The name Phanuel appears within the noncanonical Book of Enoch, and in connection with the archangels Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael. Thus many consider Phanuel to be the fourth great archangel, as well as the ruler of the Ophanim class of angels. The name Phanuel itself translated from ancient Hebrew means the face of God, or God's face. The archangel Phanuel is also claimed to be one of the four voices that Enoch heard offering praise toward God. In these passage it states that Enoch heard voices praising God, with the first coming from the archangel Michael, the long suffering and merciful. The second voice of praise came from the archangel Raphael who has been sent to watch over the well being of all men, and keep them free from disease. The third voice came from Gabriel, who controls all powers, and the fourth voice came from Phanuel, who presides over the repentance of all those who hope to inherit the eternal kingdom of the Lord.
Contained in First Enoch, it states that the archangel Phanuel is a part of the Four Angels of Presence. It also goes on to claim that Phanuel is the archangel of exorcisms, and that he possesses the power to expel Satan and his demons from any earthly place. Outside of the Book of Enoch, Phanuel also appears in the Shepherd of Hermas, where he is called the Archangel of Penance. As far as canonical Christian scripture is concerned, Phanuel is not mentioned by name, and thus many Christian denominations do not consider him to be an official archangel. Occasionally you will find examples within the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Christian faiths where Phanuel will be confused with the archangel Uriel, however this is always done in error, as they are two totally separate angels. Outside of Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Christianity and into the Protestant and nondenominational faiths, you will rarely ever hear any mention of the mighty Phanuel.
Within the Abrahamic inspired occult and New Age realm, there seems to be a very wide range of attributes associated with the archangel Phanuel. For example some occult groups consider Phanuel to be the archangel who will allow a person to move past guilt or regret. Angel occult groups claim that if you are having trouble moving past something that has haunted you, that you should and pray to Phanuel, and he will show you the way towards inner peace. Some also claim that Phanuel is in charge of dishing out remorse and sorrow to those who sin against God, or commit wrong doings against people. From what I can tell, these occult claims are loosely based on the scripture within the Book of Enoch, however many liberties have been taken which associate Phanuel with pagan God like qualities. Obviously you will not find these embellishments of Phanuel within the noncanonical Book of Enoch, as he is not described in particularly great detail.
I have tried to find older artwork featuring Phanuel, however it is extremely difficult to find so much as a single oil painting or mosaic. I did however come across a number of medieval paintings of the archangel Uriel, which in error called him Phanuel, a frequently occurring mistake that I alluded to above. I did come across two contemporary oil paintings named Phanuel, which clearly featured an archangel as the central figure, however I am uncertain as to whether or not these are truly him. I would like to put out a request to those of you reading this. I have seen numerous works of art representing almost all of the archangels, even the more obscure ones, however I have yet to confirm a single painting of the archangel Phanuel. If you know of any that exist, particularly from earlier centuries, then please contact me so that I can view it. That concludes this article, Phanuel is a tough nut to crack, but I hope that you learned something.
