In this aspect we can compare these demons with Ishtar who stands at the window looking for a man in order to seduce him, love him and kill him. But their sexuality is not a normal kind of sexuality because (w)ardat lilî is a girl with whom a man does not sleep in the same way as with his wife, as the texts tell us. Thus the texts refer to them as the ones who have no husband, or as the ones who stroll about searching for men in order to ensnare them or to enter the house of a man through the window (see the references given by FAUTH 1982:60–61 LACKENBACHER 1971 HUTTER 1988:224–226). Of greater importance, however, is the sexual aspect of the-mainly-female demons lilı̄tu and (w)ardat lilî. Thus lilû can also be seen as the southwest wind, lilı̄tu can flee from a house through the window like the wind or people imagine that she is able to fly like a bird. In Akk texts lilû, lilı̄tu and (w)ardat lilî often occur together as three closely related demons whose dominion are the stormy winds. Anzu and the demon flee so that he can cut down the tree and give the timber to Inanna.įrom the term líl we can see that these demons are related to stormy winds. But as the tree grows, a snake makes its nest at its roots, Anzu settled in the top and in the trunk the demon ki-sikil-líl-lá makes her lair. Here we find Inanna (→Ishtar) who plants a tree later hoping to cut from its wood a throne and a bed for herself. The Mesopotamian evidence for this demon reaches back to the 3rd millennium BCE as we can see from the Sumerian epic ‘Gilgamesh, Enkidu and the Netherworld’. But it is certainly to be considered a loan from Akk lilı̄tu, which is ultimately derived from Sum líl. The Heb term lîlît as a →demon in Isa 34:14 is connected by popular etymology with the word laylâ ‘night’. Baumgarten, On the nature of the seductress in 4Q184 Revue de Qumran 1991.įrom Dictionary of Deities and Demons in the Bible: In its trunk, he made Lilith, who had built her abode there, flee into the wilderness (GEN 142-143)ħ The oldest source for Lilith in Jewish tradition is in Songs for a Sage, part of the Dead Sea Scrolls found at Qumran in an incantation against demons.Ĩ Joseph M. 33:17) Satyr (Isa 13:21) Dragon (for “serpent”) (Deut 32:33) Cockatrice (Iswa 11:8) Arrowsnake (Gen 49:11, in the margin).Ĥ Although in this case it seems they simply copied from the Geneva Bible of William Madison Whittington (1587).ĥ Judit Blair, De-Demonising the Old Testament: An Investigation of Azazel, Lilith, Deber, Qeteb and Reshef in the Hebrew Bible, Mohr Siebeck 2009.Ħ The idea of Lilith inhabiting the wastelands seems to come from the Sumerian tale Gilgamesh, Enkidu, and the Netherworld, where Gilgamesh cuts down Inana's infested cherry tree, thus: For info see the Yale introductory course to the OT lectures by Catherine Hayes.ģ Other questionable translations include Unicorn (Deut. – Pro 2:18–19ġ From Strong's concordance: “A female night-demon.”Ģ For example, Tiam(at), the Dragon of Deep, who makes her appearance in Genesis as Tehom(at). Those who go to her never come back, nor do they regain the paths of life. This parallels the description of the “strange woman” of the OT:įor her house leads down to death, and her paths to the shades. None of those who enter there will ever return, and all who possess her will descend into the Pit. Her gates are gates of death and from the entrance of the house, she sets out towards the underworld. ![]() Some scholars 8 identify the strange woman of Proverbs 2, 5, 7, 9, with the references to a Lilith-type figure in the Dead Sea Scrolls: ![]() Modern scholars similarly take it to be a reference to the Mesopotamian 6 / Jewish 7 demoness without question, and some even argue that she appears in other passages as well although not named. Regarding other appearances in the OT, Judit Blair 5 says: There too Lilith 1 shall repose, and find a place to rest.Īlthough there is a tradition of demythologization in the the Old Testament period, 2 the medieval idea of translating Lilith as “Night Owl” or “Screech Owl” is more a quirk of the KJV translators, who often reached 3 to find “real” animals as replacement for difficult Hebrew terms. After mentioning goat-demons (or Satyrs), Isaiah says: When he turns against Edom, Isaiah gives a long list of wild animals and demons that will make their home in the Edomite wastelands once Yahweh's bloodlust is satiated. Here Yahweh declares his rage at other nations and sentences them to death. Her first appearance in scripture is not as Adam's wife, but as a common ancient Near-East demoness in Isaiah 34. You can read the excerpt that mentions her here. The idea of Lilith as Adam's first wife comes from a medieval document called the Alphabet of Sirach.
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