Gabriel. Gabriel, in the Abrahamic religions, is an archangel. He was first described in the Hebrew Bible and was subsequently adopted by other traditions. In the Hebrew Bible, Gabriel appears to the prophet Daniel to explain his visions. 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. 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 Latter Day Saints hold that the angel Gabriel is the same individual as the prophet Noah in his mortal ministry. Yazidis consider Gabriel one of the Seven Mysteries, the heptad to which God entrusted the world and sometimes identified with Melek Taus. Jewish rabbis interpreted the man in linen as Gabriel in the Book of Daniel and the Book of Ezekiel. In the Book of Daniel, Gabriel is responsible for interpreting Daniel's visions. Gabriel's main function in Daniel is that of revealer, a role he continues in later literature. In the Book of Ezekiel, Gabriel is understood to be the angel that was sent to destroy Jerusalem. According to the Jewish Encyclopedia, Gabriel takes the form of a man, and stands at the left hand of God. Shimon ben Lakish concluded that the angelic names of Michael, Raphael, and Gabriel came out of the Babylonian exile. Alongside archangel Michael, Gabriel is described as the guardian angel of Israel, defending this people against the angels of the other nations. In Kabbalah, Gabriel is identified with the sephirah of Yesod. Gabriel also has a prominent role as one of God's archangels in the Kabbalah literature. There, Gabriel is portrayed as working in concert with Michael as part of God's court. Gabriel is not to be prayed to because only God can answer prayers and sends Gabriel as his agent. According to Jewish mythology, in the Garden of Eden there is a tree of life or the tree of souls that blossoms and produces new souls, which fall into the Guf, the Treasury of Souls. Gabriel reaches into the treasury and takes out the first soul that comes into his hand. Then Lailah, the Angel of Conception, watches over the embryo until it is born. The intertestamental period produced a wealth of literature, much of it having an apocalyptic orientation. The names and ranks of angels and devils were greatly expanded, and each had particular duties and status before God. In 1 Enoch 9:1-3, Gabriel, along with Michael, Uriel and Suriel, saw much blood being shed upon the earth and heard the souls of men cry, Bring our cause before the Most High. In 1 Enoch 10:1, the reply came from the Most High, the Holy and Great One who sent forth agents, including Gabriel, And the Lord said to Gabriel: 'Proceed against the bastards and the reprobates, and against the children of fornication: and destroy the children of the Watchers from amongst men: send them one against the other that they may destroy each other in battle: for length of days shall they not have., 1 Enoch 10:9 Gabriel is the fifth of the five angels who keep watch: Gabriel, one of the holy angels, who is over Paradise and the serpents and the Cherubim. When Enoch asked who the four figures were that he had seen: And he said to me: 'This first is Michael, the merciful and long-suffering: and the second, who is set over all the diseases and all the wounds of the children of men, is Raphael: and the third, who is set over all the powers, is Gabriel: and the fourth, who is set over the repentance unto hope of those who inherit eternal life, is named Phanuel.' And these are the four angels of the Lord of Spirits and the four voices I heard in those days. First, concerning John the Baptist, an angel appeared to his father Zacharias, a priest of the course of Abia, whose barren wife Elisabeth was of the daughters of Aaron, while he ministered in the temple: Luke 1:10 And the whole multitude of the people were praying without at the time of incense. 11 And there appeared unto him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense.