The name "Lilith" isn't even in the Bible, but according to Jewish mythology, she was Adam's first wife. This myth has intertwined ancient Mesopotamian and Jewish beliefs for thousands of years. The traditional description of Lilith blends ancient demonic lore with Biblical cosmology in a way that often defies gender norms, leading to her portrayal as a fearsome night hag.
The depiction of Lilith as an ungodly seductress fails to acknowledge her nuanced role in the Jewish faith and Mesopotamian traditions. To understand Lilith's importance, it helps to know more about her origins and the role she has played throughout history.
Lilith's role as Adam's first wife became part of the Jewish tradition when she was mentioned in a midrash, a text that interprets and explains Hebrew scriptures. The midrash elaborated on inconsistencies in the Book of Genesis: In Genesis 1, man and woman are created at the same time, but then Genesis 2 establishes Eve as the product of Adam's rib. To reconcile these diverging accounts, there must have been another woman in Adam's life.
Enter: Lilith. She was depicted as Adam's first wife in the Alphabet of Ben Sira, a work that became part of Jewish tradition sometime around the year 1000 CE. According to this interpretation, their marriage eventually failed and she left, prompting God to create Eve.
Her Name Isn't Mentioned Directly In The Bible
Lilith appears in the Bible only once, and it's not even by name. In Isaiah 34:14, the author refers to the "night bird," "night monster," or "nocturnal creature," depending on which translation of the Bible you're reading.
When the Book of Isaiah mentions a nefarious night creature living among the ruins, Biblical scholars believe the passage is referring to Lilith. Later translations of the Bible have
Her Origins Are In Mesopotamian Mythology
Lilith was likely derived from the ancient Sumerian myth of lilitu - the demon spirits of men and women who passed young. Lilith's more horrific aspects can be traced back to Lamashtu , the daughter of the Mesopotamian sky god Anu. Lamashtu was said to slay children and feast on men.
Lilith also appears in The Epic of Gilgamesh , on a tablet dated to roughly 2000 BCE. There she is a demon that Gilgamesh forces to flee and take refuge in a desolate area, an element that remains consistent in her tale over time.
The Dead Sea Scrolls Associate Her With Other Demons
The Dead Sea Scrolls, a group of some 800 texts discovered in the 1940s and 1950s on the West Bank near the Dead Sea, mention Lilith. The scrolls include Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek prayers, legal documents, biblical writings, and apocryphal works.
Lilith is referred to in the "Song for a Sage," which was possibly a hymn used during exorcisms:
And I, the Sage, sound the majesty of His beauty to terrify and confound all the spirits of destroying angels and the bastard spirits, the demons, Lilith... and those that strike suddenly, to lead astray the spirit of understanding, and to make desolate their heart.
She Is Identified As The Serpent In The Garden of Eden
Some historical texts and various works of art suggest that Lilith is the serpent in the Garden of Eden.
Michelangelo's painting in the Sistine Chapel depicting "The Fall of Man," for example, features a figure with the body of a woman and the tail of a serpent wrapped around a tree, which some suggest represents Lilith.
And the Serpent, the Woman of Harlotry, incited and seduced Eve through the husks of Light which in itself is holiness... For Evil Lilith, when she saw the greatness of [Adam's] corruption, became strong in her husks, and came to Adam against his will, and became hot from him and bore him many demons and spirits and Lilin.
If Lilith was Adam's first wife as described in Genesis 1, she was created from the earth just as he was, ostensibly making them equals. According to the Alphabet of Ben Sira, this equality was the problem that drove Lilith and Adam apart. When Adam insisted that Lilith perform her wifely duties and assume a submissive role, she responded that she would not.
Lilith insisted, "The two of us are equal, since we are both from the earth," and they ended up quarreling.
