9
Deuteronomy 34:5–6 says that the Lord buried Moses in the land of Moab. Jude referred in verse 9 to a story about this event. The story, called “the Assumption of Moses,” is not in the Bible. We know about it from other sources. (We do not have a copy of the Assumption of Moses. The story has been pieced together from several sources.) Jude’s readers probably knew this story.
Here is a summary of the story:
After Moses died, the Lord told the leading angel, Michael, to bury Moses’ body, but the devil argued with Michael. The devil said that Michael did not have the right to take the body and bury it. The devil argued that he himself could claim the body. (The devil argued that he had a right to claim Moses’ body, because Moses had murdered an Egyptian.) However, Michael refused to give the body to the devil. Michael did not pronounce judgment on the devil, because the Lord alone had the authority to judge. (For a reconstructed outline of this story see Kistemaker, page 386.)
9a
But even: Jude contrasted the evil actions of the fake Christians with the correct action of the archangel Michael.
the archangel Michael: Archangels are angels who lead other angels. Michael is the only archangel mentioned by name in the Bible. Some ways to translate archangel are:
leading angel
-or-
chief angel
-or-
leader of God’s angels
9b
The general comment at the end of the notes for 9d shows a way in which the parts of this verse may be reordered. Putting 9b at the end of the verse may be more natural in some languages.
when he disputed with the devil over the body of Moses: Michael and the devil disputed about which of them had a right to take the body of Moses. For more detail, see the introductory note at the beginning of verse 9.
disputed: The Greek text has two verbs here in 9b that express almost the same idea. The text is literally:
when with the devil disputing, he was arguing about the body of Moses.
The two Greek verbs were often used when talking about legal disputes. They do not simply mean that Michael and Satan quarreled. If your language has terms for a disagreement concerning the law, then it may be appropriate to use them here. The term(s) you select should not imply that Michael and the devil fought physically.
Since the two Greek verbs have almost the same meaning, (English versions that translate each of the two Greek verbs separately include: God’s Word, Phillips’ New Testament in Modern English, King James Version, New American Standard Bible, NET Bible, New Revised Standard Version, Revised Standard Version, Good News Translation. We can see how close in meaning the two Greek verbs are by comparing how these versions translated each Greek verb.Here are versions which translate the first verb, diakrinomenos, with a form of the following verbs:argue (God’s Word, NET Bible) -or-contend (Phillips’ New Testament in Modern English, King James Version, New Revised Standard Version, Revised Standard Version)-or-dispute (New American Standard Bible)These versions translate the second Greek verb, dielegeto, with a form of these verbs:argue (God’s Word, New American Standard Bible, Good News Translation)-or-dispute (Phillips’ New Testament in Modern English, King James Version, New Revised Standard Version, Revised Standard Version)) there are two basic options for translation:
• Translate the two Greek verbs separately. For example:
when he disputed with the devil and argued about the body of Moses (New American Standard Bible)
-or-
In his quarrel with the Devil, when they argued about who would have the body of Moses (Good News Translation)
• Use one expression to translate the idea of both Greek verbs, as the Berean Standard Bible and some other English versions have done. (English versions that use one verb to translate the idea of both Greek verbs include: Berean Standard Bible, Contemporary English Version, New Century Version, New International Version (2011 Revision), New Jerusalem Bible, New Living Translation (2004 Revision), Revised English Bible. They used a form of one of the following:argue (Contemporary English Version, New Century Version, New Jerusalem Bible, New Living Translation (2004 Revision)),-or-dispute (Berean Standard Bible, New International Version (2011 Revision), Revised English Bible)) For example:
when the two of them were arguing about the body of Moses. (Contemporary English Version)
Look for the most natural way in your language to translate the idea that these two Greek verbs express. In the Display, only one verb is used.
the devil: Jude referred to Satan, the leader of the fallen angels, as the devil here. The devil is the chief enemy of God and the most evil spiritual being.
9c
did not presume: The Greek verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as presume means “to be bold enough [to do something].” In this context Michael was not “bold enough” to judge the devil because he knew that only the Lord had that authority.
