But I have a few things against you,^[1] Jesus told John to write to the angel of the church in Pergamum.^[2]  The word translated angel is ἀγγέλῳ (a form of ἄγγελος).  Below is a table of its forms and occurrences.

It means messenger and was translated messenger when the translators were reasonably sure the messenger was a human being (ἀγγέλων – Luke 7:24; ἄγγελον – Matthew 11:10, Mark 1:2, Luke 7:27; ἀγγέλους – Luke 9:52).  Paul euphemistically called a thorn in the flesh…a messenger (ἄγγελος – 2 Corinthians 12:7) of Satan.

To this list I would add: 1) Before God and Christ Jesus and the elect angels (ἀγγέλων – 1 Timothy 5:21) because of its association with the word translated elect (ἐκλεκτῶν, a form of ἐκλεκτός); 2) seen by angels (ἀγγέλοις – 1 Timothy 3:16 because human messengers proclaimed [Jesus] among Gentiles; 3) you welcomed me as though I were an angel of God (ἄγγελον – Galatians 4:14) because Paul referred to himself, a human being, as a messenger of God; and 4) I, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify to you (ἄγγελον – Revelation 22:16) because the word translated you (ὑμῖν) is plural ἄγγελον meant John as opposed to the angel who spoke to John.

There are seven more occurrences of forms of ἄγγελος that seem equivocal to me.  Three of them are further confounded by two occurrences in Stephen’s defense (Acts 7:35, 38 NET):

This same Moses they had rejected, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and judge?’  God sent as both ruler and deliverer through the hand of the angel (ἀγγέλου) who appeared to him in the bush.

This is the man who was in the congregation in the wilderness with the angel (ἀγγέλου) who spoke to him at Mount Sinai, and with our ancestors, and he received living oracles to give to you.

The angel (Septuagint: ἄγγελος) of the Lord (y^ehôvâh, יהוה) appeared to [Moses] in a flame of fire from within a bush.^[3]  When the Lord (y^ehôvâh, יהוה) saw that he had turned aside to look, God (ʼĕlôhı̂ym, אלהים) called to him from within the bush and said…^[4]  “I am the God (ʼĕlôhı̂ym, אלהי) of your father, the God (ʼĕlôhı̂ym, אלהי) of Abraham, the God (ʼĕlôhı̂ym, אלהי) of Isaac, and the God (ʼĕlôhı̂ym, אלהי) of Jacob.”  Then Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God (ʼĕlôhı̂ym).^[5]  “Go and bring together the elders of Israel and tell them, ‘The Lord (y^ehôvâh, יהוה), the God (ʼĕlôhı̂ym, אלהי) of your fathers, appeared to me…”^[6]

God (ʼĕlôhı̂ym, אלהים) spoke all these words: “I, the Lord (y^ehôvâh, יהוה), am your God (ʼĕlôhı̂ym, אלהיך), who brought you from the land of Egypt, from the house of slavery” [Table].^[7]  “Moses alone may come near the Lord (y^ehôvâh, יהוה), but the others must not come near, nor may the people go up with him.”^[8]  The Lord (y^ehôvâh, יהוה) spoke to Moses: “Go quickly, descend, because your people, whom you brought up from the land of Egypt, have acted corruptly [Table].  They have quickly turned aside from the way that I commanded them – they have made for themselves a molten calf and have bowed down to it and sacrificed to it and said, ‘These are your gods (ʼĕlôhı̂ym, אלהיך), O Israel, which brought you up from the land of Egypt’” [Table].^[9]  Clearly, the messenger of y^ehôvâh in the burning bush and on Mount Sinai was y^ehôvâh Himself, though first century Jews may have been reluctant to acknowledge it.^[10]

So when Stephen said—You received the law by decrees given by angels (ἀγγέλων), but you did not obey it^[11]—was it a pious fiction for Jewish sensibilities or a prophetic revelation?  What about when the Holy Spirit included Stephen’s statement in the New Testament?  Why then was the law given? Paul asked rhetorically.  It was added because of transgressions, until the arrival of the descendant to whom the promise had been made.  It was administered (διαταγεὶς, a form of διατάσσω) through angels (ἀγγέλων) by an intermediary.^[12]  For if the message spoken through angels (ἀγγέλων) proved to be so firm that every violation or disobedience received its just penalty, how will we escape if we neglect such a great salvation?  It was first communicated through the Lord and was confirmed to us by those who heard him, while God confirmed their witness with signs and wonders and various miracles and gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will.^[13]

Are these human messengers—prophets and priests—oblique references to y^ehôvâh Himself or beings of another order of creation—angels?

Depart from me, you accursed, into the eternal fire that has been prepared for the devil and his angels (ἀγγέλοις)!^[14]  All who were sitting in the council looked intently at Stephen and saw his face was like the face of an angel (ἀγγέλου).^[15]  For man did not come from woman, but woman from man.  Neither was man created for the sake of woman, but woman for man.  For this reason a woman should have a symbol of authority on her head, because of the angels (ἀγγέλους).^[16]  Do not neglect hospitality, because through it some have entertained angels (ἀγγέλους) without knowing it.^[17]  Though I categorize these as equivocal I’m certainly leaning toward a higher order of being.  There are seven more occurrences I would have listed as equivocal and probably would have considered them more likely to be human until I began this study.

