Angelomorphic Christology, by Charles A. Gieschen Chapter Five - The Principal Named Angels A.

Michael The principal angel that is most widely mentioned in the Jewish and Christian literature of 300 BCE to 200 CE is Michael (), which means Who is like God.9 The theophoric element in his name, is very telling of the significance that this angel enjoyed. He is one of only two named angels in the OT, the other being Gabriel, with whom he is sometimes depicted. Michaels primary role in the literature of this period is guardian, commander, or warrior for the nation of Israel.10 For example, in Daniel he is called: one of the chief princes [Heb: ; Gk: ) (10.13), your [Israels) prince (10.21), and the great prince standing over your people [Israel] (12.1).11 1 Enoch details his role in binding the fallen watchers (10.11-16) and in carrying out the eschatological destruction (54.6). The QL testifies to the fact that he played a significant role in guiding the Dead Sea community and giving them eschatological victory.12 Early Christians understood him in similar roles. The church, rather than Israel, was understood to be the benefactor of his warrior skills and guardianship.13
9 For more detail see: Lueken, Michael; J. P. Rohland, Der Erzengel Michael: Arzt und Feldherr (Leiden: Brill, 1977); D. Watson, Michael, ABD 4.811; M. Mach, Michael, DDD 1065-1072. 10 See Dan 10.13, 21; 12.1; 1 En. 20.5; 90.14; T. Mos. 10.2; 2 Mace 11.6-8; 1QM 13.10; 17.6-8; 1QS 3.20. For Rabbinic evidence, see b. Yoma 77a; Tg. Ket. Ps 137.7; Pesika R. 44.10. Michael is given the title chief commander () in Dan 8.11 (LXX and Theod.); 2 En. 22.6 UJ; 33.10; T. Ab. 1.4; 2.1-6; and 3 Bar. 11.1 (cf. Jos. Asen. 14.8). For further discussion this warrior role, see Lueken, Michael, 13-30. 11 Prince ( )is a title for the leading angels in Daniel (cf. Josh 5.14). In this role Michael fights for Israel against Persia and delivers her in the last days (Dan 10.13-21; 12.1). 12 1QM 13.10; 17.6-8; 1QS 3.20; CD 5.15, 18. Michael and Melchizedek appear to have very similar roles in the QL (cf. 11 QMelch). 13 Rev 12.7-8, cf. Jude 9.

