Ariel is not called an angel
It’s understandable to ask, since Ariel appears in later stories, art, and religious traditions. But in the Bible itself, no passage calls Ariel an angel, archangel, messenger from heaven, or other heavenly being.
The best-known use is in Isaiah 29, where Ariel is a poetic name for Jerusalem, the city where David lived. Isaiah announces trouble and siege for the city. In that passage, Ariel refers to a city and its people, not to an individual spiritual being (Isaiah 29:1-4).
Woe to Ariel, to Ariel, the city where David dwelt! add ye year to year; let them kill sacrifices.
What does the name mean?
Ariel is a Hebrew name commonly understood as meaning “lion of God”. The Hebrew word el means God, and the first part is associated with lion. Yet the name may also be connected with the altar in some Old Testament settings. The precise nuance can be difficult to settle, but the Bible never uses the name to introduce an angel.
Isaiah’s word for Jerusalem is pointed. The city kept up religious practices, but God says its people honoured him with their lips while their hearts were far from him (Isaiah 29:13). That message concerns real worship and trust in God, not the identity of an angel named Ariel.
Other places Ariel appears
Ariel is also the name of a man in Ezra’s account of the return from exile. Ezra sends for leaders, including Ariel, while gathering Levites and servants for the journey from Babylon towards Jerusalem (Ezra 8:16). He is clearly presented as a human person.
In Ezekiel’s temple vision, a Hebrew term related to Ariel is used for part of the altar. The prophet describes its measurements and structure (Ezekiel 43:15-16). This is another reminder to read a name in its setting. A word can be used for a person, a city, or an object without referring to the same thing each time.
Angels Scripture does name
Gabriel is named when he explains Daniel’s vision, and later when he brings God’s messages to Zacharias and Mary (Daniel 8:16; Luke 1:19; Luke 1:26-27). Michael is named in Daniel and is called an archangel in Jude (Daniel 10:13; Jude 1:9).
The Bible does not give a full list of angels, and it’s fine to be curious. Still, Scripture directs our attention to God rather than to angel names. When John falls before an angel in Revelation, the angel refuses worship and points him back to God (Revelation 19:10). So claims about Ariel as an angel belong to later tradition, not to what the Bible plainly says.
And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, See thou do it not: I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.