Tyndale Open Bible Dictionary

Intro ← Index → ©

MICHAEL

Name meaning “Who is like God?” used of 10 men in Scripture and also of one who is described as an archangel.

1. Father of one of the spies sent by Moses into Canaan (Nm 13:13).

2–3. Gadites named in the lists of those who settled in the land of Bashan (1 Chr 5:13-14).

4. Forefather of Asaph, a temple singer in the days of David (1 Chr 6:40).

5. Chief man of Issachar in the temple lists (1 Chr 7:3).

6. Benjamite named in the temple lists (1 Chr 8:16).

7. Man of Manasseh who joined David in Ziklag when he was fleeing from Saul (1 Chr 12:20).

8. Father of Omri, a top political officer in the days of David (1 Chr 27:18).

9. Son of King Jehoshaphat of Judah (2 Chr 21:2).

10. Father of Zebadiah, a returnee with Ezra to Jerusalem (Ezr 8:8).

11. Angel in the OT, intertestamental literature, and the NT. In Daniel 10:13 it is said that “the spirit prince of the kingdom of Persia” sought to oppose the purpose of God, but Michael, “one of the archangels,” contended against this evil spirit at the Lord’s side (Dn 10:21). His conflict on behalf of Israel is referred to further in Daniel 12:1.

In the book of Enoch, Michael is one of four (Enoch 9:1; 40:9) or of seven (20:1-7) special angels or “archangels.” In Enoch, in the War Scroll (of the Dead Sea Scrolls), and in other intertestamental literature, Michael regularly is presented either as the champion of the cause of the righteous or as the patron angel of Israel.

The book of Jude, apparently alluding to the Assumption of Moses, speaks of the archangel Michael as having contended with the devil in a dispute about the body of Moses (Jude 1:9; cf. 2 Pt 2:10-11; see also the reference to “the archangel” in 1 Thes 4:16). The only other reference to Michael in the NT is Revelation 12:7-8, where it is said, “Then there was war in heaven. Michael and the angels under his command fought the dragon and his angels. And the dragon lost the battle and was forced out of heaven” (NLT).