Angela Is Not in the Bible — but Angelos Means Messenger

Names and Their Biblical MeaningsSee all 223 articles in this series

Angela is not a name in the Bible. The word behind it is, several hundred times, and it does not mean what most people think.

Angela comes from the Greek angelos, which means messenger. That is the whole of it.

The word had no religious content on its own. A runner carrying news was an angelos. The word describes a job.

A blessing card for Angela

Angela

means messenger

Greek, from angelos

Not in the Bible

Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it.

Hebrews 13:2 Berean Standard Bible

Angela, may the LORD bless you and keep you. Numbers 6:24

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When the New Testament calls a being an angel, it is naming the errand rather than the species.

Hebrews puts it flatly: Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation? (Hebrews 1:14)

Sent to serve. The whole chapter before it has been arguing that the Son is not one of them, and the argument only works because angels are defined by being sent.

Gabriel introduces himself the same way: I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to tell you this good news. (Luke 1:19)

Two facts about himself: where he stands, and that he was sent.

Worth saying, because the popular picture has drifted a long way from the text.

They are not people who have died. Scripture never suggests anyone becomes one.

They are not to be worshipped, and the New Testament records the correction twice. John falls at the feet of one and is told: Don’t do that! I am a fellow servant with you… Worship God! (Revelation 19:10)

And they are not reliably comforting to meet. The first thing they say, over and over, is do not be afraid — which is not the sort of thing anyone has to say to a reassuring visitor.

And the verse that gives the name its best turn:

Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it. (Hebrews 13:2)

Without knowing it. The messenger was not recognisable, and that is presented as the normal case.

It is a quiet sentence with a sharp edge. The instruction is not to look out for angels. It is to treat strangers well, because the category of “just a stranger” is less reliable than we assume.

The name’s best-known bearer was a thirteenth-century Italian widow whose account of her own conversion is unusually frank about how bad she had been and how long it took.

She dictated it, since she could not write. That is worth knowing about a body of Christian writing that is often assumed to be the work of the literate.

May we carry what we were given to carry, and not add to it.

May we treat strangers as though we cannot tell, because we cannot.

And may we be unremarkable messengers of something worth the trip.

Is Angela a biblical name?

Not as a name. The Greek angelos behind it appears throughout the New Testament, and it means messenger.

What does Angela mean?

Messenger. The word described a job before it described a being.

Do people become angels when they die?

Scripture nowhere says so. Angels are a separate created order, defined by being sent (Hebrews 1:14).

What does Hebrews 13:2 mean?

That some have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it. The instruction is to treat strangers well, not to look out for angels.

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More from this seriesNames and Their Biblical MeaningsSee all 223 articles