Lilith is known for being the first woman to be created according to many rabbinical texts ( the source of much Jewish mythology). There are several different perspectives on who Lilith is and why she was so dangerous, but all of them involve her hatred of Adam, Eve, and their descendants. She is the female version of the Antichrist.
Depending on the source, Lilith is often depicted as a dangerous seductress or a baby killer. Sometimes, she is also said to be an evil demon or a practitioner of witchcraft who was known for casting vile spells on men and women who worshipped Jehovah. However, Lilith was not originally created to be such a vile being. In fact, legend tells us that she was originally made to be Adam’s companion and helper.
Lilith is Created
Legend tells us that on the sixth day, man and woman were created. While many religions that descend from Judaism recognize this woman as Eve in modern times, there are several sources in rabbinical texts that suggest that the first woman created for Adam was actually Lilith.
When Jehovah sent all the animals he had created before Adam in pairs of males and females for Adam to name, the first man quickly became jealous of the love each pair of animals had for each other. It is said that he tried to mate with all kinds of female animals, but he could not find a good mate because none of the female creatures had been made specifically for him. Adam was devastated and complained to Jehovah that every living creature except himself had a “suitable mate.” He begged Jehovah to see his suffering and create a suitable companion for him.
Jehovah saw that Adam was troubled and decided to answer his prayer by creating woman in the same way he had created man. Instead of using pure dust (as he had used with Adam), however, this woman was made from dirt and sediment. Lilith’s terrible attributes and unpleasant disposition are sometimes attributed to this fact. Even so, despite being made from impure dust, Lilith was the most beautiful woman ever created. She was known for being perfect in every way.
Lilith and Adam Quarrel
Adam was immediately captivated by his partner’s beauty and was grateful to Jehovah for bringing her into existence. However, this feeling of satisfaction did not last long—almost as soon as Lilith emerged into the world, she began to fight with Adam.
It seems that the biggest conflict surrounding Adam and Lilith’s relationship was the issue of sexual intimacy. Lilith was offended by Adam’s insistence that she lie beneath him to copulate and had no problem letting Adam know how she felt. Lilith quickly began arguing with Adam about the matter and refused to back down. She insisted that, since she was also made of dust, she was his equal and should not be forced to lie in a position inferior to his.
Adam was unhappy with Lilith’s stance. As the man—and therefore the leader—of their union, Adam felt that she should respect his instructions. Furthermore, it was quite evident that Adam was not about to lie down beneath Lilith. In frustration, Adam attempted to make Lilith obey him using force. This proved to be a terrible mistake.
Lilith escapes
As soon as Adam attempts to use force to make Lilith copulate beneath him, the enraged Lilith utters the unspeakable (Jehovah’s magic name) and flies up into the heavens. Adam, enraged and saddened, turned once again to Jehovah and complained that his companion had abandoned him. Jehovah felt sorry for Adam and sent three of his angels named Senoy, Sansenoy, and Semangel to find Lilith and bring her back to Adam.
Senoy, Sansenoy, and Semangel flew in search of Lilith and were impressed by what they found. After searching for Lilith throughout the world, she was discovered in the Red Sea, an area that was filled with hundreds of demons. To make matters worse, Lilith was copulating with demons and giving birth to hundreds of new demons every day. These children of demons came to be known as ‘lilim’ after their mother.
The Angels’ Deal with Lilith
Disgusted, Senoy, Sansenoy, and Semangel demanded that Lilith return to Adam as his companion. If she refused to obey, they told her she would drown in the seas. Unfortunately, Lilith was not about to return and told them she had no desire to return to Adam in a subordinate position when she saw herself as his equal. The angels warned her that her disobedience would result in death if she did not obey them and return.
Still, she continued to argue with the angels. She turned to them and asked how they expected her to return to Adam as “an honest housewife” when she had stayed in the Red Sea and given birth to so many children of demons. However, the angels refused to take this into consideration and insisted that her disobedience would result in death by drowning.
However, Lilith was clever and asked the angels how they could threaten her with death when Jehovah himself had entrusted her with the care of all newborn children. She reminded them that she held power over newborn boys until the eighth day of life and power over girls until the twentieth day of life. The angels were horrified to realize this and began to plead with Lilith to return to Adam in the Garden of Eden. It soon became clear, however, that no amount of pleading or reasoning would convince Lilith to return to her role as Adam’s companion.
To appease the angels, she promised that she would not harm any child who wore an angelic amulet with their names inscribed on it. The same promise was made to newborns who wore amulets with her image engraved on their surface. This appeased the angels, and they agreed to let Lilith remain in her new filth.
