Nuriel ( he, נוּרִיאֵל ''Nūrīʾēl;'' meaning: " El is my fire") is an

angel In various theistic religious traditions an angel is a supernatural spiritual being who serves God. Abrahamic religions often depict angels as benevolent celestial intermediaries between God (or Heaven) and humanity. Other roles ...

Jewish mythology Jewish mythology is the body of myths associated with Judaism. Elements of Jewish mythology have had a profound influence on Christian mythology and on Islamic mythology, as well as on world culture in general. Christian mythology directly in ...

who is responsible for hailstorms. In Jewish legend, Moses encountered Nuriel in the 2nd heaven. It is said in the

Zohar The ''Zohar'' ( he, , ''Zōhar'', lit. "Splendor" or "Radiance") is a foundational work in the literature of Jewish mystical thought known as Kabbalah. It is a group of books including commentary on the mystical aspects of the Torah (the five ...

that when a person opens his lips during the weekdays at Arvit (the evening prayer), an eagle descends to carry the prayer of the night upon its wings. (This eagle is called) Nuriel. He is called Uriel from the aspect of

Chesed ( he, חֶסֶד, also Romanized: ) is a Hebrew word that means 'kindness or love between people', specifically of the devotional piety of people towards God as well as of love or mercy of God towards humanity. It is frequently used in Psalms i ...

and Nuriel from the aspect of

Gevurah Gevurah or Geburah ( he, גְּבוּרָה, Gəvūrā}, Tiberian: ''Găḇūrā,'' lit. 'strength'), is the fifth '' sephirah'' in the kabbalistic tree of life, and it is the second of the emotive attributes of the ''sephirot''. It sits below ...

, which is a burning fire about which it is written: "A fiery stream issued and came forth" (Daniel 7:10). According to the

, Nuriel governs

Virgo Virgo may refer to: *Virgo (astrology), the sixth astrological sign of the zodiac * Virgo (constellation), a constellation *Virgo Cluster, a cluster of galaxies in the constellation Virgo *Virgo Stellar Stream, remains of a dwarf galaxy * Virgo Su ...

. Davidson, Gustav (1967),
A Dictionary of Angels, Including The Fallen Angels
', Entry: Nuriel, Free Press, p. 209, Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 66-19757, He is 300

parasang The parasang is a historical Iranian unit of walking distance, the length of which varied according to terrain and speed of travel. The European equivalent is the league. In modern terms the distance is about 3 or 3½ miles (4.8 or 5.6 km). His ...

s (approx. 5.6 km) tall and has an army of 50

myriad A myriad (from Ancient Greek grc, μυριάς, translit=myrias, label=none) is technically the number 10,000 (ten thousand); in that sense, the term is used in English almost exclusively for literal translations from Greek, Latin or Sinospher ...

s of angels (= 500,000) "all fashioned out of water and fire." The height of Nuriel is exceeded only by the Erelim, by the watchers, by Af and Hemah, and of course by

Metatron Metatron ( ''Meṭāṭrōn'', ''Məṭaṭrōn'', ''Mēṭaṭrōn'', ''Mīṭaṭrōn'', ''Meṭaṭrōn'', ''Mīṭṭaṭrōn'') or Mattatron ( ''Maṭṭaṭrōn'') is an angel in Judaism mentioned three times in the Talmud in a few br ...

, who is the tallest hierarch in heaven. Nuriel is also effective as a charm for warding off evil. His name is found engraved on

oriental The Orient is a term for the East in relation to Europe, traditionally comprising anything belonging to the Eastern world. It is the antonym of '' Occident'', the Western World. In English, it is largely a metonym for, and coterminous with, the ...

and

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

amulets, notably those worn by pregnant women. Outside of Judaism, in the

Syriac Syriac may refer to: *Syriac language, an ancient dialect of Middle Aramaic *Sureth, one of the modern dialects of Syriac spoken in the Nineveh Plains region * Syriac alphabet ** Syriac (Unicode block) ** Syriac Supplement * Neo-Aramaic languages a ...

'' Book of Protection'', Nuriel is characterized as a "spellbinding power" and is grouped with

Michael Michael may refer to: People * Michael (given name), a given name * Michael (surname), including a list of people with the surname Michael Given name "Michael" * Michael (archangel), ''first'' of God's archangels in the Jewish, Christian and ...

Shamsiel Shamsiel (Hebrew and Aramaic: שִׁמְשִׁיאֵל ''Šīmšīʾēl'', "God is my sun" Greek: Σεμσιήλ Semsiḗl), also spelled ''Samsâpêêl'', ''Shamshel'', ''Shashiel'' or ''Shamshiel'', was the 16th Watcher of the 20 leaders of t ...

Seraphiel Seraphiel (Hebrew , meaning "Prince of the High Angelic Order") is the name of an angel in the apocryphal Book of Enoch. Protector of Metatron, Seraphiel holds the highest rank of the Seraphim with the following directly below him, Jehoel. In s ...

, and other great angels.
''The Book of Protection''
Codex C, Section 3: "Binding the Tongue of the Ruler" In

gnostic Gnosticism (from grc, γνωστικός, gnōstikós, , 'having knowledge') is a collection of religious ideas and systems which coalesced in the late 1st century AD among Jewish and early Christian sects. These various groups emphasized p ...

lore, Nuriel is one of seven subordinates to Jehuel, prince of fire.

References

{{Angels in Abrahamic religions Angels in Judaism Individual angels