TADHIEL-An angel who appears in Jewish legend as the angel sent by the Lord at the last minute to prevent Abraham from sacrificing his son, Issac. This action was ascribed in the Old Testament Book of Genesis to an otherwise unnamed angel of the Lord.

TAGAS-An angelic prince mentioned in the Third Book of Enoch. He is revered as the chief director of the angelic choirs that sing in eternal praise of the Lord. Presumably he has under his authority such other angelic directors as Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun.

TALL ANGEL, THE-An angel appearing in Jewish legend. He is called the "tall angel" because of his enormous height, unusual even by the standards of heaven, which boasts some staggering tall angels among its blessed residents. In this case the angel was encountered by Moses, who was visiting the third heaven at the time and being shown around by the angel Metatron, himself no puny creature. The actual identity of the angel remains somewhat unclear, but according to some sources he was to be identified with Sandalphon, while others declared him to be Nuriel or Hadraniel.

TARSHISHIM-The Hebrew name meaning "brilliant (or shining) ones," given to an order of angels generally said to be the equivalent of the later order of angels known as the virtues. Their chief or ruling prince is most often listed as Tarshish; other candidates for the post include Sabrael and Haniel.

TARTARUS, ANGELS OF-Those special angels who reside in Tartarus, classical antiquity's equivalent of Hades or Hell. Mentioned in the apocryphal works of the Apocalypse of Paul and the Vision of Paul, the angels of Tartarus have the grim duty of presiding over the terrible punishments given out to the damned souls placed into their hands. The chief of these angels is usually identified as Tartaruchus, but another leader frequently stated is the ubiquitous archangel Uriel.

TATRASIEL YHWH-An angel counted among the foremost princes of heaven, as noted in the Third Book of Enoch.

TEARS, ANGEL OF-The title borne by several angels, referring to their penchant for shedding tears for the sinfulness of humanity. Two candidates are Sandalphon and Cassiel, but perhaps the most suitable angelic recipient of the title is Israfel. According to Islamic lore, Israfel stares six times a day into hell and beholds the wickedness of the condemned. So heartrending is this image that the angel bursts into weeping. His tears are so uncontrollable that the Lord himself must stop the flow or the entire world would be flooded.

TEMLAKOS-Also Temeluch and Temeluchus, and angel with several responsibilities, as reported in the Apocalypse of Peter, a second-century A.D. work purporting to present a revelation of the very Day of Judgment. Temlakos is the protector of all children who were slain by their parents; he is also thought to be the patron of children at the time of their birth and in their early infancy. As for the murderous parents of the children, they are consigned too Gehenna, and Temlakos has the duty of putting them to eternal torture and torment, for, as the Apocalypse declares, "it is the will of God that this be so."

THREE ANGELS-The name given to the three otherwise unnamed visitors to the patriarch Abraham in the Old Testament Book of Genesis. Scholars and biblical experts have long offered identifications for the three travelers, but the most common, based on Abraham's use of term "my lord," is that the Lord himself had paid a call, manifesting himself as the trinity: God, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. While most logical, this explanation has been joined by other proposed identifications. For example, the three have been proclaimed to be God, Gabriel, and Michael; Raphael, Michael, and Gabriel; Gabriel, Michael, and Israfel; or three angels who have no names. That there were two angels accompanying God is seemingly supported by subsequent events, namely the sending of two angels to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah while the Lord continued to speak with Abraham.

THRONE BEARERS-The name given to those angels in Islamic lore who carry the throne of God, called the 'Arsh. By custop there are four such angels representing the four divine attributes of requital, providence, mercy, and beneficence. However, on the Day of Judgment eight angels will carry the throne, as declared in the Qur'an (surah 69). In Jewish lore there are also throne angels, the so-called Merkabah Angels, and the seven angels mentioned in the apocryphal Book of the Angel Raziel, who have the high honor of standing in the very presence of the throne of God. The seven throne angels are Gabriel, Michael, Raphael, Uriel, Phanuel, Israel, and Uzziel. Other sources say that there are actually fifteen throne angels. In Christian traditions the three highest of the choirs in heaven, namely the first triad comprised of the seraphim, cherubim, and thrones, are all close or next to the throne of the Almighty.

THRONES (choir)-One of the nine choirs of angels, as accepted on lore and determined by the sixth century theologian Dionysius the Areopagite. Called the ophanim or galgallim in Hebrew traditions, the thrones are also termed the "wheels" and the "many-eyed ones." They belong to the first and highest triad of the heavenly host, standing just below the seraphim and the cherubim; this position makes them some of the most powerful angels in the service of the Lord. According to St. Thomas Aquinas, the thrones have the task of pondering the disposition of divine judgments, meaning that they carry out or fulfill the divine justice of the Lord. Like their counterparts in the first angelic triad, they come the closet of all angels to spiritual perfection and emanate the light of God with mirrorlike goodness. In some Jewish lore the thrones function within the heavenly scheme of things as either the chariots upon which the throne of God rests (the Merkabah) or as the wheels of the chariot. This imagery is expressed fully in the Old Testament Book of Ezekiel (1:13-21), where they appeared with the cherubim.

TIME, SPIRIT OF-See Zeitgeist.

TRUTH, ANGEL OF-The generally unnamed angel in Jewish legend who was a staunch opponent of the creation of humanity, with the angel of peace. Both were against the birth of humankind because they, like the earth itself in other tales, perceived taht the mortals would turn against God and bring chaos and misery. The Lord, however, grew angry at their impudence and burned both the angel of truth and the angel of peace to ashes, along with the untold number of ministering angels who accompanied them. In tradition, several angels have been named as possessing the title angel of truth, including Amitiel, Gabriel, and even Michael. As the angel was destroyed, it can be deduced that neither Michael nor Gabriel was the original angel of truth; it is possible that Amitiel was incinerated and the position was given to either Gabriel or Michael. Of the two, Gabriel has more claim to the title, given his role in announcing great news, such as the coming of John the Baptist and Christ in the Christian tradition and the revealing of the Qur'an to Muhammad in the Islamic tradition.

TSADKIEL-See Zadkiel.

TUBUAS-A member of the group of angels who were removed from the ranks of officially recognized celestial hierarchy in 745 by a council in Rome under Pope Zachary. He was joined by Uriel, Adimus, Sabaoth, Simiel, and Raguel.

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