Michael (Hebrew: [mixaˈʔel]; Hebrew: מִיכָאֵל, romanized: Mīḵāʾēl, lit. ’Who is like El [God]?’; Greek: Μιχαήλ, romanized: Mikhaḗl; Latin: Michahel; Arabic: ميخائيل ، مِيكَالَ ، ميكائيل, romanized: Mīkāʾīl, Mīkāl, Mīkhāʾīl) also called Saint Michael the Archangel, Saint Michael the Taxiarch in Orthodoxy[5] and Archangel Michael is an archangel in Judaism, Christianity, Islam and the Baha’i faith. The earliest surviving mentions of his name are in 3rd- and 2nd-century BC Jewish works, often but not always apocalyptic, where he is the chief of the angels and archangels and responsible for the care of Israel.[6][7][8][9] Christianity adopted nearly all the Jewish traditions concerning him,[10] and he is mentioned explicitly in Revelation 12:7–12,[11] where he does battle with Satan,[12] and in the Epistle of Jude, where the author denounces heretics by contrasting them with Michael.[13]

The earliest surviving mention of Michael is in a 3rd century BC Jewish apocalypse, the Book of Enoch.[8]
This lists him as one of seven archangels (the remaining names are Uriel, Raguel, Raphael, Sariel, Gabriel, and Remiel), who, according to a slightly later work, the Book of Tobit, “stand ready and enter before the glory of the Lord”.[9] The fact that Michael is introduced in both works without explanation implies that readers already knew him and the other named angels, which in turn implies that they are earlier than the late 3rd century BC (the earliest possible date of the relevant passages in the Book of Enoch), but although their origins remain a matter for speculation there is no evidence that they are older than the Hellenistic period.[8][14] He is mentioned again in last chapters of the Book of Daniel, a Jewish apocalypse composed in the 2nd century BC although set in the 6th, in which a man clothed in linen (never identified, but probably the archangel Gabriel) tells Daniel that he and “Michael, your prince” are engaged in a battle with the “prince of Persia”, after which, at the end-time, “Michael, the great prince who protects your people, will arise”.[15][16]