Michael is often blandly discussed in dictionary and commentary entries with little sensitivity to the tradition history of his role as the guardian of Israel. This role was influenced by two important traditions originating from OT texts. First, at some point Michael became identified as the Divine Name Angel of Exod 23.20-21. The pivotal significance of this text has already been discussed at length. The evidence in 1En. 69.15 that Michael 127 possessed the Divine Name has been noted.14 The Divine Name Angel was the guardian or punisher of Israel and was linked ideologically with the manifestation of the Angel of the Lord as Commander of Gods Army to Joshua (Josh 5.13-15).15 With the identification of Michael as this angel it is natural to expect that Michael was interpreted to be the Angel of the Lord in other OT texts that speak of this angel. For example, Tg. Ps-J. Gen 32.25 identifies the man who wrestled with Jacob as Michael (Gen 32.24-30). The primary man of the three men in Genesis 18 who is identified as YHWH is understood to be Michael by some later exegetes, both Jewish (Pirqe R. El. 73) as well as Christian (Acts of Andrew and Matthias 30). Moreover, the appearance of Michael to Abraham in T. Ab. 2.1-3.12 is patterned after the visit of the three men in Genesis 18. This phenomenon supports the important conclusion noted above that the Angel of the Lord traditions were widely interpreted as presenting an individual angel who was distinct from God. Furthermore, because some Jewish groups understood that Michael possesses the Divine Name, they assigned him cosmogenic and even demiurgic functions.16 The second foundational text for this guardian role of Michael is Deut 32.8-9, a text in which some exegetes found the appointing of angels to watch over nations:17 When the Most High gave to the nations their inheritance, when he separated the sons of men, he fixed the bounds of the peoples according to the number of the sons of God.18
14 See discussion on 96-98 above. 15 For evidence of Michaels identification as the Commander Angel of Josh 5.13 -15, see Lueken, Michael, 104, 157-166. Lueken does not note that Aphraates, a third century Christian, identifies this angel and the angel in Exod 23.2021 as Michael in his Tract on Fasting. 16 The Gnostic Satornil taught that the world was made by the god of the Jews, the demiurgic Michael, and his angelic associates; see the discussion by Fossum, Name of God, 216-217. Regarding Michaels demiurgic role in Ophite tradition, see Name of God, 323-326. This demiurgic role of Michael should be understood as founded upon earlier Jewish tradition that Michael was the possessor of the Divine Name which carried the creative power ( cf. 1En. 69.14-26 and 74-76 above). 17 See also: Isa 24.21-22; 1En. 20.5; 89.59-62; Dan 10.13; 10.20-21; Sir 24.12; Jub. 15.31; 2Bar. 3.16; Ascen. Is. 7.9-10. Tg. Ps-J. Deut 32.9 identifies Michael as the angel of the people Israel. For a broader discussion of angels of nations, see I. P. Culianu, The Angels of the Nations and the Origins of Gnostic Dualism, Studies in Gnosticism and Hellenistic Religions: Presented to Gilles Quispel (eds. R. van den Broek and M. J. Vermaseren; Leiden: Brill, 1981) 78-91. 18 Collins notes that the MT reads sons of Israel, but the LXX reading is supported by a 4QDeut fragment which reads ; see Daniel, 374 n. 39.

128 Some Jewish groups did not believe that this assignment of nations to the sons of God applied also to Israel. It appears that there was actually a reaction against the exalted role of guardian over Israel that was assigned to Michael in some texts. Note this nuanced interpretation of Deut. 32.8-9 that is found in Jubilees:
[15.31] And he sanctified them and gathered them from all the sons of man because [there are] many nations and many people, and they all belong to him, but over all of them he caused spirits to rule so that they might lead them astray to follow him. [32] But over Israel he did not cause any angel or spirit to rule because he alone is their ruler and he will protect them and he will seek for them at the hand of his angels and at the hand of his spirits and at the hand of his authorities so that he might guard them and bless them and they might be heirs henceforth and forever.

It is clear that for this author Israel was not the domain of Michael, but of God himself. Ben Sira (ca. second century BCE) also clarifies what is said in Deuteronomy 32: He appointed a ruler over every nation, but Israel is the Lords own portion (Sir 17.17). In addition to functioning as Israels guardian, a second important role associated with Michael is that of intercessory angel.19 Although it appears that each of the archangels was evidently understood to be an intercessor for humans with God (Tob 12.5; 1En. 9.1-3), Michael was probably considered the principal intercessory angel by some because of his exalted status.20 Michael129 traditions are, no doubt, behind these two depictions of intercessory angels in the Testament literature:
[T Levi 5.5] And I [Levi] said to him [the angel], I beg you, Lord, teach me your name, so that I may call on you in the day of tribulation. [6] And he said, I am the angel who makes intercession for the nation Israel, that they might not be beaten. [T Dan. 6.1] And now fear the Lord, my children, be on guard against Satan and his spirits. [2] Draw near to God and to the angel who intercedes for you, because he is the mediator between God and men for the peace of Israel. [3] He shall stand in opposition to the kingdom of the enemy.

