Exploring the Meaning of Isaggelos in Greek

ἰσάγγελος means “like an angel” and appears in a single New Testament context describing the resurrection. Its lone occurrence comes in Jesus’ teaching about the life of those who share in the resurrection.

Root and Related Words

ἰσάγγελος (Isaggelos) is derived from ἴσος (isos), “equal” (Strong’s G2470), and ἄγγελος (angelos), “angel” (Strong’s G32). The resulting adjective presents a likeness expressed through comparison to angels.

Occurrences

“For they can’t die any more, for they are like the angels, and are children of God, being children of the resurrection.” (Luke 20:36)

In Luke 20:36, the adjective frames the condition of resurrected people by comparing them to angels. The verse ties the comparison directly to an explicit consequence: “they can’t die any more.” Within this sentence, “like the angels” functions as an explanatory link between the claim of immortality and the identity of the resurrected as “children of God.” The description is not offered in isolation; it sits inside a chain of reasons (“for… for… and…”) that presents a coherent profile: freedom from death, likeness to angels, and a new familial status (“children of God”), all grounded in their being “children of the resurrection.”

The comparison does specific work in the logic of the verse. “Like the angels” helps the reader imagine a mode of existence that is not constrained by death, and it supports the assertion that resurrection life is of a different order than ordinary mortal life. The adjective is therefore not merely decorative; it supplies a point of reference that makes the preceding statement (“they can’t die any more”) intelligible within the sentence’s reasoning. At the same time, the verse places this likeness alongside a distinct relational identity (“children of God”), so the comparison is one element in a larger description of what resurrection membership entails.

Sense and Usage

The sense “like an angel” is expressed in Luke 20:36 through a direct comparison (“like the angels”) rather than through metaphor or poetic imagery. The line does not sketch angelic appearance or activity; instead, the comparison is attached to a concrete implication named in the text: the resurrected “can’t die any more.” In this usage, the adjective signals that resurrection life shares a recognizable feature with angelic life, and the verse uses that feature to clarify the permanence of the resurrected state.

Because the statement is embedded in a description of identity—“children of God” and “children of the resurrection”—the angel-likeness functions within a family of descriptors that together mark out who “they” are. The wording suggests that “like the angels” is not meant to replace the other identifiers, but to stand beside them as a defining comparison. The reader is guided to understand angel-likeness as part of the explanation of why death no longer applies, while the “children” language explains belonging: they belong to God, and they belong to the resurrection as the defining event and sphere of their life.

In this context, “like an angel” carries a restrained, focused force: it points to a likeness relevant to the topic under discussion (life beyond death). The verse’s tight reasoning keeps the comparison from becoming open-ended speculation. The adjective serves the immediate purpose of the argument in the sentence—supporting the claim that resurrection life is deathless—and it does so by invoking angels as the comparison class the audience can recognize within the framework of the teaching.

Imagery

The single occurrence of ἰσάγγελος evokes a picture of resurrection life as stable and enduring: “they can’t die any more.” The phrase “like the angels” contributes to that picture by setting the resurrected alongside beings associated, in the verse’s own logic, with a mode of existence untouched by death, while the accompanying expressions “children of God” and “children of the resurrection” keep the imagery tethered to identity and belonging rather than to outward depiction.

Sources: Lexical data from Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance and the Translators Brief Lexicon of Extended Strongs for Greek (STEPBible, CC BY). Occurrence data from the Translators Amalgamated Greek New Testament (STEPBible, CC BY). Scripture quotations from the World English Bible (public domain).