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Lilith (/ˈlɪlɪθ/; Hebrew: לִילִית, romanized: Līlīṯ), also spelled Lilit, Lilitu, or Lilis, is a feminine figure in Mesopotamian and Jewish mythology, theorized to be the first wife of Adam[1] and a primordial she-demon. Lilith is cited as having been "banished" from the Garden of Eden for disobeying Adam.[2]
The original Hebrew word from which the name Lilith is taken is in the Biblical Hebrew, in the Book of Isaiah, though Lilith herself is not mentioned in any biblical text.[3] In late antiquity in Mandaean and Jewish sources from 500 AD onward, Lilith appears in historiolas (incantations incorporating a short mythic story) in various concepts and localities[4] that give partial descriptions of her. She is mentioned in the Babylonian Talmud (Eruvin 100b, Niddah 24b, Shabbat 151b, Bava Batra 73a), in the Conflict of Adam and Eve with Satan as Adam's first wife, and in the Zohar § Leviticus 19a as "a hot fiery female who first cohabited with man".[5] Many rabbinic authorities, including Maimonides and Menachem Meiri, reject the existence of Lilith.[6]
The name Lilith seems related to the masculine Akkadian word lilû and its female variants lilītu and ardat lilî. The lil- root is shared by the Hebrew word lilit appearing in Isaiah 34:14, which is thought to be a night bird by modern scholars such as Judit M. Blair.[7] In Mesopotamian religion according to the cuneiform texts of Sumer, Assyria, and Babylonia, lilû are a class of demonic spirits, consisting of adolescents who died before they could bear children.[8][1][9][10] Many have also connected her to the Mesopotamian demon Lamashtu, who shares similar traits and a similar position in mythology to Lilith.[11][12][13]
Lilith continues to serve as source material in today's literature, popular culture, Western culture, occultism, fantasy, horror, and erotica.
- ^ a b Cite error: The named reference
McDonaldwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "Blood, Gender and Power in Christianity and Judaism". www2.kenyon.edu. Archived from the original on 5 March 2024. Retrieved 8 January 2022.
- ^ Isaiah 34:14
- ^ Müller-Kessler, Christa (2001). "Lilit(s) in der aramäisch-magischen Literatur der Spätantike". Altorientalische Forschungen. 28 (2). Walter de Gruyter GmbH: 338–352. doi:10.1524/aofo.2001.28.2.338. S2CID 163723903.
- ^ Davidson, Gustav (1971) Dictionary of Angels.pdf A Dictionary of Angels including the Fallen Angels, New York, The Free Press, p. 174. ISBN 002907052X
- ^ B., Shapiro, Marc (2008). Studies in Maimonides and his interpreters. University of Scranton Press. p. 134. ISBN 978-1-58966-165-3. OCLC 912624714.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ Blair (2009).
- ^ Scurlock, JoAnn; Anderson, Burton (2005). Diagnoses in Assyrian and Babylonian Medicine: Ancient Sources, Translations, and Modern Medical Analysis (print). Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press. p. 273 & 434. ISBN 0-252-02956-9.
The lilû-demons and their female counterparts, the lilītu or ardat lilî-demons... If a girl or boy had the misfortune of dying before having had the opportunity to marry and have children, it was believed that his or her ghost was forever doomed to prowl the earth." - page 273; "Lilû, lilītu, and ardat lilî were a class of demons who were believed to be recruited from among young persons who died just before or just after marriage. These demons tended to victimize persons of the opposite sex but of the same age as themselves. For example, the adolescent female ardat lilî was responsible for Gilles de la Tourette syndrome, a disorder that primarily affects boys in the first two decades of life (see Chapter 13)."- page 434
- ^ Farber, Walter (1990) Reallexikon der Assyriologie und vorderasiatischen Archäologie (RLA), 7, Berlin, de Gruyter, pp. 23–24, ISBN 3-11-010437-7.
- ^ Hutter, Manfred (1999) "Lilith", in K. van der Toorn et al. (eds.), Dictionary of Deities and Demons in the Bible, Leiden, Brill, pp. 520–521. ISBN 90-04-11119-0.
- ^ "Stalking Us for 9,000 Years: The Levantine Origins of the Undead". Haaretz. Archived from the original on 5 December 2022. Retrieved 7 January 2024.
- ^ Marlene E Mondriaan (UP). "Lilith and Eve – wives of Adam". Sabinet African Journals.
- ^ Emrys, Wendilyn (March 2018), The Transformations of a Goddess: Lillake, Lamashtu, and Lilith – via Research Gate