URIEL: An archangel, mentioned only in apocryphal and pseudepigraphical literature, chiefly in II Esdras and Enoch. He rules over the (angelic) host and over Tartarus (Enoch xx. 2), and accordingly is the divine guide for Enoch through the under-world. In this capacity Uriel tells Enoch where the fallen angels will have their abodes in hell, both for a period of 10,000 years and then for all eternity (xviii. 11-xix. 3), where the wicked of mankind will dwell in hell, and where the righteous will have their homes in heaven (xxvii. 2-4), besides revealing to him various other divine mysteries (sxxiii. 3-4). As an angel of the under-world, he, together with Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael, will bring from Tartarus the souls of the dead for judgment at the Last Day, Uriel's division comprising especially the Titans, the giants who perished in the flood, and those who have died by drowning, who have been burned to death, or who have been devoured by birds, beasts, and creeping things (Sibylline Oracles, ii. 215 sqq.). According to the Life of Adam and Eve, xlviii., Uriel and Michael are commanded by the Lord to wrap the bodies of Adam and Abel in linen and to bury them in Paradise, this forming the model for burial to be followed by Seth and his mother. It is likewise probably as an angel of the under-world that he is sent to warn Noah of the impending deluge (Enoch x. 1-3).

Uriel also appears as an angel giving warning of the future in II Esdras, where he tells the signs of the times to come, although with much reluctance, since man's understanding is unable to comprehend the judgments of God, nor can Eadras himself perform such relatively simple tasks as " weigh me the weight of the fire, or measure me the blast of the wind, or call me again the day that is past " (II Esdras iv.-v.). Nevertheless, by divine command Uriel again appears to Eadras later and explains to him the meaning of a vision (II Eadras x. 28 sqq.). According to fragments of the lost Prayer of Joseph, Uriel was the angel who wrestled with Jacob, Uriel declaring that he had descended to earth and taken up his abode among men, who called him Jacob, and Jacob's reply being that he himself was " Israel, the archangel," below whom Uriel was eighth in rank (J. A. Fabrieius, Codex psevdePigraphus Veleris Testamenti, 2d ed., i. 766, Hamburg, 1'722); and the same book is said to have represented Jacob as conversing both with Uriel and with Raphael (ib. g. 768).

The name Uriel denotes "Fire of God" (cf. also the Hebr. proper names Uri, Uriah, Urijah, and Palmyrene Nurbel, " Fire of Bel " or " Bel is Fire "), and from this fact his connection with Gehenna, and consequently his aspect as an angel of the underworld, becomes obvious. In later Jewish mysticism he was believed to be the source of the heat of the day in winter and to be the angel of Sunday. His name is found in Greek magic papyri, and it was taught by a French rabbi of the thirteenth century that if Uriel's name is repeated ten times in one breath in the morning, the day will be lucky (cf. further, L. Blau, in JE, xii. 383).

The name of Uriel was also borne by a Kohathite chieftain (I Chron. vi. 24, xv. 5, 11) and by a man from Gibeah who was the grandfather of Abijah (II Chron. xiii. 2).