The

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

name Jerahmeel ( Hebrew: יְרַחְמְאֵל ''Yəraḥmə ʾēl'', Tiberian: ''Yăraḥmē̆ʾēl,'' "God shall have mercy"), which appears several times in the

Tanakh The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
'' Jerahmeel), also appears in various forms as the name of an

archangel Archangels () are the second lowest rank of angel in the hierarchy of angels. The word ''archangel'' itself is usually associated with the Abrahamic religions, but beings that are very similar to archangels are found in a number of other relig ...

in books of the intertestamental and early Christian periods. Archangel Jeremiel, St Michael and All Angels, Hughenden

In the

deuterocanonical The deuterocanonical books (from the Greek meaning "belonging to the second canon") are books and passages considered by the Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Oriental Orthodox Churches, and the Assyrian Church of the East to be ...

book

2 Esdras 2 Esdras (also called 4 Esdras, Latin Esdras, or Latin Ezra) is an apocalyptic book in some English versions of the Bible. Tradition ascribes it to Ezra, a scribe and priest of the , but scholarship places its composition between 70 and . It ...

, also known as 4 Ezra, which has come down to us in

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...

and appears as an appendix to the

Vulgate The Vulgate (; also called (Bible in common tongue), ) is a late-4th-century Latin translation of the Bible. The Vulgate is largely the work of Jerome who, in 382, had been commissioned by Pope Damasus I to revise the Gospels u ...

, as well as being canonical in the Russian and Ethiopian biblical canons. There is a reference in chapter 4 verse 36, to Jeremiel (in the Latin Ieremihel), which, however, does not occur in all the manuscripts. Other versions have Remiel or Uriel. In this passage the angel or angels (

Uriel Uriel or Auriel ( he, אוּרִיאֵל ''ʾŪrīʾēl'', " El/God is my flame"; el, Οὐριήλ ''Oúriēl''; cop, ⲟⲩⲣⲓⲏⲗ ''Ouriēl''; it, Uriele; Geʽez and Amharic: or ) is the name of one of the archangels who is men ...

is also there) are answering Ezra's many questions about heaven and hell. Jeremiel (under any of his name alterations: Eremiel, Remiel, etc.) had a very dour yet comforting duty in the pre-Christian eras. He is mentioned in Chapter 20 of the Book of Enoch written around 00 B.C.as Remiel; one of the seven holy angels whom God set over those who rise. Later on in Christian theology, he was set over Sheol (the underworld) in Abrahamic tradition, in particular the "Bosom of Abraham", a region of the underworld almost identical in concept to the Greek idea of Elysium. Here Jeremiel was responsible for placating the righteous souls awaiting the Lord who resided there. In post-Christian world Jeremiel's duty evolved and is paired with St. Simon Peter as gatekeeper of Heaven. In both cases Jeremiel watches over and guides the holy deceased in their afterlife journey. Possibly due to influence of Enoch 1 written earlier. There are generally seven archangels venerated by the Orthodox Christians:

Michael Michael may refer to: People * Michael (given name), a given name * Michael (surname), including a list of people with the surname Michael Given name "Michael" * Michael (archangel), ''first'' of God's archangels in the Jewish, Christian and ...

Gabriel In Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity and Islam), Gabriel (); Greek: grc, Γαβριήλ, translit=Gabriḗl, label=none; Latin: ''Gabriel''; Coptic: cop, Ⲅⲁⲃⲣⲓⲏⲗ, translit=Gabriêl, label=none; Amharic: am, ገብ� ...

Raphael Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino, better known as Raphael (; or ; March 28 or April 6, 1483April 6, 1520), was an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance. His work is admired for its clarity of form, ease of composition, and visual ...

, Selathiel,

Jegudiel Saint Iehudiel ( he, יַחְדִּיאֵל ''Yaḥdīʾēl,'' "God is One") is one of the seven Archangels in Eastern Orthodox tradition and in the eastern rites of the Catholic Church. Iconography He is often depicted in iconography holding a ...

, and Barachiel. But sometimes they also add an eighth, Jeremiel, to this number. He is depicted holding

balance scales A scale or balance is a device used to measure weight or mass. These are also known as mass scales, weight scales, mass balances, and weight balances. The traditional scale consists of two plates or bowls suspended at equal distances from ...

in Orthodox iconography. In the

Apocalypse of Zephaniah The Apocalypse of Zephaniah (or ''Apocalypse of Sophonias'') is a 1st-century pseudepigraphic Jewish text attributed to the Biblical Zephaniah and so associated with the Old Testament, but not regarded as scripture by Jews or any Christian group ...

, an

apocryphal Apocrypha are works, usually written, of unknown authorship or of doubtful origin. The word ''apocryphal'' (ἀπόκρυφος) was first applied to writings which were kept secret because they were the vehicles of esoteric knowledge considered ...

book which has come down to us in Coptic, the angel referred to as Eremiel tells Zephaniah

I am the great angel, Eremiel, who is over the abyss and Hades, the one in which all of the souls are imprisoned from the end of the Flood, which came upon the earth, until this day''The Apocalypse of Zephaniah'', section 7, in Charlesworth, volume 1

For modern uses of the angel's name and identity, see the article Ramiel.

References

James H Charlesworth (ed) ''The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha'', Darton, Longman & Todd, London 1983. {{DEFAULTSORT:Jerahmeel (Archangel) Archangels Angels in Judaism Angels in Christianity Individual angels Eastern Orthodox saints