How many times are angels mentioned in the Bible?

The count

• KJV, BSB, NIV: “angel” or “angels” appears approximately 290 to 300 times.
• Of these, about 90 to 100 are in the Old Testament and about 190 to 200 are in the New Testament.

The vocabulary

The English word “angel” comes via Greek angelos (ἄγγελος), which simply means “messenger.” Both the Hebrew and Greek words can refer to:

• Heavenly beings (the modern theological sense of “angel”).
• Human messengers — prophets, priests, or simply people sent with a message.

Translators decide which English word to use based on context.

Hebrew vocabulary:

• malach (מַלְאָךְ, “messenger”): 213 occurrences in the OT. Translators typically render about 110 of these as “angel” and about 100 as “messenger.”
• malach YHWH (“the angel of the LORD”): about 65 occurrences. A specific figure, sometimes spoken of as if distinct from YHWH and sometimes as if identical with YHWH (the “Angel of the LORD” passages have generated extensive theological discussion).
• Hebrew also uses bene Elohim (“sons of God”), elohim (literally “gods”), and qadoshim (“holy ones”) for heavenly beings.

Greek vocabulary:

• angelos (ἄγγελος, “messenger”): 175 occurrences in the NT. Almost all refer to heavenly beings; a handful refer to human messengers (e.g., John the Baptist, Mark 1:2).
• archangelos (ἀρχάγγελος, “archangel”): 2 occurrences in the NT (1 Thessalonians 4:16; Jude 9).

Named angels

The Bible names only two angels (besides the disputed “Angel of the LORD”):

• Gabriel: appears in Daniel 8:16, 9:21; Luke 1:19, 1:26. Announces messages — Daniel’s vision, John the Baptist’s birth, Jesus’ birth.
• Michael: appears in Daniel 10:13, 10:21, 12:1; Jude 9; Revelation 12:7. Identified as a guardian of Israel and an opponent of Satan.

Other named angels (Raphael, Uriel, others) appear in the deuterocanonical books and intertestamental literature (Tobit, 1 Enoch) but not in the Protestant canon.

What angels do in the Bible

The biblical roles include: messenger (the basic function), guardian, judge / executor of judgment (Genesis 19; 2 Kings 19; Revelation), worshipper (Isaiah 6; Revelation 4–5), and warrior (Daniel 10).