IL Archive The name that crossed millennia
EN

Independent research archive Texts · Ideas · Civilizations

Menu

Entity · name-and-heavenly-figure

Raphael / Rephael

A reference page linking a name, group, or concept to the materials that discuss it.

Theophoric name from healing and El; human Rephael in Chronicles and angel Raphael in Tobit. Distinct from Israfil, whose etymology is a separate question.

Modern diagram of Raphael: healing root with El, a human name in Chronicles and an angel in Tobit. Distinguishing him from Israfil does not settle Israfil’s disputed etymology
Modern diagram of Raphael: healing root with El, a human name in Chronicles and an angel in Tobit. Distinguishing him from Israfil does not settle Israfil’s disputed etymologyModern diagram by IL Archive · CC BY 4.0 · CC BYLicense · Image source

Text

Name and healing

The healing root r-p-ʾ with El conveys God has healed.[1] Human Rephael appears at 1 Chronicles 26:7; he is not automatically Tobit’s angel. Some translations distinguish the vocalization through Rephael.[2]

Raphael in Tobit

At 12:14–15 the angel explains his healing commission and place among seven angels. His name alone proves no former divine identity.[3]

Comparative limits

Israfil is a different Islamic figure with uncertain name origin. Similarity neither equates the characters nor excludes every possible etymological link. Modern diagram.[4]

References and notes

  1. Brown–Driver–Briggs and Strong, Rephael, Hebrew entry 7501, reproduced on Bible Hub. Original lexical sections: healing root + El and human name in 1 Chronicles 26:7. Added religious commentary is not used to date the figure. Return to the text ↑
  2. Hebrew Bible, 1 Chronicles 26:7. Mechon-Mamre, Hebrew and JPS 1917. V.7: וּרְפָאֵל, a human, rendered Rephael in JPS. Different transliteration from Raphael made explicit; no identity with the angel inferred. Return to the text ↑
  3. Tobit 12:14–15,18. King James Version, transcribed on Wikisource. Vv.14–15,18: healing, seven angels and divine commission; also 3:17 inspected. Historical translation, not an original manuscript; no identical wording assumed across all Tobit recensions. Return to the text ↑
  4. Lütfullah Cebeci (2001). İsrâfil. TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi 23, pp. 180–181, electronic entry. Opening paragraphs: uncertain origin, seraphim proposals and absence of the name from Qurʾan. Used to delimit certainty, neither prove derivation from Raphael nor rule out every possible relationship. Return to the text ↑

Research history

Substantive changes are retained here. Minor copy edits remain in the internal operational log.

  1. Edition 2 · 11 October 2026 · editor:aladmin

    Substantive record update

    Read this revision in its original language (Arabic)

Suggest a correction · Suggest a source for this record

Cite this record

IL Archive, «Raphael / Rephael», Edition 2, https://ilarchive.com/en/entities/raphael