וַיֵּצֵ֣א הָר֗וּחַ וַֽיַּעֲמֹד֙ לִפְנֵ֣י יְהוָ֔ה וַיֹּ֖אמֶר אֲנִ֣י אֲפַתֶּ֑נּוּ וַיֹּ֧אמֶר יְהוָ֛ה אֵלָ֖יו בַּמָּֽה׃
И вышел дух, и стал пред Господом, и сказал: я соблазню его.
Guide for the Perplexed
THE angels are likewise incorporeal: they are intelligences without matter, but they are nevertheless created beings, and God created them, as will be explained below. In Bereshith Rabbah (on Gen. 3:24) we read the following remark of our Sages: “The angel is called ‘the flame of the sword which turned every way’ (Gen. 3:24), in accordance with the words, ‘His ministers a flaming fire’ (Ps. 104:4); the attribute, ‘which turned every way’ is added, because angels are changeable in form they appear at one time as males, at another as females; now as spirits; now as angels.” By this remark they clearly stated that angels are incorporeal, and have no permanent bodily form independent of the mind [of him who perceives them], they exist entirely in prophetic vision, and depend on the action of the imaginative power, as will be explained when speaking on the true meaning of prophecy. As to the words “at another time as females,” which imply that the Prophets in prophetical vision perceived angels also in the form of women, they refer to the vision of Zechariah (v. 9), “And, behold, there came out two women, and the wind was in their wings.”