Our commentary
What happened to the fallen angels?
Our own look at a common question, by David Dell. The background on this page is ours, not a summary of the book.
The Bible doesn't give one tidy answer to “where are the fallen angels now?” It gives several pictures, and Christians put them together in different ways. Here they are, verse by verse.
Some are held in chains
“For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment;” 2 Peter 2:4 (KJV)
“Cast them down to hell” translates a single Greek verb, tartaroō, “to throw into Tartarus,” the deepest pit of the Greek underworld. It's the only place the word occurs in the New Testament. Jude says something similar:
“And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day.” Jude 1:6 (KJV)
Many interpreters connect these verses with Genesis 6, as 1 Enoch does when it describes Azazel, one of the leaders of the rebel Watchers, being bound and cast into darkness until the judgment (1 Enoch 10:4–6). Others read them as describing the original rebellion of angels more generally. (For the Genesis debate itself, see Who were the sons of God in Genesis 6?)
A related, much-debated passage speaks of “spirits in prison” from Noah's day:
“By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison; Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water.” 1 Peter 3:19–20 (KJV)
Others are active now
Other passages describe fallen spiritual powers at work in the present:
“And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.” Revelation 12:9 (KJV)
“Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:” Ephesians 2:2 (KJV)
“For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” Ephesians 6:12 (KJV)
In the Gospels, the demons who meet Jesus beg not to be sent to “the deep” (Greek abyssos), which suggests they weren't confined there yet:
“And they besought him that he would not command them to go out into the deep.” Luke 8:31 (KJV)
That's why many readers conclude that some fallen angels are confined now and others are free to act, under limits, until the end.
Some are bound for a set time
Revelation adds a group held for a particular hour:
“Saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet, Loose the four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates.” Revelation 9:14 (KJV)
All face the same end
Whatever their present state, Scripture is clear about the destination:
“Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:” Matthew 25:41 (KJV)
“And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.” Revelation 20:10 (KJV)
“Know ye not that we shall judge angels? how much more things that pertain to this life?” 1 Corinthians 6:3 (KJV)
Are demons fallen angels?
This is one of the most common follow-up questions. The usual Christian answer is yes: Revelation 12:9 speaks of the devil “and his angels,” and Matthew 25:41 of “the devil and his angels.” A second answer comes from 1 Enoch, which says evil spirits came from the giants born to the Watchers: “the giants, who are produced from the spirits and flesh, shall be called evil spirits upon the earth” (1 Enoch 15:8, tr. R.H. Charles). That's an ancient Jewish tradition, not a teaching of the Bible itself (see Is the Book of Enoch in the Bible?).
This paragraph is our own commentary. For a Christian the point of these passages isn't fear. The same letters that describe dark powers also say they have already been defeated:
“And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it.” Colossians 2:15 (KJV)
If fallen angels are still active, it's fair to ask whether some modern encounters are their work. We take that up in Are UFOs demons? and The Book of Revelation and UFOs.
Sources: 2 Peter 2:4; Jude 1:6; 1 Peter 3:19–20; Revelation 12:9, 9:14, 20:10; Ephesians 2:2, 6:12; Luke 8:31; Matthew 25:41; 1 Corinthians 6:3; Colossians 2:15 (KJV) · Tartarus (tartaroō in 2 Peter 2:4) · 1 Enoch 10 and 15, tr. R.H. Charles (1917)