Gabriel (;
;
Greek:
,
Gabriēl;
Arabic: جبريل,
Jibrīl or جبرائيل
Jibrail;
Aramaic: Gabr-el, man of God; literally "Master, of God", i.e., a Master, who is "of God"; or "my master is God") is generally considered to be an
archangel in
Abrahamic religions, who serves as a messenger from
God. He first appears in the
Book of Daniel in the
Hebrew Bible. In Biblical tradition, he is sometimes regarded as the
angel of death or one of God's messengers.
Christians and
Muslims believe him to have foretold the births of
John the Baptist and
Jesus.
Islam further believes he was the medium through whom God revealed the
Qur'an to
Muhammad, and that he sent a message to most
prophets, if not all, revealing their obligations. He is called the chief of the four favoured angels and the spirit of truth, and in some views Gabriel is the same as the
Holy Spirit.
Gabriel also finds mention in the writings of the
Bahá'í Faith, most notably in
Bahá'u'lláh's mystical work
Seven Valleys.
Christian references
Pseudepigraphy
According to Enoch 9:1-2 Gabriel, along with
Michael,
Raphael,
Uriel and
Suriel hear the cries of humanity under the strain of the Nephilim. It was their beseeching of 'the Ancient of Days' [Yahweh], that prompted God to call Enoch to prophethood.
After Enoch informed the Watchers of their fall from Grace, Yahweh sent the archangels to earth to complete various tasks. Gabriel was to 'Go to the biters, to the reprobates, to the children of fornication, the offspring of the Watchers, from among men; bring them forth and excite them against one another. Let them perish under mutual slaughter; for length of days shall not be theirs.' Enoch 10:13. And so, Gabriel instigated wars among the Giants (the children of the Watchers).
Enoch 20:7 says that Gabriel presides over 'Ikisat'. Which appears to be a proper noun of some type. While Enoch 40:9 states that Gabriel presides over 'all that is powerful'.
Enoch 53:6 shows us that Gabriel, among his brethren, shall be strengthened during the Battle of Armageddon.
Enoch 71:13 seems to imply that Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, and Phanuel always travel with Yahweh when he moves from His Throne. Though Michael is the only confirmed archangel, Gabriel is generally considered to be an archangel due to his prominent roles in the bible. Raphael and Phanuel are implied to be archangels throughout the book of Enoch, which is not a book within the traditional cannonized Bible.
And that Head of Days came with Michael and Gabriel, Raphael and Phanuel, thousands and ten thousands of angels without number.
Feast Days
The feast of Saint Gabriel was included for the first time in the
General Roman Calendar in 1921, for celebration on
24 March. In 1969 it was transferred to
29 September for celebration together with
St. Michael and
St. Raphael. The
Church of England has also adopted the
29 September date.
The
Eastern Orthodox Church and those
Eastern Catholic Churches which follow the
Byzantine Rite celebrate his
feast day on
8 November (for those churches which follow the traditional
Julian Calendar,
8 November currently falls on
21 November of the modern
Gregorian Calendar, a difference of 13 days). Eastern Orthodox commemorate him, not only on his November feast, but also on two other days:
26 March is the "
Synaxis of the Archangel Gabriel" and celebrates his role in the Annunciation.
13 July is also known as the "Synaxis of the Archangel Gabriel", and celebrates all the appearances and miracles attributed to Gabriel throughout history. The feast was first established on
Mount Athos when, in the ninth century, during the reign of
Emperor Basil II and the Empress Constantina Porphyrogenitus, while
Nicholas Chrysoverges was
Patriarch of Constantinople, the Archangel appeared in a cell near
Karyes, where he wrote with his finger on a stone tablet the hymn to the
Theotokos, "It is truly meet..." (see
Axion Estin).
The
Ethiopian Church celebrates his feast on
28 December, with a sizeable number of its believers making a pilgrimage to a church dedicated to "Saint Gabriel" in
Kulubi on that day.
Additionally Gabriel is a the
Patron saint of messengers, those who work for broadcasting and telecommunications such as radio and television,
remote sensing, and postal workers.
Latter-Day Saint view
In
Latter-day Saint theology, Gabriel lived in this mortal life as the patriarch
Noah. Gabriel and Noah are regarded as the same individual; Noah being his mortal name and Gabriel being his heavenly name. See also:
Noah,
Michael (archangel) ~
AdamIslamic references
The
Arabic name for Gabriel is
Jibril,
Jibrīl,
Jibreel,
Jabrilæ or
Djibril (جبريل , جبرائيل, , , or )
Muslims believe Gabriel to have been the
angel who revealed the
Qur'an to the
prophet Muhammad.
