Jophiel

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Archangel Jophiel holding a flaming sword and a scourge with three cords

The angel Jophiel (Heb. יוֹפִיאֵל‎ Yōp̄īʾēl, "God is my beauty"), also called Iophiel, Iofiel, Jofiel, Yofiel, Youfiel, Zophiel (צֹפִיאֵל‎ Ṣōp̄īʾēl, "God is my watchman") and Zuriel (צוּרִיאֵל‎ Ṣūrīʾēl, "God is my rock"), is a non-canonical archangel of wisdom, understanding, and judgment, art and beauty. She is listed as one of the Seven Archangels in Pseudo-Dionysian teachings. Due to the association with beauty, Jophiel is one of very few angels to be sometimes portrayed as female. However, many angels have no canonical gender, and are most commonly referred to by male pronouns.

According to Robert Fludd, Jophiel and Archangel Raziel rule together over the Cherubim choir in the hierarchy of angels.

Abilities and functions

According to the pseudepigraphal Revelation of Moses, another name for Jophiel is Dina (Hebrew: דִּינָה Dīnā, "Judgement"). In the text, Jophiel/Dina is described as an angel of the seventh heaven, a Kabbalistic guardian of the Torah (and wisdom itself), who taught 70 languages to souls at the dawn of creation. The Zohar lists her as a Great Angel Chief in charge of 53 legions who superintend Torah-readings on the Sabbath. Jophiel is said to be a companion to the angel Metatron.

Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa and Thomas Rudd name Jophiel as the teacher of Shem.

In the Anglican tradition, Jophiel is recognized as an archangel. She is often depicted in iconography holding a flaming sword, such as the stained glasses at St Michael's Church in Brighton, St Peter and St John's Church in Kirkley, Holy Trinity Church in Coventry and a mural at St. John's Episcopal Church in Memphis, Tennessee.

Jophiel is an Archangel of the Kabbalah (though some systems put Raziel in her place) and in several listings including that of the early medieval theologian Pseudo-Dionysus. The Calendarium Naturale Magicum Perpetuum lists Jophiel as the angel of the Sephira Chokhmah, as does the Key of Solomon variant The Veritable Clavicles of Solomon,and the Sixth and Seventh Books of Moses, both latter works derived from the Calendarium.

Her planetary intelligence is the Starry Heaven. Rudd attributes the Zodiac to Jophiel along with the Sephira Binah instead of Archangel Zaphkiel. Athanasius Kircher names Jophiel as Angelus pulchritudinis, "angel of beauty."