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No Title |
Michael |
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First Appearance |
Abrahamic Theology |
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Created by |
Abrahamic Theology |
Origin[]
Michael, also called Saint Michael the Archangel, Archangel Michael and Saint Michael the Taxiarch is an archangel in Judaism, Christianity, Islam, and the Baha'i faith. The earliest surviving mentions of his name are in third- and second-century-BC Jewish works, often but not always apocalyptic, where he is the chief of the angels and archangels, and he is the guardian prince of Israel and is responsible for the care of Israel. Christianity conserved nearly all the Jewish traditions concerning him, and he is mentioned explicitly in Revelation 12:7–12, where he does battle with Satan, and in the Epistle of Jude, where the author denounces heretics by contrasting them with Michael.
The Book of Enoch lists him as one of seven archangels (the remaining names are Uriel, Raguel, Raphael, Sariel, Gabriel, and Remiel), who, in the Book of Tobit, "stand ready and enter before the glory of the Lord". The fact that Michael is introduced implies the knowledge of him and the other named angels. He is mentioned again in last chapters of the Book of Daniel, a Jewish apocalypse composed in the second century BC although set in the sixth, in which a man clothed in linen (never identified, but probably the archangel Gabriel) tells Daniel that he and "Michael, your prince" are engaged in a battle with the "prince of Persia", after which, at the end-time, "Michael, the great prince who protects your people, will arise".
Public Domain Literary Appearances[]
All Published appearances of Michael the Archangel from before January 1, 1929 are public domain in the US.
Some notable appearances are listed below:
- The Bible
- The Book of Enoch
- The Quran
- Paradise Lost
- The Golden Legend