The Meaning of the Motif of Michael the Archangel’s Dispute with the Devil (Jude 9). A Socio-Rhetorical Perspective

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to analyse the persuasive functions of the Archangel Michael motif in the Epistle of Jude 9, and examine how the laconic reference serves argumentation in the letter and how it affects the recipients. We used methods of interpretation from the field of socio-rhetoric according to the interpretation model developed by Vernon K. Robbins, adapted to the needs of this study: rhetorical analysis, intertextual relations, and analysis of the pivotal values of the first-century Mediterranean world. The analyses lead to the conclusion that the condensed form of the reference to the Archangel Michael motif makes it possible to refer to the crisis among the addressees on many levels at the same time. It serves positive argumentation based on the ethos, uses the strength of the rich interpretative tradition of the motif and proves to be the key to the proper implementation of the answer within the challenge-riposte mechanism and to defining the threat to the communal identity.