The Bible and the Dead Sea Scrolls: The ... - josephprestonkirk

128 FORMATION AND RE-FORMATION OF DANIEL
as the community struggled to find language to articulate its self-understanding
in relation to angels.
The Role of the Angel Michael
In addition to the matter of angelification, among the Dead Sea texts we
may find a background of Daniel in the function assigned to the archangel
Michael on behalf of the faithful. In Dan 10:10–12:3, the arena of political
conflicts is portrayed as a battle between angelic “princes” (s 8rym) who
represent nations such as Persia and Greece (10:13, 20). The heavenly
counterpart for God’s people is Michael, designated the “prince” (s 8r), who
not only has charge over them (12:1) but is also the one who engages in
battle against the other nations on their behalf (10:13, 21; 12:1). Though
the figure of Michael is well known in early Jewish tradition, the nomenclature
and specific function attributed to this angel are unique to Daniel.
The significance of Daniel’s description of heavenly conflict is seen most
clearly in the Qumran War Rule. Here, in the eschatological conflict between
the “Sons of Light” and the “Sons of Darkness,” Michael is understood in
categories reminiscent of Daniel. In 1QM 17.6–7, the “majestic angel” (ml)k
h)dyr) sent as “an everlasting help” (cf. Dan 10:13) to the redeemed of Israel
is identified with Michael, whose authority is “in everlasting light.” It is thus
likely that the author(s) regarded Michael as “the Prince of light” (s 8r m)wr;
13.10), through whose authority the forces of God are mustered against the
Sons of Darkness associated with the lot of Belial. The War Rule thus integrates
the angelology of Daniel into a more explicitly dualistic scheme. 86
The influence of Daniel on the War Rule, however, runs even deeper.
The prominence accorded to Michael reflects the use of a wider network
of ideas, of which Michael is but a part. Interpreters have noted the
numerous correspondences between the preliminary description of the
war in column 1 and Daniel. 87 Broadly, they consist in the following
points: (a) War will be waging between a ruler from the south and kings
of the north (1QM 1.4; Dan 11:11, 14–15, 25, 40, 44). (b) The “horn” is
86. Concerning the redaction of the War Rule in relation to Michael, see Jean
Duhaime, “La rédaction de 1QM XIII et l’évolution du dualisme à Qumrân,” RB 84
(1977): 44–46.
87. The most important treatments of the influence of Daniel on the War Rule are in
Jean Carmignac, “Les citations de l’Ancien Testament dans la ‘Guerre des fils de
lumière contre les fils de ténèbres,’” RB 63 (1956): 234–60, 375–90; Mertens, Das Buch
Daniel, 79–83; and Gregory K. Beale, The Use of Daniel in Jewish Apocalyptic Literature
and in the Revelation of John (Lanham, MD: University Press of America, 1984), 42–66.