Who Is Raphael? What the Lost Texts Say

In Tobit

In Tobit, Raphael is sent to remove the white films from Tobit's eyes and give Sarah as a wife to Tobias. The text identifies Raphael as an angel, though Tobias does not know this when he asks about travelling with him. Tobias addresses Raphael as Brother Azarias when asking him to discuss the things mentioned on the way.

Raphael tells Tobias to run ahead of his wife, prepare the house, and carry the fish's bile. He says that Tobias's father will open his eyes and instructs Tobias to put the bile on them.

In 1 Enoch

In 1 Enoch, Raphael is responsible for healing and for caring for the sicknesses and wounds of people. He also looks down from heaven with Michael, Uriel, and Gabriel, seeing the earth filled with violence and wrongdoing. The Lord commands Raphael to capture Azâzêl, tie him up, and throw him into the darkness.

As one of the holy angels accompanying the narrator, Raphael explains that hollow spaces hold the spirits of the dead. In another passage, Raphael answers the narrator by identifying the tree before them as the tree of wisdom.

Where Raphael appears

What the texts say, in their own words

“Raphael was also sent to heal both of them. He was to remove the white films from Tobit’s eyes and to give Sarah, Raguel’s daughter, as a wife to Tobias, Tobit’s son.”

Tobit · Raphael is sent to heal Tobit and Sarah and arrange Sarah's marriage to Tobias. · Read it in The Complete 88-Book Ethiopian Bible

“The second is Raphael, who is responsible for healing, caring for the sicknesses and wounds of people.”

1 Enoch · The passage names Raphael and describes his responsibility for healing people's sicknesses and wounds. · Read it in The Complete Books of Enoch

“They seem mysterious and almost endless.” Raphael, one of the holy angels with me, explained their purpose. He said, “These hollow spaces were made to hold the spirits of the dead.”

1 Enoch · Raphael explains the purpose of hollow spaces made to hold the spirits of the dead. · Read it in The Complete Books of Enoch

“But he said: “By Raphael, the archangel that stands before the throne of God. But the liver and gall of a fish put me to flight, when smoked over ashes of the tamarisk.””

Testament of Solomon · A speaker names Raphael before describing how a fish's liver and gall drive him away. · Read it in The Complete Books of Enoch

Questions

Who is Raphael?

Raphael is called a holy angel in 1 Enoch and an angel in Tobit. Testament of Solomon also calls him an archangel who stands before the throne of God.

What does Raphael do in Tobit?

Raphael is sent to heal Tobit and Sarah and give Sarah as a wife to Tobias. He tells Tobias to put fish's bile on his father's eyes, saying that his father will open them.

Is Raphael associated with healing?

In 1 Enoch, Raphael is responsible for healing and caring for people's sicknesses and wounds. In Tobit, he is sent to heal both Tobit and Sarah.

Where is Raphael mentioned in the lost texts?

Raphael appears in 1 Enoch and Testament of Solomon, in The Complete Books of Enoch; Tobit and Meqabyan 1, in The Complete 88-Book Ethiopian Bible.