01_AzuelosVoltaggio_161_178_copia_161_178 10/07/15 11:33 Pagina 171 171 THE “ANGEL SENT FROM BEFORE THE LORD” IN TARGUM JOSHUA 5,14 171 i.e. the “Angel Prince,” who disputes with the devil over the body of Moses 32. In Rev 12,7 he is described as the commander of the heavenly armies battling Satan, “the great dragon, the primeval ser- pent” (cf. Rev 12,9), and his angels. Both passages belong to the apocalyptic genre, and in both Michael is the leader of God’s army, fighting for his elect against Satan. Similarly, the angel Michael is also frequently mentioned in the Pseudepigrapha, especially in apocalyptic writings. The Second Book of Enoch 22,6 cites the following words by Enoch: “And the archistratege Michael lifted me up, and led me before the Lord’s face”. In this text, then, we find two analogies to our targumic text. First, Michael is called “archistratege”, i.e. “chief-captain” (also in 33,10). Second, it uses the expression “before the Lord”. In the Pseudepigrapha, the angel Michael is sometimes represented stand- ing “before the Lord” 33. The apocalyptic writings describe Michael as “the first of four presences that stand before God”, preceding Uriel, Raphael and Gabriel 34. The targumists, however, emphasize that all the angels stand serving “before the Lord” 35. It can be de- duced that there exists a heavenly liturgy in which the angels do priestly service, and vice versa that the service of the priests in the Temple mirrors that of the angels, God’s servants par excellence. The Greek term avrcistra,thgoj (“archistratege”) translates abc rf already in the Septuaginta, in Josh 5,14-15. It is also attributed to the angel Michael in the Septuaginta, in Dan 8,11. In the Pseu- depigrapha as well, the title “archistratege” is similarly often as- signed to Michael 36. References in the Third Book of Baruch reveal 32 In light of this text, the tradition in Tg. Ps.-J. Deut 34,6, according to which Michael and his angels bury Moses, might be old. 33 See, for instance, TestAbrA 7,11: “The archistratege says to him: ‘I am Michael the archistratege who stands before God’”; cf. also 9,7; 14,13. 34 Cf. 1 Hen 9,1; 40,9; 1Q19bis 2 4. The order of the four Angels is dif- ferent, and Sariel is mentioned rather than Uriel (even if Michael is always in the primary position) in 1QM 9,15.16; 4Q285 1 3; cf. also 4Q201 1 IV,6. 35 Cf., for example, Tg. Neof. Exod 33,23 (cf. also Tg. Ps.-J., Frg. Tg.); Tg. Ps.-J. Gen 1,26; 3,22; Exod 20,23 (this tradition is polemical with regard to the worship of angels); Num 15,40. 36 Cf. 3 Bar 11,4.6.7.8; 12,4; 13,3; TestAbrA 1,4; 2,1.2.3.4.6.7.10; 3,4.9.10.11; 4,5.7.9; 5,1.10.14; 6,1; 7,8.10.11; 8,1.2.4.11.12; 9,1.2.3.7.8; 10,4.5.12; 11,8; 12,15; 13,1.2; 14,1.2.3.4.5.10.12.13; 15,1.2.9.11; 16,8; 19,4; TestAbrB 14,7; JosAs 14,7.