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What's the group noun for angels?

 
Tim Thornborough | April 30, 2011

It's sometimes quite weird working in publishing. Just as the temperatures soar, and everyone is walking round in shorts eating ice creams, what are we doing? Writing stuff for Christmas!

Been working with GBCs outstanding childrens' editor Alison Mitchell on a new tract for Christmas for children. I stopped short at the sentence that said:

"A bunch of angels showed up and started singing praises to God"

What exactly is the group noun for angels? Alison originally had "troop" but thought it sounded a bit too militaristic. Not a bad idea, as the host of heaven sometimes acts as an army. But a brief brainstorm in the office came up with some other suggestions:

  • A Flock of angels: quite fun if you imagine angels to be of the wing-ed variety. But Bible scholars who routinely score 7 out of 7 on our weekly Blog quiz will instantly wag their fingers - only the cherubim and seraphim are described as winged, most other angels are more like shiny people.
  • A Host of angels: that's the biblical term, but it is a bit of a "Bible vocabulary word" that children wouldn't get that easily
  • A Pinhead of angels: suggested by Carl Laferton. not a reference to my legendary small brain, but to the arguments about how many you could fit on one...
  • A flashmob of angels: loved this one as it is trendily modern and also describes the way a group of angels show up and... well... flash

Any suggestions to help us out are warmly welcome...

Shelley

10:33 AM EST on February 1st
I would say a choir of angels

étrangère

10:33 AM EST on February 1st
I love 'flashmob', but it'll quickly date, and doesn't work for kids who haven't seen youtube videos. How about simply, 'crowd'? Not as fun as 'bunch', but communicates.

Robert stanton

10:33 AM EST on February 1st
Or maybe something more alliterative: given the effect of angels on the human psyche is so devastating, what about an "avalanch of angels"?

Eliza

7:06 PM EDT on August 12th
My husband says 'a herald of angels'

Ian

2:21 PM EDT on August 15th
All of you are right but what about a venue of angels personal opinion

Justin Newland

9:04 AM EST on November 9th
A glory of angels. A charisma of angels. A cascade of angels.

Laila

4:06 AM EDT on October 3rd
i think Alison is correct, a troop sounds pretty nice

Tony Mozee

11:53 AM EDT on October 19th
…an AGITATION of angels…

Gabriel

4:52 PM EST on November 9th
An Awe of Angels

Al

12:13 AM EST on December 29th
Since there are three divisions and seven ranks of angels, I believe it would be correct to call them an army of angels. If you want to break it down to a regiment, battalion, brigade, or just a small detail, that’s workable.

Each is a soldier of God and if need be, are prepared to fight for Him. Any organization that’s charged with providing a public service that helps or defends people, needs to have ranks and discipline. Yes it may seem awkward or is unusual as being a soldier is not what we envision angels to be, relative to earthly ones.

Otherwise just call them a choir of angels, especially when they’re singing.

Tim Thornborough

Tim Thornborough is the founder and Publishing Director of The Good Book Company. He is series editor of Explore Bible-reading notes, the author of The Very Best Bible Stories series, and has contributed to many books published by The Good Book Company and others. Tim is married to Kathy, and they have three adult daughters.