The

angel In various theistic religious traditions an angel is a supernatural spiritual being who serves God. Abrahamic religions often depict angels as benevolent celestial intermediaries between God (or Heaven) and humanity. Other roles ...

Jophiel ( Heb. ''Yōp̄īʾēl'', "God is my beauty"), also called ''Iophiel'', ''Iofiel'', ''Jofiel'', ''Yofiel'', ''Youfiel'', Zophiel ( ''Ṣōp̄īʾēl'', "God is my watchman") and Zuriel ( ''Ṣūrīʾēl'', "God is my rock"), is a

non-canonical The adjective canonical is applied in many contexts to mean "according to the canon" the standard, rule or primary source that is accepted as authoritative for the body of knowledge or literature in that context. In mathematics, "canonical example ...

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 ...

of wisdom, understanding, and judgment, art and beauty. She is listed as one of the

Seven Archangels The concept of Seven Archangels is found in some works of early Jewish literature and in Christianity. In those texts, they are referenced as the angels who serve God directly. Bible The term ''archangel'' itself is not found in the Hebrew Bib ...

in Pseudo-Dionysian teachings. Due to the association with beauty, Jophiel is one of very few angels to be sometimes portrayed as female. However, many angels have no canonical gender, and are most commonly referred to by male pronouns.

Beliefs in religions and ceremonial magic

According to the

pseudepigrapha Pseudepigrapha (also anglicized as "pseudepigraph" or "pseudepigraphs") are falsely attributed works, texts whose claimed author is not the true author, or a work whose real author attributed it to a figure of the past.Bauckham, Richard; "Pse ...

l Revelation of Moses, another name for Jophiel is Dina ( Hebrew: דִּינָה ''Dīnā'', "Judgement"). 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. The

Zohar The ''Zohar'' ( he, , ''Zōhar'', lit. "Splendor" or "Radiance") is a foundational work in the literature of Jewish mystical thought known as Kabbalah. It is a group of books including commentary on the mystical aspects of the Torah (the five ...

lists her as a Great Angel Chief in charge of 53 legions who superintend

Torah The Torah (; hbo, ''Tōrā'', "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. In that sense, Torah means the ...

-readings on the

Sabbath In Abrahamic religions, the Sabbath () or Shabbat (from Hebrew ) is a day set aside for rest and worship. According to the Book of Exodus, the Sabbath is a day of rest on the seventh day, commanded by God to be kept as a holy day of rest, as ...

.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, Jophiel is said to be a companion to the angel

Metatron Metatron ( ''Meṭāṭrōn'', ''Məṭaṭrōn'', ''Mēṭaṭrōn'', ''Mīṭaṭrōn'', ''Meṭaṭrōn'', ''Mīṭṭaṭrōn'') or Mattatron ( ''Maṭṭaṭrōn'') is an angel in Judaism mentioned three times in the Talmud in a few br ...

. C.E. Clement, in her book ''Angels in Art'', names Jophiel as the teacher of

Ham Ham is pork from a leg cut that has been preserved by wet or dry curing, with or without smoking."Bacon: Bacon and Ham Curing" in ''Chambers's Encyclopædia''. London: George Newnes, 1961, Vol. 2, p. 39. As a processed meat, the term "ham ...

Japheth Japheth ( he, יֶפֶת ''Yép̄eṯ'', in pausa ''Yā́p̄eṯ''; el, Ἰάφεθ '; la, Iafeth, Iapheth, Iaphethus, Iapetus) is one of the three sons of Noah in the Book of Genesis, in which he plays a role in the story of Noah's drunken ...

, and

Shem Shem (; he, שֵׁם ''Šēm''; ar, سَام, Sām) ''Sḗm''; Ge'ez: ሴም, ''Sēm'' was one of the sons of Noah in the book of Genesis and in the book of Chronicles, and the Quran. The children of Shem were Elam, Ashur, Arphaxad, Lu ...

Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa von Nettesheim (; ; 14 September 1486 – 18 February 1535) was a German polymath, physician, legal scholar, soldier, theologian, and occult writer. Agrippa's '' Three Books of Occult Philosophy'' published in 1533 dre ...

and

Thomas Rudd Thomas Rudd (1583?–1656) was an English military engineer and mathematician. Life The eldest son of Thomas Rudd of Higham Ferrers, Northamptonshire, he was born in 1583 or 1584. He served during his earlier years as a military engineer i ...

likewise name Jophiel as the teacher of Shem. In the

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of t ...

tradition, Jophiel is recognized as an

. She is often depicted in iconography holding a flaming sword, such as the stained glasses at St Michael's Church in

Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...

, St Peter and St John's Church in

Kirkley Kirkley is a district within the town of Lowestoft in the East Suffolk district of the English county of Suffolk. It is located south of the centre of Lowestoft and the town's harbour and Lake Lothing. Kirkley was originally an independent vill ...

, Holy Trinity Church in

Coventry Coventry ( or ) is a city in the West Midlands, England. It is on the River Sherbourne. Coventry has been a large settlement for centuries, although it was not founded and given its city status until the Middle Ages. The city is governed b ...

and a mural at St. John's Episcopal Church in

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-mo ...

. Jophiel is 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 ...

of the Kabbalah (though some systems put Raziel in her place) and in several listings including that of the early medieval theologian

Pseudo-Dionysus Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite (or Dionysius the Pseudo-Areopagite) was a Greek author, Christian theologian and Neoplatonic philosopher of the late 5th to early 6th century, who wrote a set of works known as the ''Corpus Areopagiticum'' or ...

.Davidson, Gustav (1967),
A Dictionary of Angels, Including The Fallen Angels
', Appendix, Free Press, p. 338, Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 66-19757, The

Calendarium Naturale Magicum Perpetuum The ''Calendarium Naturale Magicum Perpetuum'' is a late renaissance (c.1619-1620) grimoire and esoteric print of calendar engravings. Its full title is ''Magnum Grimorium sive Calendarium Naturale Magicum Perpetuum Profundissimam Rerum Secretiss ...

lists Jophiel as the angel of the Sephira

Chokhmah ''Chokmah'' ( Hebrew: חָכְמָה ) is the Biblical Hebrew word rendered as " wisdom" in English Bible versions (LXX '' sophia'', Vulgate ').'' Strong's Concordance'H2451 "from H2449 �ָכַם ''chakam'' "wise" wisdom (in a good sense):—s ...

, as do the

Key of Solomon The ''Key of Solomon'' ( la, Clavicula Salomonis; he, מפתח שלמה []) (Also known as "The Greater Key of Solomon") is a pseudepigraphical grimoire (also known as a book of spells) attributed to Solomon, King Solomon. It probably dates b ...

variant "The Veritable Clavicles of Solomon," and the Sixth and Seventh Books of Moses, both latter works derived from the ''Calendarium''. Agrippa attributes Jophiel to

Saturn Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and the second-largest in the Solar System, after Jupiter. It is a gas giant with an average radius of about nine and a half times that of Earth. It has only one-eighth the average density of Earth; h ...

, while

Paracelsus Paracelsus (; ; 1493 – 24 September 1541), born Theophrastus von Hohenheim (full name Philippus Aureolus Theophrastus Bombastus von Hohenheim), was a Swiss physician, alchemist, lay theologian, and philosopher of the German Renaissance. He ...

assigns her to Jupiter. Rudd attributes the

Zodiac The zodiac is a belt-shaped region of the sky that extends approximately 8° north or south (as measured in celestial latitude) of the ecliptic, the apparent path of the Sun across the celestial sphere over the course of the year. The pa ...

to Jophiel along with the Sephira Binah instead of

Zaphkiel Zaphkiel ( he, צַפְקִיאֵל ''Ṣafqīʾēl''), also written as Tzaphqiel, Tzaphkiel, Zafkiel, Zafchial, Zaphchial, Zaphiel, or Zelel, is an archangel. He is sometimes equated with Jophiel/Zophiel, but other times considered to be a diff ...

Athanasius Kircher Athanasius Kircher (2 May 1602 – 27 November 1680) was a German Jesuit scholar and polymath who published around 40 major works, most notably in the fields of comparative religion, geology, and medicine. Kircher has been compared to fe ...

names Jophiel as , "angel of beauty". According to

Robert Ambelain Robert Ambelain (2 September 1907 – 27 May 1997) was a French essayist. He was involved in the esoteric Masonic Martinist movement and claimed to have revived the Primitive Scottish Rite. He has written several works, such as ''The Maso ...

