Zadkiel- Hebrew/Jewish AngelAngel"Angel of Mercy"
Also known as: Tzadkiel, Hesediel, and צדקיאל
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Description
The angel who stayed Abraham's hand at the binding of Isaac. As the knife rose over the boy, Zadkiel called from heaven and a ram caught in a thicket took Isaac's place. In Kabbalistic tradition, he presides over Chesed, the sefirah of loving-kindness.
Mythology & Lore
The Binding of Isaac
Genesis 22 tells only of "the angel of the Lord." Later tradition named him: Zadkiel, whose name means "Righteousness of God." Abraham had bound his son Isaac on the altar at Moriah, raised the knife, and prepared to obey God's command to the final stroke. The angel called from heaven: stop. Do not lay your hand on the boy. Abraham looked up and saw a ram caught in a thicket by its horns. He sacrificed the ram instead.
The test was real. Abraham's willingness was proved. But mercy was also real. God did not require the death of the son of promise. The Yalkut Shimoni identifies the intervening angel with Zadkiel, the angel of mercy arriving at the exact moment when obedience and compassion met on the same mountain.
Ruler of Chesed
In Kabbalistic angelology, Zadkiel presides over Chesed, the fourth sefirah on the Tree of Life, representing divine love that overflows all boundaries. Chesed is linked to Jupiter (Tzedek in Hebrew, sharing Zadkiel's root): the planet of expansion and generosity.
The binding of Isaac is remembered annually at Rosh Hashanah, when the shofar, a ram's horn, calls for divine mercy as God judges the world. The horn recalls the ram that replaced Isaac. Behind the sound stands the angel who ensured the boy lived.
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