Darrell D. Hannah and Angels As Mediators in Ancient Judaism

From the book, Michael and Christ: Michael Traditions and Angel Christology in Early Christianity. Tubingen: Mohr Siebeck, 1999 (Wissenschaftlicbe Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament: Reihe 2; 109), ISBN 3-16-147054-0.

Page 18: While it is not a common motif in OT angelology we do on occasion encounter angelic intercessors and mediators on behalf of humanity (Job 5.1, 16.19, 33.23-28; Zech. 1.12-13). This also seems to fit the royal court pattern; angels intercede for men and women just as members of the
royal court could intercede with the Monarch for those outside the court (cf. Esther 4). This theme will find a great deal of development in later, especially apocalyptic, literature.20 On the other hand, just as an ancient court might contain those who would intercede and defend commoners, so
they could also include those who would serve as public accusers. We find this reflected in the folk tale which frames the book Job (1-2 and 42.7-17). The "Accuser" or "Adversary" here will later develop into the embodiment of evil known as Satan or the Devil, a process already under way in Zech. 3 and 1 Chron. 21.1.21

Page 44: In a related passage, the patriarch Dan instructs his children concerning, apparently, the same angel: "Draw near to God and to the angel who intercedes for you, because he is the mediator between God and men for the peace of Israel. He shall stand in opposition to the kingdom of the enemy" (TDan. 6.2). Three verses later this angel is further identified as ό αγγβλος της ειρήνης. Some have thought this passage suspect. It certainly is very similar to I Tim. 2.5: Έΐς yáp θεός, εις και μεσίτης θεού και ανθρώτων, άνθρωτος Χριστός ' Ιησούς. Hollander and de Jonge‚ who believe the Testaments is essentially a Christian work, view this passage as evidence of a primitive angel Christology.88 Hurtado would rather describe the phrase which parallels 1 Tim. 2.5 as a Christian interpolation. While this is certainly possible, there is nothing specifically Christian about the passage. As we have seen, an angelic mediator between God and humanity could appear in Jewish as well as Christian works.89 If the phrase "mediator between God and men" is not rejected as an interpolation, then it may reflect the tradition that Michael was a heavenly mediator for humanity in general.90

Online Sources for Origen's Angelology

https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/opth-2020-0158/html?lang=en

https://philarchive.org/archive/HAEOSA

https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/04165.htm

Origen writes in Contra Celsum:

For we indeed acknowledge that angels are ministering spirits, and we say that they are sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation; and that they ascend, bearing the supplications of men, to the purest of the heavenly places in the universe, or even to supercelestial regions purer still; and that they come down from these, conveying to each one, according to his deserts, something enjoined by God to be conferred by them upon those who are to be the recipients of His benefits. Having thus learned to call these beings angels from their employments, we find that because they are divine they are sometimes termed god in the sacred Scriptures, but not so that we are commanded to honour and worship in place of God those who minister to us, and bear to us His blessings. For every prayer, and supplication, and intercession, and thanksgiving, is to be sent up to the Supreme God through the High Priest, who is above all the angels, the living Word and God. And to the Word Himself shall we also pray and make intercessions, and offer thanksgivings and supplications to Him, if we have the capacity of distinguishing between the proper use and abuse of prayer.

Was Origen a polytheist? Moreover, to counterbalance Origen's thoughts on prayer, see his work by the same name that deals with the subject. 

Romans 8:38-39 ("nor angels")

"For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 8:38-9 NRSV).

I've heard it suggested that the angels who cannot separate Christians from God's love in Christ Jesus are not demons, but holy angels. Or some claim they're possibly "angelic" humans in the ecclesia. However,  Paul evidently uses the word "angels" sometimes to reference demons. See 1 Corinthians 4:9; 6:3; 11:10; 13:1; 2 Corinthians 11:14. Compare the usage in 2 Corinthians 12:7; Galatians 1:8; 4:14.