, Jophiel is in charge of the

Cherub A cherub (; plural cherubim; he, כְּרוּב ''kərūḇ'', pl. ''kərūḇīm'', likely borrowed from a derived form of akk, 𒅗𒊏𒁍 ''karabu'' "to bless" such as ''karibu'', "one who blesses", a name for the lamassu) is one of the ...

im, particularly the

Shemhamphorasch ''Shem HaMephorash'' ( he, שֵׁם הַמְּפֹרָשׁ ''Šēm hamMəfōrāš'', also ''Shem ha-Mephorash''), meaning "the explicit name," is originally a Tannaitic term describing the Tetragrammaton. In Kabbalah, it may refer to a name of G ...

angels Haziel, Aladiah, Lauviah, Hahaiah, Iezalel, Mehahel, Hariel, and Hakamiah.

In literature

''Angels of Love and Light'' describes her as "the Archangel of Paradise and the Patron of Artists and Illumination. She teaches the outer consciousness the Power of Light within oneself. She is also described as "the Yellow Ray of Wisdom, Illumination, and Constancy", and lists her ''Archeia'' as Christine also says

John Milton John Milton (9 December 1608 – 8 November 1674) was an English poet and intellectual. His 1667 epic poem ''Paradise Lost'', written in blank verse and including over ten chapters, was written in a time of immense religious flux and politica ...

, in his poem

Paradise Lost ''Paradise Lost'' is an epic poem in blank verse by the 17th-century English poet John Milton (1608–1674). The first version, published in 1667, consists of ten books with over ten thousand lines of verse. A second edition followed in 16 ...

, mentions that Zophiel is "of cherubim the swiftest wing" (''Paradise Lost'' VI, 535). Zophiel is the subject of a poem by

Maria Gowen Brooks Maria Gowen (or Gowan) Brooks ( pen name, A Lover of Fine Arts and Maria Del Occidente; 1794 – November 11, 1845) was an American poet. She impressed Edgar Allan Poe and the English Poet Laureate, Robert Southey, who promoted her best-kno ...

Gallery

File:Set of Archangels - Jophiel.jpg, The

cherub A cherub (; plural cherubim; he, כְּרוּב ''kərūḇ'', pl. ''kərūḇīm'', likely borrowed from a derived form of akk, 𒅗𒊏𒁍 ''karabu'' "to bless" such as ''karibu'', "one who blesses", a name for the lamassu) is one of the ...

Jophiel, engraving by

Crispijn van de Passe Crispijn van de Passe the Elder, or de Passe (c. 1564, Arnemuiden – buried 6 March 1637, Utrecht) was a Dutch publisher and engraver and founder of a dynasty of engravers comparable to the Wierix family and the Sadelers, though mostly at a ...

, ca. 1590–1637.

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...

, London. File:Archangel Jophiel stands tall outside of Mundelein Center.jpg, Archangel Jophiel, statue at the entrance of Mundelein College Skyscraper, Chicago, Illinois. File:Christ Enthroned in the Heavenly Jerusalem, St Paul's.jpg, Mosaic in the semi-dome of St Paul's Within the Walls in Rome, depicting ''Christ Enthroned in the Heavenly Jerusalem'' with the five archangels, from left:

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 ...

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� ...

, Chemuel, and Zophiel (holding the moon). File:Seven Archangels, St Michael and All Angels', Warden.jpg, The seven archangels, Jophiel is in the centre holding in her right hand a flaming sword, and in her left hand a sceptre. Stained-glass window at

St Michael and All Angels Church St Michael and All Angels Church may refer to: Africa * St Michael and All Angels Church, Blantyre Malawi * St. Michael and All Angels' Anglican Church, Weltevreden Park, Johannesburg, South Africa America * Cathedral Church of Saint Michael a ...

, Warden, Northumberland.

Beliefs in religions and ceremonial magic

In literature

Gallery

See also

Notes

References

Further reading