Religion for Breakfast

New video!: The Origins of Lilith (Patreon)

Published:

2023-10-14 11:15:40

Imported:

2026-06

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Content

I always try to publish a "spooky" episode every October. This year it's Lilith...the notorious demon from Jewish folklore.

This is one of those videos that I started assuming that I already knew all there is to know about the topic. But I actually learned a ton during the research phase...mostly realizing that Lilith, for much of history, wasn't conceptualized as a singular entity. Most mentions of the word "lilith" refer generically to a type of demon. This is especially true in the evidence from late antique Mesopotamia—a huge corpus of incantation bowls. Reading through these incantations, liliths are almost always a species of demons, and many have their own names.

Her famous appearance in medieval Jewish folklore as the first wife of Adam really replaces this understanding of "liliths" in modern discussions about the figure.

Files

Previews only

The Origins of Lilith | Adam's First Wife?

Register for my class "Early Christian Exorcism" here!: https://religionforbreakfast.eventbrite.com/ Thumbnail art by @hotcyder Join our Patreon community!: https://www.patreon.com/religionforbreakfast One-time donations here!: https://www.paypal.me/religionforbreakfast Check out my favorite religious studies books by following this affiliate link to my Amazon page: https://www.amazon.com/shop/religionforbreakfast According to medieval Jewish folklore, Lilith is a demon who was Adam's first wife before Eve. But where did this idea come from? Dive into the 4,000-year-long history of Lilith, the terrifying demoness. 00:00 Intro 1:00 Mesopotamian Origins: lilu-demons 4:15 Named Mesopotamian demonesses 6:04 Lilith in the Hebrew Bible 8:24 Lilith in 2nd Temple and Rabbinic Judaism 12:12 Adam's First Wife? 14:51 Lilith in Kabbalah 15:22 The Lilith 'rebrand' Select images courtesy of Getty