But I have a few things against you,^[18] Jesus told John to write to the angel of the church in Pergamum.^[19]  The Greek word translated you is σοῦ (a form of σύ), the second person singular as is the verb translated have (ἔχεις, a form of ἔχω) in the next sentence: You have some people there who follow the teaching of Balaam, who instructed Balak to put a stumbling block before the people of Israel so they would eat (φαγεῖν, a form of φάγω) food sacrificed to idols (εἰδωλόθυτα, a form of εἰδωλόθυτον) and commit sexual immorality (πορνεῦσαι, a form of πορνεύω).^[20]

Jesus continued with his message to the angel of the church in Pergamum: Therefore, repent^[21] (μετανόησον, a form of μετανοέω)!  Once again the verb μετανόησον is second person singular.  If not, I will come against you (σοι, another form of σύ) quickly and make war against those people with the sword of my mouth.^[22]

But I have this against you,^[23] Jesus told John to write to the angel of the church in Thyatira.^[24]  The Greek word translated you is σοῦ (a form of σύ), the second person singular as is the verb translated tolerate (ἀφεῖς, a form of ἀφίημι) in the next sentence: You tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, and by her teaching deceives my servants to commit sexual immorality (πορνεῦσαι, a form of πορνεύω) and to eat (φαγεῖν, a form of φάγω) food sacrificed to idols (εἰδωλόθυτα, a form of εἰδωλόθυτον).^[25]

The criticism was directed at the angels; the threat to make war against those who followed the teaching of Balaam with his words, the censure of illness toward those who committed adultery with Jezebel, and death to those who followed her teaching: Look!  I am throwing her onto a bed of violent illness, and those who commit adultery (μοιχεύοντας, a form of μοιχεύω) with her into terrible suffering, unless they repent of her deeds.  Furthermore, I will strike her followers with a deadly disease, and then all the churches will know that I am the one who searches minds and hearts.^[26]  And this, after He had given her time to repent, but she [was] not willing to repent of her sexual immorality (πορνείας, a form of πορνεία).^[27]

I will repay (δώσω, a form of δίδωμι) each one of you (ὑμῖν) what your (ὑμῶν) deeds deserve.^[28]  Here the words translated you and your are plural.  But to the rest of you (ὑμῖν) in Thyatira, all who do not hold to this teaching (who have not learned the so-called “deep secrets of Satan”), to you I say: I do not put any additional burden on you (ὑμᾶς; plural).  However, hold on to what you have until I come.^[29]

Do not accept an accusation against an elder, Paul wrote Timothy, unless it can be confirmed by two or three witnesses.  Those guilty of sin must be rebuked before all, as a warning to the rest.^[30]  Not rebuking Jezebel publicly (before other elders) seems like the most obvious^[31] failure if Jesus criticized an authoritarian human messenger for tolerating Jezebel (literally, “left” her to do what she did: Matthew 13:36; Matthew 26:44; Mark 8:13; Mark 13:34).  But since Jesus’ prescription—I am throwing her onto a bed of violent illness—is somewhat beyond the purview of a human messenger, I consider an angelic being here and make the connection to Jesus’ parable (Matthew 13:24-30 NET).

“The kingdom of heaven is like a person who sowed good seed in his field.  But while everyone was sleeping, an enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away.  When the plants sprouted and bore grain, then the weeds also appeared.  So the slaves (δοῦλοι, a form of δοῦλος) of the owner came and said to him, ‘Sir, didn’t you sow good seed in your field?  Then where did the weeds come from?’  He said, ‘An enemy has done this.’  So the slaves replied,^[32] ‘Do you want us to go and gather them?’ [Table]  But he said, ‘No, since in gathering the weeds you may uproot the wheat with them.  Let both grow together until the harvest.  At harvest time I will tell the reapers, “First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned, but then gather the wheat into my barn.”’”

Jesus explained the parable to his disciples (Matthew 13:37-39 NET):

“The one who sowed the good seed is the Son of Man.  The field is the world and the good seed are the people of the kingdom.  The weeds are the people of the evil one, and the enemy who sows them is the devil.  The harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are angels (ἄγγελοι).”

Here the ἄγγελοι are distinguished from the human δοῦλοι as higher beings capable of making distinctions that human messengers could not, and should not, make—No, since in gathering the weeds you may uproot the wheat with them.  The Son of Man will send his angels (ἀγγέλους), and they will gather from his kingdom everything that causes sin as well as all lawbreakers.^[33]  This sounds precisely like the function Jesus criticized the angel (ἀγγέλῳ) of the church in Thyatira for not fulfilling sooner regarding Jezebel and her followers.  It prompts me to reconsider whether all seven of these angels are higher order beings—angels.