Some Rabbinic evidence strongly suggests that this role of Michael as an intercessory angel led to prayers being directed to him instead of directly to God.21
19 For the intercessory angel of Israel tradition, see T. Levi 5.5-6 and T. Dan 6.1-6 (cf. Job 16.19; 33.23-25; Zech 3.1-4). For Michael in this role see: 1 En. 68.1-5; 2En. 33.10; 1QM 13.9-14;Jude 9; Rev 12.7. Michael also functions as an angelus interpres (e.g., for Abraham in the Testament of Abraham). 20 Based upon Michaels leadership of the archangels and the reference in Dan 12.1 to his defense of those whose names are written in the book, he appears to have been understood as the man with the writing case in Ezek 9.1 -11 who supervises the work of the six executioners. Ascen. Is. 9.19-23 records the tradition of a glorious angel who keeps the heavenly books for the children of Israel. Two MSS add that Isaiah asked about the identity of this angel and was told: This is the great angel Michael, ever praying on be half of humanity (see Burchards translation, OTP 2.171, note e2). The glorious man who appears to Aseneth, often understood as Michael, had written Aseneths name in the heavenly book (Jos. Asen. 15.4). Michael is also associated with the angelic mediation of the Law (L.A.E. [Apoc.] Preface; cf. Herm. Sim. VIII.3.3; Jub. 1.27-2.1; Acts 7.38, 53; Gal 3.19); see Lueken, Michael, 18-19, and Fossum, Name of God, 259-260. For Gabriel as a principal intercessory angel, see 131-134 below. 2l E.g., y. Ber. l3a contains a polemic against crying out to Michael and Gabriel, and Abod. Zar. 42b denounces offerings made to Michael. See also: Lueken, Michael, 4-12; Fossum, Name of God, 193; Stuckenbruck, Angel Veneration and Christology, 51-76; and Arnold, Colossian Syncretism, esp. 87.

Several of the characteristics of Michaels mediator roles are visible in the angel who appears in an intriguing text from the document Joseph and Aseneth (ca. first century BCE to second century CE) . Aseneth knows that her repentant prayer has been heard as she sees the movement of one of the stars in heaven:
[14.2] And Aseneth kept on looking, and behold, next to the morning star, the heaven was torn open, and a great and unutterable light appeared. [3] And Aseneth saw, and fell on her face on the ashes. [ 4] And a man came to her from heaven, and stood by her head; and he called to her and said, Aseneth, Aseneth. [5] And she said, Who is he that calls me, because the door of my chamber is closed, and the tower is high, and how then did he come into my chamber? [6] And the man called her a second time and said, Aseneth, Aseneth. [7] And she said, Behold, (here) I (am), Lord. Tell me who you are. [8] And the man said, I am the chief captain of the house of the Lord and the commander of the whole host of the Most High. Rise and stand on your feet, and I will tell you what I have to say. [9] And Aseneth lifted her

head and saw, and behold, (there was) a man like Joseph in every respect, with a robe and a crown and a royal staff, except that his face was like lightning, and his eyes were like the light of the sun, and the hairs of his head like flames of fire from a burning torch, and his hands and feet like iron shining forth from a fire, and sparks shot forth from his hands and feet. [10] And Aseneth saw, and fell on her face at his feet on the ground.