Douglas Moo (The Epistle to the Romans, page 545):

Galatians 3:19 (NIV)-"given through angels"

Greek (WH): Τί οὖν ὁ νόμος; τῶν παραβάσεων χάριν προσετέθη, ἄχρις ἂν ἔλθῃ τὸ σπέρμα ᾧ ἐπήγγελται, διαταγεὶς δι' ἀγγέλων ἐν χειρὶ μεσίτου·

"The law was given through angels and entrusted to a mediator" (NIV)

The context strongly indicates that the Mosaic Law is the ὁ νόμος under discussion in this text (Galatians 3:17-18). The Law was "added" until Messiah should come in order that transgressions could be made manifest. Moreover, Paul writes that ὁ νόμος had become a tutor (παιδαγωγὸς ἡμῶν) until τῆς πίστεως arrived (Galatians 3:24-25).

The Exodus account concerning Sinai is silent about angels transmitting the Law to Moses, but the NT speaks about angels/messengers of ὁ νόμος more than once (Acts 7:53; Hebrews 2:2; compare Acts 7:35, 38). I'm not surprised by Paul's reference since the angels shared in distributing the ten plagues and guided Israel through the wilderness, etc.

For a thorough analysis of the grammar in Galatians 3:19, see Porter, Stanley E., ed. 2019. Paul and Scripture. Leiden: Brill. Pages 327-330.

Who Performed the Action? Jehovah or the Angel/Angels?

1. Giving of the Mosaic Law-Compare Exodus 20:1-26; Deuteronomy 5:1-27 with Acts 7:53; Galatians 3:19. See Hebrews 2:1-3.

2. Meting out of the ten plagues-Exodus 12:12-13; Numbers 33:3-4. Compare Psalm 78:49; Hebrews 11:28.

3. Judgment in the Wilderness-Numbers 14:28-30; Joshua 5:6; 1 Corinthians 10:5, 10; Jude 5.

4. Destroying people in Jerusalem after the census was taken-2 Samuel 24:14-17; 1 Chronicles 21:13-17.

5. Did Jacob wrestle with God, a man or with an angel?-Genesis 32:1, 22-20; Hosea 12:3-5. Compare Judges 6:21-24.

6. Who brought Israel up from Egypt and gave the law covenant?-Judges 2:1-4; Isaiah 63:8-9, 14.

See also Genesis 48:15-16.

1 Chronicles 21:15-16 (Malak YHWH?)-Anchor Bible Comments

ASV: "So Jehovah sent a pestilence upon Israel; and there fell of Israel seventy thousand men. And God sent an angel unto Jerusalem to destroy it: and as he was about to destroy, Jehovah beheld, and he repented him of the evil, and said to the destroying angel, It is enough; now stay thy hand. And the angel of Jehovah was standing by the threshing-floor of Ornan the Jebusite. And David lifted up his eyes, and saw the angel of Jehovah standing between earth and heaven, having a drawn sword in his hand stretched out over Jerusalem. Then David and the elders, clothed in sackcloth, fell upon their faces."

Source: Jacob M. Myers, 1 Chronicles, page 148. AB Series.

Revelation 8:1-2 and the Seven Angels

Greek: Καὶ ὅταν ἤνοιξεν τὴν σφραγῖδα τὴν ἑβδόμην, ἐγένετο σιγὴ ἐν τῷ οὐρανῷ ὡς ἡμιώριον. καὶ εἶδον τοὺς ἑπτὰ ἀγγέλους οἳ ἐνώπιον τοῦ θεοῦ ἑστήκασιν, καὶ ἐδόθησαν αὐτοῖς ἑπτὰ σάλπιγγες.

Buist Fanning III speaks of a "minor variation" here with some texts reading ὅτε, a reading that Stephen Smalley calls better attested but he indicates the lectio might not be original; other texts read ὅταν. Fanning thinks the two particles are overlapping relations in this context; he deems it more likely that scribes would have changed ὅταν to ὅτε to make it harmonize with chapter 6 of Revelation. See Fanning III, Revelation, page 279. Compare J.K. Elliott, "Revelations from the apparatus criticus of the Book of Revelation: How Textual Criticism Can Help Historians," page 8.

