Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel

• “Heaven has no rage like love to hatred turned / Nor hell a fury like a woman scorned.”

Yes, men can cite this poetic verse by heart. Although many attribute the famous quote to William Shakespeare, it actually comes from a play called the “The Mourning Bride” (1697) by William Congreve.

However, when talking about a Sumerian demoness named, “Lilith,” one may want to paraphrase Congreve’s verse:

“Heaven has no rage like love to hatred turned / Nor hell a fury like a demoness scorned.”

One of the most interesting personalities listed in rabbinic and non-rabbinic literature is the figure of Lilith, who is said to be Adam’s “first wife” and sometimes referred to as “the first Eve.” The only reference to Lilith may be found in Isaiah 34:14 where the term לִילִית (lîlît) first appears. Older bible translations render לִילִית as “screech owl.”[1] This interpretation is consistent with the previous stanzas that speak about other wild animals or birds. Newer translations seem to prefer “Lilith” because of its strong connections to Sumerian, Babylonian, and Assyrian mythologies. In Sumerian, the word lil “wind” is related to the name; as such, she was also known as a storm-demon. If this definition is correct, then the other creature mentioned in the same verse שָׂעִיר must mean the hairy goat-demon. The fact that Lilith does not appear in any other Scriptural reference is significant—especially given the antiquity of the belief of her existence.[2]

For many years scholars thought that the name “Lilith” was connected to the popular folk etymology לָיְלָה (laylâ = “night”). However, the real origin of the name derives from the Assyrian lilîtu and Akkadian the lilū, lilītu and ardat lilī, who were the three storm deities.[3] In Sumerian, the term líl means either “wind” or “spirit.” The Jews probably first learned of this feminine demonic being after the Northern Kingdom of Israel was deported to Assyria in 721 B.C.E., and shortly later when the Southern Kingdom was deported to Babylon.[4]

Although the origin of Lilith is not mentioned anywhere in the Talmud, she is mentioned in the popular medieval composition known as The Alphabet of Ben Sira (ca. 8^th century). According to medieval Jewish folklore, God created Lilith from the earth just as He created Adam. From the beginning of their relationship, Adam and Lilith immediately begin to fight. One version of the myth, recounts how Adam insists on making love in the missionary position and Lilith agrees—provided she can be in the dominant position instead:

• After God created Adam, who was alone, He said, ‘It is not good for man to be alone (Genesis 2:18). He then created a woman for Adam, from the earth, as He had created Adam himself, and called her Lilith. Adam and Lilith immediately began to fight. She said, “I will not lie below,” and he said, “I will not lie beneath you, but only on top. For you are fit only to be in the bottom position, while I am to be in the superior one.” Lilith responded, “We are equal to each other inasmuch as we were both created from the earth.” But they would not listen to one another. When Lilith saw this, she pronounced the Ineffable Name and flew away into the air. Adam stood in prayer before his Creator: “Sovereign of the universe!” he said, “the woman you gave me has run away.” At once, the Holy One, blessed be He, sent these three angels to bring her back.[5]

The quarrel is profoundly psychologically nuanced, similar in many ways to an ordinary day in the battle of the sexes. The myth draws attention to the pattern of dysfunction that affects the complicated world of human relations. It is conjectured that Adam could not endure having an egalitarian relationship and so their conflicts quickly lead to Lilith’s sudden departure—she did not want to be Adam’s underling! Rather than playing the role of marriage counselor, YHWH sends for three angels to bring her back, issuing the following ultimatum. “If she agrees to return, then fine. If not, she must permit one hundred of her children to die every day.” [6] The ancients believed demons were very prolific beings, populating much more quickly than mortals—a view that many of the rabbis uncritically accepted in the Midrash.[7]

After the Lilith prototype proves to be a failure, and to make sure that there would never be a problem regarding who would be the “head of the family,” God—this time—creates a woman out of Adam’s rib to symbolize her subservience to her husband.

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Hello again,

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Notes:

[1] Cf. the Septuagint, Pseudo-Targum Jonathan and the Vulgate. A modern rendering of this passage would thus be: The wild beasts of the desert shall also meet with the howling beasts; and the shaggy goat shall cry to his fellow. The screech owl also shall rest there, and find for herself a place of rest (MKJV).

[2] The líl is also mentioned in the Sumerian epic Gilgamesh, Enkidu and the Netherworld (ca. 3^rd millennium B.C.E.).

[3] Cf. BDB 539:1; HALOT 528; cf. Marcus Jastrow’s Dictionary of Targumim, Talmudic and Midrashic Literature, 707; Numbers Rabbah 16:25.

[4] According to one rabbinic tradition, Lilith was the daughter of Ahreman, the opponent of Ohrmizd in the Zoroastrian religion (T. B. Bava Bathra 73a). See Karel Van der Toorn, Bob Becking, and Pieter Willem Van Der Horst, Dictionary of Deities and Demons in the Bible (Leiden; Boston; Grand Rapids, Brill: Eerdmans, 1999), 520. She is also mentioned in the Jerusalem Targum to Num. 6:24; Deut. 33:24; Isa. 34:14 and in T. B. Erubin 18b.

[5] David Stern and Mark J. Mirisky, Rabbinic Fantasies: Imaginative Narratives from Classical Hebrew Literature (Chicago, IL. Publisher’s Row/Varda Books, repr. 2001), 183-184.

[6] It seems strange that The Alphabet of Ben Sira did not think to ask where Lilith was going to find her new love interests. However, in a different variant of the myth, the angel Samael (not to be confused with Samuel), chief of the fallen angels (a.k.a “Satan”), finds her weeping and falls in love with her. Unlike Adam, Lilith finds Samael to be more egalitarian and appealing; she accepts him as her mate. See Maximilian Josef Rudwin “The Legend of Lilith” Devil in Legend and Literature (Chicago: Open Court, 1931), 94-104.

[7] See Gen. Rabbah 20:11.