9 Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee.
The context of this event is clearly seen in the preceding and succeeding verses. Verse 8. “Likewise also these filthy dreamers defile the flesh, despise dominion, and speak evil of dignities.” … Verse 10, “But these speak evil of those things which they know not: but what they know naturally, as brute beasts, in those things they corrupt themselves.” So, then, the context is the sin of speaking evil of those in authority.
Jude illustrates his point with a reference to Michael the archangel disputing with the Devil over the body of Moses. Here, he points out that even Michael did not bring (what would have been) a just accusation of evil doings against the Devil. What the King James Version has as “railing accusation” the Greek text actually reads “βλασφημίας”: i.e. “blasphemous.” An argument of comparison: Michael one of the chiefest angels, was content to deliver Satan, although a most accursed enemy, to the judgment of God to be punished: and these perverse men are not ashamed to speak evil of the powers who are ordained of God.
I am certain that we must make allowances for the imagination of the ancient Jewish divines. However, it is obvious, from the manner in which Jude writes, that he assumes that the event to which he refers was familiar to his readers. According to Clement of Alexandria (Adumbr. in Ep. Judae), and Origen (De Princ. iii. 2, 1. ) the story here narrated by Jude is taken from the apocryphal writing known as the Assumptio Mosis. This writing was extant in the time of Jude. Charles L. Feinberg, in his edition of the Assumption thus summarizes the fragments dealing with the funeral of Moses: (1) Michael is commissioned to bury Moses, (2) Satan opposes his burial on two grounds: (a) he claims to be the lord of matter (hence the body should be handed over to him). To this claim Michael rejoins, “The Lord rebuke thee, for it was God’s Spirit which created the world and all mankind”. (b) He brings the charge of murder against Moses (the answer to this is wanting). The story is based upon Deuteronomy 34:6 (R.V.), “he buried him (mg. he was buried) in the valley … but no man knoweth of his sepulchre unto this day.” Moreover, Josephus (a priest, general in the Jewish Revolt against Rome [Jewish commander of the Jewish forces in Galilee] and Jewish historian), a contemporary to Jude, gives further details of the passing of Moses (Antiquities of the Jews 4:8,48):
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That Jude would incorporate apocrypha stories and accounts into his epistle is not unprecedented in the New Testament. The Apostle Paul names Jannes and Jambres, the two Egyptian magicians who confronted Moses in the staffs to snakes event (2 Timothy 3:8-9 cf Exodus 7:8 - 8:19). Although they are not named in the canon of holy Scripture, the names were a part of Jewish tradition from which they passed into the Talmudic and other Jewish writings; see Targum Jonathan, Exodus 7:11; Exodus 22:22. Because of our view of biblical inspiration it must be maintained that if the Holy Spirit inspired both Jude and Paul to include an apocrypha account into their canonical Scripture (at least) the part they cited must be actually factual. Jude, as inspired, could distinguish how much of the tradition was true, how much false. We have no such means of distinguishing, and therefore can be sure of no tradition, save that which is in the written word. So, then, though holy canon does not give the account of Michael’s contention with the Devil over the body of Moses, because the Holy Spirit inspired the account to Jude, we must accept it as truth. We may be frustrated that Jude did not give us more information, however, the information he did give is all that we may be certain of. It should be pointed out that we must not, without reservation, accept the complete story on the strength of the germ of the tradition that New Testament inspiration sanctified. Ergo, we accept as truth that Michael and the Devil disputed over the body of Moses: but, when or where that happened we do not know because Jude did not say; what the nature of the dispute was we do not know because Jude did not say.
