Editing Gabriel (section)

===Intertestamental literature===
Gabriel is not called an archangel in the [[canonical Bible]]. However, the [[intertestamental period]] (roughly 200 BC – 50 AD) produced a wealth of [[Non-canonical books referenced in the Bible|literature]], much of it having an [[apocalypse|apocalyptic]] orientation. The names and ranks of angels and devils were greatly expanded in this literature, and each had particular duties and status before God. This was the period when Gabriel was first referred to as an archangel.

In [[Book of Enoch|1 Enoch 9]]:1–3, Gabriel, along with Michael, [[Uriel (angel)|Uriel]], and [[Suriel]], "saw much blood being shed upon the earth" (9:1) and heard the souls of men cry, "Bring our cause before the Most High" ([[s:Book of Enoch/Chapter 09|9:3]]). In 1 Enoch 10:1, the reply came from "the Most High, the Holy and Great One" who sent forth agents, including Gabriel—

{{Blockquote|text=And the Lord said to Gabriel: "Proceed against the bastards and the reprobates, and against the children of fornication: and destroy [the children of fornication and] the children of the Watchers from amongst men [and cause them to go forth]: send them one against the other that they may destroy each other in battle: for length of days shall they not have."|author=|title=[https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Book%20of%20Enoch/Chapter%2010 1 Enoch 10:9]|source=}}

Gabriel is the fifth of the five angels who keep watch: "Gabriel, one of the holy angels, who is over Paradise and the serpents and the Cherubim". ([[s:Book of Enoch/Chapter 20|1 Enoch 20:7]])
When Enoch asked who the four figures were that he had seen:

{{Blockquote|text=And he said to me: 'This first is Michael, the merciful and long-suffering: and the second, who is set over all the diseases and all the wounds of the children of men, is Raphael: and the third, who is set over all the powers, is Gabriel: and the fourth, who is set over the repentance unto hope of those who inherit eternal life, is named Phanuel.' And these are the four angels of the Lord of Spirits and the four voices I heard in those days.|author=|title=[https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Book%20of%20Enoch/Chapter%2040 Enoch 40:9]|source=}}