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Summary
- Raphael is the Hebrew Refa’el, “God heals,” from the verb used in Exodus 15:26, “I am the Lord, your healer.”
- The archangel Raphael guides Tobias, heals Tobit’s blindness and drives the demon Asmodeus from Sarah in the Book of Tobit, and names himself in Tobit 12:15.
- Every Bible names a Levite gatekeeper called Rephael, the same Hebrew name, in 1 Chronicles 26:7; the angel is not named in the Hebrew Bible or the New Testament.
- Catholic and Orthodox Bibles include Tobit; Protestant churches treat it as Apocrypha, and it is not in the Hebrew Bible.
- 1 Enoch, Scripture only in the Ethiopian and Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo churches, also names Raphael.
- Catholics honor Raphael with Michael and Gabriel on 29 September; the Orthodox commemorate him on 8 November.
Bibliography (Click to show)
- Behind the Name, “Raphael,” “Rafael,” “Raffaele,” “Rafail” and “Rafa.” https://www.behindthename.com/name/raphael
- Blue Letter Bible, Strong’s H7501 (Rephael), with the Brown-Driver-Briggs entry for 1 Chronicles 26:7. https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/h7501/kjv/wlc/0-1/
- “Raphael (archangel),” Wikipedia, on 1 Enoch, John 5:4, the feast days and patronages. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raphael_(archangel)
- “Book of Tobit,” Wikipedia, on the Dead Sea Scrolls fragments, the councils, Luther’s preface and the Protestant Apocrypha. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_of_Tobit
- “Book of Enoch,” Wikipedia, on its canonical status. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_of_Enoch
- “King James Version,” Wikipedia, on the Apocrypha in the edition of 1611. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_James_Version
- Church of England, Articles of Religion, Article VI. https://www.churchofengland.org/prayer-and-worship/worship-texts-and-resources/book-common-prayer/articles-religion
- Westminster Confession of Faith, chapter 1, section 3, Orthodox Presbyterian Church. https://www.opc.org/wcf.html
- Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, Directory on Popular Piety and the Liturgy (2001), paragraph 217. https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/ccdds/documents/rc_con_ccdds_doc_20020513_vers-direttorio_en.html
- Scripture quotations: Tobit 3:17; 5:12; 8:3; 12:15, 20, Revised Standard Version, Catholic Edition; Exodus 15:26 and 1 Chronicles 26:7, English Standard Version. References: Tobit 1:14; 2:10; 3:7–8; 4:1; 6:1–5, 10–12; 8:2; 11:11–13; 12:12, 19; John 5:4.
