Four appearances of Gabriel are recorded:

• In Dan., viii, He explains the vision of the horned ram as portending the destruction of the Persian Empire by the Macedonian Alexander the Great, after whose death the kingdom will be divided up among his generals, from one of whom will spring Antiochus Epiphanes.
• In chapter ix, after Daniel had prayed for Israel, "The man Gabriel . . . flying swiftly touched me" and he communicated to him the mysterious prophecy of the "seventy weeks" of years which should elapse before the coming of Christ. In chapter x, it is not clear whether the angel is Gabriel or not, but at any rate we may apply to him the marvelous description in verses 5 and 6.
• In N.T. he foretells to Zachary the birth of the Precursor.
• To Mary the birth of Jesus.

In Christian tradition Gabriel is ever the angel of mercy while Michael is the angel of judgment. Gabriel is the angel of the Power of God.