Angelic Grief and Weeping in Biblical Texts
While the Bible frequently describes human grief and weeping [1, 2, 3], the concept of angelic grief is not explicitly detailed in canonical Christian scripture. However, some interpretive traditions, particularly Jewish rabbinic literature, address the idea of angels experiencing sorrow.
The Babylonian Talmud, for instance, interprets Isaiah 33:7 ("Behold, their valiant ones cry without; the angels of peace weep bitterly") as evidence that angels wept at the destruction of the Temple [6, 7, 8]. This passage is cited in response to a question about whether God cries, suggesting that the destruction of the Temple was an event so significant that even "angels of peace" were moved to bitter weeping [6].
In contrast, scholastic Christian theology, as articulated by Thomas Aquinas, generally holds that angels, particularly the good angels, do not experience grief or sorrow. Aquinas argues that grief and sorrow arise from things that occur against one's will. Since the will of angels and the blessed is entirely aligned with divine justice, nothing happens contrary to their will. Therefore, angels do not grieve for sins or human suffering, as these events are ultimately within the ordering of Divine justice [5]. This perspective aligns with Augustine's view that grief is for things that occur against one's will [5].
The New Testament describes human figures weeping in significant moments, such as Mary Magdalene weeping at the tomb of Jesus [10, 11, 12]. John Chrysostom notes the "full of feeling" nature of the female sex, explaining Mary's bitter weeping [10]. Matthew Henry also describes Christ's "tender sympathy" and "inward groans and troubles of his spirit" when he saw Mary and others weeping, indicating a shared sorrow rather than an angelic one [9].
While the Bible uses terms like "grief" to describe human emotional states [4], direct biblical accounts of angels weeping are not present in the Christian canon. Interpretations of angelic emotions largely depend on the theological framework being applied, with rabbinic traditions allowing for angelic sorrow in specific contexts like the Temple's destruction, and scholastic traditions generally denying such emotions to good angels.
Sources
- Psalms “Have mercy on me, Yahweh, for I am in distress. My eye, my soul, and my body waste away with grief. -- Psalms 31:9”
- James “James 4:9 (BSB) — Grieve, mourn, and weep. Turn your laughter to mourning, and your joy to gloom.”
- Psalms “My eyes are dim from grief. I have called on you daily, Yahweh. I have spread out my hands to you. -- Psalms 88:9”
- Hitchcock's Bible Names “Hitchcock's Bible Names: Hilen — a window; grief”
- theology (Catholic (Scholastic)) “Aquinas, Summa Theologica, First Part (Prima Pars), Of the Guardianship of the Good Angels, Art. 7: Article: Whether angels grieve for the ills of those whom they guard? I answer that, Angels do not grieve, either for sins or for the pains inflicted on men. For grief and sorrow, according to Augustine (De Civ. Dei xiv, 15) are for those things which occur against our will. But nothing happens in the world contrary to the will of the angels and the other blessed, because they will cleaves entirely to the ordering of Divine justice; while nothing happens in the world save what is effected or per”
- Babylonian Talmud (Jewish (Rabbinic)) “Babylonian Talmud, Chagigah 54a.10:12: The Gemara asks: And doesn’t God cry in the outer chambers? Isn’t it written: “And on that day the Lord, the God of hosts, called to weeping, and to mourning, and to baldness, and to girding with sackcloth” (Isaiah 22:12)? The Gemara responds: The destruction of the Temple is different, as even the angels of peace cried, as it is stated: “Behold, their valiant ones cry without; the angels of peace weep bitterly” (Isaiah 33:7).”
- Babylonian Talmud (Jewish (Rabbinic)) “Babylonian Talmud, Chagigah 54b.10:12: The Gemara asks: And doesn’t God cry in the outer chambers? Isn’t it written: “And on that day the Lord, the God of hosts, called to weeping, and to mourning, and to baldness, and to girding with sackcloth” (Isaiah 22:12)? The Gemara responds: The destruction of the Temple is different, as even the angels of peace cried, as it is stated: “Behold, their valiant ones cry without; the angels of peace weep bitterly” (Isaiah 33:7).”
- Babylonian Talmud (Jewish (Rabbinic)) “Babylonian Talmud, Chagigah 5b.12: The Gemara asks: And doesn’t God cry in the outer chambers? Isn’t it written: “And on that day the Lord, the God of hosts, called to weeping, and to mourning, and to baldness, and to girding with sackcloth” (Isaiah 22:12)? The Gemara responds: The destruction of the Temple is different, as even the angels of peace cried, as it is stated: “Behold, their valiant ones cry without; the angels of peace weep bitterly” (Isaiah 33:7).”
- John (Nonconformist/Puritan) “Matthew Henry on John 11:33: Here we have, I. Christ's tender sympathy with his afflicted friends, and the share he took to himself in their sorrows, which appeared three ways: - 1. By the inward groans and troubles of his spirit (Joh 11:33): Jesus saw Mary weeping for the loss of a loving brother, and the Jews that came with her weeping for the loss of a good neighbour and friend; when he saw what a place of weepers, a bochim, this was, he groaned in the spirit, and was troubled. See here, (1.) The griefs of the sons of men represented in the tears of Mary and her friends. What an emblem was”
- CCEL/NPNF (Eastern Orthodox) “John Chrysostom, Homilies on John & Hebrews: 321 Homily LXXXVI. John xx. 10, 11 “Then the disciples went away again unto their own home. But Mary stood without at the sepulcher, weeping.” [1.] Full of feeling somehow is the female sex, and more 2528 2528 i.e. more than men. inclined to pity. I say this, lest thou shouldest wonder how it could be that Mary wept bitterly at the tomb, while Peter was in no way so affected. For, “The disciples,” it saith, “went away unto their own home”; but she stood shedding tears. Because hers was a feeble nature, and she as yet knew not accurately the account ”
- Schaff ANF/NPNF (Patristic) “NPNF1 Vol 6: Augustine — Homilies on the Gospels — TIME OF THE LORD'S RESURRECTION. (part 12): from the sepulchre. "For as yet they knew not the Scripture, that He must rise again from the dead. Then the disciples went away again unto their own home. But Mary stood without at the 214 sepulchre weeping,"(1)--that is to say, before the place in the rock in which the sepulchre was constructed, but at the same time within that space into which they had now entered; for there was a garden there, as the same John mentions.(2) Then they saw the angel sitting on the right side, upon the stone which wa”
- Schaff ANF/NPNF (Patristic) “NPNF1 Vol 7: Augustine — Homilies on John — CHAPTER XX. 10-29. (part 1): 1. MARY MAGDALENE had brought the news to His disciples, Peter and John, that the Lord was taken away from the sepulchre; and they, when they came thither, found only the linen clothes wherewith the body had been shrouded; and what else could they believe but what she had told them, and what she had herself also believed? "Then the disciples went away again unto their own" (home); that is to say, where they were dwelling, and from which they had run to the sepulchre. "But Mary stood without at the sepulchre weeping." For ”