Γαβριήλ

From the study of Luke 1:26

Range of meaning

From Hebrew Gavri'el, built from gever ('strong man, warrior, man') and 'el ('God'). It means roughly 'God is my mighty one' or 'man of God'. Scholars are not sure which of these the name was meant to convey.

Against the English

English readers often know Gabriel only as 'the Christmas angel'. They miss that, for a Jewish hearer, the name recalled Daniel and his visions of when the exile would end.

How it drifted

Popular tradition calls Gabriel an 'archangel'. The Bible uses that title only for Michael (Jude 9; compare 1 Thess 4:16). Gabriel's place among the chief angels comes from Jewish tradition outside the Bible (1 Enoch 9:1; 20:7; 40:9), which Christians later took over.

Used elsewhere in the period

Gabriel is named in the Hebrew Bible only in Daniel 8:16 and 9:21. In 9:21–27 he comes 'at the time of the evening offering' to explain the 'seventy weeks' leading to the anointed one and everlasting righteousness. In 1 Enoch he is one of the four (or seven) angels of the presence. Luke 1:19 ('I am Gabriel, who stands before God') fits that Jewish picture.

From the study of Luke 1:19

Range of meaning

A Greek rendering of the Hebrew name גַּבְרִיאֵל (Gavri'el). It is built from the root g-b-r, "to be strong" (gever, "man, strong man"; gibbor, "warrior, hero"), plus 'El, "God". Possible meanings: "God is my strong one / my hero", "mighty one of God" or "man of God".

Against the English

English simply transliterates the name, which is correct. What English readers lose is that the name carried a whole history: for a Jewish hearer, "Gabriel" meant the angel of Daniel.

Used elsewhere in the period

In the Hebrew Bible he appears only in Daniel. In Dan 8:15–16 he is "one having the appearance of a man (gaver)", which is a play on his name, and he is told to explain the vision. In Dan 9:21 he comes to Daniel "at the time of the evening offering" and reveals the "seventy weeks" leading to the anointing of a most holy place and the coming of an anointed one. In Second Temple writings he is one of the chief angels: 1 Enoch 9:1 (with Michael, Sariel/Uriel and Raphael), 1 Enoch 20:7 (in the Greek version, one of the seven "archangels", set over paradise and the cherubim), and 1 Enoch 40:9 (one of the four "presences" around God's throne). The Qumran War Scroll (1QM 9:15–16) puts his name on the shields of the towers. In Luke he appears again at 1:26 with Mary.