130 Although this angelomorphic being is not named anywhere in this document, his titles (the chief of the house of the Lord and commander of the whole host of the Most High) certainly put this account in the trajectory of Michael traditions.22 His physical description appears to be built upon a combination of traditions, primarily the figure of the enthroned Glory in Ezek. 1.26 (a man [] from heaven, hands and feet like iron shining forth from a fire, and sparks shot forth from his hands and feet), the angel in Dan 10.5-6 (his face was like lightning), and the of Gen 1.3 (a great and unutterable light appeared).23 His regal attire (crown, robe, staff) and identification as a man of light (antropos photos) call to mind a similar description of the Glory in Ezekiel the Tragedian 70-71: Upon it [the great throne] sat a man of noble mien [], be crowned, and with a scepter in one hand. The description of this Man of Light from Heaven leaves the reader with the impression that he is the enthroned visible form of God.
22 When Aseneth tries to ascertain his name, he states that his is the first name in the heavenly book and that none of these names can be pronounced or heard in this world because they are exceedingly great and wonderful and laudable (15.12). Burchard, among others, identifies him as Michael; see OTP 1.225 note p. He is not Joseph or Josephs angel, even though his initial kingly appearance (robe, crown, and staff) is like that of Joser (14.9). 23 See Fossum, Image of the Invisible God, 22-23; see also l56 n.14 below. [156 n. 14 Dokiel, an angel who appears to have a lower status than Abel, is described here as "the sunlike angel" ( T. Ab. 13,1,10). Angelophanies often mention the brightness of the sun (2En. 1.4-5; Jos. Asen. 14.9; I8.9; Apoc. Zeph. 6.11) or lightning (Dan 10.6; Matt 28.3) or chrysolite ( Apoc. Ab. 11.2) or bright/white apparel (Matt 28.3; Mark I6.5; Luke 24.3; Acts 1.10). Note also the brightness of sun in the face of Christ during the transfiguration (Matt 17.2 only) and visions (Rev 1.16; 10.1; Acts 9.3; 22.6; 26.13).]

This deduction is strengthened by Aseneths response when he finishing talking: she prostrates herself before him in an act of worship and even asks for his name so that she may praise and glorify him forever:
[15.11] And when the man had finished speaking these words, Aseneth rejoiced exceedingly with great joy about all these words and fell down at his feet and prostrated herself face down to the ground before him, and said to him, [12] Blessed be the Lord your God the Most High who sent you out to rescue me from the darkness and to bring me up from the foundations of the abyss, and blessed be your name forever. What is your name, Lord; tell me in order that I may praise and glorify your forever (and) ever . And the man said to her, Why do you seek this, my name, Aseneth? My name is in the heavens in the book before all (the others), because I am chief of the house of the Most High. And all names written in the book of the Most High are unspeakable, and man is not allowed to pronounce nor hear them in this world, because those names are exceedingly great and wonderful and laudable.

131 Although her reaction of prostration to the first sight of this man was prompted by fear (14.11), this prostration is one of vereration.24 The request for the angels name (15.12) and the angels consumption of the honeycomb by fire later in the narrative (17.3) are patterned after the Angel of the Lord accounts in Judges (6.20-21; 13.15-20).25 This angel implies that he possesses the Divine Name since the name he has is before all (15.12). Furthermore, the angel departs in nothing less than a chariot of fire (17.8).26 The comments of Aseneth as she witnesses this departure are very telling of the exalted status of this angel:
[17.9] What a foolish and bold woman I am, because I have spoken with frankness and said that a man came into my chamber from heaven; and I did not know that (a) god came to me. 27 And behold, now he is traveling back into heaven to his place. [10] And she said in herself, Be gracious, Lord, to your slave, and spare your maidservant, because I have spoken boldly before you all my words in ignorance. The veneration of this angel is vivid: Aseneth offers a prayer to the god who has just visited her.
24 The prostration does not prompt the angel to speak a prohibition formula against angelic worship (cf. Apoc. Zeph. 6.15; Rev 19.10); see Stuckenbruck, Angel Veneration and Christology, 168-170. Hurtado (One God, 81, 84), followed by Bauckham (Climax of Prophecy, 126), see the refusal of telling the name as an oblique refusal of worship. This is not the case. Refusal to tell the name is evidence of the hidden or secret Divine Name which the angel possesses; see Fossum, Image of the Invisible God, 113-116 (cf. Judg. 13.17-18). 25 Bauckham, Climax of Prophecy, 126-127. 26 This appears to be based upon the Elijah tradition in 2 Kgs. 2.11 ( cf. T. A b. 10.1). It is not a depiction of the Merkabah throne depicted in Ezekiel since the description of it is brief and the man was standing on it as it departed (Jos. Asen. 17.8), rather than seated above it as in Ezek 1.26. 27 Other readings for this verse are God and an angel of the Lord; see translation by Burchard, OTP 2.231 note k. See also Jos. Asen. 22.3, where Aseneth refers to Jacob in a similar manner and where Jacob has the appearance of an angel. On the basis of this scene as well as the link between the angel and Joseph, there appear to be some clear ideological links between this document and the Prayer of Joseph; see 137-142 below.

