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This article is about the archangel Gabriel. For other uses, see Gabriel (disambiguation).
12th-century icon of Archangel Gabriel from Novgorod.
In Abrahamic religions, Gabriel (גַּבְרִיאֵל, Standard Hebrew Gavriʼel, Latin Gabrielus, Greek Γαβριήλ, Tiberian Hebrew Gaḇrîʼēl, Arabic جبريل Jibrīl or Jibrail, literally "Master, of God", i.e., a Master, who is "of God") is an angel who is thought to serve as a messenger from God ("angel" literally translates to "messenger" from the Koine Greek; an "arch" angel is a "primary" or "chief" messenger). He first appears in the Book of Daniel in the Hebrew Bible. He is also referred to as the "Left Hand of God and the embodiment of the Holy Spirit".[citation needed] Christians and Muslims believe him to have foretold the births of John the Baptist and Jesus to Zacharias and the Virgin Mary, and Muslims further believe he was the medium through which God revealed the Qur\'an to Muhammad. Muslims also believe he sent a message to most, if not all, prophets revealing their obligation.
In Biblical tradition, he is sometimes regarded as the angel of death or one of God\'s messengers. In Islam, Gabriel is one of God\'s chief messengers but other above-mentioned titles are not given to him (for example, the angel of death is Azrael).
In the Christian Tradition, he is known as one of the seven archangels. In Islam, 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.[citation needed] Gabriel also finds mention in the writings of the Bahá\'í Faith, most notably in Bahá\'u\'lláh\'s mystical work The Seven Valleys.
Gabriel is also one of the only angels sometimes portrayed in art and literature as female.[1]
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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":
In the Talmud, Gabriel appears as the destroyer of the hosts of Sennacherib in Sanhedrin 95b, armed "with a sharpened scythe which has been ready since Creation." The archangel is also attributed as the one who showed Joseph the way, the one who prevented Queen Vashti from appearing naked before King Ahasuerus and his guests, and as one of the angels who buried Moses. In Talmud Yoma 77a, however, it is stated that Gabriel once fell into disgrace "for not obeying a command exactly as given, I remained for a while outside the heavenly Curtain." During this 21 day period, the guardian angel of Persia, Dobiel, acted as Gabriel\'s proxy.
The Talmud described him as the only angel who can speak Syriac and Chaldee.
Gabriel is also, according to Judaism, the voice that told Noah to gather the animals before the great flood; the invisible force that prevented Abraham from slaying Isaac; the invisible force that wrestled with Jacob; and the voice of the burning bush.
Gabriel delivering the Annunciation. Painting by El Greco (1575)
In the Gospel of Luke, Gabriel reveals to the Jewish Pharisee and Priest Zechariah that John the Baptist will be born to Zechariah\'s wife Elizabeth (Luke 1:5-20) and visits Elizabeth\'s cousin Mary to reveal that she will give birth to Jesus. Gabriel\'s visit to Mary is often called "The Annunciation" (Luke 1:26-38), an event that is celebrated on March 25 in the Eastern Orthodox and Catholic churches. It is also commemorated as the "First Joyful Mystery" of the rosary.
According to later legend, he is also the unidentified angel in the Book of Revelation (the Apocalypse of John) who blows the horn announcing the Judgment Day.
The Book of Enoch places the archangel Gabriel as The Left Hand of God, or seated on the left side of God\'s throne with Metatron. Gabriel is the ruler of the Cherubim and Seraphim surrounding the throne of the Almighty.
Alternate:
However, people have long thought that he was "God\'s Right Hand" upon the Earth, as if he switches roles in the transition from Heaven to Earth.
Icon of Gabriel, Byzantium, ca. 1387–1395 (Tretyakov Gallery)
To Catholics, Orthodox, and Anglicans he is St. Gabriel the Archangel, With Michael and Raphael, his feast day is celebrated on September 29 and November 8 for the Eastern Orthodox Christians.
Among the Eastern Orthodox, in addition to the September feast, he is also commemorated on March 26 and July 13. March 26 is the Synaxis of the Archangel Gabriel and celebrates his role in the Annunciation. July 13 is also known as the Synaxis of the Archangel Gabriel, but celebrates all of appearances and miracles attributed to Gabriel throughout history. The feast was first established on Mount Athos in the ninth century, during the reign of Emperor Basil II and the Empress Constantina Porphyrogenitus and Patriarch Nicholas Chrysoverges, on the occasion of the appearance of the Archangel Gabriel in a cell near Karyes where he wrote on a stone tablet with his finger, the hymn to the Theotokos, "It is truly meet..." (see Axion Estin).Velimirovic, Bishop Nikolai (1985), "July 13: The Holy Archangel Gabriel", Prologue from Ochrid, Birmingham, UK: Lazarica Press, ISBN 978-0948298059, <http://www.westsrbdio.org/prolog/my.html?month=July&day=13&Go.x=6&Go.y=12>. Retrieved on 31 July 2007
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.History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Salt Lake City: Deseret News, 1902. v. 3 p. 386.See also: Noah, Michael (archangel) ~ Adam
The Arabic name for Gabriel is Jibril, Jibrīl, Jibreel, Jabrilæ or Djibril (جبريل , جبرائيل, IPA: [dʒibræːʔiːl], [dʒibrɛ̈ʔiːl], or [dʒibriːl]) 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 (4:54:455):
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 slave (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: "upon him be peace". 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 1:8:345). Muslims also believe that Gabriel descends to Earth on the night of Laylat al-Qadr ("The Night of Destiny"), a night in the last ten days of the holy month of Ramadan in the Islamic calendar.
Gabriel is sometimes associated with the color Blue, the direction West, or the element Water; his horse is named Haizum. Gabriel is also variously identified as the angel of annunciation, resurrection, mercy, vengeance, death, and revelation. Furthermore, the archangel has also been identified in various sources to be one of the "Seven Archangels who stand in the presence of God"; he is also claimed variously to be a tafsarim (chief angelic prince) of the cherub, virtue, power, archangel, and angel celestial orders. The governor of the Moon and Monday also are ascribed to Gabriel; finally, the archangel is also the ruler of Shamayim, the First Heaven.
In the tradition of Hermetic Qabalah, Gabriel is one of the four archangels invoked during the Lesser, Greater and Supreme Rituals of the Pentagram. He appears in the Western Cardinal direction and is the Angel whose mastery is that of Water. The western pentagram is as follows, with the Water Banishing/Invoking and the Enochian "Hcoma" and "Empeh Arsel Gaoil" with the spiritual and elemental pentagrams. The zodiacal sign associated with Gabriel is Cancer, or the sign of the Crab.
Working with Planetary magic in the Hermetic tradition, Gabriel is the angelic ruler of the sephira Yesod, which roughly translates to Foundation, the emanation located at the genital region of the Adam Kadmon and thus the Tree of life upon the middle pillar. To invoke Gabriel into the circle it would be proper to cast the hexagram of the moon for example on Monday at 1am, 8am, 3pm or 10pm with the vibration of "Shaddai El Chai". Some form of a lunar tincture would assist in the opening of this hexagram, for example, dew from the morning grass, or moon blood (menstrual blood, which has an ambiguous association with the moon).
In chronological order (to see each item, follow the link in the footnote):Links to images of Gabriel. The Text This Week. Retrieved on 2007-02-12.
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