Then I said, O my lord, what are these? And the angel that talked with me said unto me, I will show you what these are.
All Commentaries on Zechariah 1:9 Go To Zechariah 1
Augustine of Hippo
AD 430
Likewise, who will tell with what bodies angels appear to people, in such fashion as not to be visible but to be tangible? And again how, not through tangible corporeality but by spiritual power, angels produce certain visions, not to the eyes of the body but to those of the spirit or the mind, or can utter speech, not of the ear from without, but within the soul of humans, being themselves placed there, as is written in the book of the prophets: “And the angel that spoke in me said to me” (for what the prophet says is not “that spoke to me,” but “in me”)…. They appear also in sleep and speak through dreams (for we read in the Gospel: “Behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying”). These methods of communication tend to show that the angels have intangible bodies, and make it a very difficult question how the patriarchs could wash the feet of angels, and how Jacob could wrestle with an angel in contact so unmistakable. Asking these questions and answering them with such guesses as we can is not a useless exercise for the mind, if the discussion is kept within bounds and if those who take part avoid the error of thinking they know what they do not know. For what need is there of affirming or denying or making nice distinctions about these and similar matters, when ignorance of them imputes no blame? Enchiridion