Other Considerations
Moving from the context and the purpose of Jude’s reference, we will attempt to gain some understanding of the actual reference itself. Jude’s reference to Michael disputing with the Devil over the body of Moses has been a question in the Christian community, if not in the Jewish, for most of two millennia. I say, “if not in the Jewish” because, indeed, in the Jewish tradition there is no lack of illumination on this event. For example, in the Targum, or Paraphrase, of Jonathan on Deuteronomy it is stated that the grave of Moses was given over to the special custody of the Archangel Michael. In the Debarim Rabba i.e. the Midrash on Deuteronomy (fol. 263), it is related that Sammael, the prince of the Evil Angels, was impatient for the death of Moses. “And he said, ‘When will the longed-for moment come when Michael shall weep and I shall laugh?’ And at last the time came when Michael said to Sammael, ‘Ah! cursed one! Shall I weep while thou laughest?’ and made answer in the words of Micah, ‘Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy: when I fall, I shall arise; when I sit in darkness, the Lord shall be a light unto me’ ” (Micah 7:8). A longer legend is given in the same book (fol. 246), which must be somewhat abridged. “Moses prayed that if he might not enter into the Promised Land, he might at least be allowed to live; but God told him that unless he died in this world he could have no life in the world to come, and commanded Gabriel to fetch his soul. Gabriel shrank from the task. Michael was next bidden to go, and he too shrank; and then the command was given to Sammael, who found him with his face shining as the light, and he was afraid and trembled. He told him why he was come, and Moses asked him who had sent him, and he made answer that he was sent by the Creator of the Universe. But Moses still held out, and Sammael returned with his task unfulfilled. And Moses prayed, ‘Lord of the World, give not my soul over to the Angel of Death.” And there came a voice from Heaven, ‘Fear not, Moses, I will provide for thy burial,’ and Moses stood up and sanctified himself as do the Seraphim, and the Most High came down from Heaven and the three chief angels with Him. Michael prepared the bier and Gabriel spread out the winding sheet.… And the Most High kissed him, and through that kiss took his soul to Himself” (Nork, Rabbinische Quellen). The Christian writer Oecumenius, writing in the tenth century, demonstrates a reliance on the Targum Jonathan account, for he reports a tradition that Michael was appointed to minister at the burial of Moses, and that the devil urged that his murder of the Egyptian (Exodus 2:12) had deprived him of the right of sepulture, and Origen (de Princ. iii. 2) states that the record of the dispute was found in a lost apocryphal book known as the Assumption of Moses.
“… for although he was always persuaded that he ought not to be cast down at the approach of death, since the undergoing it was agreeable to the will of God and the law of nature, … Now as he went thence to the place where he was to vanish out of their sight, they all followed after him weeping; … All those who accompanied him were the senate, and Eleazar the high priest, and Joshua their commander. Now as soon as they were come to the mountain called Abarim, (which is a very high mountain, situate over against Jericho, and one that affords, to such as are upon it, a prospect of the greatest part of the excellent land of Canaan,) he dismissed the senate; and as he was going to embrace Eleazar and Joshua, and was still discoursing with them, a cloud stood over him on the sudden, and he disappeared in a certain valley, although he wrote in the holy books that he died, which was done out of fear, lest they should venture to say that, because of his extraordinary virtue, he went to God.”The dispute seems to be: Whether Moses’s body should be so buried as to be concealed from the Israelites? In Deuteronomy 34:6, it is said God buried him, (which very well could mean by the ministry of Michael the archangel), and that no man knoweth of his sepulchre. The Devil opposed the Angel, desiring to have the place of his burial known, that in later times it might be a snare to God’s people, and a means to bring them to idolatry. And this seems very probable with what the Israelits did with the brass serpent that was, in the beginning, an instrument of God, but the people made an idol (Numbers 21:4-9 cf 2 Kings 18:4, Nehushtan); further, if we consider what work the Devil has made in the world with the bodies of saints and martyrs, and how much idolatry he has brought in by the actions of the Romanish church. Both God and the Devil know the need of humankind to have a physical object as a conductor for faith. For this reason the Lord gave us the holy Eucharist, and for this reason the Devil perverted God’s gift and devised the doctrine of transubstantiation to make an idol of the holy elements.
