Nuriel ( ''Nūrīʾēl;'' meaning: " El/God is my fire" or "El/God is my light") is an

angel An angel is a spiritual (without a physical body), heavenly, or supernatural being, usually humanoid with bird-like wings, often depicted as a messenger or intermediary between God (the transcendent) and humanity (the profane) in variou ...

Judaism Judaism () is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic, Monotheism, monotheistic, ethnic religion that comprises the collective spiritual, cultural, and legal traditions of the Jews, Jewish people. Religious Jews regard Judaism as their means of o ...

who is responsible for hailstorms. He is the

archangel Archangels () are the second lowest rank of angel in the Catholic hierarchy of angels, based on and put forward by Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite in the 5th or 6th century in his book ''De Coelesti Hierarchia'' (''On the Celestial Hierarchy'') ...

Uriel Uriel , Auriel ( ''ʾŪrīʾēl'', " El/God is my Flame"; ''Oúriḗl''; ''Ouriēl''; ; Geʽez and Amharic: or ) or Oriel ( ''ʾÓrīʾēl'', "El/God is my Light") is the name of one of the archangels who is mentioned in Rabbinic tradition ...

, whose name changes when inclined towards judgment. In Jewish legend, Moses encountered Nuriel in the 2nd heaven. It is said in the

Zohar The ''Zohar'' (, ''Zōhar'', lit. "Splendor" or "Radiance") is a foundational work of Kabbalistic literature. It is a group of books including commentary on the mystical aspects of the Torah and scriptural interpretations as well as material o ...

that when a person opens his lips during the weekdays at Arvit (the evening prayer), an eagle descends to carry the prayer of the night upon its wings. (This eagle is called) Nuriel. He is called Uriel from the aspect of Chesed and Nuriel from the aspect of Gevurah, which is a burning fire about which it is written: "A fiery stream issued and came forth" (Daniel 7:10). According to the

, Nuriel governs

Virgo Virgo may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Virgo (film), a 1970 Egyptian film * Virgo (character), several Marvel Comics characters * Virgo Asmita, a character in the manga ''Saint Seiya: The Lost Canvas'' * ''Virgo'' (album), by Virgo Four, ...

. Davidson, Gustav (1967),
A Dictionary of Angels, Including The Fallen Angels
', Entry: Nuriel, Free Press, p. 209, Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 66-19757, He is 300

parasang The parasang, also known as a farsakh (from Arabic), is a historical Iranian peoples, Iranian unit of Walking distance measure, walking distance, the length of which varied according to terrain and speed of travel. The European equivalent is the ...

s (approx. 5.6 km) tall and has an army of 50 myriads of angels (= 500,000) "all fashioned out of water and fire." The height of Nuriel is exceeded only by the Erelim, by the watchers, by Af and Hemah, and of course by

Metatron Metatron (Mishnaic Hebrew: ''Meṭāṭrōn''), or Matatron (), is an angel in Judaism, Gnosticism, and Islam. Metatron is mentioned three times in the Talmud, in a few brief passages in the Aggadah, the Targum, and in mystical kabbalah, Kabba ...

, who is the tallest hierarch in heaven. Nuriel is also effective as a charm for warding off evil. His name is found engraved on

oriental The Orient is a term referring to the East in relation to Europe, traditionally comprising anything belonging to the Eastern world. It is the antonym of the term ''Occident'', which refers to the Western world. In English, it is largely a meto ...

and

Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...

amulets, notably those worn by pregnant women. Outside of Judaism, in the Syriac '' Book of Protection'', Nuriel is characterized as a "spellbinding power" and is grouped with

Michael Michael may refer to: People * Michael (given name), a given name * he He ..., a given name * Michael (surname), including a list of people with the surname Michael Given name * Michael (bishop elect)">Michael (surname)">he He ..., a given nam ...

, Shamsiel, Seraphiel, and other great angels.
''The Book of Protection''
Codex C, Section 3: "Binding the Tongue of the Ruler" In

gnostic Gnosticism (from Ancient Greek: , romanized: ''gnōstikós'', Koine Greek: �nostiˈkos 'having knowledge') is a collection of religious ideas and systems that coalesced in the late 1st century AD among early Christian sects. These diverse g ...

lore, Nuriel is one of seven subordinates to Jehuel, prince of fire.

References

{{Angels in Abrahamic religions Angels in Judaism Individual angels

See also

References