G.K. Beale (The Book of Revelation): 

Some mss. have οτε (“when”; so  א052 M) instead of ὅταν (“whenever”). The latter is preferable because of its better witnesses (A C 1006 1611 1841) and as the harder reading, because it usually is used to refer to repeated actions and not definite action (it is often translated “whenever”). Consequently, ὅτε is what a scribe would have expected here for the definite past reference to the opening of the seal.226 Furthermore, ὅτε is used to introduce the first six seals. Some grammarians view ὅταν as suggesting a repeated act of opening the seal,227 although this is unlikely because of the uses of ὅτε in 6:1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 12.228 Furthermore, ὅταν refers to a definite future action in 18:9 and possibly in 4:9. Consequently, 8:1 is conditional in form but definite in force.

ἤνοιξεν τὴν σφραγῖδα τὴν ἑβδόμην-It is generally thought to be the Lamb per the context, who opens the seventh seal. The verb ἤνοιξεν is aorist active indicative third person singular of ἀνοίγω ("I open"); the agent of the verb is not clear from the verbal form alone, but the Lamb appears to be the implied actor of the verb.

ἐγένετο σιγὴ ἐν τῷ οὐρανῷ ὡς ἡμιώριον-Scholars have essayed many suggestions about why silence in heaven occurs for about half an hour, yet it's hard to be too definitive about the reason for silence in heaven. Leon Morris offers these thoughts (Tyndale Commentary on Revelation):

The sixth seal was opened as far back as 6:12, so there has been quite an interval. At the opening of the seventh there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. Clearly it was a solemn and impressive moment. It is possible that the silence is connected with the offering of the prayers of the saints (vv. 3–4, so Beasley-Murray) just as in 7:3 certain plagues were held back until the servants of God were sealed. The saints appear insignificant to men at large. But in the sight of God they matter. Even great cataclysms are held back while they pray. And the praises of angels give way to silence so that the saints may be heard. It is also possible that we should think of the silence as resulting from a sense of awe at the presence of God (cf. Hab. 2:20). He is about to launch severe judgments on people. All heaven remains silent.

καὶ εἶδον τοὺς ἑπτὰ ἀγγέλους οἳ ἐνώπιον τοῦ θεοῦ ἑστήκασιν-Morris proffers that John has specific angels in mind since he employs τοὺς, and then Morris recalls the seven angels mentioned in pseudepigraphal literature: Uriel, Raphael, Raguel, Michael, Saraqael, Gabriel and Remiel. However, does Revelation truly have these specific angels in mind when it speaks of "the seven angels"?

Robert H. Mounce suggests (The Book of Revelation): "Whatever the connection may be between the seven trumpet-angels of John’s vision and the seven archangels of Jewish apocalyptic, their role in the book of Revelation is to announce a series of plagues that is to fall upon the earth and its inhabitants. It is possible that they are also the seven angels who later pour out the seven bowls of the wrath of God (15:1, 6-8; 16:1; 17:1; 21:9)."

These seven angels stand before God: ἑστήκασιν is perfect active indicative third person plural of ἵστημι, but Grant R. Osborne insists (Revelation, BECNT): "As noted before (3:20; 5:6; 7:1, 9), the perfect of ἵστημι has present force, and so connotes the idea of being continually attendant to the enthroned God."

For more on the perfect morphology of ἵστημι and its ostensibly present force, see David L. Mathewson, Verbal Aspect in the Book of Revelation, pages 92, 101-103. Regarding the expression, ἐνώπιον τοῦ θεοῦ, compare Revelation 3:5; 4:5-6, 10; 5:8; 7:9, 11, 15; 8:3-4; 9:13; 11:4, et al.

ἐδόθησαν is aorist passive indicative third person plural of δίδωμι.