People of the Bible

Gabriel

Appears four times in the whole Bible, always to explain something, and twice to tell a family they are having a child.

He is one of only two angels named in Scripture, and the name means man of God or strength of God. Every appearance is an errand of interpretation. Daniel has seen a ram and a goat and does not understand, and a voice tells Gabriel to make this man understand the vision. Later, while Daniel is still praying, he comes again, being caused to fly swiftly, and touches him about the time of the evening oblation.

Where it appearsDaniel 8 · Daniel 9 · Luke 1

Daniel Luke

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The movements, in the order the text gives them.

The story of Gabriel

01
Daniel 8:15-19
Make this man to understand the vision
A voice between the banks of the river gives him the instruction. Daniel is afraid and falls on his face, and is set upright before anything is explained.
02
Daniel 9:20-23
At the beginning of thy supplications
He arrives during the prayer rather than after it, and says the commandment came forth at the beginning of it. Thou art greatly beloved is the message he carries first.
03
Luke 1:11-20
I am Gabriel, that stand in the presence of God
Zechariah asks for evidence and is given a name instead, and then nine months of silence. The credential is stated only because it was doubted.
04
Luke 1:26-38
Hail, thou that art highly favoured
The same messenger, a village instead of a temple, and a question answered rather than punished. With God nothing shall be impossible.

Why it matters

Five hundred years later he is in the temple at the hour of incense standing on the right side of the altar, and an old priest is struck silent for asking how he can be sure. Six months after that he is in Nazareth with a greeting that troubles a young woman before he has said anything else. What he brings each time is not a command but information, and he gives his credentials once only, to Zechariah: I am Gabriel, that stand in the presence of God.

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