ARAMAIC WORD STUDY – BODY OF MOSES – PAGARA DAMOSHA  פלרא דמושׁא

Jude 1:9:  “Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee.”

The Aramaic word for body is pagara which could mean a corpse or decaying body.  The root word pagar is also use for a body in the sense of a body of literature.  It is also used in Talmudic literature for indenification, that is in payment for damages.  It was a common word used when a merchant ship sank and the owner of the cargo demanded payment for his cargo which was lost at sea.

However, I have also found in Jewish literature, that when  pagar is used with an Aleph at the end of the word it is used to express the idea of discrediting, defaming or insulting someone.  It is possible they were not arguing over the body of Moses at all but over the accomplishments of Moses.  The enemy was insulting and defaming Moses.

I believe what is happening here is that the Archangel Michael would not sink to accusing the enemy of blasphemy.  The word blasphemy in Aramaic here is kadap which means to revile or reproach.  I found in extra Biblical Jewish literature that kadap is used to describe an argument where you seek not just to win the argument but to humiliate the person.   I believe the Aramaic makes a lot of sense here.  This had nothing to do with the body of Moses but more with the enemy trying to insult Moses and the law God gave him to bring into this world.

The Archangel Michael would not stoop to the enemy’s level and return his insults by humiliating him but only did what he was supposed to do and that was to be a messenger of God. He simply delivered a message, “The Lord rebukes you.”  The word in Aramaic for rebuke is ka’ar which is to sharply and sternly declare disapproval.

Maybe there is a lesson for us.  Rather than attack those who disagree with us in various shades of doctrine and try to humiliate them with our “advanced knowledge” we should do what the Archangel Michael did, just deliver God’s message. For us that message is of God’s love and redemption and then leave the ka’ar the sharp disapproval up to God.