Michael came and told Abraham, as it is said, "And there came one who had escaped, and told Abram the Hebrew" (Gen. 14:13). He is the prince of the world, he was the one who told, as it is said, "Curse not the king, no, not in thy thought;… he who hath wings shall tell the matter" (Eccles. 10:20). Why was his name called "Paliṭ" ("One who had escaped")? Because in the hour when the Holy One, blessed be He, caused Sammael and his band to descend from heaven from their holy place, he caught hold of the wings of Michael to make him fall with himself, and the Holy One, blessed be He, saved him from his power; therefore was his name called "The one who had escaped." Concerning him Ezekiel said, "One who had escaped out of Jerusalem came to me, saying, The city is smitten" (Ezek. 33:21).