Puneet Varma (Editor)

Quis ut Deus

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Quis ut Deus?

Quis ut Deus?, a Latin sentence meaning "Who [is] like God?", is a literal translation of the name Michael (Hebrew: מִיכָאֵל‎‎, transliterated Micha'el or Mîkhā'ēl).

"Michael" appears as the name of several men in the Old Testament. In the Book of Daniel it is the name of the "prince" of the people of Israel. In the New Testament the name is given to an archangel in the Epistle of Jude 1:9 and, in the Book of Revelation 12:7, to the leader of angels who defeat "the dragon" and his fallen angels, a dragon identified in Revelation 12:9 as "that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world".

The sentence Quis ut Deus? is particularly associated with Archangel Michael. In art St. Michael is often represented as an angelic warrior, fully armed with helmet, sword, and shield, as he overcomes Satan, sometimes represented as a dragon and sometimes as a man-like figure. The shield at times bears the inscription: Quis ut Deus, the translation of the archangel's name, but capable also of being seen as his rhetorical and scornful question to Satan.

The Scapular of St. Michael the Archangel also bears this phrase.

References

Quis ut Deus? Wikipedia