The Lilith myth holds that Eve was not Adam’s first wife. His first wife, Lilith, had some issues with Adam’s patriarchal tendencies and refused to be dominated by him. The contention between them resulted in Lilith leaving Eden and settling in a remote, desert environment that some claim to be where the Israelites would later cross the Red Sea. The questions that beg asking are these: Is there any merit in the claim that Adam had a wife before Eve? Where did the Lilith myth originate from? And who or what exactly is Lilith? Let’s investigate…
The Alphabet of Ben Sira
The Alphabet of Ben Sira, a text by an unknown author, entered Jewish tradition shortly before the 11th century CE. This work relates tales in 22 episodes that correlate with the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet. Among other stories, it introduced a new perspective on the narrative of the creation of man and it presented Adam’s first wife as Lilith instead of Eve.
According to The Alphabet, a courtier of King Nebuchadnezzar had the task of healing the king’s son. He engraved the names of three angels on an amulet and told the story of how these angels had to track and subdue evil spirits who caused disease and death. Lilith was such a spirit. He then related her origins, citing Genesis 2:18.
The Alphabet relates how the first couple, Adam and Lilith, were created by God and lived in Eden. Soon, however, an argument developed between Adam and Lilith about who should occupy the top position when they had intercourse. They considered the bottom position more submissive. Lilith argued that since they were made from the same substance, earth, taking a submissive position to Adam impeded her equality and personal freedom. She said: “We are equal because we are both created from the earth.” The connection between “Adam” and “earth” is more pronounced in Hebrew, since both words share the same root. Nevertheless, Lilith objected to the notion that Adam expected her to be submissive. She wanted her rightful place.
Lilith became so frustrated and enraged with Adam’s patriarchal tendencies that she pronounced the tetragrammaton, YHWH, often rendered Yahweh. In Jewish tradition, this name was too holy to pronounce, and doing what Lilith did constituted sacrilege. She then left paradise by flying away. Her destination was the Red Sea, where the Israelites would later escape from the Egyptian armies in what some may consider a parallel to Lilith escaping from her oppression.
According to The Alphabet, God informed Adam that 100 of Lilith’s children would die every day until she returned to Eden. Presumably, Adam and Lilith had had many children by that time. Instead of returning to Eden, Lilith embraced the idea of being associated with the death of children and claimed she was created to cause disease and death in infants. Lilith effectively became a demon who targeted children. She claimed that any child who wore an amulet with the names of the three angels that were sent after her on it would be protected from her.
Because of the association with amulets and demons, Lilith features in a lot of occult literature and symbols. She has also become a symbol of the feminist movement because she opposed female submission to men.
Since Lilith refused to return to Eden, God decided to make Adam a new wife. This time, Adam’s wife would not be his equal. Eve was not created from the earth, like Lilith, but rather from Adam’s rib so that she would be more submissive to Adam. After all, she came from him. She was not created from the same substance as he was.
Lilith in the Bible
The name Lilith appears only once in the Bible, in Isaiah 34:14. The New Revised Standard Version reads: “Wildcats shall meet with hyenas, goat-demons shall call to each other; there too Lilith shall repose, and find a place to rest.” In this passage, God pronounces judgment on Edom, revealing that it would become a desolate place where wild animals and all kinds of evil will dwell. Other translations interpret the word Lilith, instead of transliterating the name. They render the word “night-monster” (ASV, RV), “night bird” (ESV), “screech owl” (KJV, NKJV), and similar terms. All of these have negative connotations and most retain the idea of an evil entity capable of flight.
Isaiah’s use of “Lilith” shows that the author and his audience were familiar with the Mesopotamian traditions about this demonic entity. Isaiah here is employing the female-demon entity the ancient Sumerians called ardat lilǐ, to emphasize the judgment God proclaimed on Edom. Lilitu is the origin of the term for Lilith and refers to a being who lived in desert lands, posed a significant threat to pregnant women and infants, and produced poison instead of milk in her breasts. She was often associated with sexual frustration and infertility.
Lilith in Ancient Writings and Art
The oldest known mention of Lilith comes from the Sumerian epic poem Gilgamesh and the Huluppu-Tree. It dates to about 2000 BCE and tells the tale of Inanna, the goddess of erotic love and war, who wanted to use the wood of a willow (Huluppu) tree to make a throne and a bed for herself. The problem was that a dragon made a nest at the base of the tree, Lilith made her house in the middle of the tree, and a Zu-bird placed her chicks at the top. When a heavily armored Gilgamesh killed the dragon, the Zu-bird fled to the mountains, and Lilith escaped to the desert. In the Sumerian context, Lilith is not Adam’s wife, but rather a demon who causes night terrors and acts like a succubus.
In 1933, archeologists discovered a limestone plaque in Arslan Tash, Syria, which some believe depicts an image of Lilith (though some scholars argue that it is Inanna). Scholars believe the artwork was used as an amulet, hung in the house of a pregnant woman to ward off Lilith, preventing her from harming the mother or child.
Incantation bowls from the Sassanid Empire in Babylon (4th–6th century CE) show how people from that era believed they could trap demons like Lilith. One bowl depicts Lilith in the center, and spiraling from the inside outward, an incantation from the Talmud adorns the bowl.
Evaluating the Lilith Myth
The Lilith myth is a late development in Jewish tradition, with The Alphabet of Ben Sira dating to the 8th to the 10th century CE. As such, it is the first rendition of the idea that Lilith was Adam’s wife. The Jews were aware of the demoness Lilith for many centuries before, even as far back as the time of Isaiah around the 7th century BCE.
There are, however, no biblical grounds for the narrative of Lilith as Adam’s wife. Exposure to Babylonian myths and their connection with earlier Sumerian folklore was likely why Isaiah mentions Lilith as a creature of evil associated with the desert.
The Lilith myth would contradict the Bible narrative in significant ways and it would violate the idea that sin entered this world through Eve eating from the Tree of Knowledge of good and evil. It would also contradict the Bible narrative that Cain and Able were the first children born to Adam since Lilith had many children.
Notwithstanding these challenges to the Biblical narrative, the idea of Lilith gained traction among many Christians during the Middle Ages as can be seen from the artwork of many artists of the time who depicted the serpent in the garden as a hybrid snake-woman. These depictions suggest that Lilith returned to Eden to take revenge on Adam, but since he was Lilith’s equal, she chose to use Eve, Adam’s subordinate, to get to Adam and cause him to fall.
The Alphabet of Ben Sira was not the first Jewish work to come up with the idea of two original Eves. The 5th century Midrash, the Genesis Rabbah, was the first to claim God made two women initially. It relates how the first was not pleasing to Adam because she was covered with blood and secretions as if she was newly born.
God then made another, more appealing and attractive Eve. By that time, the idea of Lilith as a female demon was well-established in Jewish tradition. She was listed as a demon in the Dead Sea Scrolls and later Jewish writings would include Lilith as a later rendition of Mesopotamian storm demons who would seduce men in their sleep to bear demon offspring. A combination of the ideas from the Genesis Rabbah and the Lilith demon likely inspired the Lilith myth as her origin story.
It should be noted that many scholars believe The Alphabet of Ben Sira is a work of satire. The work features inappropriate jokes, sharp sarcasm, and praise for hypocrites. As such, it is not a work that should influence how readers interpret the Bible or serve as a reliable source for religious belief or practice.
