[lit. messenger]
Biblical: 1) supernatural beings who serve as God's messengers: gtso bo dkon mchog gi pho nya rmi lam du byung / an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream (Mt. 1:20), nam mkha'i pho nya/ angels of heaven (Mt. 22:30); 2) supernatural beings who serve the devil: bdud dang de'i pho nya/ the devil and his angels (Mt. 25:41); 3) angels of churches: skar ma bdun po ni chos tshogs bdun gyi pho nya yin/ the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches (Rev. 1:20); 4) human messengers: khyed kyi sngon du nga yi pho nya gtong / I will send my messenger ahead of you (Mt. 11:10), spun gzhan gnyis po chos tshogs kyi pho nya/ as for our brothers, they [are] representatives of the churches (2 Cor. 8:23); 5) delegation: gzhan de thag ring na yod ring pho nya btang / while the other is far away, [he] will send a delegation (Lk. 14:32).
Buddhist: 1) pho nya/ or lha'i pho nya/ a supernatural messenger who seeks to help those who practice the dharma; like an evil spirit, however, a pho nya/ is a mind consciousness which is afflicted by defilements (KTM); 2) a human messenger, a bearer of news (KTM); in the past one who rode a horse to carry or deliver a letter. Now used mainly in artistic writing, e.g. the bird who begins singing at the beginning of spring is called the pho nya/ of spring (AMD); 3) a messenger of the lord of death, gshin rje/ (KTM), or of the devil: bdud kyi pho nya dga' rab dbang phyug the devil's messenger, Garab Wangchuk (SGN 22).
[lit. messenger + best]
Biblical: an archangel pho nya mchog gi skad/ voice of the archangel (1 Thes. 4:16).
[lit. executioner, angel of death]
Biblical: angel of destruction la las ma rangs pa'i tshig smras nas gshed mas bsad pa ltar/ as the destroying angel killed some of them after they complained (1 Cor. 10:10).
Buddhist: gshed ma/ a class of killer demons which takes away life by seizing its victims' deteriorated life force (srog). The exorcism of a gshed ma/ from the home of the deceased is known as za 'dre kha sgyur/ , (turning away the mouth of the eating demon), even though the gshed ma/ is what caused the death (KTM).
Secular: gshed ma/ a term of contempt used of one completely selfish and without reason; in former Tibetan society the common people used this term of oppressive rulers (AMD). See also evil spirit.