Only three angels are identified by name in the Bible: Gabriel (Daniel 8:16), the archangel Michael (Daniel 10:13), and Lucifer, the fallen angel (Isaiah 14:12). However, angelic beings are mentioned at least 273 times in 34 books of the Bible. While we don’t know exactly how many angels there are, we do know from scripture that there are an extremely large number of angels.
The book of Hebrews describes a multitude of angels in heaven that is too great to count: “You have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, to the heavenly Jerusalem, and to countless thousands of angels in joyous gathering” (Heb. 12:22, NLT). Other Bible translations use terms like “innumerable” (ESV), “myriads” (CSB), and “thousands upon thousands” (NIV) to quantify this enormous multitude of angels. The impressive picture is expanded in the book of Revelation: “Then I saw and heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands and thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand. surrounded the throne and the living creatures and the elders” (Revelation 5:11). Other versions of the Bible use “myriads of myriads” (ESV) and even “millions” (NLT) here to express how many angels are in heaven.
While the Bible leaves the exact number of angels unspecified, some believe there could be as many angels in existence as the total number of humans in all of history. This theory is based on Matthew 18:10: “Be careful not to look down on any of these little ones. Because I tell you that in heaven his angels are always in the presence of my heavenly Father” (NLT). The passage seems to suggest that individual people, or at least children, have guardian angels to protect them. However, it is possible that Jesus was speaking here only in general terms regarding the role of angels as protectors of children. In any case, Scripture is clear that angels guard and protect human beings ( Psalm 34:7 ; 91:11–12 ; Matthew 18:10 ; Acts 12:9–15 ).
The Bible describes different classifications of angels. Some angels—cherubim and seraphim—are described as winged creatures. The cherubim primarily attend God’s throne as guards, while the seraphim seem to attend his throne offering worship and praise. ( Ezekiel 1:4–28 ; 10:1–22 ; Isaiah 6:2–6 ). The Bible speaks of angels of light ( 2 Corinthians 11:14 ) and fallen angels ( 2 Peter 2:4 ; Jude 1:6 ).
Angels perform different tasks in the Bible. Some angels are messengers of God (Daniel 4:13). Other angels are servants of God ( Psalm 103:20 ; Hebrews 1:7 ; Psalm 104:4 ). “Watching angels” are mentioned in the book of Daniel (Daniel 4:13,17,23). Angels are often described as military “armies” of the heavenly armies ( Jeremiah 5:14 ; 38:17 ; 44:7 ; Hosea 12:5 ). Other times angels are called “sons of the mighty” ( Psalm 89:6 ) or “sons of God” ( Job 2:1 ).
Some scriptures describe angels as stars ( Revelation 9:1 ; 12:4 ; Job 38:7–8 ; Daniel 8:10 ; Judges 5:20 ). The idea of stars can give us the best clue as to how many angels there are. If angels are like the stars in the sky, they are too many to count. Moses says in Deuteronomy 33:2 that the Lord came to speak to him from Sinai with “myriads of holy ones,” or angels. How many are myriads? The main definition of myriad as an adjective is “innumerable” or “uncountable”. Psalm 68:17 says that God’s angels are numbered “tens of thousands, thousands and thousands” (CSB). Clearly, the writer is having trouble even coming close to estimating the number of angels in existence.