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136 Judaism and Hebrew Scriptures
biblical accounts. The problem with accepting
these accounts at face value, however, is that both
the original authors as well as later editors likely
had a theological inclination to diminish the independent
power of demonic spirits. What this
means is that ordinary Hebrews probably understood
demons as more independent of God
than scriptural accounts might seem to indicate.
Nevertheless, it is clear that the demonic becomes
stronger and more evil across time until, following
the incorporation of Zoroastrian notions, demons
become purely negative entities who seem to have
no other purpose than to torment human beings.
Embodying a pattern that Christians would
later adopt, there are a number of passages in the
early books of the Bible in which gods other than
Yahweh are referred to as “demons” (Hebrew
Shedim). Thus in Deuteronomy, it is noted that,
“They sacrificed to demons which were no gods”
(32:17). Later, in the Psalms, it is also noted that
“They sacrificed their sons and daughters to
demons” (106:37). Although the former are
ambiguously alluded to as “strange gods,” the
latter are identified as interchangeable with the
“idols of Canaan.”
Scholars generally accept that there are at least
two demons explicitly referred to in Hebrew scriptures,
Lilith and Azazel. The Lilith of Jewish
folklore appears to have originally been a
Mesopotamian night demon with a penchant for
destroying children. She later picked up the role of
succubus, a female demon who copulates with
living men in their dreams. In the Talmud, she
becomes the first wife of Adam who refuses to
accept her subservient role. Adam then ejected
her, and God created Eve as a more obedient helpmate.
Although not mentioned by name in the
Bible, the night hag mentioned in Isaiah 34:14 was
retrospectively viewed as referring to Lilith.
Azazel is mentioned by name in the Book of
Leviticus, where he appears to have been some
sort of a desert creature to whom the ancient
Israelites dedicated their scapegoats containing
the sins of the nation: “Aaron shall cast lots upon
the two goats, one lot for the Lord and the other
lot for Azazel. And Aaron shall present the goat on
which the lot fell for the Lord, and offer it as a sin
offering; but the goat on which the lot fell for
Azazel shall be presented alive before the Lord to
make atonement over it, that it may be sent away
into the wilderness to Azazel” (Leviticus 16:8–10).
Much later, Azazel was the name of one of the
chieftains of the 200 fallen angels who, according
to the Book of Enoch (mentioned in Genesis
6:2–4), came to earth to mate with mortal women.
Azazel, it is said, taught men how to fashion
weapons, and women such things as cosmetics
(encouraging vanity).
Demons are also mentioned later in the
Talmud and Midrash, though they are not viewed
as independent powers in revolt against God. By
the Middle Ages, they were sometimes portrayed
more as mischiefmakers, though this image alternated
with a much more sinister one. The Book of
the Pious (Sefer Hasidm), one of the most influential
texts of the medieval period, mentions
demons frequently, and there are many discussions
of exorcism in its pages. Demons also appear
in the Zohar and in other cabalistic literature.
The Jewish Satan was never as sinister as his
Christian counterpart. Initially, in fact, satan was
not a being at all, but was, rather, an accusatory or
adversarial role assigned by God. Specifically, the
earliest satans were angels, sent by God for the
purpose of obstructing or blocking the acts of
human beings. Thus, for example, in the story of
Balaam’s Ass in Numbers, one of the earliest books
of the Bible, God sends an angel to block Balaam’s
route, “But God’s anger was kindled because he
went; and the angel of the Lord took his stand in
the way as his adversary” (Numbers 22:22).
The word being translated here as “adversary”
is the Hebrew word satan. This original concept
subsequently goes through a gradual expansion of
meaning. By the time of the Book of Job, a much
later composition, Satan has become the name of
a specific angel in God’s celestial court: “Now
there was a day when the sons of God came to
present themselves before the Lord, and Satan
also came among them. The Lord said to Satan,
‘Whence have you come’ Satan answered the
Lord, ‘From going to and fro on the earth, and
from walking up and down on it’” (Job 1:6–7).
Here Satan is described as a “son of God,” apparently
reporting in to his heavenly king. In Job,
Satan’s role appears to be that of a prosecuting