Angels are not male or female in the way that humans understand and experience gender. But whenever angels are mentioned in the Bible, the word translated “angel” is always used in the masculine form. Also, when angels appeared to people in the Bible, they were always seen as men. And when they were given names, the names were always masculine.
The Hebrew and Greek word for angel is always male.
The Greek word angelos and the Hebrew word מֲלְאָךְ (malak) are both masculine nouns translated “angel,” meaning a messenger from God (Strong’s 32 and 4397).
When angels appeared to people in the Bible, they were always seen as men.
When they were given names, the names were always masculine.
The only named angels in the Bible are Gabriel and Michael.
Some read the prophecy in Zechariah 5:5-11 and interpret the two women with wings as female angels.
“Then the angel who was speaking to me came forward and said to me, ‘Look up and see what is appearing.’ I asked, ‘What is it?’ He replied, ‘It is a basket.’ And he added, ‘This is the iniquity of the people throughout the land.’ Then the cover of lead was raised, and there in the basket sat a woman! He said, ‘This is wickedness,’ and he pushed her back into the basket and pushed its lead cover down on it. Then I looked up—and there before me were two women, with the wind in their wings! They had wings like those of a stork, and they lifted up the basket between heaven and earth. ‘Where are they taking the basket?’ I asked the angel who was speaking to me. He replied, ‘To the country of Babylonia to build a house for it. When the house is ready, the basket will be set there in its place” (Zechariah 5:5-11).
The angel talking with the prophet Zechariah is described with the masculine word malak and masculine pronouns. However, confusion arises when, in the prophecy, two women with wings fly away with the basket of wickedness. The women are described with wings of a stork (an unclean bird), but not called angels. As this is a prophecy full of imagery, readers are not required to take the metaphors literally. This prophecy conveys imagery of Israel’s unrepentant sin and its consequences.
As the Cambridge commentary puts it, “No meaning need be sought for the details of this verse. They merely convey the fact, clothed in imagery in keeping with the vision, that wickedness was borne swiftly from the land.”
A Christianity Today article links female depictions of angels with ancient pagan traditions that may have been integrated into Christian thought and art.
“Many pagan religions featured winged servants of the gods (such as Hermes), and some of these were distinctly female. Some pagan goddesses had wings, too, and behaved somewhat like angels: making sudden appearances, delivering messages, fighting battles, wielding swords.”
Outside of Christianity and Judaism, pagans worshipped idols with wings and other attributes associate with biblical angels, such as the Greek goddess, Nike, who is portrayed with angel-like wings and is considered the messenger of victory.
While angels are not male or female in human terms and popular cultures artistically expresses them as female, the Bible consistently identifies angels in masculine terms.
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