Jehovah punishes Lilith
Frustrated, Jehovah made one last attempt to convince Lilith to return to Adam. He told her that if she refused to return to Adam, she would be forced to watch 100 of her children die every day. This made Lilith bitter, but she accepted her fate and allowed 100 of her demonic children to die with the rising and setting of each sun.
It is believed that the bitterness she felt from this punishment is the reason she targets newborns. Because she is forced to watch her own children die every day, she wants to inflict the same kind of pain on the descendants of Adam and Eve. It is said that Lilith and a consort named Naamah go to children at night and strangle them to death if they are not protected by an angelic amulet.
Strangely, this woman’s rage toward children is not limited to humans. It is suggested that if Lilith is unable to find a baby to kill (because they are protected by amulets), she was not above turning on her own children in a fit of rage.
It is necessary for Jehovah to make a new partner for Adam.
When Jehovah realized that it was necessary to make another companion for Adam because he could not convince Lilith to return, he began to form another companion for Adam and allowed the first man to observe his creation. Jehovah used bones, muscles, tissue, blood, and organs to create Adam’s new companion. This time, Jehovah also made sure that the woman was made from pure dust.
When he was finished, the new woman was named “First Eve” and was presented to Adam. Although First Eve was incredibly beautiful, Adam could not bear to look at her because of his disgust and nausea at seeing her being put together. Jehovah realized that he should not have allowed Adam to observe his creation process and took First Eve away. No one knows what happened to her.
The third time’s the charm
Realizing the mistake he had made, Jehovah waited until Adam fell asleep and took one of Adam’s ribs. He used this rib to mold the new woman, creating her in his image and in Adam’s image. When he finished creating the new woman, he braided her hair and dressed her like a bride with 24 pieces of jewelry. When he was finished, he brought this new woman (also named Eve) to Adam. The first man was immediately taken with Eve’s beauty and made a union with her.
However, their happiness did not last long. Soon, the evil serpent entered the Garden of Eden and tempted Adam and Eve to eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Although many in modern times identify this serpent as Satan or Lucifer, there are some ancient texts that claim that Lilith was responsible for tempting the two and causing them to be cast out of Jehovah’s favor. This raises questions about whether Lilith is an alternate identity for Satan.
Furthermore, because she had left the Garden of Eden long before the fall of Adam and Eve, she is known to be immune to death. This factor likely influences cultures around the world to perceive her as a demonic goddess or dark goddess, the opposite of Medusa, Apollo, Zeus, and others.
Other implications of Lilith’s creation story
There are rabbinical texts that suggest that Lilith was not the only woman made from dust like Adam. It is suggested that Jehovah once again tried to make a woman from dust as he had done with Adam, and that her name was Naamah. From Adam’s union with Lilith and Naamah, it is suggested that all demons were created. Some of the most terrible demons are Tubal and Asmodeus.
It is known that countless children of Lilith and Naamah seek to inflict pain and suffering on the descendants of Adam and Eve to this day because of their mothers’ hatred of the couple. The texts that record this part of the story suggest that Naamah is not as powerful as Lilith, but is always present with the first woman and participates in the same evil acts.
Alternative explanations for creation
There are also those who say that creation took place in a different way. These texts claim that although Jehovah had considered making a male and female human being, he changed his mind and created a human being with a male face on the front of the body and a female face on the back. After seeing this creature struggle to communicate and find happiness, Jehovah changed his mind and separated the two.
Adam remained in the original body facing forward, and Eve was molded from the female face that had been facing backward. When they separated, Lilith began to fight with Adam. She complained that she should not be forced to lie beneath him to copulate because they had been created from the same body. In her opinion, this made her his equal. The rest of the story is in line with existing mythology about who that woman was and how she was born.
The many attacks attributed to Lilith
Because of Lilith’s connection to the fall of man and her general dislike and disrespect for Adam, Lilith has come to be associated with a number of misfortunes and sufferings that are directed toward humans.
The Slaughter of Babies
Because Lilith refused to bear children to Adam by copulating with him in a subordinate position, it is said that Jehovah punished her by making her watch as 100 of her demon offspring were killed each day. Lilith did not take this punishment lightly and was said to have retaliated by trying to kill any child descended from Adam and Eve.
According to legend, there was only one thing that could be done to prevent Lilith from taking her revenge. It is known that when she negotiated with the angels so that she would not have to return to Adam, she promised to release her power over a child if they were protected by an amulet bearing the names of the angels who tried to bring her back. These angels were called Senoy, Sansenoy, and Semangel.
Because of this promise, many newborns were given special amulets bearing the names of these angels. The image of these angels was also used on the amulets because it also prevented Lilith from claiming the life of a baby. Another practice to protect newborns (especially boys) was to draw a ring on the wall of the room where the child was born using charcoal. Inside the square, the words ‘Adam and Eve.
