Gender and the Angels in Late Antique Judaism

Scholars have tended to overlook or dismiss the possibility of feminine angelic beings in ancient Judaism. Close reading of texts reveals that gendered divine beings do not exceed the biblical source material, Hebrew linguistic possibilities, Late Antique Jewish texts or the Jewish imagination. Altogether, evidence found in rabbinic literature, Yannai's liturgical poetry, liturgical practices, ritual texts, and synagogue art demonstrates that feminine angels were conceivable by ancient Jews.