ColossiansOne

celestial hierarchy

The Ten Ranks

Maimonides' ten ranks, c. 1180 — a deliberate alternative to the Dionysian nine. Compare the two and the disagreement is unmissable: the seraphim fall from first to fifth and the cherubim from second to ninth.

Mishneh Torah, Yesodei ha-Torah · c. 1180

Source base of members

  • 80+5
  • 50–791
  • 25–491

7 of 10 nodes link to a profile; the rest are structural labels from the source text.

10 nodes

the whole structure as one tree

The Ten RanksThe Ten Ranks1. Chayot ha-Kod…The holy living crea…1. Chayot ha-Kodesh — The holy living creatures of the chariot.2. OphanimThe wheels — identif…2. Ophanim — The wheels — identified with the Dionysian Thrones.3. ErelimThe valiant ones.3. Erelim — The valiant ones.4. HashmallimThe gleaming ones — the Dionys…4. Hashmallim — The gleaming ones — the Dionysian Dominions.5. SeraphimFour ranks lower tha…5. Seraphim — Four ranks lower than Pseudo-Dionysius places them.6. MalakimThe messengers proper.6. Malakim — The messengers proper.7. ElohimThe divine beings.7. Elohim — The divine beings.8. Bene ElohimThe sons of the divine beings.8. Bene Elohim — The sons of the divine beings.9. KerubimSeven ranks lower th…9. Kerubim — Seven ranks lower than in the Dionysian scheme.10. IshimThe rank that speaks…10. Ishim — The rank that speaks with prophets.

Reading this tree

Nodes with a coloured dot and an underline link to a full profile. Structural nodes — spheres, ranks, offices — are labels from the source text itself and have no separate entry. Where a figure appears in more than one hierarchy, its profile lists every placement.

The book this structure comes from

A hierarchy is one text's arrangement, not a consensus. This is the text.

All hierarchies