Azrael

Azrael (Biblical Hebrew: עזראל‎‎) is often identified with the Angel of Death of the Hebrew Bible.

The Hebrew name translates to "Help of God", "Help from God", or "One Whom God Helps".Azrael is the spelling of the Chambers Dictionary. The Qur'an refers to a "مَلَكُ المَوْتِ" (Malak Al-Mawt or "Angel of Death") but it does not refer to him by the Judeo-Christian term. Islamic-Arabic tradition adopts the name, in the ِArabic alphabet as a ʿIzrāīl (Arabic: عزرائيل‎‎).

Depending on the outlook and precepts of various religions in which he is a figure, Azrael may be portrayed as residing in the Third Heaven. In one description, he has four faces and four thousand wings, and his whole body consists of eyes and tongues whose number corresponds to the number of people inhabiting the Earth. He will be the last to die, recording and erasing, constantly in a large book the names of men at birth and death, respectively.

In Jewish mysticism, he is commonly referred to as "Azriel" (Biblical Hebrew: עזריאל‎‎), not "Azrael". The Zohar, a holy book of the Jewish mystical tradition of Kabbalah, presents a positive depiction of Azriel. The Zohar says that Azriel receives the prayers of faithful people when they reach heaven, and also commands legions of heavenly angels. Accordingly, Azriel is associated with the South and is considered to be a high-ranking commander of God's angels.

There is no reference to Azrael in the Bible, and he is not considered a canonical nor a non-canonical figure within Christianity. However, a story in 2 Esdras (a book disallowed by the Catholic and Protestant Churches, but considered canonical in Eastern Orthodox teachings) which is part of the Apocrypha, has the story of a scribe and judge named Ezra (not to be confused with the Biblical figure Ezra), also sometimes written "Azra" in different languages. Azra was visited by the Archangel Uriel and given a list of laws and punishments he was to adhere to and enforce as judge over his people. Azra was later recorded in the Apocrypha as having entered Heaven "without tasting death's taint". Depending on various religious views, it could be taken as Ezra ascending to angelic status. This would add the suffix "el" to his name, which denotes a heavenly being (e.g. Michael, Raphael, Uriel). Hence, it would be Ezrael/Azrael. Later books also state a scribe named Salathiel, who was quoted as saying, "I, Salathiel, who is also Ezra". Again, depending on certain views of Christian spirituality, this could be seen as angelic influence from Ezrael/Azrael on Salathiel, though this view of spirituality is neither confirmed nor denied by any popular denomination of Christians.

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