Uriel

God is my light. (1.) A Levite of the family of Kohath (1 Chr. 6:24).

(2.) The chief of the Kohathites at the time when the ark was brought up to Jerusalem (1 Chr. 15:5, 11).

(3.) The father of Michaiah, one of Rehoboam’s wives, and mother of Abijah (2 Chr. 13:2).

1. A Kohathite Levite, son of Tahath. (1 Chronicles 6:24)

2. Chief of the Kohathites in the reign of David. (1 Chronicles 15:5,11) (B.C. 1043.)

3. Uriel of Gibeah was the father of Maachah or Michaiah the favorite wife of Rehoboam and mother of Abijah. (2 Chronicles 13:2) (B.C. before 973.) In (2 Chronicles 11:20) she is called "Maachah the daughter of Absalom." Probably her mother, Tamer, was the daughter of Absalom.

(the fire of God), an angel named only in 2 Esdr. 4:1,36; 5:20; 10:28.

Uriel (1)

u'-ri-el ('uri'-el, "flame of El (God)," or "El is my light"):

(1) A Kohathite, said in 1Ch 15:5 to be the chief of the sons of Kohath (1Ch 6:24 (Hebrew verse 9); 15:5,11). He corresponds to Zephaniah in the pedigree of Heman in 1Ch 6:33-38 (Hebrew 18-23). See Curtis, Chronicles, 130 f.

(2) A man of Gibeah, and father of Micaiah the mother of King Abijah of Judah (2Ch 13:2).

(3) The archangel (En 20:2, etc.). See next article.

Uriel (2)

(Ouriel, "fire or flame of God"' or "my light is God"): Called only in 2 Esdras an "angel," except 2 Esdras 4:36 where the Revised Version (British and American) and the King James Version rightly give "Jeremiel the archangel" for the King James Version "Uriel the archangel," but elsewhere known as one of the four chief archangels. He was the angel who instructed Ezra (2 Esdras 4:1; 5:20; 10:28). In Enoch 20:2 Uriel is the angel who is "over the world and Tartarus" (ho epi tou kosmou kai tou tartarou), and as such is the conductor to Enoch in the world below, the secrets of which he explains. Compare also (Greek) 19:1; 21:5. In the (Latin) "Life of Adam and Eve," 48 (ed. W. Meyer in Abhand. d. Bayer. Akad. der Wiss., XIV, 1878, 250), Uriel (Oriel) accompanied Michael when at God's bidding he wrapped the bodies of Adam and Abel in three linen sheets and buried them in Paradise. In the lost "Prayer of Joseph" Uriel is the angel who wrestles and converses with Jacob and knows the secrets of heaven (as in Enoch those of Tartarus), but stands only 8th in rank, whereas in (Greek) Enoch 20:2 ff he is the 1st of the six (or seven) archangels. In Sib Or 2:229 he is entrusted with the judgment of the Titans. Compare Milton, Paradise Lost, III, 690, "regent of the sun, and held the sharpest sighted Spirit of all in heaven."

(2) "Urier" the King James Version = the Revised Version (British and American) and the King James Version margin "Jeremiel."

S. Angus