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That Jude would incorporate apocrypha stories and accounts into his epistle is not unprecedented in the New Testament. The Apostle Paul names Jannes and Jambres, the two Egyptian magicians who confronted Moses in the staffs to snakes event (2 Timothy 3:8-9 cf Exodus 7:8 - 8:19). Although they are not named in the canon of holy Scripture, the names were a part of Jewish tradition from which they passed into the Talmudic and other Jewish writings; see Targum Jonathan, Exodus 7:11; Exodus 22:22. Because of our view of biblical inspiration it must be maintained that if the Holy Spirit inspired both Jude and Paul to include an apocrypha account into their canonical Scripture (at least) the part they cited must be actually factual. Jude, as inspired, could distinguish how much of the tradition was true, how much false. We have no such means of distinguishing, and therefore can be sure of no tradition, save that which is in the written word. So, then, though holy canon does not give the account of Michael’s contention with the Devil over the body of Moses, because the Holy Spirit inspired the account to Jude, we must accept it as truth. We may be frustrated that Jude did not give us more information, however, the information he did give is all that we may be certain of. It should be pointed out that we must not, without reservation, accept the complete story on the strength of the germ of the tradition that New Testament inspiration sanctified. Ergo, we accept as truth that Michael and the Devil disputed over the body of Moses: but, when or where that happened we do not know because Jude did not say; what the nature of the dispute was we do not know because Jude did not say.
We may observe the close connection between
Moses, Elijah and Jesus from the event on the Mount of Transfiguration (Luke 9:28-31). The mystery surrounding the passing from this life in the cases of both Moses and Elijah and the fact of their presence with Christ on the Mount, more importantly the subject of their conversation, makes us think that in some manner the nature of their passing is connected with the transfiguring of Christ event. At any rate the conversation between the three concerned the death Jesus was about to experience. Luke uses an interesting word (in verse 31) for his description of Christ’s death, “elegon tên exodon autou”: they “spoke of his exodus.” The Greek word for “exodus” (literally the “departing”) is used only two other times in the New Testament: in Hebrews 11:22 for Israel’s departure from Egypt and in 2 Peter 1:15 where that Apostle uses it for his death, then immediately he goes into a reference of the Mount of Transfiguration in the very next verse. (Other words for death (thanato) in the N.T. are ekbasi, going out as departure ( Hebrews 13:7 ), apxi, departing ( Acts 20:29 ), analusi, loosening anchor ( 2 Timothy 4:6 ) and analusai (Philippians 1:23 ).) But Jesus’ exodus (departure) involved much more than the dying: it involved the resurrection and the ascension. While an imperfect type, as all types and shadows are, the disappearance of Moses did, indeed, prefigure the death, resurrection and ascension of Christ — the prophet like unto Moses (Deuteronomy 18:15 cf Acts 3:22-23). Satan, as having the power of death, would have opposed the raising of Moses’ body, on the ground of Moses' sin at Meribah (Numbers 20:2-13), and his murder of the Egyptian (Exodus 2:12ff). That Moses' body was raised, appears from his presence with Elijah and Jesus (who were in the body) at the Transfiguration (note and apply Jesus’ explanation of the resurrection: Luke 20:27-40). This Mount of Transfiguration appearance was the sample and earnest of the coming resurrection kingdom, to be ushered in by Michael's standing up for God's people (Daniel 12:1). Thus in each dispensation a sample and pledge of the future resurrection was given: Enoch in the patriarchal dispensation, Moses in the Levitical, Elijah in the prophetical.
