Archangel Raphael. Raphael is an archangel first mentioned in the Book of Tobit and in 1 Enoch, both estimated to date from between the 3rd and 2nd century BCE. In later Jewish tradition, he became identified as one of the three heavenly visitors entertained by Abraham at the Oak of Mamre. He is not named in either the New Testament or the Quran, but later Christian tradition identified him with healing and as the angel who stirred waters in the Pool of Bethesda in John 5:2-4, and in Islam, where his name is Israfil, he is understood to be the unnamed angel of Quran 6:73, standing eternally with a trumpet to his lips, ready to announce the Day of Judgment. In Gnostic tradition, Raphael is represented on the Ophite Diagram. In the Hebrew Bible, the word literally means messenger; either human or supernatural in nature. When used in the latter sense it is translated as angel. The original mal'akh lacked both individuality and hierarchy, but after the Babylonian exile they were graded into a Babylonian-style hierarchy and the word archangelos, archangel, first appears in the Greek text of 1 Enoch. At the same time the angels and archangels began to be given names, as attested in the Talmudic statement that the names of the angels were brought by the Jews from Babylonia, attributed to Shimon ben Lakish or Rabbi Hanina respectively. Raphael first appears in two works of this period, 1 Enoch, a collection of originally independent texts from the 3rd century BCE, and the Book of Tobit, from the early 2nd century BCE. In the oldest stratum of 1 Enoch he is one of the four named archangels, and in Tobit 12:11-15 he is one of seven. His name derives from the Hebrew root רפא meaning to heal, and can be translated as God has healed. In Tobit he goes by the name Azariah while disguising himself as a human. In the text he acts as a physician and expels demons, using an extraordinary fish to bind the demon Asmodeus and to heal Tobit's eyes, while in 1 Enoch he is set over all disease and every wound of the children of the people, and binds the armies of Azazel and throws them into the valley of fire. According to the Babylonian Talmud, Raphael was one of the three angels who appeared to Abraham in the oak grove of Mamre in the region of Hebron; Michael, as the greatest, walked in the middle, with Gabriel to his right and Raphael to his left. Each was commanded to carry out a specific mission, Gabriel to destroy Sodom, Michael to inform Sarah that she would give birth to Isaac, Raphael to heal Abraham from his recent circumcision and save Lot. Rashi writes, Although Raphael's mission included two tasks, they were considered a single mission since they were both acts that saved people. The Life of Adam and Eve lists him with the archangels Michael, Gabriel, Uriel and Joel, and the medieval Jewish philosopher Maimonides included his name in his Jewish angelic hierarchy. In Midrash Konen it is revealed that Raphael was originally once named Libbiel. In the Midrash, God takes council with His Angels before he creates Adam the first Man. The Angels were not all of one opinion however, with differing views and reasons. The Angel of Love and Angel of Justice both favoured Man's creation as he would be affectionate and loving, alongside practicing Justice. The Angel of Truth and the Angel of Peace opposed his creation however, as he would be full of lies and be quarrelsome. To invalidate his protest, God cast the Angel of Truth down from Heaven to Earth, and when the others cried out against the treatment of their companion, He said, Truth will spring back out of the earth. Before their objections, God had only told the Angels of the good there would be among Humans, but not of the evil too. Despite not knowing the whole truth, the Angels were nevertheless prompted to cry out: What is man, that Thou art mindful of him? And the son of man, that Thou visitest him? God replied: The fowl of the air and the fish of the sea, what were they created for? Of what avail a larder full of appetizing dainties, and no guest to enjoy them? And the Angels could not but exclaim: O Lord, our Lord, how excellent is Thy name in all the earth! Do as is pleasing in Thy sight. For not a few of the Angels their opposition bore fatal consequences. When God summoned the band under the Archangel Michael, and asked their opinion on the creation of man, they answered scornfully: What is man, that Thou art mindful of him? And the son of man, that Thou visitest him? God thereupon stretched forth His little finger, and all were consumed by fire except their Chief Michael. And the same fate befell the band under the leadership of the Archangel Gabriel; he alone of all was saved from destruction.