MICHAEL (Heb. Mikhâ'el, “Who [is] like God?”). — Name of an archangel (see MICHELE) and of several personages in the Old Testament.
1. Member of the tribe of Asher, father of Sthur (Num. 13:13).
2. Member of the tribe of Gad, descendant of another M. and dwelling in Bashan (1 Chron. 5:13–14).
3. Ancestor of the singer Asaph (ibid. 6:25).
4. Son of Izrahiah of the tribe of Issachar (ibid. 7:3).
5. Ancestor of Saul (see), of the tribe of Benjamin (ibid. 8:16).
6. Member of the tribe of Manasseh who aided David with his men in the campaign against the Amalekites (ibid. 12:21; cf. 1 Sam. 30:1 ff.).
7. Father of Omri of the tribe of Issachar in David’s time (1 Chron. 27:18).
8. Brother of King Jehoram, son of Jehoshaphat (2 Chron. 21:2).
9. Member of the Jewish community in Babylon during the exile (Ezra 8:8).
ANGELO PENNA