Michael

**Michael** ("who is like God?", Hebrew: מִיכָאֵל‎ (pronounced [mixaˈʔel]), *Micha'el* or *Mîkhā'ēl*; Greek: Μιχαήλ, *Mikhaḗl*; Latin: *Michael* (in the Vulgate *Michahel*); Arabic: ميخائيل‎, *Mīkhā'īl*) is an archangel in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Roman Catholics, the Eastern Orthodox, Anglicans, and Lutherans refer to him as "Saint Michael the Archangel" and also as "Saint Michael". Orthodox Christians refer to him as the "Taxiarch Archangel Michael" or simply "Archangel Michael".

Michael is mentioned three times in the Book of Daniel, once as a "great prince who stands up for the children of your people". The idea that Michael was the advocate of the Jews became so prevalent that in spite of the rabbinical prohibition against appealing to angels as intermediaries between God and his people, Michael came to occupy a certain place in the Jewish liturgy.

In the New Testament Michael leads God's armies against Satan's forces in the Book of Revelation, where during the war in heaven he defeats Satan. In the Epistle of Jude Michael is specifically referred to as "the archangel Michael". Christian sanctuaries to Michael appeared in the 4th century, when he was first seen as a healing angel, and then over time as a protector and the leader of the army of God against the forces of evil. By the 6th century, devotions to Archangel Michael were widespread both in the Eastern and Western Churches. Over time, teachings on Michael began to vary among Christian denominations.

## Michael in the Hebrew Bible

In the Hebrew Scriptures, and the Old Testament, the prophet Daniel experiences a vision after having undergone a period of fasting. In the vision in Daniel 10:13-21 an angel identifies Michael as the protector of Israel. Daniel refers to Michael as a "prince of the first rank". Later in the vision in Daniel 12:1 Daniel is informed about the role of Michael during the "Time of the End" when there will be "distress such as has not happened from the beginning of nations" and that:

In view of this, Michael is seen as playing an important role as the protector of Israel, and later of the Christian Church.Although the three occurrences of Michael in the Book of Daniel 10:13, 10:21 and 12:1 all refer to the same individual, who acts in similar ways in all three cases, the last one is set at the "end times", while the first two refer to a contemporary time in Persia. These are the only three references to Michael in the Hebrew Bible.

## Michael in The New Testament

The Book of Revelation (12:7-9) describes a war in heaven in which Michael, being stronger, defeats Satan:

After the conflict, Satan is thrown to earth along with the fallen angels, where he ("that ancient serpent called the devil") still tries to "lead the whole world astray".
Separately, in the Epistle of Jude 1:9, Michael is specifically referred to as an "archangel" when he again confronts Satan:

A reference to an "archangel" also appears in the First Epistle to the Thessalonians 4:16:

This version is from the American Standard Version of 1901, a version that uses the definite article, "*the* archangel", absent in the original Greek and in English translations (such as the English Standard Version of 2001, which has:This archangel who heralds the second coming of Christ is not named, but is probably Michael.

## Michael in the Quran

Michael (Arabic: ميخائيل, *Mikhail* ميكائيل, *Mikael* ), is one of the two archangels mentioned in the Quran, alongside Jibreel (Gabriel). In the Quran, Michael is mentioned once only, in Sura 2:98: "Whoever is an enemy to God, and His angels and His messengers, and
Jibreel and Mikhail! Then, God (Himself) is an enemy to the disbelievers."] Some Muslims believe that the reference in Sura 11:69 is Michael, one of the three angels who visited Abraham.