Julio

Acts 1:10. Two MEN, or two angels?…
ALL conservative Bible commentators ALTER the reading from MEN to ANGELS.
If the student concurred that the Book of Acts is to be inspired Scripture, why then is it MEN instead of ANGELS?
What are the implications of this type of “inspiration”?
“And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel.”

Toto

Luke 24:4 also refers to men, where Mt 28:5 has one angel, at a different point in the story.

The harmonizers claim that these were angels in the form of men. (Angels in the Bible seem to have been virtually indistinguishable from men.)

Or they could have been men on stage playing angels.

This seems a minor point, given the overall fantastic and supernatural nature of the narrative.

Huon

Possibly they were two postmen in a white uniform ?

Julio

The aberration is those two men appearing and telling the story, while Jesus is mute on the detail. In a better choreography, Jesus himself would tell the disciples he would return, but not for at least TWO THOUSAND years! Since the two men were dressed in white, some bright minds assume they were from the Essenes or some other weird sect. What was the name of an Essene sect of herbalists who practised rudimentary medicine[I forgot the name…]?

spin

The weight we put on the term "angel" is really post-biblical. In ancient Greek "angel" fundamentally meant "messenger", as can be seen frequently in the LXX (see, for example, 2 Sam 11:23, 25, or, referring to John the Baptist, Mt 11:10). When the bible talks about a "messenger of the lord" we take that to mean "angel" in the modern understanding. That's why the person/s at the tomb can be men or angels. The latter is a little more specific, being a man with a message.

I would say the use of "angel" in Acts 1:10 represents the modern use of the term, but, although it is interpretive, is it mistaken? I would have thought that it represents a functional reading of the text, for isn't the implication that these men were really something from the divine?


spin

Solo

Agreed. I don't see any issue there either. "Angel" has always been a common metaphorical rendering of uncanny psi phenomena of "derealization" either as winged cherubic entity or empowering divine agency vested in humans. Paul believed himself to be an "angel from God" and projected this belief into his congregation (Gal 4:14).

Jiri

Julio

Well, some Luke dude is said to have written the piece, but where did he get the detail about the two men?
I find that detail simply fascinating. Suddenly, two MEN appeared out of the clouds to offer some terrific prognostic about Jesus' second coming, WITHOUT detailing the "WHEN"! But let me insist: how would have Luke know the detail of two men? Why could he not say "angels"? Why dressed in white?...
And, also intriguing, did the disciples see them going back somewhere? Up, perhaps, like Jesus? Or would they simply disappear? It is a macabre story, I tell you.