How Many Archangels Are in the Bible? Michael, Gabriel, Raphael and Uriel

In the 66 books of the Protestant Bible, only one angel is called "the archangel" by name: Michael. The familiar list of four, Michael, Gabriel, Raphael and Uriel, comes from combining Scripture with other books and church tradition. Gabriel is named in Daniel and Luke; Raphael appears in the book of Tobit, which Catholic and Orthodox Bibles include; and Uriel appears in 2 Esdras and other ancient Jewish writings.

Here is where each name comes from, so you can tell Scripture, tradition and later imagination apart.

What "Archangel" Means

The Greek word archangelos means a chief or ruling angel. It appears only twice in the New Testament. Once it refers to Michael by name (Jude 9), and once it is used without a name:

For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:

1 Thessalonians 4:16 (KJV)

The Bible gives no ranking of archangels and no complete list. What it does give is a handful of names, each tied to a specific task.

Michael: The Only One Called "Archangel" in Scripture

Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee.

Jude 1:9 (KJV)

Daniel calls Michael "one of the chief princes" (Daniel 10:13) and the prince who stands for God's people (Daniel 12:1), and Revelation 12:7 shows him leading angels against the dragon. He is the one name every Christian tradition agrees on. For more, see Michael the archangel: what the Bible says about his role.

Gabriel: The Messenger Who Stands Before God

Gabriel is named four times in the Bible, always as a messenger. In Daniel he explains visions (Daniel 8:16; 9:21). In Luke he announces the births of John the Baptist and of Jesus:

And the angel answering said unto him, I am Gabriel, that stand in the presence of God; and am sent to speak unto thee, and to shew thee these glad tidings.

Luke 1:19 (KJV)

And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary.

Luke 1:26–27 (KJV)

The Bible never uses the word "archangel" for Gabriel, but standing "in the presence of God" and carrying the announcement of the Messiah mark him as one of the highest angels. Nearly every Christian tradition calls him an archangel.

Raphael: From the Book of Tobit

Raphael does not appear in Protestant Bibles. He is a main character in the book of Tobit, a Jewish story from a few centuries before Christ, in which he travels in disguise with Tobit's son, heals Tobit's blindness and drives away a demon. Near the end he reveals himself as one of seven holy angels who present the prayers of the saints before God (Tobit 12:15).

Tobit is part of the Catholic and Orthodox Old Testament. Protestant churches place it among the Apocrypha, books valued for reading but not used to establish doctrine. Whether Raphael is "in the Bible" therefore depends on which Bible you hold.

Uriel: From 2 Esdras and 1 Enoch

Uriel appears in 2 Esdras, where he is the angel sent to answer Ezra's questions, and in 1 Enoch, an ancient Jewish book that lists seven chief angels. Neither book is in the Protestant or Catholic canon. 1 Enoch is part of the Bible of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, and Eastern Orthodox and some Anglican traditions honor Uriel by name.

So Uriel belongs to tradition rather than to the Bible most readers use.

Why the Lists Differ

Tradition	Archangels usually named
Protestant	Michael (Gabriel commonly called an archangel too)
Catholic	Michael, Gabriel, Raphael (feast on September 29)
Eastern Orthodox	Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, Uriel and others, often seven
Ethiopian Orthodox	Seven, drawing on 1 Enoch

The number seven echoes Revelation 8:2, "the seven angels which stood before God," and Raphael's words in Tobit. But Scripture does not name all seven, and lists of their names come from outside the Bible.

What Angels Are For

Whatever the list, the Bible is clear about what angels are and are not.

Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?

Hebrews 1:14 (KJV)

Angels serve God and his people. They are never the center of the story. When John fell down before an angel in Revelation, the angel stopped him:

And I John saw these things, and heard them. And when I had heard and seen, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel which shewed me these things. Then saith he unto me, See thou do it not: for I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren the prophets, and of them which keep the sayings of this book: worship God.

Revelation 22:8–9 (KJV)

Paul also warns against "worshipping of angels" (Colossians 2:18). Christians differ on whether to ask angels to pray for them, as Catholic and Orthodox believers do, but all agree that worship belongs to God alone.

A Simple Way to Sort the Names

When you meet a list of archangels, ask three questions:

1. Where is the name written? In Daniel, Luke or Jude, or in Tobit, 2 Esdras or 1 Enoch?
2. Does the passage use the title "archangel"? Only Jude 9 does, for Michael.
3. Which church reads that book as Scripture? That explains most of the differences.

Asked this way, the answer is clear: one archangel is named in every Bible, a second is honored as one by nearly everyone, and the rest come from older writings that some Christian traditions treasure.