In his letter Jude mentions a certain dispute between the head of the angelic hierarchy, the archangel Michael, and Satan over the body of Moses. What dispute is he talking about? The biblical books make no mention of any such dispute...
In his letter Jude mentions a certain dispute between the head of the angelic hierarchy, the archangel Michael, and Satan over the body of Moses. What dispute is he talking about? The biblical books make no mention of any such dispute. Nor does the Bible mention the body of Moses. Evidently, in this case the apostle is appealing not to Holy Scripture but to certain popular traditions preserved in Jewish tradition. The biblical books really do say nothing about where Moses was buried; they mention only his death somewhere in Transjordan. The absence of a tomb, especially in the case of religious leaders of such stature, was an extremely rare thing in antiquity.
Popular memory could not come to terms with the idea that Moses' tomb had been lost in the Transjordanian steppe. That is why, no doubt, the legend arose that Moses, like Elijah, did not die but was taken up alive into heaven. And, it was supposed, he would return together with Elijah shortly before the coming of the Messiah, in order to testify that the day of Judgment was near. The dispute over the body of Moses, of which Jude speaks, was presumably connected with one episode in that popular tradition: unlike Elijah, Moses was taken into heaven at the moment of death and after that was raised by God, just as all the dead will be raised on the day of Judgment. Satan resisted this in every way, so the archangel Michael himself had to come to Moses' defense. Incidentally, one may note that the biblical books also say nothing about an angelic hierarchy, though it is described in detail in the Old Testament apocrypha. Evidently, these apocrypha too are largely the fruit of Jewish popular religious creativity in the Hellenistic period.
But Jude evidently feels completely free in this respect: in his letter he refers to popular traditions just as he refers to sacred books. That is not surprising, for what mattered to the apostle was to convey to his readers the thought he considered important. The illustrative material played a supporting role in this case. What mattered was only that it be well known to the addressees of the letter and not contradict Holy Scripture. The tradition about the dispute over the body of Moses met these criteria. And the apostle uses it, of course, without making such use an end in itself. For every tradition is only a source from which we may draw something important for understanding one or another pattern of spiritual life.
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1:9 Yet Michael - It does not appear whether St. Jude learned this by any revelation or from ancient tradition.It suffices, that these things were not only true, but acknowledged as such by them to whom he wrote. The archangel - This word occurs but once more in the sacred writings, Th1 4:16. So that whether there be one archangel only, ormore, it is not possible for us to determine. When he disputed with the devil - At what time we know not. Concerning the body of Moses - Possibly the devil would have discovered the place where it was buried, which God for wise reasons had concealed.Durst not bring even against him a railing accusation - Though so far beneath him in every respect. But simply said, (so great was his modesty!) The Lord rebuke thee - I leave thee to the Judge of all.