Ra'phael ( ῾Ραφαήλ = רפָאֵל, "the divine healer"), "one of the seven holy angels which... go in and out before the glory of the Holy One" (Tobit 12:15). According to another Jewish tradition, Raphael was one of the four angels that stood round the throne of God; — Michael, Uriel, Gabriel, Raphael. His place is said to have been behind the throne, by the standard of Ephraim (comp. Nu 2:18); and his name was interpreted as foreshadowing the healing of the schism of Jeroboam, who arose from that tribe (1Ki 11:26, see Buxtorf, Lex. Rabb. p. 47). In Tobit he appears as the guide and counsellor of Tobias. By his help, Sara was delivered from her plague (Tobit 6:16, 17), and Tobit from his blindness (11:7, 8). In the book of Enoch he appears as "the angel of the spirits of men" (20:3; comp. Dillmann, ad loc.). His symbolic character in the apocryphal narrative is clearly indicated when he describes himself as "Azarias the son of Ananias" (Tobit 5:12), the messenger of the Lord's help springing from the Lord's mercy. SEE TOBIT. The name, in its Heb. form, occurs in 1Ch 26:7 as that of a man. SEE REPHAEL.
The Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature was edited by John McClintock and James Strong. It contains nearly 50,000 articles pertaining to Biblical and other religious literature, people, creeds, etc. It is a fantastic research tool for broad Christian study.
John McClintock was born October 27, 1814 in Philadelphia to Irish immigrants, John and Martha McClintock. He began as a clerk in his father's store, and then became a bookkeeper in the Methodist Book Concern in New York. Here he converted to Methodism and considered joining the ministry. McClintock entered the University of Pennsylvania in 1832 and graduated with high honors three years later. Subsequently, he was awarded a doctorate of divinity degree from the same institution in 1848.WikipediaRead More