In comparison to the Christian New Testament, the references to demons in the Hebrew Bible are scarce. In fact, the word “demon” is never mentioned. However this may be, Rabbis and practicing Jews alike did not let this stop them from expanding on the supernatural in Jewish folklore. There are many beings under God’s control that are found in the Hebrew Bible and many that are not, found elsewhere in folklore or non-canonical texts. To have God in control of malevolent spirits is troublesome for many. Therefore, different interpretations were expanded on in folklore.
For the most part, the Israelites are banned from practicing any sort of witchcraft as early as the Covenant Code. Deuteronomy 18:10-20 does just that in banning sorcery and …show more content…
Supernatural creatures of the Hebrew Bible live in deserts or ruins as told in Leviticus 16:10, and Isaiah 13:21 and 34:14. Here they are called “night creatures”, “screech owls”, or “scapegoats”. These creatures can be the cause of sickness in the people, as it speaks in Psalms 91:5–6 of “pestilence that stalks in the darkness.” The supernatural can also affect the mind, as in the case of Saul in 1 Samuel 16:15 and chapter 23, and deceive like one of Yahweh’s council members did to the prophets in 1 Kings 22:22-33. In all of these occasions, the spirits were still controlled by Yahweh. Worshipping powerful God that also controls evil spirits is troublesome for some people, for obvious reason. To solve this doctrinal issue, people reinterpreted the story of creation in Genesis. Genesis 1:27 says, “Man and woman he created them.” This verse signifies simultaneous creation, different from Genesis 2:4-25 in which Adam is created first, and then Eve is created from him. If everything in the bible is taken as literally true, then the first simultaneous creation of man and woman is the foundation of Lilith folklore, Adam’s first wife. Lilith is only named once in the bible in Isaiah 34:14. (Shwartz, 342) The Alphabet of Ben Sira, a collection of Jewish satirical stories dated between the 8th and 10th centuries AD, is considered to be the first to form the story of Lilith as Adam's first wife (Vogelsang,
For the most part, the Israelites are banned from practicing any sort of witchcraft as early as the Covenant Code. Deuteronomy 18:10-20 does just that in banning sorcery and …show more content…
Supernatural creatures of the Hebrew Bible live in deserts or ruins as told in Leviticus 16:10, and Isaiah 13:21 and 34:14. Here they are called “night creatures”, “screech owls”, or “scapegoats”. These creatures can be the cause of sickness in the people, as it speaks in Psalms 91:5–6 of “pestilence that stalks in the darkness.” The supernatural can also affect the mind, as in the case of Saul in 1 Samuel 16:15 and chapter 23, and deceive like one of Yahweh’s council members did to the prophets in 1 Kings 22:22-33. In all of these occasions, the spirits were still controlled by Yahweh. Worshipping powerful God that also controls evil spirits is troublesome for some people, for obvious reason. To solve this doctrinal issue, people reinterpreted the story of creation in Genesis. Genesis 1:27 says, “Man and woman he created them.” This verse signifies simultaneous creation, different from Genesis 2:4-25 in which Adam is created first, and then Eve is created from him. If everything in the bible is taken as literally true, then the first simultaneous creation of man and woman is the foundation of Lilith folklore, Adam’s first wife. Lilith is only named once in the bible in Isaiah 34:14. (Shwartz, 342) The Alphabet of Ben Sira, a collection of Jewish satirical stories dated between the 8th and 10th centuries AD, is considered to be the first to form the story of Lilith as Adam's first wife (Vogelsang,