We all know Michael, Raphael, and Gabriel. But in the Book of Tobit 12:15, Raphael claims to be one of seven. Some eastern rites acknowledge all 7, but I have yet to find anything on the Roman Catholic point of view. So what’s going on here?
Apparently the tradition of the seven Archangels is a very old one, dating from post-exilic Judaism; aside from the implicit reference in the book of Tobit, generally dated to the 2nd century BC or earlier, there is also already a reference to them in the Book of Enoch (the oldest portions of which may are extant already somewhere around the 3rd-2nd century BC) and in some Qumranic literature.
We could note that angels mentioned in the Torah, or indeed, in all the older books of the Old Testament, do not have any specific names. The 2nd-century rabbi Shimon ben Lakish (A.D. 230-270) once asserted that all the specific names for the angels were brought back by the Jews from their exile in Babylon. To this modern commentators tend to agree.
The archangels Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, and Uriel are among those whom we have an early specific mention of:
1.) Michael’s name is explicitly mentioned in the book of Daniel (10:13, 21; 12:1).
The book of Enoch (9:1; 10:15; 20:5; 24:4-10; 40:8; 53:6; 58; 66:14-15; 70:11-16) and a work discovered among the Dead Sea Scrolls, entitled
War of the Sons of Light Against the Sons of Darkness, aka
The War Scroll (somewhere around 50 BC and the 1st century AD) may also count as among the earliest mentions that we have of the name.
2.) One early occurrence we have of “
Gabriel” also comes from Daniel (8:15-17). Enoch also mentions him (9:1-2; 10:13; 20:7; 40:9).
3.) Raphael, as we all know, appears in the book of Tobit. As with Michael and Gabriel, he also makes an appearance in Enoch (10:5-7).
4.) Uriel is a bit of an anomaly. His name already appears with the trio of Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael in a portion of 1 Enoch called the “Book of the Watchers” (one of the oldest parts of that work, dated somewhere around 300 BC). Aside from this he has a huge role in that work, acting as a guide for Enoch for the a greater part of the work. Even so, in some manuscripts the same work gives the name “
Phanuel” in a number of its catalogs of angels (40:9; 54:6; 71:8, 9, 13):
This first is Michael, the merciful and long-suffering: and the second, who is set over all the diseases and all the wounds of the children of men, is Raphael: and the third, who is set over all the powers, is Gabriel:
and the fourth, who is set over the repentance unto hope of those who inherit eternal life, is named Phanuel.
This led some to identify this “Phanuel” with Uriel, though others distinguish between the two. Others - such as the works in Qumran - put yet another angel called “
Sariel” in Uriel’s place as the fourth Archangel (some point out however that “Sariel” is more likely the original name, only being replaced later by either Uriel or Phanuel in later tradition and literature).
Aside from these, other sources (say, ancient amulets or incantations which show Jewish influence) also attest that these names have become well-known. Appearing in many these spells, amidst the transliterated Hebrew names for God (
Iao,
Sabaoth,
Adonai or some such) or plain gibberish words are the names “
Michael”, “
Gabriel”, “
Raphael”, or “
Ouriel”/“
Souriel”.
In contrast to these pretty much stable naming, the names of the latter three vary wildly from source to source:
1.) The list of seven Archangels at 1 Enoch 20 gives the name of the latter three as
Raguel,
Saraqael (Ethiopian)/
Sariel (Greek) and
Remiel (identified by some with the “
Jeremiel” who speaks to Ezra at
2 Esdras 4:36, the “
Eremiel” of the
Apocalypse of Zephaniah, and the “
Ramiel” of
2 Baruch 55:3).
2.) In the late 5th to early 6th century, Pseudo-Dionysius gives the names of the three as
Chamuel,
Jophiel, and
Zadkiel.
3.) Pope St. Gregory the Great gives the names of the three as
Simiel,
Oriphiel and
Zachariel.
4.) An esoteric Jewish work known as the
Merkabah Rabbah gives the names of the latter three as
Aktariel,
Borie/
Bodiel, and
Yomiel.
5.) Modern-day Eastern Orthodox tradition venerates the latter three under the names of
Selaphiel,
Jegudiel, and
Barachiel, while the Copts record their names as
Zadakiel (perhaps from the 1 Enoch Zadkiel?),
Sarathiel and
Aniel.
- Selaphiel (aka Salathiel, Sarathiel, Selaphiel or Sealtiel)'s name comes from 2 Esdras.
- Jegudiel (also Judiel) is identified by some to come from the aforementioned Jeremiel of 2 Esdras.
- Barachiel’s name comes from 3 Enoch.
It has actually become common amongst some Catholics to venerate the three as Jegudiel/Judiel, Sealtiel and Barachiel, following the Eastern nomenclature.
