ARCHANGEL

(archʹan·gel).

The prefix arch, meaning “chief” or “principal,” would seem to imply that there is only one archangel, the chief or head of the angelic host; in the Scriptures, “archangel” is never found in the plural. First Thessalonians 4:16, in speaking of the preeminence of the archangel and the authority of his office, does so in reference to the resurrected Lord Jesus Christ: “The Lord himself will descend from heaven with a commanding call, with an archangel’s voice and with God’s trumpet, and those who are dead in union with Christ will rise first.” It is, therefore, not without significance that the only name directly associated with the word archangel is Michael.—Jude 9; see MICHAEL.