B. Gabriel The name of the other well-known principal angel, Gabriel [], means Man of God or Power of God or God has shown himself mighty.28 The last six chapters of Daniel are central to discussions of Gabriel and undoubtedly contributed to the growth of traditions about this angel. Although Michael is mentioned in these chapters, it is Gabriel who is prominently visible and active as the angelus interpres for the visions that Daniel receives (7.16-18, 23-27; 8.15-26; 9.2 1-27; 10.4-12,13). Gabriel is not specifically identified as the one with whom Daniel talked in Dan 7.16-27 and 10.5-12,13. Nevertheless, because of his interpretations and appearance in Daniel 8-9 where he is identified by name (8.16; 9.21), it is reasonable to conclude that he is the interpreter of these scenes as well.29
28 M. Noth, Die israelitischen Personennamen im Rahmen der gemeinsemitischen Namengebung (BWANT 3/10; Stuttgart: Kohlhammer, 1928) 190. This name almost certainly is related to the descriptions of the Angel of the Lord in ancient tradition. 29 It is difficult to prove conclusively that the interpreter in Dan 7.16-27 is Gabriel because so little information is given in 7.16. The identification of Gabriel as the man in 10.5-12.13 is more certain because of the appearance of Gabriel in 8.15 (one having the appearance of a man) and 9.21 (the man Gabriel) is linked with the descriptions of the angel in Daniel 10-12: a man clothed in linen (10.5); one in the likeness of the sons of men (10.16); one having the appearance of a man (10.18); the man clothed in linen (12.6, 7). Especially important is the parallel between 8.15 and 10. 18. The references to Michael assisting him in battle also support this conclusion (10.13, 21; cf. the depiction of Gabriel as a warrior in 1 En. 10.9-10 and working in tandem with Michael in 2 En. 21.1-22.16). See Collins, Daniel, 373-374, and Fossum, Name of God, 279 n. 61; for a contrary view, see Rowland, Open Heaven, 98-99.

Because the angel in Daniel 10-12 can be identified as Gabriel, the exalted description given of him at the beginning of this vision deserves special attention:
[10.4] On the twenty-fourth day of the first month, as I was standing on the bank of the great river, that is, the Tigris, [5] I lifted up my eyes and looked, and behold, a man clothed in linen, whose loins were girded with gold of Uphaz. [6] His body was like beryl, his face like the appearance of lightning, his eyes like flaming torches, his arms and legs like the gleam of burnished bronze, and the sound of his words like the noise of a multitude.

This is a very special angelomorphic figure. On account of the indisputable links with the appearance of the Glory in Ezek 1.26-28 and 8.2, Gabriel may appear like the Glory in Ezekiel in order to emphasize his exalted status or he may have been understood to be the Glory of Ezekiel.30 One of the primary descriptions of Gabriel in Daniel 10-12, however, is his linen clothing (10.5; 12.6,7). This is the distinguishing feature of the angelomorphic figure with the writing case in Ezekiel 9-10 who supervises the six destroying angels (9.2,3,11; 10.2,6,7). Perhaps the best way to understand Gabriels splendor in Daniel 10 is to see it as a phenomenon similar to Ezek 8.2. There a very exalted angelomorphic figure, which one would expect to see upon the divine throne, functions as a revealer.31 This understanding of Gabriel being identified as the Glory has led to the possibility of the rather controversial interpretation identifying Gabriel as the one like a son of man of Dan 7.13.32
30 Daniel also appears to draw on the description of the primal man in Ezek 28.13. See Rowland, Open Heaven, 99, and Collins, Daniel, 373374; see also Rowland, A Man Clothed in Linen, who discusses the influence of in Daniel 10 on other texts. 31 One sees a si milar phenomenon with Michael in Jos. Asen. 14.1-17.10 and Yahoel in the Apoc. Ab. 10.1-17.21. 32 Fossum, Name of God, 279 n. 6l.

