Angels 101: who is Saint Gabriel the Archangel?

November 10, 1:24 AMPhiladelphia Ghosts, Angels & Demons ExaminerKevin Meares

Previous Next

Comment Print Email RSS Subscribe

Subscribe

Get alerts when there is a new article from the Philadelphia Ghosts, Angels & Demons Examiner. Read Examiner.com's terms of use.

Email Address   Include other special offers from Examiner.com Terms of Use

The other loyal angel specificly named in scripture is the Archangel Gabriel. While he is not generally seen as the warrior Michael is, his name translates into God is my strength, as a note the suffix El in Hebrew means in or of God which is why the names of angels usually end in el (Michael, Raphael, Gabriel, Uriel, etc). Regardless of the origins of his name his depiction as a messenger is consistent throughout both the Old and New Testament.

He first appears to the prophet Daniel, specifically to interpret visions that Daniel had received from God (Daniel 8:15-19; Daniel 9:20-22). While these are his two named appearances in the Old testament Judaic tradition credits him with a number of other significant roles: particularly with having been the angel who destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah as well as being seen as the angel of death responsible in that role for killing the first born sons of Egypt (in Christian tradition Michael is more often seen as the angel of death). With the advent of Christianity and the New Testament Gabriel was given one of the most important duties of any angel. He is first sent to announce the birth of John the Baptist (Luke 1:11-20) going so far as to strike Zacharias dumb for his disbelief. From there Gabriel went on to make a far greater announcement by telling Mary that she was to give birth to Jesus Christ (Luke 1:26-38). Christians also associate Gabriel with the unnamed angel who appears to Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane, and Catholics consider him the patron saint of communication workers, postal employees and messengers. Additionally Islamic tradition credits Gabriel, referred to as Jibril, with delivering the Qur’an to Muhammad from God.

Gabriel has two particularly unusual distinctions that come from art and various traditions. For one Gabriel is often depicted in artwork as being female, which is unusual since most scriptural references refer to angels as being masculine. The second directly relates to the trumpet he has long been associated with in art, song and film (notably the musical “Anything Goes” includes a song called “Blow Gabriel, Blow”, and the movie “The Prophecy”). This is inspired by a verse in first Thessalonians that speaks of a trump sounding to herald the return of Jesus (1 Thessalonians 4:16) a reference that is generally interpreted as referring to the rapture when God will call the faithful to Heaven in preparation for the beginning of the Apocalypse. While this association goes back centuries it is worthwhile to remember that the Bible only specifies that an Archangel is involved it doesn’t specify whether this is Michael, Gabriel or another angel entirely which is possible since traditionally there are seven archangels.