Verse 9 A: Michael, the archangel.
In Dan 10:13, Michael is called אַחַד הַשָּׂרִים הָרִאשֹׁנִים “one of the first (angel) princes”; Dan
12:1 חַשַּׂר
הַגָּדוֹל
“the great prince”; therefore, in rabbinic literature שַׂר הַגָּדוֹל perhaps = ἀρχάγγελος. — See b. Ḥag. 12B and b. Menaḥ. 110A at
§ Heb 8:2. — See more about the angel Michael at § Rev 12:7.
Verse 9 B: When he talked with the devil about the body of Moses, he
did not dare to pass a cursing judgment, but rather said, “The Lord rebuke
you!”
1. On the background of this saying from the Assumption of Moses, see
Schürer, Geschichte des jüdischen Volkes
(3:294, 298, 303). There is nothing that corresponds to this in ancient
rabbinic literature. However, once we find a narrative about a dialogue between
Michael and Satan about Moses’ soul shortly before his death. Here, though,
Michael has no qualms about passing a cursing judgment on the devil, but rather
calls him in short wicked רָשָׁע.
Deuteronomy Rabbah 11 (207C): The angel Sammael (= Satan), the wicked,
the head of all satans, had calculated every hour up until the death of Moses
and said, “When will the appointed time or moment come when Moses will die, so
that I may go down and take his soul from him?” Concerning him David said, “The
wicked waylays the righteous and seeks to kill him” (Ps 37:32). Among all the
satans, there is none as wicked as Sammael and among all the prophets there is
none as righteous as Moses; as it says, “No longer did any prophet arise in
Israel like Moses, whom Yahweh knew face to face” (Deut 34:10). What can this
be compared with? Like a person who was invited to a wedding. We waited and
said, “When will the joyful feast come so that I may rejoice in it?!” So too
Sammael the wicked waited for Moses’ soul and said, “When will Michael (as the
patron of Israel) weep and my mouth be full of laughing?,” until Michael said
to him, “What, you wicked רשע!
I weep and you laugh? ‘Do not rejoice, my enemy, because of me. If I have
fallen, I will rise up again; and if I sit in darkness, Yahweh is my light’
(Mic 7:8).” “If I have fallen” as a result of Moses’ demise, “I will rise up
again” as a result of Joshua’s leadership when he brings down the 31 kings (of
Canaan). “If I sit in darkness” during the destruction of the first and second
temple, “Yahweh is my light” in the days of the Messiah (see the continuation
see at § Matt 4:1 B, #3, C, middle). — There is a parallel in the midrash about
the demise of Moses (Beth ha-Midrash
1.125.19).
2. The words: “The Lord rebuke you!” stem from Zech 3:2; Satan demands
their application to him, so to speak, as his right in b. Qidd. 81A: see § Matt
4:1 B, #3, A. (Hermann L. Strack and Paul Billerbeck, A
Commentary on the New Testament from the Talmud and Midrash, ed. Jacob N.
Cerone, 4 vols. [trans. Andrew Bowden and Joseph Longarino; Bellingham, Wash.:
Lexham Press, 2021], 3:920-21)
