page_title: Uriel
section_title: Name and origins
hierarchical_section_title: Uriel / In Judaism and Christianity / Name and origins
caption_attribution_description: Italiano: Icona della Chiesa Ortodossa Russa dell' Assemblea dell'Arcangelo Michele. Tempera su legno. La rappresentazione dei sette arcangeli. Michele al centro, sopra la mandorla di Cristo. Gabriele and Raffaele in piedi a fianco rispettivamente a sinistra e destra. Dietro di loro, da sinistra a destra Jehudiel, Selaphiel, Uriel, e Baraquiel. Español: Icono de la Iglesia Ortodoxa Rusa de la Asamblea del Arcángel Miguel. Temple sobre tabla. La representación de los siete arcángeles. Michele en el centro, por encima de la mandorla de Cristo. Gabriel y Rafael de pie junto a la izquierda y derecha. Detrás de ellos, de izquierda a derecha Jehudiel, Selaphiel, Uriel y Baraquiel. Русский: Собор Архистратига Михаила и прочих Небесных сил бесплотных.
context_page_description: Uriel is one of the archangels of post-exilic rabbinic tradition, and also of certain Christian traditions.
  In apocryphal, kabbalistic, and occult works, Uriel has been equated with Urial, Nuriel, Uryan, Jeremiel, Vretil, Sariel, Suriel, Puruel, Phanuel, Jacob, Azrael, and Raphael.
context_section_description: The angels mentioned in the older books of the Hebrew Bible (aka the Tanakh) are without names. Rabbi Simeon ben Lakish of Tiberias (230–270) even asserted that all of the specific names for the angels were brought back by the Jews from Babylon. Of the seven archangels in the angelology of post-exilic Judaism, only two of them, the archangels Michael and Gabriel, are mentioned by name in the canonized Jewish scriptures, in the Book of Daniel in particular, which is one of the youngest books in the Tanakh. 
  Raphael features prominently in the deuterocanonical Book of Tobit (initially accepted by both the Jewish and Christian canons, but removed from the Jewish canon in late antiquity and rejected by the Protestant reformers in the 16th century). The Book of Tobit is accepted as the scriptural Word of God by the Roman Catholic Church, the Anglican Communion, some within the Eastern Orthodox Church, and the Oriental Orthodox Church.
  Where a fourth archangel is added to the named three, to represent the four cardinal points, Uriel is generally the fourth. Uriel is listed as the fourth angel in Christian Gnostics (under the name Phanuel), by Gregory the Great, and in the angelology of Pseudo-Dionysius. However, the Book of Enoch clearly distinguishes the two angels. Uriel means "God is my Light", whereas Phanuel means "Turn to God". Uriel is the third angel listed in the Testament of Solomon, the fourth being Sabrael.
  Uriel appears in the Second Book of Esdras found in the Biblical apocrypha (called Esdras IV in the Vulgate) in which the prophet Ezra asks God a series of questions and Uriel is sent by God to instruct him. According to the Revelation of Esdras, the angels that will rule at the end of the world are Michael, Gabriel, Uriel, Raphael, Gabuthelon, Beburos, Zebuleon, Aker, and Arphugitonos. The last five listed only appear in this book and nowhere else in apocryphal or apocalyptic works.
  In Christian apocryphal gospels Uriel plays a role, differing between the sources, in the rescue of Jesus' cousin John the Baptist from the Massacre of the Innocents ordered by King Herod. He carries John and his mother Saint Elizabeth to join the Holy Family after their Flight into Egypt. Their reunion is depicted in Leonardo da Vinci's Virgin of the Rocks.
  Uriel is often identified as a cherub and the angel of repentance. He "stands at the Gate of Eden with a fiery sword", or as the angel who "watches over thunder and terror". In the Apocalypse of Peter he appears as the angel of repentance, who is graphically represented as being as pitiless as any demon. In the Life of Adam and Eve, Uriel is regarded as the spirit (i.e., one of the cherubs) of the third chapter of Genesis. He is also identified as one of the angels who helped bury Adam and Abel in Eden.
  Stemming from medieval Jewish mystical traditions, Uriel has also become the angel of Sunday (Jewish Encyclopedia), the angel of poetry, and one of the holy sephiroth. Uriel is depicted as the destroyer of the hosts of Sennacherib.
  He checked the doors of Egypt for lamb's blood during the plague. He also holds the key to the Pit during the End Times, and led Abraham to the west.
  In modern angelology, Uriel is identified variously as a seraph, cherub, regent of the sun, flame of God, angel of the divine presence, presider over Tartarus (hell), archangel of salvation, and, in later scriptures, identified with Phanuel ("face of God"). He is often depicted carrying a book or a papyrus scroll representing wisdom. Uriel is a patron of the arts.
  In the Byzantine Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches, Uriel is commemorated together with the other archangels and angels with a feast day of the "Synaxis of the Archangel Michael and the Other Bodiless Powers" on November 8 of the liturgical calendar (for those churches which follow the Julian Calendar, 8 November falls on 21 November of the modern Gregorian Calendar), and is regarded as the patron saint of the arts and sciences. In addition, every Monday throughout the year is dedicated to the angels. The Anglicans and Coptic Christians of 
caption: "The Angelic Council" ("Ангельский Собор"). Eastern Orthodox Church icon of the "Seven Archangels". From left to right: St Jehudiel, St Gabriel, St Selatiel, St Michael, St Uriel, St Raphael, St Barachiel. Beneath the mandorla of Christ Emmanuel are representations of Cherubim (blue) and Seraphim (red).
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