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The Case for Lilith
Of all the ancient Jewish myths, the story of Lilith is undoubtedly the most fascinating. According to her legend Lilith was
the first wife of Adam. But she was a failed mate who rebelled against her husband and fled from the garden to become
the mother of demons. Her legend has influenced more modern monster mythologies than any other Jewish myth. Her
tale was not only the original source material for medieval beliefs in succubae and night-hags, but as the mother of
estries she also lies at the root of modern vampire lore. Her creation story also fueled ancient Jewish notions about
Golems, and has thus helped inspired the modern version of this myth, Frankenstein. Although Lilith is not widely known
amongst those normally considered well versed in scripture, given the validity of her legend, her prominence in the
Bible more than matches her prominence in modern monster mythologies.. As we shall see, Lilith is the first Sotah, the
archetype of the adulterous wife who turned aside from her husband and who was subjected to the supernatural bitter
water trial. She is the Serpent who caused Adam and Eve to fall. She and her seed are the chess pieces of Lucifer’s
struggle against God and man. Her firstborn, Azazel, is the infamous seed of the Serpent. He is locked in epic battle with
the promised seed of Eve. Due to his exalted position Azazel plays a prominent role in Israel’s Yom Kippur ceremony.
He is the recipient of the sacrificial scapegoat, or literally, the goat “to Azazel”. There are intriguing evidences that in
her quest to conceive Azazel Lilith was responsible for bringing upon the earth the race of Nephilim, the giant offspring
of angels and women, and as such she was the ultimate cause for Noah’s flood.
According to commonly known versions of her legend, Lilith was created by God from the soil of the earth at the same
time as Adam. She was intended as Adam’s mate, but Lilith was rebellious against her husband. She quarreled
continuously with Adam and refused to sexually submit to him from an inferior position below. At her rebellion’s
culmination she unleashed her long hair and shouted the ineffable name of God. She thereby supernaturally sprouted
wings and took flight from the garden. After her departure Adam became lonely and sought to recover his errant wife. At
his behest Jehovah sent three angels to return her. They found Lilith in the midst of the Red Sea. But she refused to
return with them. She chose instead to become the mother of demons. She did this not only by mating with demons, but
by also stealing semen from men at night while they slept. Because of Lilith’s refusal, the angels cursed her that every
day 100 of her demon seed would die, and for Adam God created Eve as a replacement for his rebellious mate. In
revenge Lilith resolved that she would visit Eve’s children in childbirth and kill those whom she found were not
protected by the names of the three angels.
As we shall see, there are deeper mysteries to Lilith’s legend that may be derived from a careful study of the Biblical
text. These details confirm tenets held by the Zohar of Kabalah concerning Lilith. The Zohar is perhaps the most
important book on Lilith outside of the Bible. The Zohar explains Lilith’s rebellious nature. It states that after God had
formed Adam’s and Lilith’s bodies from the earth, Lilith became animated by the defective light of Lucifer, whereas Adam
became animated by the holy spark of God’s perfect light. From Genesis it is apparent that Lucifer’s defective light
entered Lilith through a defiling mist which erupted from the ground and watered her body. This preempted God’s spirit
in animating her. Therefore Lilith is said to be created from filth and sediment, whereas Adam is said to be created from
dry dust, as he was untouched by the defiling mist. He was animated by God’s perfect light that entered him with the
breath of God’s holy spirit filled his nostrils.
According to the Zohar and numerous Biblical evidences, Lilith later returned to the garden under the title of the
Serpent. Genesis reveals that the Serpent Lilith deceived Eve into eating of the forbidden tree and thereby caused her
and Adam to fall. Because of this God cursed the Serpent Lilith and her seed. He declared that a doomed rivalry would
exist between Lilith and Eve and between their seed. Lilith would bruise the heal of Eve’s seed, but Eve’s seed would
crush the head of Lilith. Lilith being identified as the Serpent also links her to Leviathan, which Job 26 and Isa 27
describe as a winged serpent fleeing before God. Leviathan is commonly held to refer to the Serpent of Eden, and thus
Lilith. From a study of Leviathan we learn again that Lucifer is intimately fused with Lilith, and that Lilith was created in
the same fashion as Adam. She was a golem fashioned from the dust of the earth and animated by Lucifer’s defective
light."