Raphael (Archangel)
Raphael ( Latin: Rafael , Raphael, Raphaël, Rafahel ; Hebrew : רפאל rafa'el ; “God heals”, “God has healed”) is an archangel or angel mentioned in the Old Testament apocryphal or deuterocanonical texts . He is also revered in esoteric circles .
Old testament
Raphael is in the Book of Tobit ( Old Testament ) the angels , the prayer of Tobias (son of Tobit) listen ( Tob 3.17 EU ) him on his journey from Nineveh to Rages accompanied him Sara in Ecbatana as wife gives ( Tob 6.10–13 EU ) and Tobias' father Tobit heals.
Jewish tradition
The book of Tobit is not part of the Tanakh . Raphael is mentioned several times in other texts of the Jewish tradition as one of the angels, e.g. B. in the Babylonian Talmud , (Tract Yoma 37a), where he healed Abraham . The Hebrew rapha'el or raphach means: " God heals (the soul)." Raphael is known as the angel of healing. Its name shares the root word with the Hebrew word for healing (rophe) .
Christian tradition
idea
There is a conception of angels in the New Testament , but the Archangel Raphael is not mentioned by name. Raphael as Archangel alongside Michael , Gabriel and Uriel was included in the concept of faith by early Christianity according to the late writings of the Old Testament , from which the representation of Raphael in the Catholic tradition can be derived.
iconography
In the iconography of Christian art, Raphael is usually depicted as a pilgrim with a staff and hiking bag as the companion of Tobias, often with a fish. Because Raphael points out to Tobias the healing power of the fish's innards ( Tob 6,8 EU ).
Patronage and Remembrance Day
Raphael is considered in the Christian tradition from the Middle Ages as the patron saint of the sick and pharmacists . Since he accompanied Tobias on his journey, he has been portrayed as the patron saint of travelers, including sailors , emigrants and pilgrims . He is traditionally regarded as a patron of roofers and miners . According to Anselm Grün, Raphael is not only the angel who heals wounds (Sara's obsession, Tobit's blindness), but also enables “healing relationships ”.
The day of remembrance of Raphael was October 24th in the Catholic Church from 1924 to 1969. Today, on September 29th, the “Feast of the Archangels Michael, Gabriel and Rafael” is celebrated.
Raphael is venerated by the Catholic blind as a patron saint because of his role as companion of Tobias.
The chapel in the International Blind Center in Landschlacht TG in Switzerland and the Blind Center in Bozen in South Tyrol are dedicated to the Archangel Raphael. In Austria there is a mess chapel St. Raphael in Gößl .
In addition, in the German-speaking world, companions who are available to blind or visually impaired people are often referred to as "Raphaele".
Individual evidence
- ↑ Nova Vulgate
- ↑ Latin Vulgate (Clementine)
- ↑ Biblia Sacra Vulgata (Stuttgartensia)
- ↑ Luther translation up to 2017: Tob 3.24
- ^ J. Jacobs, L. Blau: Raphael . In: Jewish Encyclopedia . On-line edition JewishEncyclopedia.com 2000 (English).
- ↑ See for example Frank Büttner, Andrea Gottdang: Introduction to Iconography. Ways to interpret image content. CH Beck, Munich, 2nd edition 2009.
- ↑ Raphael in the Ecumenical Lexicon of Saints
- ↑ Web presence of the IBZ Landschlacht
literature
- Michael Mach: Raphael . In: K. van der Toorn, B. Becking, Pieter W. van der Horst (eds.): Dictionary of Deities and Demons in the Bible. Leiden / Boston / Cologne 2 1999, p. 688.
Web links
- Raphael in the Ecumenical Lexicon of Saints
- Tobias Nicklas: Rafael. In: Michaela Bauks, Klaus Koenen, Stefan Alkier (Eds.): The Scientific Biblical Lexicon on the Internet (WiBiLex), Stuttgart 2006 ff.