Texts in Conversation
1 Enoch 9 and the Dead Sea Scrolls War Scroll both portray four angels who act on behalf of humanity. Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, and a fourth angel appear as intermediaries in each and show an early stage in the growth of the archangel tradition.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
1 Enoch 9:1
Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses
1 Then Michael, Uriel, Raphael, and Gabriel looked down from heaven and saw much blood being shed on the earth, and all the lawlessness being committed on the earth. 2 They said to one another: 'The earth, left without inhabitants, cries out, and the voice of their crying reaches the gates of heaven.' 3 'And now to you, the holy ones of heaven, the souls of men plead, saying, "Present our case before the Most High."'
1QM 9:14
The War Scroll
Dead Sea Scrolls, Apocalyptic and Eschatological Texts
10 The rule for changing the order of the battalions of war, to draw up the position against … […] … to go out as a semicircle with towers, 11 and an arc with towers, and as a slow advance with columns going out and wings [going out] from both sides of the line, to melt 12 the enemy. And the shields of the towers shall be three cubits long, and their spears eight cubits long. And the towers 13 go out from the line, a hundred shields, and a hundred to the face of the tower. All of them shall surround the tower on the three front sides, 14 three hundred shields. And there are two gates to a tower, one on the [right and] one on the left. And on all the shields of the towers 15 they shall write: on the first, Michael; [on the second, Gabriel; on the third,] Sariel; on the fourth, Raphael. 16 Michael and Gabriel on the [right, and Sariel and Raphael on the left.]
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Notes and References
"... A complement of four, and later seven, named archangels (here “holy ones”) appears first in 1 Enoch 9–10 and then becomes something of a staple in Jewish and Christian literature. Their existence and the number four were doubtless inferred from the four living creatures in the throne vision of Ezekiel 1–2, and they are implicit in Zechariah 1. The later literature makes an association with Ezekiel 1–2 explicit. In the action of 1 Enoch 9–10, however, the four are not placed at the throne. They go forth from heaven, view the world, approach the divine throne with their petition in behalf of humanity, and are then dispatched to the world to act in God’s behalf ... The four angels are mentioned in the Qumran War Scroll, remarkably with the same names as here, in the order Michael, Gabriel, Sariel, and Raphael (1QM 9). Their association with the eschatological war is compatible with the activity of Raphael, Gabriel, and Michael in 1 Enoch 10 ..."
Nickelsburg, George W. E.
A Commentary on the Book of 1 Enoch Chapters 1-36, 81-108
(p. 207) Fortress Press, 2001
* 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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