Maimonides, a Jewish philosopher of the Middle Ages, proposed a more functional view of angels as metaphors for the laws of nature: the burning of fire, the flowing of water, and so forth.

• 中世纪的犹太哲学家迈蒙尼德提出一个对于天使的更功能化的观点：天使是自然规律的隐喻。在他的观点中，天使即火之燃烧，水之流动，诸如此类。