[FONT="]There remains still one passage ([/FONT][FONT="]#Jude 9[/FONT][FONT="]); comp. ([/FONT][FONT="]#2Pe ii:11[/FONT][FONT="]) in which we are told that "Michael the archangel, when, contending with the Devil, he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee." The allusion seems to be to a Jewish legend attached to ([/FONT][FONT="]#De xxxiv:6[/FONT][FONT="]). The Targum of Jonathan attributes the burial of Moses to the hands of the angels of God, and particularly of the archangel Michael, as the guardian of Israel. Later traditions (see Œcumen. in Jud. cap. i.) set forth how Satan disputed the burial, claiming for himself the dead body because of the blood of the Egyptian ([/FONT][FONT="]#Ex ii:12[/FONT][FONT="]) which was on Moses’ hands. The reply of Michael is evidently taken from ([/FONT][FONT="]#Zec iii:1[/FONT][FONT="]), where, on Satan’s "resisting" Joshua the high-priest, because of the filthy garments of his iniquity, Jehovah, or "the angel of Jehovah" (see vol. i. p. 95 b.), said unto Satan, "Jehovah rebuke thee, O Satan! Is not this a brand plucked from the fire?" The spirit of the answer is the reference to God’s mercy alone for our justification, and the leaving of all vengeance and rebuke to Him; and in this spirit it is quoted by the Apostle. {a} [/FONT]
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[FONT="]The Rabbinical traditions about Michael are very numerous. They oppose him constantly to Sammael, the accuser and enemy of Israel, as disputing for the soul of Moses; as bringing the ram the substitute for Isaac, which Sammael sought to keep back, etc., etc.: they give him the title of the "great high- priest in heaven," as well as that of the "great prince and conqueror;" and finally lay it down that "wherever Michael is said to have appeared, there the glory of the Shechinah is intended." It is clear that the sounder among them, in making such use of the name, intended to personify the Divine Power, and typify the Messiah (see Schoettgen, Hor. Hebr. i. 1079, 1119, ii. 8, 15, ed. Dresd. 1742). But these traditions, as usual, are erected on very slender Scriptural foundation. A. B [/FONT]
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[FONT="]{a}[/FONT][FONT="] From unwillingness to acknowledge a reference to a mere Jewish tradition (in spite of vv. 14, 15), some have supposed St. Jude’s reference to be to ([/FONT][FONT="]#Zec iii:1[/FONT][FONT="]), and explained the "body of Moses" to be the Jewish, as the "body of Christ" is the Christian, Church. The whole explanation is forced; but the analogy on which the last part is based is absolutely unwarrantable; and the very attempt to draw it shows a forgetfulness of the true meaning of that communion with Christ, which is implied by the latter expression. ( Smiths Revised Bible Dictionary)[/FONT]
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[FONT="]ARCHANGEL[/FONT][FONT="] [/FONT]
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[FONT="]This world is only twice used in the Bible, [/FONT][FONT="]#1Th 4:16 Jude 1:9[/FONT][FONT="]. In this last passage it is applied to Michael, who, in [/FONT][FONT="]#Da 10:13,21 12:1[/FONT][FONT="], is described as having a special charge of the Jewish nation, and in [/FONT][FONT="]#Re 12:7-9[/FONT][FONT="] as the leader of an angelic army. So exalted are the position and offices ascribed to Michael, that many think the Messiah is meant. ( American Tract Society Bible Dictionary)[/FONT]
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[FONT="]11) "The archangel" ([/FONT][FONT="]#Jude 1:9[/FONT][FONT="]). Probably also the unnamed archangel of [/FONT][FONT="]#1Th 4:16[/FONT][FONT="] is Michael. In the Old Testament he is mentioned by name only in Daniel. He is "one of the chief princes" ([/FONT][FONT="]#Da 10:13[/FONT][FONT="]), the "prince" of Israel ([/FONT][FONT="]#Da 10:21[/FONT][FONT="]), "the great prince" ([/FONT][FONT="]#Da 12:1[/FONT][FONT="]); perhaps also "the prince of the host" ([/FONT][FONT="]#Da 8:11[/FONT][FONT="]). In all these passages Michael appears as the heavenly patron and champion of Israel; as the watchful guardian of the people of God against all foes earthly or devilish. In the uncanonical apocalyptic writings, however, Jewish angelology is further developed. In them Michael frequently appears and excretes functions similar to those which are ascribed to him in Daniel. He is the first of the "four presences that stand before God"—Michael, Gabriel, Raphael and Uriel or Phanuel (En 9:1; 40:9). In other apocryphal books and even elsewhere in En, the number of archangels is given as 7 (En 20:1-7; Tobit 12:15; compare also [/FONT][FONT="]#Re 8:2[/FONT][FONT="]). Among the many characterizations of Michael the following may be noted: He is "the merciful and long-suffering" (En 40:9; 68:2,3), "the mediator and intercessor" (Ascension of Isaiah, Latin version 9:23; Testament of the Twelve Patriarchs, Levi 5; Da 6). It is he who opposed the Devil in a dispute concerning Moses’ body ([/FONT][FONT="]#Jude 1:9[/FONT][FONT="]). This passage, according to most modern authorities, is derived from the apocryphal Assumption of Moses (see Charles’ edition, 105-10). It is Michael also who leads the angelic armies in the war in heaven against "the old serpent, he that is called the Devil and Satan" ([/FONT][FONT="]#Re 12:7 [/FONT][FONT="]). According to Charles, the supplanting of the "child" by the archangel is an indication of the Jewish origin of this part of the book. [/FONT]
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[FONT="] The earlier Protestant scholars usually identified Michael with the preincarnate Christ, finding support for their view, not only in the juxtaposition of the "child" and the archangel in [/FONT][FONT="]#Re 12[/FONT][FONT="], but also in the attributes ascribed to him in Daniel (for a full discussion see Hengstenberg, Offenbarung, I, 611-22, and an interesting survey in English by Dr. Douglas in Fairbairn’s BD). [/FONT]
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[FONT="]John A. Lees (International Standard Bible Encyclopedia)[/FONT]