New Testament statements about angels reflect Jewish views of these beings. During the Middle Ages, theologians developed a hierarchy of angels.
Angels are a popular subject in folklore, literature, and art.
Even in its devotion to monotheism, the worship of one God, ancient Israel was able to embrace the image of a council of gods by turning all but one of them into angels who serve the one God, much as earthly courtiers serve one king. In traditional Israelite thought, angels were assumed to have the form of human males, thus sometimes being mistaken for men. In the early and mid-1990s there was a resurgence of popular interest in angels. In the Near Eastern antecedents to Judaism, angels were often understood to be gods or lesser divinities. Their existence was taken for granted by the biblical authors.