The text does not imply that Michael would have judged the devil if he were bolder. Nor does the text imply that Michael was afraid of the devil. Rather, it meant that Michael refused to use authority which belonged only to the Lord. Another way to say this is:
did not dare to condemn him…by judging the devil.
to bring a slanderous charge: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as to bring a slanderous charge is literally, “to pronounce a judgment of blasphemy.” Scholars have different opinions about who was blaspheming here and against whom the blasphemy was made. Three ways to interpret this phrase are:
(1) It means that Michael did not dare to judge the devil or condemn him. Only the Lord had that authority. If Michael had done it, that would have been blasphemy against the Lord. For example:
Michael didn’t dare to hand down a judgment against the devil. (God’s Word)
-or-
Not even…Michael…dared to judge the devil guilty. (New Century Version)
(God’s Word, New Century Version, UBS Handbook) (Jude meant that Michael did not dare to condemn the devil, because pronouncing judgment against the devil would be blasphemy against the Lord. For anyone besides the Lord to make this kind of judgment is, by nature, blasphemy. Apparently, that is the reason why the New Century Version and God’s Word make blasphemy implicit in their translations. See also the discussion of Jude 9 in the UBS Handbook Handbook.)
(2) It means that Michael did not dare to slander (“blaspheme”) the devil. (Some scholars reject interpretation (2), because the devil was actually guilty. Therefore, even if Michael had condemned the devil, it would not have been slander against him.) For example:
Michael did not dare condemn the Devil with insulting words…. (Good News Translation)
(Berean Standard Bible, Contemporary English Version, Phillips’ New Testament in Modern English, King James Version, New American Standard Bible, New International Version (2011 Revision), New Jerusalem Bible, Revised English Bible, Revised Standard Version, Good News Translation)
(3) It implies that the devil had committed slander (“blasphemy”), probably against Moses, (Jude contrasted the fake Christians in verse 8 with the archangel Michael, not the devil. The similar passage, 2 Peter 2:11, uses the adjectival form of the word “blasphemy.” Therefore, it is more likely that 2 Peter speaks of a “blasphemous judgment,” not a “judgment for blasphemy.” If the point of comparison is similar in Jude, this favors interpretation (1) over interpretation (3).) but Michael did not dare to accuse him. For example:
Michael…did not dare accuse Satan of blasphemy. (New Living Translation (2004 Revision))
(New Living Translation (2004 Revision))
It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1). Michael refused to do what the fake Christians were doing (8d), that is, blaspheme against God.
against him: The phrase against him is implied information. It does not translate a particular word or phrase in the Greek text of Jude 9. If it is not necessary in your language, you do not need to make it explicit in your translation.
9d
but said: The Greek words that the Berean Standard Bible translates as but said introduce what Michael did in contrast to what he would not do (9c). Indicate this contrast in a natural way in your language.
The Lord rebuke you!: Since only God had the authority to judge and punish the devil, Michael left it to The Lord to do it. Although the Greek expression used here is often translated as a wish or request, (Jude probably used the optative to show Michael’s great respect for God. Michael does not even give the impression that he is telling the Lord what to do. It is the Lord’s prerogative alone to decide whom he will condemn and how he will punish him. Another way to translate this is: “Only the Lordmay condemn you.”) Michael did not doubt that The Lord would condemn the devil. The Contemporary English Version makes it clear that Michael was sure that the Lord would do this.
All Michael said was, “The Lord will punish you!”
The Lord: Here, The Lord refers to Jesus Christ. (At the time that Michael and the devil had this debate, the Christ (Messiah) was not yet incarnate.)
rebuke: The Greek verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as rebuke often means “reprimand.” (“Reprimand” means to speak severely to someone because that person did something wrong.) In this verse it seems to have a harsher meaning, such as “condemn” or “punish.” See the Contemporary English Version example in the note above.
General Comment on 9a–d
In some languages, this verse will sound more natural if the order of the parts is changed. For example:
9aBut even the archangel Michael 9cwould not usurp the Lord’s authority by condemning the devil. 9dInstead Michael said, “The Lord will punish you.” 9bThis happened when Michael contended with the devil and disputed with him about whether it was right for Michael to bury the body of Moses.
© 2007 by SIL International®
Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0
All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible. BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.