Angelic Hierarchy

The Seven Archangels

Named holy watchers with assigned portfolios — the counterweight to the descent.

In the primary textCh. 9Ch. 10Ch. 20

The short answer

1 Enoch 20 lists seven archangels with defined responsibilities: Uriel over the world and Tartarus, Raphael over human spirits, Raguel over the luminaries, Michael over humanity and chaos, Saraqael over spirits that sin, Gabriel over Paradise and the cherubim, and Remiel over those who rise.

Stated directly in 1 Enoch. Whether it happened is a separate question.

A ministry, not a chorus

The striking thing about chapter 20 is how administrative it is. Each name carries a brief and a jurisdiction. The heavenly order is described the way a functioning institution is described, which sharpens the contrast with the Watchers who abandoned their own brief.

Four of these names — Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, Uriel — became the standard archangel set in later tradition, and 1 Enoch is a principal reason the list stabilised.

In the text

Chapters that carry this

Read the passage rather than taking the summary on trust.

Roster

The seven archangels

1 Enoch 20 assigns each holy watcher a defined office.

Uriel

The world and Tartarus.

Raphael

The spirits of human beings.

Raguel

Vengeance on the world of the luminaries.

Michael

The best part of humanity, and chaos.

Saraqael

The spirits who sin in the spirit.

Gabriel

Paradise, the serpents and the cherubim.

Remiel

Those who rise.

Related

The network

Related concepts by chapter

Ideas the same passages carry. Follow the shared chapter to see why they belong together.

Ch. 9Ch. 10

Azazel & Forbidden Knowledge

The Watcher blamed for teaching weapons, metalwork and ornament — technology as transgression.

Shares 2 chapters with The Seven Archangels.

Ch. 9Ch. 10

Shemihazah & the Oath

The leader who refuses to carry the guilt alone and binds the others by curse.

Shares 2 chapters with The Seven Archangels.

Ch. 9Ch. 10

The Nephilim

The offspring of the Watchers and human women, and the ruin that follows them.

Shares 2 chapters with The Seven Archangels.

Ch. 9Ch. 10

The Watchers

Heavenly observers who abandoned their post and interfered with human life.

Shares 2 chapters with The Seven Archangels.

Ch. 10

The Elect & the Righteous

Who the book says survives the accounting, and on what basis.

Shares 1 chapter with The Seven Archangels.

Ch. 10

The Great Judgment

The trial that frames the entire book, announced in chapter 1 and executed in chapter 10.

Shares 1 chapter with The Seven Archangels.

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