Fallen angels are angels who were expelled from Heaven. The literal term "fallen angel" does not appear in any Abrahamic religious texts, but is used to describe angels cast out of heaven. Such angels are often described as corrupting humanity by teaching forbidden knowledge or by tempting them into sin. Common motifs for their expulsion are lust, pride, envy, or an attempt to usurp divinity.
The earliest appearance of the concept of fallen angels may be found in Canaanite beliefs about the bənē hāʾĔlōhīm ('sons of God'), expelled from the divine court. Hêlêl ben Šāḥar is thrown down from heaven for claiming equality with ʻElyōn. Such stories were later collected in the Hebrew Bible (Christian Old Testament) and appear in pseudepigraphic Jewish apocalyptic literature. The concept of fallen angels derives from the assumption that the "sons of God" () mentioned in Genesis 6:1–4 or the Book of Enoch are angels. In the period immediately preceding the composition of the New Testament, some groups of Second Temple Judaism identified these "sons of God" as fallen angels.
During the late Second Temple period the Nephilim were considered to be the monstrous offspring of fallen angels and human women. In such accounts, God sends the Great Deluge to purge the world of these creatures; their bodies are destroyed, yet their souls survive, thereafter roaming the earth as demons. Rabbinic Judaism and early Christian authorities after the third century rejected the Enochian writings and the notion of an illicit union between angels and women.
Christian theology teaches that the sins of fallen angels occur before the beginning of human history. Accordingly, fallen angels became identified with those led by Lucifer in rebellion against God, also equated with demons. The angelic origin of demons was important for Christianity insofar as Christian monotheism holds that evil is a corruption of goodness rather than an independent ontological principle. Conceptualizing fallen angels as purely spiritual beings, both good and evil angels were envisioned as rational beings without bodily limitations. Thus, Western Christian philosophy also implemented the fall of angels as a thought experiment about how evil could occur from within the mind without external influences and explores questions regarding morality.
The Quran refers to motifs reminiscent of fallen angels in earlier Abrahamic writings. However, the interpretation of these beings is disputed. Some Muslim exegetes regard Satan () to be an angel, while others do not. According to the viewpoint of Ibn Abbas (619–687), Iblis was an angel created from fire (), while according to Hasan of Basra (642–728), he was the progenitor of the jinn.Akbari, Mahtab, and Reza Ashrafzadeh. "A comparative study of the image of the devil in the logic of Attar Attar and the commentary of Abolfotuh Razi." Propósitos y representaciones 9.2 (2021): 100.Öztürk, Mustafa. "The Tragic Story of Iblis (Satan) in the Qur’an." Journal of Islamic Research 2.2 (2009): 128-144. Harut and Marut are a pair of angels mentioned in the Quran who are often said to have fallen to earth due to their negative remarks on humanity.
Fallen angels further appear throughout both Christian and Islamic popular culture, as in Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy (1308–1320) and John Milton's Paradise Lost (1667).
Canaanite origin The Elohist sources speak of bənē hāʾĔlōhīm ("sons of God"), manifestations of the Divine (ʾēl) and part of the heavenly court in the Canaanite pantheon.Russell, Jeffrey Burton. The devil: Perceptions of evil from antiquity to primitive Christianity. Cornell University Press, 1987. p.184 According to Genesis 6:1–4 the bənē hāʾĔlōhīm descended to earth and mated with human women and begat the Nephilim, followed by God sending down a flood to clean the world from humans.Russell, Jeffrey Burton. The devil: Perceptions of evil from antiquity to primitive Christianity. Cornell University Press, 1987. p. 185
A passage from the Book of Psalms, although at least five hundred years apart from the passage in Genesis, speaks about a similar heavenly court. According to the text, God delivers judgement upon the gods by turning them into mortals. Although the text does not imply that the gods fell from heaven, it parallels their descent from immortality to mortality. Unlike Genesis, the text is silent about the sins of the gods.
As evident from the Hebrew Bible, in later Hebrew tradition, angels became identified with stars. As such, the Book of Isaiah, narrating the fall of a deity in the form of a celestial object, serves as a template for the later belief in fallen angels.Russell, Jeffrey Burton. The devil: Perceptions of evil from antiquity to primitive Christianity. Cornell University Press, 1987. p. 196 According to the Book of Isaiah, Hêlêl ben Šāḥar, son of Šāḥar, known from the Ugaritic poem of Shachar (dawn) and Shalim (dusk), claims equality with ʻElyōn and is then thrown down into the abyss as means of punishment.Russell, Jeffrey Burton. The devil: Perceptions of evil from antiquity to primitive Christianity. Cornell University Press, 1987. p. 197Bamberger, Bernard J. (2006). Fallen angels : soldiers of Satan's realm (first paperback ed.). Philadelphia, Pa.: Jewish Publ. Soc. of America. p. 9-10
Second Temple period
Fallen angels frequently appear in pseudepigraphic Jewish apocalyptic religious texts dated to the Second Temple period between 530 BC and 70 AD: in the Book of Enoch, the Book of Jubilees, and the Qumran Book of Giants. Genesis 6:1–4 serves as the template for the story, but it is unclear if the same myth has existed in the Canaanite period.Lester L. Grabbe, An Introduction to First Century Judaism: Jewish Religion and History in the Second Temple Period (Continuum International Publishing Group 1996 ), p. 101
Some scholars consider it most likely that the Jewish tradition of fallen angels predates, even in written form, the composition of Gen 6:1–4.Lester L. Grabbe, A History of the Jews and Judaism in the Second Temple Period (Continuum 2004 ), p. 344Matthew Black, The Book of Enoch or I Enoch: A New English Edition with Commentary and Textual Notes (Brill 1985 ), p. 14 In the Book of Enoch, these Watchers "fell" after they became "enamored" with human women. The Second Book of Enoch (Slavonic Enoch) refers to the same beings of the (First) Book of Enoch, as Grigori in the Greek transcription.Andrei A. Orlov, Dark Mirrors: Azazel and Satanael in Early Jewish Demonology (SUNY Press 2011 ), p. 164 Compared to the other Books of Enoch, fallen angels play a less significant role in 3 Enoch. 3 Enoch mentions only three fallen angels called Azael, Azza and Uzza. Similar to The first Book of Enoch, they taught sorcery on earth, causing corruption.Annette Yoshiko Reed Fallen Angels and the History of Judaism and Christianity: The Reception of Enochic Literature Cambridge University Press 2005 p. 256 Unlike the first Book of Enoch, there is no mention of the reason for their fall and, according to 3 Enoch 4.6, they also later appear in heaven objecting to the presence of Enoch.
