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- Names in Enoch: Uriel, Raphael, Raguel, Michael, Saraqael, Gabriel and Remiel are the seven holy angels listed in 1 Enoch 20.
- Different traditions: No single list of seven archangels is accepted across Jewish and Christian traditions.
- Scriptural names: Michael and Gabriel appear in Daniel; Raphael appears in Tobit, whose biblical status varies by tradition.
- Unnamed groups: Tobit identifies Raphael as one of seven attending angels; Revelation describes seven trumpet angels without naming them.
The seven holy angels named in 1 Enoch 20 are Uriel, Raphael, Raguel, Michael, Saraqael, Gabriel and Remiel, but there is no universally accepted list of seven archangels. Sariel also appears as an alternative form of Saraqael in Enochic lists. Tobit names Raphael as one of seven attending angels without identifying his companions, while Revelation leaves its seven trumpet angels unnamed. Later Orthodox lists differ, and Catholic teaching establishes no authoritative seven-name list.
This guide first identifies the Enochic seven and their responsibilities, then examines the groups in Tobit and Revelation. It next explains which angels scripture names, how later Christian traditions arrange their lists, and where the nine angelic orders belong. Related guides and individual angel pages follow.
The short answer: seven names from 1 Enoch
The familiar Enochic list comes from a specific passage, 1 Enoch 20, within the section commonly called the Book of the Watchers. Its designation is seven holy angels. These figures are distinct from the rebellious Watchers described elsewhere in the work. A list drawn from this passage therefore identifies a particular group, rather than every angel named throughout the collection.
The collection itself brings together ancient Jewish writings produced over several centuries during the Second Temple period. It survives complete in Ethiopic, with portions preserved in Aramaic, Greek and other ancient languages. It is scriptural in the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo tradition, but falls outside Jewish, Catholic and most other Christian biblical canons. Its authority therefore differs between religious communities.
What each of the seven angels watches over
The responsibilities assigned in 1 Enoch 20 concern humanity, spirits, heavenly beings and cosmic order. They are not simply seven interchangeable offices. The following descriptions summarize those associations without reproducing the passage. Spellings vary across manuscripts, languages and later traditions, including the forms Saraqael and Sariel used in the transmission and presentation of Enochic angel lists.
- Uriel is associated with the world and Tartarus, giving his responsibility a cosmic setting.
- Raphael is placed over the spirits of human beings in this Enochic account.
- Raguel is associated with punishment concerning the heavenly luminaries, rather than a general office of healing.
- Michael is associated with the best part of humanity and also with chaos.
- Saraqael is placed over spirits who sin in the spirit; Sariel occurs as an alternative name form.
- Gabriel is placed over paradise, the serpents and the cherubim in this list.
- Remiel is placed over those who rise, completing the seven holy angels named here.
Raphael in Tobit and the seven angels of Revelation
Tobit 12:15 identifies Raphael as one of seven angels attending before God, but supplies no names for the other six. Within the story, Raphael accompanies Tobias under a human identity and helps bring healing to Tobit and deliverance to Sarah. Tobit is usually dated to the third or second century BCE; Aramaic and Hebrew fragments were discovered among the Dead Sea Scrolls.
Revelation 8:2 describes seven angels standing before God and receiving seven trumpets. It does not identify them by name. Equating that group with the named seven in Enoch, or with a later traditional list, is an interpretation rather than an identification made by Revelation itself. The presence of seven heavenly attendants does not supply the missing names in either biblical account.
Michael, Gabriel and Raphael in scripture
Michael and Gabriel are named in Daniel, which belongs to both Jewish and Christian biblical canons. Daniel 10 presents Michael as one of the chief princes, and Daniel 12 associates him with protecting Daniel's people. Gabriel interprets visions in Daniel. In Luke, Gabriel announces the births of John the Baptist and Jesus. These accounts give the two figures distinct narrative roles.
Jude 9 explicitly gives Michael the title archangel. The biblical passages naming Gabriel and Raphael do not explicitly give them that title. First Thessalonians 4:16 mentions an archangel's voice but leaves the figure unnamed. Raphael's place in a list of biblical angels also depends on canon: Tobit is canonical in Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Christianity, but not in Judaism or most Protestant Old Testament canons.
Later Orthodox and Catholic lists, and the nine ranks
A widely used Eastern Orthodox list names Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, Uriel, Selaphiel, Jegudiel and Barachiel. Some Orthodox accounts also name Jeremiel, so presentations are not always limited to seven. The Synaxis of the Archangel Michael and the Other Bodiless Powers falls on November 8 in the church calendar. Catholic devotional guidance discourages assigning names to angels other than Michael, Gabriel and Raphael.
A separate arrangement appears in The Celestial Hierarchy by the late antique Christian writer known as Pseudo-Dionysius. Its nine orders form three groups of three: seraphim, cherubim, thrones, dominions, powers, authorities, principalities, archangels and angels. English terminology varies. Here archangels constitute an order within a hierarchy, rather than a list of seven individually named heavenly figures.
Where to go next
The guides to the Book of Enoch and the Book of Tobit offer related paths into these texts. The library also has figure pages for Michael, Gabriel, Raphael and Uriel. Another Enochic grouping appears in 1 Enoch 40, where Michael, Raphael, Gabriel and Phanuel stand prominently around the divine presence.
The edition on this site is titled 1 Enoch; the library also holds The Book of Tobit and The Complete Books of Enoch. The latter gathers 1 Enoch, 2 Enoch, 3 Enoch and the Book of Giants. Despite their numbered titles, the three Enoch works are distinct compositions, not successive volumes of a single ancient work.
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Questions about the seven archangels
Who are the seven archangels?
In the list from 1 Enoch 20, they are Uriel, Raphael, Raguel, Michael, Saraqael, Gabriel and Remiel. Saraqael also appears as Sariel in Enochic lists. This is not a universal Jewish and Christian list: a widely used Eastern Orthodox list instead names Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, Uriel, Selaphiel, Jegudiel and Barachiel.
Which archangels are named in the Bible?
Michael and Gabriel are named in Daniel, and Raphael is named in Tobit where that book is part of the biblical canon. Only Michael is explicitly called an archangel in these biblical passages, in Jude 9. Gabriel also appears in Luke; Tobit belongs to Catholic and Eastern Orthodox canons but not most Protestant Old Testament canons.
Who is Raguel?
Raguel is one of the seven holy angels listed in 1 Enoch 20, associated there with punishment concerning the heavenly luminaries. He belongs to the holy group, not the rebellious Watchers. His name does not appear among the seven trumpet angels in Revelation, because that passage names none of them.
What is the difference between an angel and an archangel?
In the later Dionysian hierarchy, angels and archangels are separate orders within a ninefold arrangement. That classification differs from a list of seven named heavenly figures. Biblical usage also requires care: Jude explicitly calls Michael an archangel, while the passages naming Gabriel and Raphael do not explicitly apply that title to them.
How many ranks of angels are there?
The arrangement attributed to Pseudo-Dionysius has nine angelic orders, organized into three groups of three. They are seraphim, cherubim, thrones, dominions, powers, authorities, principalities, archangels and angels, with variations in English terminology. This later Christian classification is a hierarchy of orders, not a count of the individual angels named in Enoch or other texts.
