish and Christian tradition.^[4][6]
• 3rd century AD – A magical papyrus invokes the archangels.^[4]
• About AD 350 – The borrowed word is first recorded in Coptic.^[7]
• 6th century AD – Procopius uses it of Michael.^[4][6]
• 1100–1669 – Medieval vernacular Greek keeps the noun, and it is still in use.^[8]

Meanings

Noun

1. An archangel, a chief angel; in particular, Michael.^[4][6][3]
2. (Christian) The second rank of the heavenly hierarchy.^[6]
3. (Neoplatonism) One who announces the first principles.^[6]

Related words

• ἄγγελος (ángelos)
• Latin archangelus

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Bauer, Walter; Danker, Frederick W., et al. (2000), A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, 3rd ed., Chicago: University of Chicago Press
3. ^ a b United Bible Societies (2023), UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament (revised Louw–Nida semantic domains), open-licence ed.
4. ^ a b c d e f Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
7. ^ a b Database and Dictionary of Greek Loanwords in Coptic (DDGLC), Freie Universität Berlin and Universität Leipzig
8. ^ a b Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr