01_AzuelosVoltaggio_161_178_copia_161_178 10/07/15 11:33 Pagina 169 169 THE “ANGEL SENT FROM BEFORE THE LORD” IN TARGUM JOSHUA 5,14 169 Nonetheless, we suggest that it is more likely that the angel is Michael. The angel Michael is mentioned in Dan 10,21 with the title rf (“prince”), in Dan 10,13 he is described as “one of the chief princes” (~ynvarh ~yrfh dxa), and in Dan 12,1 as “the great chief” (lwdgh rfh). In Dan 8,11, however, we find the title “commander of the army” (abch-rf) ascribed to Michael, reminiscent of the mysterious figure appearing before Joshua in Josh 5,14 as “com- mander of the army of the Lord” (hwhy-abc-rf). It is possible, then, that Targum Jonathan Josh 5,13-15 is employing a gezerah shawah in order to identify the angel Michael, the “commander of the army” from the Book of Daniel, with the anonymous “commander of the army of the Lord” in Josh 5,14 24. This might be a good indication, then, of the intended identification of ywy ~dq !m xylXd akalm (“the angel that was sent from before the Lord”) in Targum Jonathan with the angel Michael. To this conclusion we must also add a consider- ation of the figure of the angel appearing with a drawn sword in Gen 31,24, as it is translated in Targum Pseudo-Jonathan 25. Targum Jonathan identifies the “man” standing before Joshua “with a sword drawn in his hand” (wdyb hpwlv wbrxw, Josh 5,13) as an “angel of the Lord”, thereby continuing the targumic tradition linking the ap- pearance of God’s angel with the drawn sword motif. Such an asso- ciation is found, for example, in Targum Pseudo-Jonathan, where the sentence in Gen 31,24 “then God came to Laban the Aramean in a dream by night” (hlylh ~lxb ymrah !bl la ~yhla abyw) is translated “then an angel came 26 by a word from before the Lord (Œh ~dq !m rmymb akalm ataw) and drew his sword against Laban the deceiver (hamra !bl l[ abrx @lXw) in a dream of the night” 27. Targum Pseudo-Jonathan of this verse is based most likely on Pirqé de Rabbi Eliezer 36, according to which the angel, whose name is 24 On this rabbinical method, see P. BASTA, Gezerah Shawah. Storia, forme e metodi dell’analogia biblica (SubBib 26; Roma 2006). 25 See L. GINZBERG, The Legends of the Jews, V (Ramat Gan 1974) 121 n. 21 (Hebrew): the angel is Michael, who is identified as the “prince of Israel” (larXy rX). 26 The Targum converts the biblical term ~yhla (“God”) to akalm (“angel”) to preclude the possible interpretation that God revealed himself to Laban. 27 For more on Tg. Ps.-J. Gen 31,24, see A. CHESTER, Divine Revelation and Divine Titles in the Pentateuchal Targumim (TSAJ 14; Tübingen 1986) 130-131.