Dubbiel (also spelled Dubiel) appears in rabbinic and hekhalot traditions as the patron prince or ministering angel of Persia. In the Babylonian Talmud (Yoma 77a), Dubiel temporarily replaces Gabriel behind the heavenly curtain for twenty-one days, an episode connected exegetically with Daniel 10:13. During this tenure, Dubiel petitions for decrees imposing taxes upon the people and the sages. When Gabriel intervenes and is readmitted before God, Dubiel swallows the written decree, an episode the passage uses to explain why some people in Persia pay taxes and others do not.
In the Hebrew Book of Enoch (3 Enoch XXVI.12, edited by Hugo Odeberg), Dubbiel features in a distinct heavenly scene. There, Dubbiel sits alongside Satan and Sammael (the prince of Rome) to record the iniquities of Israel upon writing tablets intended for the divine court. According to the text, the seraphim burn these tablets daily because God does not desire Israel’s destruction. The two accounts place the Persian angel in different heavenly disputes: a temporary appointment in Yoma and the recording of accusations in 3 Enoch.
Explore related entries
Read about Gabriel, Samael, or consult the list of angels.