Gabriel

The angel Gabriel, an important figure in the Bible, appears first in the Book of Daniel (chapters 8 and 9) as a messenger and revealer. In the New Testament he announces the births of John the Baptist and Jesus Christ (Luke 1), and in the Book of Enoch, part of the pseudepigrapha, he is one of the seven archangels who stand close to God. Later Christian tradition made him the trumpeter of the Last Judgment. A popular figure in art, Gabriel is often pictured appearing to Mary or with trumpet raised. In Islam he is Jibril, the principal of many tales, who revealed the Koran to Muhammad.

Anthony J. Salsarini

Gabriel

Gabriel is an angel of high eminence in Jewish, Christian, and Muslim tradition. He is one of the four most often noted archangels in Judaism and Christianity, the others being Michael, Raphael, and Uriel. Gabriel is the heavenly messenger who appears in order to reveal God's will. In the Old Testament, Gabriel interprets the prophet's vision of the ram and the he-goat (see Daniel 8:15-26) and explains the prediction of the 70 weeks of years (or 490 years) for the duration of the exile from Jerusalem (see Daniel 9:21-27). In the New Testament, he announces to Zacharias the birth of Zacharias's son (see Luke 1:11-20), who is destined to become known as John the Baptist, and to Mary that she is to be the mother of Jesus Christ (see Luke 1:26-31). Among Muslims, Gabriel is believed to be the spirit who revealed the sacred writings to the Prophet Muhammad.

Gabriel is the prince of fire and the spirit who presides over thunder and the ripening of fruits. He is an accomplished linguist, having taught Joseph the 70 languages spoken at Babel. In art he is generally represented carrying either a lily, Mary's flower, at the annunciation, or the trumpet he will blow to announce the second coming.