The angel Jophiel (Heb. יוֹפִיאֵלYōp̄īʾēl, "Beauty of God"),[1][2] also called Iophiel, Iofiel, Jofiel, Yofiel, Youfiel, Zophiel (צֹפִיאֵלṢōp̄īʾēl, "God is my watchman")[3] and Zuriel (צוּרִיאֵלṢūrīʾēl, "God is my rock"),[4] is an archangel in Christian and Jewish angelology. Jophiel is associated with beauty, art, and wisdom.

Jophiel
Sanctus Jophiel, stained-glass window at St Michael's Church, Brighton, England.
Archangel
Venerated inJudaism, Anglicanism
Feast29 September
AttributesFlaming sword
PatronageArt, artists

Beliefs in religions and ceremonial magic

edit
 
According to Robert Means Lawrence,[5] Arthur de Bles, and R.L. Giles, Jophiel was said to be the Angel who cast Adam and Eve out of Paradise[6]

According to the pseudepigraphal Revelation of Moses, another name for Jophiel is Dina (Hebrew: דִּינָה Dīnā, "Judgement").[7] In the text, Jophiel/Dina is described as an angel of the seventh heaven, a Cabalistic guardian of the Torah (and wisdom itself), who taught 70 languages to souls at the dawn of creation.[8] The Zohar lists Jophiel as a Great Angel Chief in charge of 53 legions who superintend Torah-readings on the Sabbath.[9] Jophiel is said to be a companion to the angel Metatron.[6]

C. E. Clement, in her book Angels in Art, names Jophiel as the teacher of Ham, Japheth, and Shem.[6] Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa[10] and Thomas Rudd likewise name Jophiel as the teacher of Shem.[11]

In the Anglican tradition, Jophiel is recognized as an archangel. Jophiel is often depicted in iconography holding a flaming sword,[note 1] such as the stained glasses at St Michael's Church in Brighton, St Peter and St John's Church in Kirkley,[12] Holy Trinity Church in Coventry,[13] and a mural at St. John's Episcopal Church in Memphis, Tennessee.[14]

Jophiel is an Archangel of the Kabbalah (although some systems put Raziel in Jophiel’s place) and in several listings, including that of the early medieval theologian Pseudo-Dionysus.[15] The Calendarium Naturale Magicum Perpetuum lists Jophiel as the angel of the Sephira Binah,[16] as do the Key of Solomon variant "The Veritable Clavicles of Solomon,"[17] and the Sixth and Seventh Books of Moses,[18] both latter works derived from the Calendarium.[19] Agrippa attributes Jophiel to Saturn, while Paracelsus assigns Jophiel to Jupiter.[6] Rudd attributes the Zodiac to Jophiel[20] along with the Sephira Binah instead of Zaphkiel.[21] Athanasius Kircher names Jophiel as Angelus pulchritudinis, "angel of beauty".[22] According to Robert Ambelain, Jophiel is in charge of the Cherubim, particularly the Shemhamphorasch angels Haziel, Aladiah, Lauviah, Hahaiah, Iezalel, Mehahel, Hariel, and Hakamiah.[23]

In John Milton’s epic poem, Paradise Lost, the Archangel Jophiel is depicted as the “cherubim with the swiftest wings.”

See also

edit

Notes

edit
  1. ^ The flaming sword is also generally an attribute of the archangel Uriel, but he is more often depicted in Anglican iconography holding a book (scroll) or a solar disc.

2. Angels and ‘angelic entities’ are traditionally neither specifically male or female (note: when Jophiel/Zophiel is historically referenced, the gender is universally most often male, not female). A female depiction is a recent, specific, and subjective attribute incorrectly assumed and likely applied due to the association with beauty and art, as well as an affiliation with ‘Dina’, and the assumption of gender there.


References

edit
  1. ^ "Strong's Hebrew Concordance - 3308. yophi".
  2. ^ "Inflection of יוֹפִי". Pealim.
  3. ^ "Strong's Hebrew Concordance - 6822. ṣō·w·p̄eh".
  4. ^ "Strong's Hebrew Concordance - 6697. ṣū·rî".
  5. ^ Lawrence, Robert M. (1898), The Magic of the Horse-Shoe, With Other Folk-Lore Notes, Chapter III: The Number Seven at sacred-texts.com
  6. ^ a b c d Davidson, Gustav (1967), A Dictionary of Angels, Including The Fallen Angels, Entry: Iofiel, Free Press, p. 150, Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 66-19757, ISBN 9780029070505
  7. ^ "Strong's Hebrew Concordance - 1783. Dinah".
  8. ^ Gaster, Moses (1893), "Hebrew Visions of Hell and Paradise," in the Journal of The Royal Asiatic Society, p. 579, at www.sacred-texts.com
  9. ^ Davidson, Gustav (1967), A Dictionary of Angels, Including The Fallen Angels, Entry: Iofiel, Free Press, p. 320, Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 66-19757, ISBN 9780029070505
  10. ^ Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa, Three Books of Occult Philosophy, Book III, Part 1, ed. Joseph Peterson, hosted at Twilit Grotto Esoteric Archives.
  11. ^ A Treatise on Angel Magic, by Thomas Rudd, ed. Adam McLean, p.25 & 204, (two editions):
    • Phanes Press, 1990
    • Red Wheel/Weiser, 2006
  12. ^ K, Simon (17 September 2009). "Kempe: Jophiel". flickr.com. Retrieved 28 August 2018.
  13. ^ Glass Angel (2011). "Coventry - Holy Trinity Church". flickr.com. Retrieved 28 August 2018.
  14. ^ "Christ Triumphant (High Altar)". www.stjohnsmemphis.org. Archived from the original on 23 June 2019. Retrieved 28 August 2018.
  15. ^ Davidson, Gustav (1967), A Dictionary of Angels, Including The Fallen Angels, Appendix, Free Press, p. 338, Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 66-19757, ISBN 9780029070505
  16. ^ The Magical Calendar, by Johann Baptist Grossschedel (two editions):
  17. ^ The Veritable Clavicles of Solomon, anonymous, ed. Joseph Peterson, hosted at Twilit Grotto Esoteric Archives
  18. ^ The Sixth and Seventh Books of Moses (part 2), anonymous, ed. Joseph Peterson, hosted at Twilit Grotto Esoteric Archives
  19. ^ The Magical Calendar, Peterson edition introduction
  20. ^ Rudd, McLean, pp.100 (2006 ed), p.101 (1990 ed)
  21. ^ Rudd, McLean, p.204 (1990, 2006)
  22. ^ "Cabala Hebraeorum" in Oedipus Aegyptiacus, by Athanasius Kircher, ed. Joseph Peterson, hosted at Twilit Grotto Esoteric Archives
  23. ^ The Complete Magician's Tables, by Stephen Skinner, Golden Hoard Press, 2006, p.41

Further reading

edit
  • Fischer, Lynn (1996), Angels of Love and Light [with original paintings of the Seven Beloved Archangels and Their Archeiai by Marius Michael-George], Transformational Media Publications, South Yarmouth, MA
  • "Jophiel," Pearls of Wisdom, Volume 7 Number 43, 1994, The Summit Lighthouse, Copyright © 1997 Church Universal and Triumphant
  • "Seven Beloved Archangels Speak," 1954, The Bridge to Freedom