The first woman Lilith: why the Bible is silent about Eve's predecessor

You can ask anyone about the name of the first woman and how she appeared, and for sure you will hear a story about Adam and Eve, as well as about the notorious rib. But few people know that in pre-Christian times the answer to this question was ambiguous, since the sacred texts of that era spoke of another first woman, named Lilith.

You will not find any mention of Lilith in the canonical texts of any Abrahamic religion that exists today. But in the most ancient apocrypha, this woman is mentioned, and her person occupies a particularly important place in Sumerian and Semitic mythology.

Much attention is paid to Lilith in Kabbalah, where the first woman symbolizes the dark feminine principle as well as the Old Testament Cain — the masculine. But Christian theologians and editors of the Bible did not manage to get rid of Lilith without a trace, thanks to which a discrepancy appeared in the text:

From this line it becomes quite clear that God created a man and a woman at the same time. But we know that Eve appeared later, so this is clearly not about her. Most likely, here we are talking about Lilith, which the Christian editors of the Old Testament tried to remove from all texts.

But, whether the people who were engaged in eradicating the memory of the first woman were inattentive, or pursued some other goals, but the mention of this lady sometimes slips in the Bible. For example, the book of Isaiah speaks of a certain nocturnal creature called lilith. It is assumed that this is some kind of animal or bird, but this is not accurate.

In the Bible, published in England in 1560, instead of this creature, a barn owl is mentioned — a nocturnal bird of prey. In many languages of the Semitic group, the word "lilith" refers to some varieties of owls. Interestingly, in many ancient images of Lilith, it is the owl that accompanies her.

Translated from the Sumerian language, the word "lil" means an otherworldly entity, a spirit or a ghost. The mythology of the peoples who inhabited Mesopotamia was extremely rich in various evil spirits. Lilu, lilith, urdut lilith — all these demons have similar names, but at the same time they belong to both the feminine and masculine genders.

The ancient Assyrians believed that the souls of people who did not leave offspring during their lifetime become evil spirits. They passionately want to continue their kind by copulating with the living, but demons or freaks are born from such connections. In the most famous Sumerian epic about the hero Gilgamesh, there is a mention of Lilith. A female demon with that name, along with an eagle with an eagle's head, lived in the branches of a willow tree.

In the medieval Jewish book "Alphabet-Ben Sira" describes in detail the story of Adam and Lilith. It says that the woman was proud of the fact that she, like the man, was created in the image and likeness of the Lord and therefore refused to obey Adam.

To get out of submission to her husband, Lilith uttered the secret name of God and was able to fly away from Eden. Adam complained to the Creator about the woman and he sent three angels after the fugitive. They caught up with Lilith and demanded that she return and repent, but received a categorical refusal.

Lilith was severely punished for her disobedience, but the ancient texts did not preserve an accurate description of the punishment. The most common versions can be considered three: infertility, the daily birth of 100 children and their imminent death and the constant birth of demons, instead of normal offspring.

Lilith has vowed to avenge this and kill human babies wherever she can. At the same time, she promised not to touch children who will have amulets with her name or the names of angels. Since then, the demoness has specialized in harming babies and women in labor. It was believed that the sudden death syndrome, which occurs in infants, is the work of her hands.

She is also capable of other machinations, including inducing infertility on young women, sucking blood and newborns and provoking miscarriages. According to one version, it was Lilith who reincarnated into the very Serpent-tempter who encouraged Eve to taste the ill-fated apple. She did it out of jealousy, after she saw the happiness of Adam and the complaisant Eve. At the same time, it is interesting that the Lord expelled Eve from Paradise, and Lilith left by herself.

Many Mesopotamians also considered Lilith to be a demon seducer who came to young men at night to copulate with them. The result of such a connection is the birth of an incubus or succubus — demon, whose sole purpose of existence is the temptation of boys and girls.

One of the most authoritative books of Kabbalah, the Zohar, claims that Lilith became the wife of Satan himself and bore him children. That is why the image of a female demon quickly migrated to Satanism, where she is revered along with Kali, Hel and Ereshkigal borrowed from other religions and mythologies.