Gabriels role as a revealer in Daniel is performed in response to Daniels fervent prayer and fasting. Gabriels revelatory activity is related to his role as an intercessory angel because he is one of the archangels. Gabriel is entrusted, however, with a unique activity according to 1 Enoch:
[40.6] And the third voice I heard interceding and praying on behalf of those who dwell upon the earth and supplicating in the Name of the Lord of the Spirits. [40.9] The third, who is set over all exercise of strength, is Gabriel [...].

One may feasibly argue that Gabriel became known as the angelus interpres who responded to prayer with revelation. If he was the angel who gave interpretation to Daniel, he would understandably be looked upon as the spiritual being who had revealed prophecy to other prophets of God. We see Jewish traditions about Gabriel developed in this particular manner in Jewish Christianity, Mandeism, Manicheism, and Islam.33

33 See Fossum, The Apostle Concept in the Quran and Pre-Islamic Near Eastern Literature, Literary Heritage of Classical Islam: Arabic and Islamic Studies in Honor of James A. Bellamy (eels. M. Mir and J. Fossum; Princeton: Darwin, 1993) 149-167.

Perhaps the most exalted of Gabriels roles is his association with creation. Quispel and Fossum have both argued for a connection between the Mandean and Jewish evidence about Gabriels role in creation.34 In the third book of the Mandean Right Ginza the demiurge Ptahil is given hidden names (which held the power to create) and is also identified as Gabriel:
[93.19] He called Ptahil-Uthra, embraced him, and kissed him like a mighty one. He bestowed names on him which are hidden and protected in their place. He gave him the name Gabriel the Apostle; and he called him, gave command, and spoke to him: Arise, go, and descend to the place where there are no shekinas or worlds. Call forth and create a world, establish a world for yourself and make uthras in it [.. .].

Fossum argues that this teaching was probably derived from Jewish tradition about Gabriel as Gods apostle ( )functioning as his associate ( )in creation. He points to the rabbinic polemics against the angels as Gods associate ( )in creation:
[Gen. Rab. 1.3] R. Luliana ben Tabri said in the name of R. Isaac: Whether we accept the view of R. Haniuna or of R. Yohanan, all agree that none [of the angels] were created on the first day, lest you should say: Michael stretched forth in the south of the firmament, and Gabriel in the north, while the Holy One, blessed be He, measured it in the middle. But I am the Lord who makes all things, who stretched forth the heavens alone, who spread abroad the earth ( Is. xliv.24). It is written : Who was associated with Me in the creation of the World? [cf. Gen. Rab. 3.8]

The polemic against Michaels role in creation presupposes the teaching within some Jewish group(s).35 Fossum spells out the significance of this evidence:
[...] it seems justified to conclude that the Mandean concept of the demiurge Gabriel derives from a Jewish teaching about the angel Gabriel being Gods and ,apostle and associate, in creation by virtue of his possession of the Divine Name.36

One final observation about Gabriel is important. With the presence of two principal angels in Daniel, neither of whom appears to dwarf substantially the other in significance, a noteworthy development has taken place: the idea of a single principal angel has become less distinct. What was God and his Angel has become God and his angels (usually two from among the four Angels of the Presence or seven Archangels).
34 Name of God, 259-266. The texts and discussion that follow are based upon the more detailed and substantiated argument of Fossum. 35 See Segal, Two Powers in Heaven, 137. 36 Name of God, 266. Angelomorphic Christology. Antecedents and Early Evidence. By Charles A. Gieschen. Copyright 1998 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Letden, The Netherlands http://pt.scribd.com/