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The War Scroll from the Dead Sea Scrolls names Sariel as one of the four chief angels whose names are written on battle shields. The Ladder of Jacob follows this angelic tradition, also giving him the role of explaining Jacob's dream.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
1QM 9:15
The War Scroll
Dead Sea Scrolls, Apocalyptic and Eschatological Texts
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.]
Ladder of Jacob 3:1
Pseudepigrapha, Hebrew Bible Expansions
1 And while I was still speaking my prayer, there appeared a voice before my face, saying: Sarekl, prince of those who rejoice, you who are over visions, go and make Jacob understand the interpretation of the dream which he saw, and show him everything he saw; but first bless him. 2 And the archangel Sarekl came to me, and I saw: it was a face […] terrifying; but I was not afraid of his look, for the face which I had seen in my dream […] was more than this, and I did not fear the face of an angel. 3 And the angel said to me, What is your name? And I said, Jacob. 4 But he said to me, Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but your name shall be like my name, Israel.
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Notes and References
“... Angels, of course, play a prominent role in the Ladder. They ascend and descend, which is a characteristic of traditions related to Jacob (cf. Gen 28:12b; Jn 1:51); elsewhere the emphasis is upon angels descending and then ascending. The archangel Sariel, who is also mentioned in the Qumran Scrolls, Aramaic Enoch, and the Neofiti Targum, is said to be the one who is in charge of dreams (3:2); hence, he is the one who is dispatched to Jacob in order to explain to him the meaning of his dream. ...”
Lunt, H. G.
"Ladder of Jacob: A New Translation and Introduction" in Charlesworth, James H. (ed.) The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha, Volume 2: Expansions of the “Old Testament” and Legends, Wisdom and Philosophical Literature, Prayers, Psalms, and Odes, Fragments of Lost Judeo-Hellenistic Works
(p. 405) Doubleday, 1985
* 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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