Gabriel

Life and work

Gabriel first appears in Daniel's visions as an interpreter sent to explain what Daniel has seen: a heavenly voice instructs, 'Gabriel, make this man understand the vision' (Daniel 8:16), and Gabriel himself later describes being 'caused to fly swiftly' to reach Daniel while he was still praying (Daniel 9:21) — arriving to deliver the detailed 'seventy weeks' prophecy concerning the Messiah's coming (Daniel 9:24-27), one of the most theologically significant messages any angel delivers in Scripture.

Gabriel does not appear again until Luke's Gospel, where he announces the births of both John the Baptist and Jesus. To the priest Zechariah, doubting that his elderly wife Elizabeth could bear a son, the angel identifies himself directly: 'I am Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God. I was sent to speak to you, and to bring you this good news' (Luke 1:19) — and when Zechariah doubts anyway, Gabriel strikes him mute until the birth (Luke 1:20). Six months later, 'the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee, named Nazareth,' to a virgin named Mary, announcing that she would conceive Jesus by the Holy Spirit (Luke 1:26-38) — the single most significant angelic announcement in Scripture, delivered by the same angel who once explained the Messiah's coming to Daniel centuries earlier.

Extra-biblical evidence

No extra-biblical historical record applies to an angelic being in the way it would to a human figure; Gabriel is known only from Daniel and Luke.

Scripture references

• Daniel 8:15-17 — Sent to help Daniel understand his vision
• Daniel 9:20-27 — Delivers the 'seventy weeks' prophecy of the coming Messiah
• Luke 1:11-20 — Announces John the Baptist's birth to Zechariah
• Luke 1:26-38 — Announces Jesus's birth to Mary

Further reading

• Encyclopaedia Britannica: Gabriel