Gabriel's physical appearance is described in the
Hadith ():
Narrated By Abu Ishaq-Ash-Shaibani: I asked Zir bin Hubaish regarding the Statement of God: "And was at a distance Of but two bow-lengths Or (even) nearer; So did (God) convey The Inspiration to His servant (Gabriel) and then he (Gabriel) Conveyed (that to Muhammad). () On that, Zir said, "Ibn Mas'ud informed us that the Prophet had seen Gabriel having 600 wings."
Gabriel is regarded with the exact same respect by Muslims as all of the Prophets, and upon saying his name or referring to him a Muslim repeats: "peace be upon him".
Gabriel's primary tasks are to bring messages from God to His messengers. As in Christianity, Gabriel is said to be the angel that informed
Mary (Arabic
Maryam) of how she would conceive Jesus (
Isa):
She placed a screen (to screen herself) from them; then We sent to her Our Ruh [angel Jibrael (Gabriel)], and he appeared before her in the form of a man in all respects. She said: "Verily! I seek refuge with the Most Beneficent (God) from you, if you do fear God." (The angel) said: "I am only a Messenger from your Lord, (to announce) to you the gift of a righteous son." She said: "How can I have a son, when no man has touched me, nor am I unchaste?" He said: "So (it will be), your Lord said: 'That is easy for Me (God): And (We wish) to appoint him as a sign to mankind and a mercy from Us (God), and it is a matter (already) decreed, (by God).' "
(Quran, )
Muslims believe Gabriel to have accompanied
Muhammad in his
ascension to the heavens, where Muhammad also is said to have met previous messengers of God, and was informed about the
Islamic prayer (Bukhari ). Muslims also believe that Gabriel descends to Earth on the night of
Laylat al-Qadr ("The Night of Great Value"), a night in the last ten days of the holy month of
Ramadan in the
Islamic calendar which is believed to be the night in which the Quran was first revealed.
Judaic references
History and the Hebrew Bible
The name Gabriel first appears in the
Book of Daniel. The setting of the story is the
Babylonian captivity: the Jewish leader
Daniel ponders the meanings of several visions he has experienced in exile, when Gabriel appears to him with a message about the "
End of Days":
- "...And it came to pass, when I, even I Daniel, had seen the vision, that I sought to understand it; and, behold, there stood before me as the appearance of a man. And I heard the voice of a man between the banks of Ulai, who called, and said:' Gabriel, make this man to understand the vision.' So he came near where I stood; and when he came, I was terrified, and fell upon my face; but he said to me: 'Understand, son of man; for the vision belongs to the time of the end..." ()
Narad : Gabriel's counterpart in Hinduism
Although Gabriel does not occur phonetically or etymologically in Hindu texts, the central task of Gabriel which is an important messenger of God is performed in Hinduism by
Narada. Mentioned as one of the greatest devotees of
Vishnu he travels the three worlds singing the praise of the Lord and is welcomed everywhere with respect. It was Narada who narrated the
Ramayana to Maharshi
Valmiki and asked Maharshi
Ved Vyasa to write the
Mahabharata. He is also attributed an important text of
bhakti yoga (the way of devotion), the
Narada Bhakti Sutra.
Art
In chronological order (to see each item, follow the link in the footnote):
- Gabriel delivering the AnnunciationEl Greco, 1575 (pictured above)
Popular culture
- In Star Trek, Dr. McCoy quipped that just once he would like to transport down to a primitive planet and say, "Behold, I am the Archangel Gabriel!"
- In the Shin Megami Tensei series of video games, Gabriel is portrayed as the only female Seraph and, in the second installment, stands apart from the other Seraphim when their goals diverge from God's.
- In The Prophecy trilogy, the angel Gabriel, played by Christopher Walken, is jealous of humans for being God's favorites and wishes to kill them all. In the second one he is banished to be a human and it causes him to change his opinion of them. After helping Danyael out through the third movie he is granted a second chance as an angel and ascends to Heaven once again.
- In 2007, the Australian film Gabriel tells the story of an 'Arc' Angel who fights to bring light back to purgatory - a place where darkness rules - and save the souls of the city's inhabitants. Actor Andy Whitfield portrays the title role.
- The film Van Helsing refers to the lead character, Van Helsing, as 'the left hand of God'. The antagonist, Count Vladislaus Draguelia, i.e. Count Dracula, refers to Van Helsing as 'Gabriel', to which Van Helsing responds 'how do you know me?'.
See also
