The angel Jophiel (Heb. Yōp̄īʾēl, "Beauty of God"), also called Iophiel, Iofiel, Jofiel, Yofiel, Youfiel, Zophiel ( Ṣōp̄īʾēl, "God is my watchman") and Zuriel ( Ṣūrīʾēl, "God is my rock"), is an archangel in Christian and Jewish angelology. Jophiel is the archangel of beauty, art, craftsmanship and wisdom.
Beliefs in religions and ceremonial magic
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 guardian of the Torah (and wisdom itself), who taught 70 languages to souls at the dawn of creation.Gaster, Moses (1893), "Hebrew Visions of Hell and Paradise," in the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, p. 579. The Zohar, one thousand years later, lists Jophiel as a Great Angel Chief in charge of 53 legions who superintend Torah-readings on the Sabbath.Davidson, Gustav (1967), A Dictionary of Angels, Including The Fallen Angels, Entry: Iofiel, Free Press, p. 320. . . Jophiel is said to be a companion to the angel Metatron.
C. E. Clement, in her book Angels in Art, names Jophiel as the teacher of Ham, Japheth, and Shem. Heinrich Cornelius AgrippaHeinrich Cornelius Agrippa, Three Books of Occult Philosophy, Book III, Part 1, ed. Joseph Peterson, hosted at Twilit Grotto Esoteric Archives. and Thomas Rudd likewise name Jophiel as the teacher of Shem.A Treatise on Angel Magic, by Thomas Rudd, ed. Adam McLean, p. 25 & 204, (two editions): Phanes Press, 1990. Red Wheel/Weiser, 2006.
In the Anglican tradition, Jophiel is recognized as an archangel. Jophiel 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 (although some systems put Raziel in Jophiel’s place) and in several listings, including that of the early medieval theologian Pseudo-Dionysus.Davidson, Gustav (1967), A Dictionary of Angels, Including The Fallen Angels, Appendix, Free Press, p. 338. . . The Calendarium Naturale Magicum Perpetuum lists Jophiel as the angel of the Sephira Binah,The Magical Calendar, by Johann Baptist Grossschedel (two editions): ed. Adam McLean, Phanes Press, 1994, p. 91; ed. Joseph Peterson, hosted at Twilit Grotto Esoteric Archives. as do the Key of Solomon variant "The Veritable Clavicles of Solomon,"The Veritable Clavicles of Solomon, anonymous, ed. Joseph Peterson, hosted at Twilit Grotto Esoteric Archives. and the Sixth and Seventh Books of Moses,The Sixth and Seventh Books of Moses (part 2), anonymous, ed. Joseph Peterson, hosted at Twilit Grotto Esoteric Archives. both latter works derived from the Calendarium.The Magical Calendar, Peterson edition introduction. Agrippa attributes Jophiel to Saturn, while Paracelsus assigns Jophiel to Jupiter. Rudd attributes the Zodiac to JophielRudd, McLean, pp.100 (2006 ed), p.101 (1990 ed). along with the Sephira Binah instead of Zaphkiel.Rudd, McLean, p.204 (1990, 2006). Athanasius Kircher names Jophiel as , "angel of beauty"."Cabala Hebraeorum" in Oedipus Aegyptiacus, by Athanasius Kircher, ed. Joseph Peterson, hosted at Twilit Grotto Esoteric Archives. According to Robert Ambelain, Jophiel is in charge of the Cherubim, particularly the Shemhamphorasch angels Haziel, Aladiah, Lauviah, Hahaiah, Iezalel, Mehahel, Hariel, and Hakamiah.The Complete Magician's Tables, by Stephen Skinner, Golden Hoard Press, 2006, p. 41.
In John Milton's epic poem, Paradise Lost, the Archangel Jophiel is depicted as the "cherubim with the swiftest wings."
See also List of angels in theology Yufin-Yufafin in Mandaeism
Notes
References
Further reading Fischer, Lynn (1996), Angels of Love and Light [with original paintings of the Seven Beloved Archangels and Their Archeiai by Marius Michael-George], Transformational Media Publications, South Yarmouth, MA "Jophiel," Pearls of Wisdom, Volume 7 Number 43, 1994, The Summit Lighthouse, Copyright © 1997 Church Universal and Triumphant "Seven Beloved Archangels Speak," 1954, The Bridge to Freedom