Texts in Conversation
In Luke, the angel says he stands in God’s presence, mirroring Tobit, where the angel Raphael says the same. The idea of elite angels with special access to God reflects later Jewish tradition, not found in the Hebrew Bible.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Tobit 12:15
Deuterocanon
14 then I was sent to you to try you; and at the same time God did send me also to heal Sarah your daughter-in-law. 15 I am Raphael, one of the seven angels, which stand and enter before the glory of the Lord. 16 And they were both troubled, and fell upon their faces; and they were afraid. 17 And he said to them, Do not be afraid, peace be to you; bless God to all eternity.
Date: 225–175 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
Luke 1:19
New Testament
18 Zechariah said to the angel, “How can I be sure of this? For I am an old man, and my wife is old as well.” 19 The angel answered him, “I am Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God, and I was sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news. 20 And behold61 because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time, you will be silent, unable to speak, until the day these things take place.”
Date: 75–85 CE (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... Scholars have long noted that parallels between Tobit and New Testament texts are particularly prominent in the realm of angelology. Raphael (Tobit 12:15) refers to himself as one of the seven angels (GI refers to “holy angels”) who stand in attendance in the presence of the Lord or Holy One. This notion of angels standing in the presence of God is found elsewhere (Testament of Levi 3:4-8; Luke 1:19; and Revelation 4:5; 8:2), sometimes with the precise phrase “angels of the presence” (Jubilees 2:2, 18; 1QH 14:13; 1Q28b 4:25-26). The tradition of an especially distinguished order of seven angels is not found in the Old Testament but does appear in John’s Apocalypse (Revelation 8:2; compare 1:4; 4:5) and other Jewish literature of this period (Testament of Levi 3:5; 1 Enoch 71:8-9) ..."
Vincent Skemp, “Avenues of Intertextuality between Tobit and the New Testament,” in Intertextual Studies in Ben Sira and Tobit: Essays in Honor of Alexander A. Di Lella, ed. Jeremy Corley and Vincent Skemp, CBQMS 38 (Washington, DC: Catholic Biblical Association of America, 2005), 43–70.
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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