The Name

Jaoel’s name (sometimes also spelled Jao-el, Iaoel, Joel, Jael, or Yahoel) is a combination of names for God. For example, the Hebrew name behind the Slavonic text of Apocalypse of Abraham (which likely dates to the late first century bc) can be seen to be a combination of the names “Yahweh” (יהוה, yhwh; = “Jao”) and “God” (אֵל, el; = “el”) (Kulik, Retroverting, 55). This explains both how the angel can bear God’s name (Apoc. Ab. 10:3, 8) and how the same name can also be applied to God himself (Apoc. Ab. 17:13).

Two different versions of the pseudepigraphical Life of Adam and Eve further attest to this interchange. In the Greek version (called The Apocalypse of Moses), angels address God with the name “Jael” (Apoc. Mos. 29:4; 33:5). In the corresponding passages in the Life of Adam and Eve, an angel named “Joel” addresses God (L.A.E. 25–27.8; 40–41.6; Anderson and Stone, Synopsis).