Gabriel Print

In the Hebrew Bible, Gabriel appears to the prophet Daniel to explain his visions (Daniel 8:15–26, 9:21–27). The archangel appears in such other ancient Jewish writings as the Book of Enoch. Alongside archangel Michael, Gabriel is described as the guardian angel of Israel, defending this people against the angels of the other nations. The Gospel of Luke relates the stories of the Annunciation, in which the angel Gabriel appears to Zechariah and the Virgin Mary, foretelling the births of John the Baptist and Jesus, respectively (Luke 1:11–38). Many Christian traditions—including Anglicanism, Eastern Orthodoxy, and Roman Catholicism—revere Gabriel as a saint. Islam regards Gabriel as an archangel sent by God to various prophets, among them Muhammad. The first five verses of the 96th chapter of the Quran, the Clot, is believed by Muslims to have been the first verses revealed by Gabriel to Muhammad. The scale of this work is significant and implies a mode of interpreting religious symbolism by implying a tendency to emphasize structural patterns. I am aware that every society is built on contradictions and that all social categories and demarcations are transgressions by choice (innovation), by default (hence social sanctions), or by necessity.