Gabriel (Heb., the mighty one of God), the angel sent to Daniel to interpret the vision of the ram and the he goat (Dan. viii.), and to communicate the prophecy of the 70 weeks (ix. 21-27); employed also to announce to Zacharias the birth of John the Baptist (Luke i. 11), and that of the Messiah to the Virgin Mary (i. 26). Though there is nothing in the Scriptures concerning his rank, he is accounted both by Jewish and Christian writers one of the archangels. According to rabbinical legends, he is the prince of fire, and presides over the ripening of fruit; he alone of the angels understood Chaldee and Syriac, and taught Joseph the 70 languages spoken at Babel; and he with Michael set fire to the temple at Jerusalem and destroyed the host of Sennacherib. Mohammedan writers esteem him one of the four most highly favored angels; he is styled the spirit of truth, and to him a copy of the Koran was committed, which he dictated in successive portions to Mohammed.