Moses, Elijah and Jesus from the event on the Mount of Transfiguration (Luke 9:28-31). The mystery surrounding the passing from this life in the cases of both Moses and Elijah and the fact of their presence with Christ on the Mount, more importantly the subject of their conversation, makes us think that in some manner the nature of their passing is connected with the transfiguring of Christ event. At any rate the conversation between the three concerned the death Jesus was about to experience. Luke uses an interesting word (in verse 31) for his description of Christ’s death, “elegon tên exodon autou”: they “spoke of his exodus.” The Greek word for “exodus” (literally the “departing”) is used only two other times in the New Testament: in Hebrews 11:22 for Israel’s departure from Egypt and in 2 Peter 1:15 where that Apostle uses it for his death, then immediately he goes into a reference of the Mount of Transfiguration in the very next verse. (Other words for death (thanato) in the N.T. are ekbasi, going out as departure ( Hebrews 13:7 ), apxi, departing ( Acts 20:29 ), analusi, loosening anchor ( 2 Timothy 4:6 ) and analusai (Philippians 1:23 ).) But Jesus’ exodus (departure) involved much more than the dying: it involved the resurrection and the ascension. While an imperfect type, as all types and shadows are, the disappearance of Moses did, indeed, prefigure the death, resurrection and ascension of Christ — the prophet like unto Moses (Deuteronomy 18:15 cf Acts 3:22-23). Satan, as having the power of death, would have opposed the raising of Moses’ body, on the ground of Moses' sin at Meribah (Numbers 20:2-13), and his murder of the Egyptian (Exodus 2:12ff). That Moses' body was raised, appears from his presence with Elijah and Jesus (who were in the body) at the Transfiguration (note and apply Jesus’ explanation of the resurrection: Luke 20:27-40). This Mount of Transfiguration appearance was the sample and earnest of the coming resurrection kingdom, to be ushered in by Michael's standing up for God's people (Daniel 12:1). Thus in each dispensation a sample and pledge of the future resurrection was given: Enoch in the patriarchal dispensation, Moses in the Levitical, Elijah in the prophetical.
Other Considerations
Having acknowledged the above Jewish tradition concerning the passing of Moses, the story does not end here. There are other possible understandings of the Jude text that have great merit, as far as this writer is concerned. As has already been pointed out: Jude did not indicate when this contest took place. It is true that most commentators accept that it happened at the death of Moses; but there is nothing that chisels that scenario in stone. There are two other possible explanations for Michael contending with the Devil over the body of Moses that I am interested in reviewing. These are 1. The infancy of Moses and 2. Israel’s national renewal. I am interested in these two possible explanations because of what seems to be strong biblical grounds for their plausibility.
Infancy of Moses
One possible origin for this Michael/Devil narrative is the Infancy of Moses (Exodus 2:1-10). Moses was born to be the deliverer of his people, Israel. Satan raised up against this in moving the heart of Pharaoh to have all the male babies of the Hebrews killed. The agent of Hell (the Devil) and the agent of Heaven (Michael) did, in very fact, compete for the literal body of Moses. We can speak of Michael’s intervention in this murder attempt because the Bible is clear that he is the special guardian of the Hebrew people (Daniel 12:1), and would have been personally involved in any action to protect them.
Israel’s National Renewal
Finally, there is the allegorical application of Jude’s narrative. In this understanding Jude’s narrative references the national renewal of the Jewish people after the return from the Babylonian Captivity under Nehemiah and Ezra. The evidence that makes an allegorical interpretation of Jude’s narrative so appealing are two in number. The first part of such evidence is the apocalyptic nature of sections of Jude’s epistle (vv7, 9. 14-16). Apocalyptic literature has its own hermeneutic. It is not interpreted as is normal writing such as the Gospels which are for the most part straight forward narratives of the life and ministry of Christ, or the Acts of the Apostles which is an accounting of the life of the early days of the Church, or the Epistles which are letters of instructions to churches and individuals. Apocalyptic scripture often requires an allegorical interpretation. Apocalyptic books of the Bible with which we are familiar are Daniel, Ezekiel, Zechariah and Revelation; there is a very real sense in which the book of Jude may be added. Second, is the quote furnished by Jude, “The Lord rebuke thee.” This is seen by some to be taken from the apocalyptic book of Zechariah 3:1-2, “And he shewed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right hand to resist him. 2 And the LORD said unto Satan, The LORD rebuke thee, O Satan; even the Lord that hath chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee: is not this a brand plucked out of the fire?”
If we pursued such a course of interpretation the “body of Moses” would be an allegory for either the Law of Moses (Hebraically the body of a thing is the thing. From Romans 7:14 we learn that the body of sin is sin. Thus, the “body of Moses” signifies Moses himself, who in the New Testament is put for his law: E.g, 2 Corinthians 3:15 “When Moses is read…”; Acts 15:21, “Moses has in every city them that preach him.”) or the Jewish people themselves: i.e., the Jewish Church.
In this light the high priest Joshua represents the people of God (the Jews) who have returned from their captivity dirty from sins and transgressions: see v3, “Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments, and stood before the angel.” Joshua is before the Angel of LORD pleading for the people’s reinstatement to their covenant relationship with their covenant God. Satan is on the priest’s right hand resisting his efforts; no doubt pointing out every reason why the people should not be readmitted to covenant relationship, why Jerusalem and its temple should not be rebuilt. Thus, as "the body of Christ" is the Christian Church, so "the body of Moses" is the Jewish Church. Those who came up out of Egypt and their descendants had been baptized unto Moses in the sea and cloud (1 Corinthians 10:2) and were the “body of Moses” just as are those who have been baptized into Christ are said to be “the body of Christ” (Romans 6:3 cf 1 Corinthians 12:12, 27). So, then, ”the body of Moses" means the Jewish Church accused by Satan, before God, for its filthiness, on which ground he demands that divine justice should take its course against Israel, but is rebuked by the Angel of the LORD, who in this place we may understand to be Michael the archangel, who has "chosen Jerusalem.” Michael is "one of the chief princes" (Daniel 10:13), "your prince" (Daniel 10:21), "the great prince who stands for Israel" (Daniel 12:1), who gives help against Persia, and stands for the chosen people. He is also introduced in the Book of Enoch, and the view given of him there is like that in Jude. He is "the merciful, the patient, the holy Michael" (40:8). So it is appropriate that he is the one contending against the Devil for the people of Israel, I,e, the body of Moses.
Allegorically, Jude 1:9 is a match for Zechariah 3:1-4.
Eschatological and Essclesiological consequences for this allegorical interpretation are wonderfully profound. In this paradigm the sacred Scripture depicts three bodies: the Body of Moses (Jewish church, 1 Corinthians 10:2, etc.), the Body of Christ (the Christian church, 1 Corinthians 12:12, 27) and the body of the Beast (human [secular] government, Daniel ch 7). The “body of Moses” (the Jewish church) is born again at Pentecost A. D. 30 (John 3:3-5; Romans ch 11) and becomes (Ephesians 2:12 - 3:8) the “body of Christ” (the Christian church); the body of Christ (the Christian church) overcomes and replaces (Daniel 2:34; 7:10-27) the body of the Beast (human [secular] government). So, the end game is: “And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever” (Revelation 11:15).
Summary
Faced with the challenge of exegeting Jude 1:9 (Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee. KJV) the passage was made difficult by seemingly being a stand alone text with no companion texts from which to garner understanding. But this was only true if the text was not viewed allegorically. As it turned out Jude’s narrative has possible origins in three Old Testament texts: two provide literal interpretations and one must be understood allegorically.
Candidate number one is the death of Moses (Deuteronomy 34:6). Jewish tradition and apocrypha writings provided the ample background for Jude’s narrative.
Candidate number two is the infancy narrative of Moses. Here, we saw how Satan moved Pharaoh to kill all male Hebrew boys in an attempt to kill baby Moses who was the deliverer of the Hebrews. We suggested that because the archangel Michael was the patron Angel of the Hebrews that the divine care of baby Moses was his personal mission.
Candidate three offers an allegorical interpretation to the Jude narrative. In this view we show how the “body of Moses” over which the Devil and the Archangel contended was the Jewish Church being contested in Zechariah 3:1ff. This third offering has a strong claim, in this writers opinion, because of the Michael quote “The Lord rebuke thee.” These words of Michael were also the words of the Angel of the LORD from Zechariah 3:2.
If I might offer a covert observation of my own by way of pointing out that holy Scripture, many times, has more than one meaning or application. It is called the high and low, the near and far, of prophecy. Since three is the biblical number of confirmation — couldn’t it be that all three are true?
Apostolically Speaking
☩☩ Jerry L Hayes
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