Global InformationAzrael information
| עֲזַרְאֵל عزرائيل | |
|---|---|
 A welcoming depiction of the Archangel of Death (usually associated with Azrael), by Evelyn De Morgan, 1881[1] | |
| Angel of Death | |
| Associated religions | Islam and Judaism |
| Attributes | Archangel; psychopomp; wings; cloak. |
| Associations | Jibrāʾīl, Mīkāʾīl, and Isrāfīl (in Islam) |
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Azrael (/ˈæzri.əl, -reɪ-/; Hebrew: עֲזַרְאֵל, romanized: ʿǍzarʾēl, 'God has helped';[2] Arabic: عزرائيل, romanized: ʿAzrāʾīl or ʿIzrāʾīl) is the angel of death in some Abrahamic religions, namely Islam and Christian popular culture.[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-Maveth (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 (ملاك 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]
- ^ Smith, Elise Lawton. 2002. Evelyn Pickering De Morgan and the Allegorical Body. Fairleigh Dickinson University Press. ISBN 9780838638835. p. 153–54.
- ^ "Strong's Hebrew Concordance - 5832. Azarel".
- ^ "Azrael". Encyclopædia Britannica. [1998] 2020.
- ^ 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.