Is there an archangel (or angel) named Uriel?

The intelligent spiritual beings who are constantly referred to in scripture as God's messengers both as carrying good tidings and, as executors of God's judgements. We know little of their nature: "of the angels he saith, Who maketh his angels spirits, and his ministers a flame of fire," Heb. 1:7; and man is described as being a little inferior to the angels. Ps. 8:5 ; Heb. 2:7. There are apparently gradations in rank among them, described as principalities and powers, of which Christ as Man is now the head. Col. 2:10. Twice we meet with 'archangel:' an archangel's voice will accompany the rapture of the church, 1 Thess. 4:16; and 'Michael the archangel' contended with Satan about the body of Moses. Jude 9. He with his angels will fight with the dragon and his angels and cast them out of heaven. Rev. 12:7-8. Gabriel is the only other name of an angel revealed to us: he appeared to Daniel, to Zacharias, and to Mary: he said that he stood in the presence of God. Dan. 8:16; Dan. 9:21; Luke 1:19, 26.

23 Luke 1:19. — "Gabriel." Tobit 12:15, speaks of seven archangels (naming "Raphael"). The Book of Enoch adds "Uriel." These are the sources of Milton's nomenclature. In canonical Scripture (but see Rev. 1:4, Rev. 3:1, Rev. 4:5) not more than two archangels are named, Gabriel (Dan. 8, 9), herald of goodness, and Michael (Dan. 10, 12; Jude 9; Rev. 12:7) of wrath. The Jews have said that "Gabriel flies with two wings, Michael with one."

Fallen Angels. — Of angels we here again read. We have been taught how far above the elect angels was the Son, who entered this scene as a man, and as a man was made lower than them. But other angels there are, those who fell, having left their first estate. For apostasy reared its head among the angelic host, and some were carried away by it. How that began, and who were the leaders in it, is to us wholly unknown. Little indeed do we know about the angelic hierarchy. We know that there are different ranks among them — principalities and powers (Eph. 1:21). We know their number is very great (Rev. 5:11). Yet of names of any of them we only know but two — Michael and Gabriel. Of none others have we knowledge from Scripture. Men may speak of others as Raphael, etc. Doubtless He who calls all the stars by their names designates each by some personal appellation. From us, however, that is hidden. And of the apostasy just referred to little is it that we know. Gen. 6:2 mentions it historically. Jude (6) and Peter (2 Peter 2:4) acquaint us with the present condition of the apostates, as well as with the awful future before them. Then Paul, to complete our knowledge of this subject, tells the Corinthians that Christians will judge angels (1 Cor. 6:3). God then can, and will, punish the apostate angels. Had we been like them, awaiting our doom, which of us could have questioned His right and His justice in so acting? And what has made the difference between our future and theirs? Nothing but the atoning death of the Lord Jesus Christ. With what thankfulness, therefore, should we reiterate the sacred writer's statement, "He takes hold of the seed of Abraham" (Heb. 2:16). For of no angel is that true.

Israelites knew Michael to be the highest angel (Dan. 12:1). Apocryphal works and Jewish tradition have four or more Archangels, but Scripture lets us know only of one. But how did Jude get his information? We might also ask how did Paul get his information about the names of the magicians who confronted Moses (2 Tim. 3:8)? It is clear to me that the answer lies in our belief regarding inspiration. God is able to reveal His will and details of history otherwise lost to mankind. God has also revealed that these two spiritual beings will be in conflict again in a coming day (Rev. 12:7-9), but then Michael will express himself and act firmly to expel Satan from heaven down to this earth.

"With the voice of the archangel" is added here. Only Michael is referred to in Scripture as "the archangel" (Jude 9). Whether there may be others we cannot say. Since Michael is called Israel's "prince" (Dan. 10:21), and the dispensation of law was "ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator" (Gal. 3:19), it has been suggested that the archangel's voice may have some connection with the raising of Old Testament saints at the coming of the Lord. Whether this is so it would seem unwise to judge, however, without more solid grounds. But at least the occasion is seen to be one of great angelic rejoicing.

Son of Uriel, a Kohathite. 1 Chr. 6:24.

I think it is evident that it was not Absalom's daughter - it might be his granddaughter but it is very doubtful. Maachah may have been Abijah's grandmother. But there seems little doubt Abijah's mother was of Benjamin; it may be she was called Michaiah, and Maachah as the change of name is the commonest thing possible. Uriel and Abishalom were both known. One Uriel, I suppose, her father, the other a wellknown ancestor. So Abihail, 2 Chronicles 11:18, is evidently only a descendant of Eliab's. It is thus possible, though I doubt it, that Maachah may have been a granddaughter of Absalom, and daughter of Uriel. What adds to the probability of this is that Absalom was son of Maachah, so that the name may have been kept in the family; 1 Chron. 3:2. Uriel was a Benjamite, and called his daughter Michaiah; Maachah was given in Judah where David's family connection was naturally kept up.

418 Luke 16:23. — "Hades." Wellhausen would identify this with "Gehenna" (Luke 12:5), the place of retribution (Tobit xiii. 2). Should we not rather say Tartarus? (2 Peter 2:4). Cf. Enoch xx. 2, where "Uriel" is represented as its ruler. Sheol is likewise spoken of in connection with a flame in Song of Solomon 8:6. For the Biblical representation of Sheol (Hades) the article by Dalman in Hauck's Encyclopaedia (the American "Schaff-Herzog") should be consulted.

Abijah is called in Kings, Abijam, and in 2 Chron. 13:21, Abijahu (Hebrew text). His reign was not of a long duration; he outlived his father Rehoboam only three years. His mother was Maachah (2 Chron. 11:20). She is called here Michaiah, probably because she was the queen-mother. There is no discrepancy between chapter 11:20 and the second verse of this chapter, in which she is called the daughter of Uriel of Gibeath. Josephus is probably correct when he states that Uriel was the husband of Tamar, the daughter of Absalom. In chapter 11:20, she is called a daughter of Absalom or rather grand-daughter, for one word is used in Hebrew for daughter and grand-daughter. (Abishalom in 1 Kings 15:2 is the same as Absalom.)

ABIJAH'S reign was a brief one. He outlived his father Rehoboam by only three short years. His mother Maachah was a daughter (or granddaughter) of Absalom. Abijah was thus descended from David on both his father's and his mother's side. His mother, however, turned out to be an idolatress (1 Kings 15:13). The form of her name Maachah, which means oppressor, is altered in Chronicles, in the account of Abijah's reign, to Michaiah — Who is like God? She is said here, too, to be a daughter of Uriel, meaning light, or fire of God. The reason for this will be understood by referring to the Author's Introduction. There is, also, no account of Abijah's wickedness in Chronicles. In Kings, on the other hand, there is nothing recorded of him but his sin. "He walked," it says there, "in all the sins of his father, which he had done before him: and his heart was not perfect with the Lord his God, as the heart of David his father" (1 Kings 15:3).