Seven Archangels
The concept of Seven Archangels is found in some works of early Jewish literature and in Christianity.[1] In those texts, they are referenced as the angels who serve God directly.
The Catholic Church venerates seven archangels: in Latin Christianity, three are invoked by name (Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael) while the Eastern Catholic Churches name seven. Lutheranism and Anglicanism's traditions generally recognize three archangels: Michael and Gabriel, Raphael, and sometimes a fourth one, Uriel.
In parts of Oriental Orthodox Christianity and Eastern Orthodox Christianity, Eight Archangels may be honoured, including Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, Uriel, as well as Salathiel, Jegudiel, Barachiel, and Jeremiel (in the Coptic tradition, the latter four are named as Surael, Sakakael, Sarathael, and Ananael).[1] The Eight Archangels are commemorated on the Feast of the Archangels.[2]
Bible[edit]
The term archangel itself is not found in the Hebrew Bible or the Christian Old Testament, and in the Greek New Testament the term archangel only occurs in 1 Thessalonians 4 (1 Thessalonians 4:16) and the Epistle of Jude (Jude 1:9), where it is used of Michael, who in Daniel 10 (Daniel 10:12) is called 'one of the chief princes,' and 'the great prince'. In the Septuagint, this is rendered "the great angel."[3]
The idea of seven archangels is most explicitly stated in the deuterocanonical/apocryphal Book of Tobit when Raphael reveals himself, declaring: "I am Raphael, one of the seven angels who stand in the glorious presence of the Lord, ready to serve him." (Tobit 12,15) The other two angels mentioned by name in the Bibles used by Catholics and Protestants are the archangel Michael and the angel Gabriel; Uriel is named in 2 Esdras (4:1 and 5:20) and Jerahmeel is named in 2 Esdras 4:36, a book that is regarded as canonical by the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, the Georgian and Russian Orthodox Churches,[4] and falls within the Apocrypha section of the Protestant Bible used by Lutherans and Anglicans. The names of other archangels come from tradition.
Zechariah 4,10 tells about "seven rejoices" that are "the eyes of the Lord, Which scan to and from throughout the whole earth."[5] Revelation 8 (Revelation 8:2) mentions seven angels (Ancient Greek: ἀγγέλους[6]) who "stand before God, and to them were given seven trumpets." Similarly, Revelation 16 (Revelation 16:1) indicates: "and I heard a loud voice from the temple saying to the seven angels (Ancient Greek: ἑπτὰ ἀγγέλοις[7]): Go and pour out the seven bowls of the wrath of God into the earth." Lastly, Revelation 4 and Revelation 5 (Revelation 4:5) mention "seven Spirits" (Ancient Greek: τα ἑπτά Πνεύματα, transliterated into "ta hepta Pneumata", with the capital letter[8]) – whose identity is not well specified – who are the "seven lamps of fire [that] were burning before the throne".[5]
Biblical apocrypha[edit]
One such tradition of archangels comes from the Old Testament biblical apocrypha, the third century BCE Book of the Watchers,[9] known as 1 Enoch or the Book of Enoch, eventually merged into the Enochic Pentateuch.[10][11] This narrative is affiliated with the Book of Giants, which also references the great archangels[12][13] and was made part of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church's scriptural canon. Although prevalent in Jewish and early Christian apostolic traditions and the early Church Fathers, the Book of Enoch gradually fell from academic and religious status, and by the seventh century was rejected from the canonical scriptures of all other Christian denominations.
The names of the archangels entered Jewish tradition during the Babylonian captivity (605 BCE). Babylonian folklore and cosmology,[14] and early Mesopotamian beliefs under the dualistic influence of Zoroastrianism, centered around anthropomorphic and zoomorphic representations of stars, planets, and constellations, including the four sons of the Sky Father carrying the Winged Sun, the throne of Wisdom. First the prophet Daniel, then authors such as Ezekiel hebraized this mythology, equating the Babylonian constellations with abstract forms held to be "sons of the gods", angels of the Lord of Israel, and heavenly animal cherubim. The 2 BC Book of Parables (Ch XL) names the four angels accompanying the Ancient of Days, standing before the Lord of Spirits, "the voices of those upon the four sides magnifying the Lord of Glory": Michael, Raphael, Gabriel, and Phanuel.
The Book of the Watchers (Ch IX) lists the angels who in antediluvian times interceded on behalf of mankind against the rogue spirits termed "the Watchers": Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, and Uriel.
Other traditions[edit]
Other names derived from pseudepigrapha are Selaphiel, Jegudiel, and Raguel.
In Ismailism, there are seven cherubim, comparable to the Seven Archangels ordered to bow down before Qadar, of whom Iblis refuses.[35]
In Yazidism, there are seven archangels, named Jabra'il, Mika'il, Rafa'il (Israfil), Dadra'il, Azrail, Shamkil (Shemna'il), and Azazil, who are emanations from God entrusted with care of the creation.[36]
Various occult systems associate each archangel with one of the traditional "seven luminaries" (classical planets visible to the naked eye): the Sun, the Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn;[37] but there is disagreement as to which archangel corresponds to which body.
According to Rudolf Steiner, four archangels govern the seasons: spring is Raphael, summer is Uriel, autumn is Michael, and winter is Gabriel.[38]
According to occultist Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, the Seven Archangels were a form of syncretism between different religions: they were the Chaldeans great gods, the Seven Sabian Gods, the seven Hinduist Manus and Seven Rashi, as well as the Seven Seats (Thrones) and Virtues of the Kabbalists.[39]
In the early Gnostic text On the Origin of the World, the aeon named Sophia sends seven archangels to rescue the Archon Sabaoth and bring him to the eighth heaven.[40]