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Michael / Mīkāl

A reference page linking a name, group, or concept to the materials that discuss it.

Theophoric name asking who is like God; borne by humans and a heavenly figure in Daniel. It establishes no former Canaanite deity.

Modern diagram of Michael: “Who is like God?”, with a human attestation in Numbers and a heavenly attestation in Daniel. Not an angel’s portrait or proof of a former Ugaritic deity
Modern diagram of Michael: “Who is like God?”, with a human attestation in Numbers and a heavenly attestation in Daniel. Not an angel’s portrait or proof of a former Ugaritic deityModern diagram by IL Archive · CC BY 4.0 · CC BYLicense · Image source

Text

The name and its bearers

Mîkhāʾēl asks about divine uniqueness.[1] Michael is Sethur’s father in Numbers 13:13 and a heavenly prince in Daniel 10:13,21. Shared naming establishes neither personal identity nor chronological priority of either usage.[2][3]

Arabic transmission

Mīkāl occurs at Qurʾan 2:98. Continuity of the name makes its bearer neither a deity nor proof of El as an independently used Islamic divine name. The image is a modern explanatory diagram.[4]

References and notes

  1. Joseph Jacobs, M. Seligsohn & Mary W. Montgomery. Michael. Jewish Encyclopedia (1901–1906), opening “Israel’s Advocate” paragraph. Etymology and Daniel context in opening paragraph. Historical reference work, not adopted as authority for every later legend or date of the name’s origin. Return to the text ↑
  2. Hebrew Bible, Numbers 13:13. Mechon-Mamre, Hebrew and JPS 1917. V.13: Sethur son of Michael, a human bearer. Narrative setting does not date the name’s earliest formation. Return to the text ↑
  3. Hebrew Bible, Daniel 10:13,21. Mechon-Mamre, Hebrew and JPS 1917. Vv.13,21: Michael among chief princes and as the community’s prince. Heavenly identity in the text, not evidence of Ugaritic divine origin. Return to the text ↑
  4. Qurʾan 2:98; 66:4. Quranic Arabic Corpus, text and translation pages. 2:98 names Gabriel and Michael; 66:4 read at https://corpus.quran.com/translation.jsp?chapter=66&verse=4. Word-by-word 2:97–98 entries also inspected, including lijib’rīla and wamīkāla. Qurʾanic names distinguished from all Islamic tradition. Return to the text ↑

Research history

Substantive changes are retained here. Minor copy edits remain in the internal operational log.

  1. Edition 2 · 11 October 2026 · editor:aladmin

    Substantive record update

    Read this revision in its original language (Arabic)

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Cite this record

IL Archive, «Michael / Mīkāl», Edition 2, https://ilarchive.com/en/entities/michael