Azrael

Azrael
עֲזַרְאֵל‎; عزرائيل‎
	According to Brendan Cole, this painting of Azrael is linked to a 1892 poem by Delville called "Azraël" (published in his book Les Horizons Hantés)
Angel of Death
Associated religions	Islam
Attributes	Archangel; psychopomp; wings; cloak.
Associations	Jibrāʾīl, Mīkāʾīl, and Isrāfīl (in Islam)
Alternate spellings	ʿĂzarʾēl; ʿAzrāʾīl; ʿIzrāʾīl; Ajrā-īl; Ezrā’ël;
Appearance in text	Quran (Surah As-Sajdah); Apocalypse of Peter;

Azrael (/ˈæzri.əl, -reɪ-/; Hebrew: עֲזַרְאֵל, romanized: ʿǍzarʾēl, 'God has helped';^[1] Arabic: عزرائيل, romanized: ʿAzrāʾīl or ʿIzrāʾīl) is the canonical angel of death in Judaism^[2] and appears in the apocryphal text Apocalypse of Peter.^[3]

Relative to similar concepts of such beings, Azrael holds a benevolent role as God's angel of death; he acts as a psychopomp, responsible for transporting the souls of the deceased after their death.^[4] In Islam, he is said to hold a scroll concerning the fate of mortals, recording and erasing their names at their birth and death, similar to the role of the malakh ha-mavet (Angel of Death) in Judaism.^[5]^[6]^: 234

Depending on the perspective and precepts of the various religions in which he is a figure, he may also be portrayed as a resident of the Third Heaven, a division of heaven in Judaism and Islam.^[7] In Islam, he is one of the four archangels, and is identified with the Quranic Malʾak al-Mawt (ملك الموت, 'angel of death'), which corresponds with the Hebrew term Malʾakh ha-Maweth (מלאך המוות) in Rabbinic literature. In Hebrew, Azrael translates to "Angel of God" or "Help from God".^[7]

^ "Strong's Hebrew Concordance - 5832. Azarel".
^ "Azrael| Meaning, Angel, & Fate | Britannica". www.britannica.com. Retrieved 2024-06-06.
^ Bauckham, Richard (2008). The Fate of the Dead: Studies on the Jewish and Christian Apocalypses. Society of Biblical Literature. ISBN 978-1-58983-288-6.
^ Davidson, Gustav. 1968. "Longfellow's Angels". Prairie Schooner 42(3):235–43. JSTOR 40630837.
^ Hastings, James; Selbie, John A. (2003), Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics Part 3, Kessinger Publishing, p. 617, ISBN 0-7661-3671-X
^ Hamilton, Michelle M. 2014. Beyond Faith: Belief, Morality and Memory in a Fifteenth-Century Judeo-Iberian Manuscript. Leiden: Brill. ISBN 9789004282735.
^ ^a ^b Davidson, Gustav. [1967] 1971. "A § Azrael". Pp. 64–65 in A Dictionary of Angels, Including the Fallen Angels. New York: Free Press. ISBN 9780029070505.

[1] "Strong's Hebrew Concordance - 5832. Azarel".

[2] "Azrael| Meaning, Angel, & Fate | Britannica". www.britannica.com. Retrieved 2024-06-06.

[3] Bauckham, Richard (2008). The Fate of the Dead: Studies on the Jewish and Christian Apocalypses. Society of Biblical Literature. ISBN 978-1-58983-288-6.

[4] Davidson, Gustav. 1968. "Longfellow's Angels". Prairie Schooner 42(3):235–43. JSTOR 40630837.

[:0-5] Hastings, James; Selbie, John A. (2003), Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics Part 3, Kessinger Publishing, p. 617, ISBN 0-7661-3671-X

[BF-6] Hamilton, Michelle M. 2014. Beyond Faith: Belief, Morality and Memory in a Fifteenth-Century Judeo-Iberian Manuscript. Leiden: Brill. ISBN 9789004282735.

[DoA-7] Davidson, Gustav. [1967] 1971. "A § Azrael". Pp. 64–65 in A Dictionary of Angels, Including the Fallen Angels. New York: Free Press. ISBN 9780029070505.

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