When Moses saw that
no creature could save him from the path of death . . . He took a scroll and
wrote down it the Ineffable Name, nor had the Book of Song been completely
written down when the moment of Moses’ death arrived. At that hour God said to
Gabriel: “Gabriel, go forth and bring Moses’ soul.” He, however, replied: “Master
of the Universe, how can I witness the death of him who is equal to sixty
myriads, and how can I witness the death of him who is equal to sixty myriads
and how can I behave harshly to one who possesses such qualities?” Then [God]
said to Michael: “Go forth and bring Moses’ soul.” He, however, replied: “Master
of the Universe, I was his teacher, and he my pupil, and I cannot therefore
witness his death.” [God] then said to Sammael the wicked: “Go forth and bring Moses’
soul.” Immediately, he clothed himself with anger and girded on his sword and
wrapped himself with ruthlessness and went forth to meet Moses. When Sammael
saw Moses witting and writing down the Ineffable Name, and how the radiance of
his appearance was like unto the sun and he was like unto an angel of the Lord
of hosts, he became afraid of Moses. (Andrei Orlov, The Glory of the
Invisible God: Two Powers in Heaven Traditions and Early Christology [Jewish
and Christian Texts in Context and Related Studies 31; London: T&T Clark,
2019], 99)