“Go away, Lilith!” were written. Below these words were the names of the guardian angels: Senoy, Sansenoy, and Semangel. On rare occasions, it was thought that Lilith could sneak into these rooms despite the warnings (perhaps due to some obscure technicality) and approach the children she wished to kill. It was believed that when she caressed the child, the child would laugh in its sleep.
Parents watched their children to make sure this did not happen. If it did, they would tap a sleeping child’s lips with a finger, a technique believed to make Lilith disappear. These precautions were only necessary until the male children reached their eighth day of life and were circumcised, or until the female children reached their twentieth day of life.
The seduction of men
Lilith was not only dangerous because of her anger toward children, but also because of the threat she posed to men. It has been suggested that Lilith was also known for trying to attack adult men while they slept because of her deep hatred and resentment toward Adam.
These myths portray Lilith (and sometimes Naamah) as going out at night in search of male victims. It was thought that they would only attack men who slept alone, making single men and single travelers the primary target. According to legend, Lilith would go to the beds of men sleeping alone and make them sin in their dreams by touching them and making them think terrible things.
However, it seems that forcing men to stray through sexual dreams was the least of the threats that Lilith and Naamah posed to adult men. Lilith and Naamah were also thought to have a tendency to suck the blood of the men they fed on, and were sometimes known to even eat the flesh of their victims. This part of Lilith’s legend is believed to have inspired the Lamiae, who were known for the same type of cannibalism. The Lamiae helped inspire the legends of the first vampires and werewolves, indirectly making Lilith the mother of all vampires.
Rabbinical texts did not take this part of Lilith’s legend lightly. They strongly urged men to be on guard against such attacks and advised them to avoid sleeping alone to protect themselves.
The infertility of women
Although it seems that Lilith was not above taking the life of a newborn to cause pain and suffering among the descendants of Adam and Eve, she did not stop there. Lilith was also thought to be responsible for the suffering of women who could not conceive.
Although she was not prevented from having children in any way, it is believed that she sought to cause pain and suffering in all aspects of conception, childbirth, and childhood. The idea that Lilith caused infertility developed over time, perhaps due to her inability to attack babies who were protected by angelic amulets. It makes sense, then, that Lilith would try to circumvent the limits of her promise by preventing certain women from becoming pregnant.
Was Lilith Adams the first wife, or a result of a confusing story?
In the early years, passages from rabbinic texts and biblical passages made it clear that the creation of man identified two separate creations of woman. Furthermore, it can be determined that the two were not considered the same woman because different processes were used to create them; one woman was created at the same time as Adam, while the second (Eve) was created from one of Adam’s ribs.
It is believed that early scholars struggled to identify Adam’s first wife and decided on a demon named Lilith to complete the story. If this is, in fact, the process that was used to identify Lilith, it could mean that she was not Adam’s first real wife—although she was certainly a fearsome demoness. It is important to note that all other knowledge of Lilith, apart from this, remains the same.
A crude misinterpretation
Interestingly, although many of the stories in rabbinic texts and biblical passages have their origins in Middle Eastern mythology, the Judeo-Christian story of the creation of man has no parallels. There is, however, one scene that has disturbingly similar imagery. An ancient painting from earlier cultures showed the goddess Anath naked in the air, watching her lover Mot murder her twin brother Aliyan.
It is believed that biblical and rabbinical mythographers confused Mot with Yahweh and Aliyan with Adam. Thus, Yahweh removing Adam’s rib was actually Mot stabbing Aliyan with a curved dagger under his fifth rib—not removing a sixth rib. If this is the case, it would mean that the story of Eve was formed with dishonest information and that Eve also received the same respect and love as Adam (even though she had followed his leadership).
The exaggeration of real events
It is also possible that the story of Adam and Lilith could have come from real events that occurred in Canaanite history. It was recorded that a queen named Lilith allowed a group of nomadic shepherds to enter her court as guests. All was well until the shepherds suddenly seized power in the kingdom, causing Queen Lilith to flee. The lost queen was soon replaced by a new queen. This queen swore allegiance to the Hittite goddess known as Heba.
In fact, it is believed that the name Eve, meaning “mother of all living,” was a Hebrew form of the divine name Heba. Furthermore, Heba was known to be the wife of the Hittite storm god (often the representation with which Jehovah, Yahweh, and Allah are associated in various cultures) and was known to be equated with Anath. As mentioned above, an image depicting Anath and her lover Mot was thought to have served as inspiration for the rabbinic creation story.
The combination of all these strange parallels leads many to wonder whether Lilith was really Adam’s first wife. However, despite her association with Adam, Lilith was greatly feared and respected among many primitive cultures.