1 Enoch
According to 1 Enoch 7.2, the Watchers become "enamoured" with human women and have intercourse with them. The offspring of these unions, and the knowledge they were giving, corrupt human beings and the earth (1 Enoch 10.11–12). Eminent among these angels are Samyaza and Azazel. Like many other fallen angels mentioned in 1 Enoch 8.1–9, Azazel introduces men to "forbidden arts", and it is Azazel who is rebuked by Enoch himself for illicit instruction, as stated in 1 Enoch 13.1.Ra'anan S. Boustan, Annette Yoshiko Reed Heavenly Realms and Earthly Realities in Late Antique Religions Cambridge University Press 2004 p. 60 According to 1 Enoch 10.6, God sends the archangel Raphael to chain Azazel in the desert Dudael as punishment. Further, Azazel is blamed for the corruption of earth:
An etiological interpretation of 1 Enoch deals with the origin of evil. By shifting the origin of mankind's sin and their misdeeds to illicit angel instruction, evil is attributed to something supernatural from without. This motif, in 1 Enoch, differs from that of later Jewish and Christian theology; in the latter evil is something from within.Annette Yoshiko Reed Fallen Angels and the History of Judaism and Christianity: The Reception of Enochic Literature Cambridge University Press 2005 p. 6 According to a paradigmatic interpretation, 1 Enoch might deal with illicit marriages between priests and women. As evident from Leviticus 21:1–15, priests were prohibited to marry impure women. Accordingly, the fallen angels in 1 Enoch are the priests counterpart, who defile themselves by marriage. Just like the angels are expelled from heaven, the priests are excluded from their service at the altar. Unlike most other apocalyptic writings, 1 Enoch reflects a growing dissatisfaction with the priestly establishments in Jerusalem in the 3rd century BC. The paradigmatic interpretation parallels the Adamic myth in regard of the origin of evil: In both cases, transcending one's own limitations inherent in their own nature causes their fall. This contrasts the etiological interpretation, which implies another power besides God, in heaven. The latter solution therefore poorly fits into monotheistic thought.SUTER, DAVID. Fallen Angel, Fallen Priest: The Problem of Family Purity in 1 Enoch 6—16. Hebrew Union College Annual, vol. 50, 1979, pp. 115–135. JSTOR, Otherwise, the introduction to illicit knowledge might reflect a rejection of foreign Hellenistic culture. Accordingly, the fallen angels represent creatures of Greek mythology, which introduced forbidden arts, used by Hellenistic kings and generals, resulting in oppression of Jews.George W. E. Nickelsburg. "Apocalyptic and Myth in 1 Enoch 6–11." Journal of Biblical Literature, vol. 96, no. 3, 1977, pp. 383–405
2 Enoch The concept of fallen angels is also in the Second Book of Enoch. It tells about Enoch's ascent through the layers of heaven. During his journey, he encounters fallen angels imprisoned in the 2nd heaven. At first, he decides to pray for them, but refuses to do so, since he himself as merely human, would not be worthy to pray for angels. In the 5th heaven however, he meets other rebellious angels, here called Grigori, remaining in grief, not joining the heavenly hosts in song. Enoch tries to cheer them up by telling about his prayers for their fellow angels and thereupon they join the heavenly liturgy.Annette Yoshiko Reed Fallen Angels and the History of Judaism and Christianity: The Reception of Enochic Literature Cambridge University Press 2005 pp. 103–104
Strikingly, the text refers to the leader of the Grigori as Satanail and not as Azael or Shemyaza, as in the other Books of Enoch.Andrei Orlov, Gabriele Boccaccini New Perspectives on 2 Enoch: No Longer Slavonic Only Brill 2012 pp. 150, 164 But the Grigori are identified with the Watchers of 1 Enoch.
The narration of the Grigori in 2 Enoch 18:1–7, who went down on to earth, married women and "befouled the earth with their deeds", resulting in their confinement under the earth, shows that the author of 2 Enoch knew about the stories in 1 Enoch. The longer recension of 2 Enoch, chapter 29 refers to angels who were "thrown out from the height" when their leader tried to become equal in rank with the Lord's power (2 Enoch 29:1–4), an idea probably taken from Ancient Canaanite religion about Attar, trying to rule the throne of Baal.Howard Schwartz Tree of Souls: The Mythology of Judaism Oxford University Press 2006 p. 108
Jubilees