Most Jews and Christians will only recognize the angels as being the only other spirits made by G0d, but angels are not omnipresent nor omnipotent and it seems to me that the Spirit of Wisdom in Proverbs 1:20-33 and Death are. If they are not angels, then what are they?
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Angels, spirits, dybbuks and ghosts certainly exist in Judaism. If you are referring to Uriel (wisdom) and Azriel (death) both are indeed angels. (The Angel of death is often referred to as Malakh haMavet.) in Judaism, angels are considered messengers. The following link may give more insight into Azriel jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/judaica/…. Also check out the following for an introduction to other spirits: myjewishlearning.com/beliefs/Issues/Magic_and_the_Supernatural/…– JJLLSep 1, 2014 at 14:49
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2 Answers
R' Moshe Chaim Luzzato, in Derech Hashem 1:5:1, discusses several types of spiritual creations. One of them is angels. Another type is "Kochos" which could be translated as "Forces." The truth is, as defined by R' Luzzato, a spiritual creation is anything which cannot be sensed by physical senses.
חלקי כלל הבריאה שנים, גשמיים ורוחניים...הרוחניים, הם נבראים משוללים מגשם, בלתי מורגשים מחושינו, ומתחלקים לשני מינים, האחד נשמות, והשני נבדלים. הנשמות, הם מין נבראים רוחניים, התעתדו לבא בתוך גוף, ליגבל בתוכו וליקשר בו בקשר אמיץ, ולפעול בו פעולות שונות בזמנים שונים. הנבדלים, הם מין נבראים רוחניים, בלתי מעותדים לגופות כלל, ונחלקים לשני חלקים, הא' נקרא כחות, והב' מלאכים
Everything in creation falls into two categories, physical and spiritual... Spiritual beings are those that are removed from physicality, undetectable by our senses, and they are divided into two categories. One is souls, and the second is "transcendents" ... "transcendents" are divided into angels and "Forces." (Translation mine)
Therefore, concepts are also "created beings," even if not in the way we tend to think of them. These "concepts" can have attributes and characteristics ascribed to them, which may be expressed through personification.
In short, Judaism (as per R' Luzzato) does believe in spiritual existence outside of angels, and these concepts are spiritual "forces."
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Thank you. There is an expression in London which apparently uses a Hebrew word, the expression goes "have her [ones wife] under the 'Kosh' mate". Is this the same meaning or even word? as in governed, controlled, power? oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/cosh– user6941Sep 7, 2014 at 1:43
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@user6941 I am no expert in English expressions, but I imagine it is unrelated. I transliterated the Hebrew with "ch" in the place of what is really a gutteral sound from the throat.– Y e zSep 7, 2014 at 2:09
Those are examples of personification.
Personification is a figure of speech in which a thing, an idea, or an animal is given human attributes. . . [T]his literary device helps us relate actions of inanimate objects to our own emotions.
