"Closer" Interview pt. 2 - Sarah McLachlan"According to Hebrew legend, the first woman God created
as a companion for the first man Adam was a strong-willed lady
named Lilith. (See Graves and Patai's Hebrew Myths and Reuther's
Womanguides.) As both had been created from dust, Lilith considered
herself equal to Adam. (They differed anatomically, of course,
with the Bible referring to a male as one who 'pisseth against
the wall' [1 Sam. 25:34; 1 Kings 14:10; 21:21].) Lilith objected
to having to lie beneath Adam during sexual intercourse, but Adam
would have it no other way. Lilith up and left him, winding up
in rabbinic tradition as a baby-killing demoness who seduces sleeping
men. Lilith is mentioned in Isa. 34:14, though the KJV renders
lilith as 'screech owl.' This first wife of Adam may safely be
called the world's first uppity woman.
"With Lilith departed, Adam was back where he started,
being without a fit helper. According to a Hebrew tradition cited
in Graves and Patai, God let Adam watch while he put a second
woman together. The process of anatomical assemblage was so disgusting
that Adam found the woman repulsive even though she was beautiful
when finished. God sent this first Eve away and tried again: while
Adam slept, Yahweh created the Eve found in Genesis 2 from Adam's
rib. God presented her to Adam, who said happily, 'This is now
bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman,
because she was taken out of Man' (Gen. 2:23)."
Another source provides some more information:
"Early theologians had a real problem with the status
of women in regard to Genesis. Here is this supposedly weak creature
twisting Man around her finger and bringing death on the entire
race. A 'logical' answer presented itself in splitting woman into
the Madonna/whore dichotomy. There was even a Biblical basis for
Lilith. Genesis 1:27 reads, 'So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him; male and female he created
them.' Set opposite Genesis 2, in which Adam is created first
and Eve is an afterthought to appease his loneliness, many see
this as evidence that Adam had two wives. "Lilith is this
first wife. Since she was made of the earth, like Adam, she became
proud and refused to lie beneath him during intercourse. This
violated the command to be fruitful and multiply, since she was
not being impregnated. Some traditions hold that she was impregnated
and bore demons from him. The evidence for this is the statement
in Genesis 5:3 'Adam begat a son in his image,' implying there
had been sons not in his image. He pushed the issue of her submission,
and she uttered the Holy Name of God and flew away.
"Adam complained to God and he sent three angels to reason
with her. They found her coupling with fallen angels near the
Red Sea and bearing more demonic children. She refused to return
but promised to spare Adam's children if the names of the angels:
Sanvi, Sansanvi and Semangelaf were written near them. Even today,
some parents will charcoal a magic circle with the words 'Adam
and Eve barring Lilith' on the wall near their baby, and write
the names of the angels on the door.
"Eve was created out of Adam as her replacement. Some
say God let Adam try making the next one, but the creation was
so horrible God destroyed it before even giving it life. An amusing
Victorian story claims a dog ran off with Adam's rib and devoured
it before God found him, so Eve was made using one of the dog's
ribs.
"Lilith did not eat of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good
and Evil, and hence is immortal. She was rewarded for service
by Asmodeus, the demon of lechery, luxuriousness and evil revenge.
She now rules one of the levels of Hell in the company of Namah,
Machlath, and Hurmizah. Her power is over newborn children and
women in childbirth. She may take boys up to the eighth day and
girls up to the twentieth. She is also the mother of the Lilim
or Lilot, the Djinn, and the succubui and incubi. Other Biblical
references: Isaiah 34:14 'night hag' (NIV translates it as 'Desert
creatures' and 'night creatures.' and Psalm 91 'terror by night'."
-paracleteforum.org
