Bible Question:
Was the first woman called Lilith? When was Eve created? Was it on the sixth day or after the sixth day since Adam was busy naming the animals?
Bible Answer:
Was Lilith the wife of Adam? Who was Lilith? Those are questions this article answers. According to a variety of ancient Sumerian, Babylonian and Jewish literature, there were different views of a woman called Lilith.
For example some rabbis believed Lilith appeared as a woman at night and behaved demonically.
According to the rabbis, the Lilith nocturnal spectre in the form of a beautiful woman that carried off children at night and destroyed them (see Bochart, Hieroz. iii,829; Gesenius, Thesaur. s.v.; Buxtorf. Lex. Chald. el Talm. p. 1140).[1]
Arabian tales state that Lilith was a ghule or a demon.[2]. Some believe the Lilith was,
. . . not to an owl or goat-sucker, but to the poetical Strix of the ancients, a lamia with breasts, that is, a harpy, or a vampire being, a blood-sucking species of the bat family (Ovid. Fast. vi, 139. and the Fables of C. Ti1inius. quoted by Gesner, De Strige, p. 738).[3]
The Babylonian Talmud describes Lilith as an evil spirit who had an uncontrollable passion for sex. For example, the Tractate Shabbath 151a states,
One may not sleep in a house alone, and whoever sleeps in a house alone is seized by Lilith.[4]
The warning was that a male must not sleep by himself. Otherwise, she may attack him and force him to engage in sex with her. Today, Lilith has become a symbol of freedom for many feminist groups. She is also worshiped by followers of the Wicca religion.
Was Lilith the First Wife of Adam?
According to the book titled The Legend of the Jews by Louis Ginzberg, Lilith was Adam’s first wife and Eve was Adam’s second wife.
The Divine resolution to bestow a companion on Adam met the wishes of man, who had been overcome by a feeling of isolation when the animals came to him in pairs to be named. To banish his loneliness, Lilith was first given to Adam as wife. Like him she had been created out of the dust of the ground. But she remained with him only a short time, because she insisted upon enjoying full equality with her husband. She derived her rights from their identical origin. With the help of the Ineffable Name, which she pronounced, Lilith flew away from Adam, and vanished in the air. Adam complained before God that the wife He had given him had deserted him, and God sent forth three angels to capture her. They found her in the Red Sea, and they sought to make her go back with the threat that, unless she went, she would lose a hundred of her demon children daily by death. But Lilith preferred this punishment to living with Adam. She takes her revenge by injuring baby boys during the first night of their life, while baby girls are exposed to her wicked designs until they are twenty days old. The only way to ward off the evil is to attach an amulet bearing the names of her three angel captors to the children, for such had been the agreement between them.
The woman destined to become the true companion of man was taken from Adam’s body, for “only when like is joined unto like, the union is indissoluble. The creation of woman from man was possible because Adam originally had two faces, which were separated at the birth of Eve.”[5]
The Jewish Publication Society included the key word “legends” in the title of the book. The title of the book accurately describes this statement. It does not agree with the Bible. It is clear from this passage that some Jews believed Lilith was demonic. According to the Kabbala, Litlith was the serpent in Genesis 3.[6]
Was Eve The First Wife of Adam?
The Bible rejects the concept that Adam had a wife called Lilith for two reasons. First, the Bible says that both Adam and Eve were created on the same day, the sixth day of creation.
And God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them . . . God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day. (NASB) Genesis 1:27, 31
It is important to remember that sin had not yet entered the universe. Even if Lilith had been created on the sixth day, she would not have sinned by being disobedient and acting as the Jewish legend describes. Since sin did not enter the universe until Genesis 3 with Adam and Eve, it was not present in Genesis 1 or Genesis 2.
The second reason Lilith did not exist was that Adam and Eve were the first couple.
For Adam was first formed, then Eve . . . 1 Timothy 2:13 (NASB)
Here we are told that Adam was formed first and then Eve was formed next. The Bible never mentions Lilith in Genesis.
Who Was Lilith According to the Bible?
The Hebrew word lilith does occur in the Hebrew Bible. But different Bible versions do not display the transliterated word. The ASV, ESV, NET, NIV, and the NKJV translate lilith as “night monster,” “night bird,” and “night creatures.” The KJV translates lilith as a “screech owl.”
The Hebrew word lilith occurs in Isaiah 34:14. In this verse, only the Lexham Bible and and the Tanakh transliterate the Hebrew word as lilith. The Lexham Bible defines lilith in a note as potentially meaning a Mesopotamian night-demon. The Tanakh states in a footnote the word refers to some kind of demon. Here is Isaiah 34:14.
The desert creatures will meet with the wolves,
The hairy goat also will cry to its kind;
Yes, the night monster will settle there
And will find herself a resting place. Isaiah 34:14 (NASB)
The Hebrew word lilith is translated in this verse as a “night monster.” The actual Hebrew word literally means “creature of the night.”[7] Most of the modern Bible translations of Isaiah 34:14 prefer this meaning of the word and do not transliterate the Hebrew word. Consequently, the word or name, Lilith, does not actually appear in most Bibles.
Conclusion:
The Bible states that the first woman was Eve and she was created on the same day as Adam. 1 Timothy 2:13 states that Adam was created first and then Eve. Lilith is never mentioned in Genesis 1-2. Lilith was not a wife of Adam. The Hebrew word lilith refers to a demon. Ancient testimony says lilith was a Mesopotamian night-demon. That is the testimony of the Scriptures.
References:
1. McClintock and Strong. Cyclopedia of Biblical Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature. 1887, vol. IX, p. 463.
2. Ibid.
3. Ibid.
4. Tractate Shabbath. The Babylonian Talmud. 151a.
5. Ginzburg. The Legend of the Jews. Jewish Publication Society. 1937. vol. 1, pp 65-66.
6. Patai 81:455f.
7.Keil and Delitzch. Isaiah. Commentary on the Old Testament. Hendrickson Publishing. 2006. vol. 7. p. 347.
Suggested Links:
Was Jesus the Holy Spirit involved in the creation of Adam and Eve?Does Jeremiah 4:23-28 imply that Adam and Eve were not the first couple?