Thiebes at 11:40, 4 March 2005

2005-03-04T11:40:07Z

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{{thelema}}
'''''Raphael''''' (Heb. רפאל) is a Hebrew word that means "God is healing," thus '''Raphael''' is an [[archangel]] who heals the wounded physically and, modern [[Christianity|Christians]] would add, psychologically. He is the main character in the ''[[Book of Tobit]]'', which is included in the [[Septuagint]] but assigned an [[apocrypha]]l status by Protestant churches.

==Raphael in post-Exilic Judaism==
The angels mentioned in the older books of the Hebrew [[Bible]] are without names. Indeed, rabbi Simeon ben Lakish of Tiberias (230-270 [[EV]]), asserted that all the specific names for the angels were brought back by the Jews from Babylon, and modern commentators would tend to agree.

Of seven archangels in the angelology of post-Exilic Judaism, only three, [[Gabriel]], [[Michael]] and Raphael, are mentioned by name in the scriptures that gradually became accepted as canonical. The four others, however, are named in the 2nd century [[BCE]] ''[[Book of Enoch]]'' (chapter xxi): [[Uriel]], [[Raguel]], [[Sariel]], and [[Jarahmeel]].

The name of the archangel Raphael appears only in the ''Book of Tobit (Tobias)''. There he first appears disguised in human form as the travelling companion of the younger Tobias, calling himself "Azarias the son of the great Ananias". During the adventurous course of the journey the archangel's protective influence is shown in many ways including the binding of the demon in the desert of upper Egypt. After the return and the healing of the blindness of the elder Tobias, Azarias makes himself known as "the angel Raphael, one of the seven, who stand before the Lord" (''Tobit'', xii, 15). Compare the unnamed angels in John's ''[[Apocalypse]]'' viii, 2.

Regarding the healing powers attributed to Raphael, we have little more than his declaration to Tobias (''Tobit'', 12) that he was sent by the Lord to heal him of his blindness and to deliver Sarah, his daughter-in-law, from the devil that was the serial killer of her husbands.

==Raphael in Christianity==
In the [[New Testament]], only the archangels Gabriel and Michael are mentioned by name (''1 Thessalonians'', iv, 15; ''Epistle of Jude'', 9). The "angel of the Lord" that is mentioned in ''John'' 5 is generally associated with Raphael, however, because of the "healing" in the archangel's name accords with the healing role assigned to Raphael in the ''Book of Tobias''. ''John'' 5:1-4, refers to the pool at Bethesda, where the multitude of the infirm lay awaiting the moving of the water, for "an angel of the Lord descended at certain times into the pond; and the water was moved. And he that went down first into the pond after the motion of the water was made whole of whatsoever infirmity he lay under".

==Raphael in the [[Occult]]==
Modern occultists sometimes associate Raphael with the color Yellow, the direction [[East]], the element [[Air]], and the Suit of Swords of the [[Tarot]] in traditions loosely derived from reports of [[Kabbalism]].

==References==
*Wikipedia (2005). ''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raphael_%28archangel%29 Raphael (archangel)]''. Retrieved March 4, 2005.

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Thiebes at 11:40, 4 March 2005