MEET LILITH, ADAM'S FIRST WIFE

MEET LILITH, ADAM'S FIRST WIFE THAT NO ONE WANT TO TALK ABOUT

By Mapesa Lwanga Bitonye

FIRST WIFE OF ADAM, MOTHER OF DEMONS, MOTHER OF VAMPIRES, MOTHER OF MUNDUS, QUEEN OF HELL, THE MAD QUEEN, THE DEMON QUEEN, MOTHER OF DECEIT, MISTRESS OF BETRAYAL, SECOND HAND OF ISHTAR, BRIDE OF LUCIFER.

“[I'M NOT A MAN. I HAVE NO PRIDE FOR YOU TO TRICK ME WITH, AND I AM NOT INTERESTERESTED IN SINGLE COMBAT. THAT IS ENTIRELY A WEAKNESS OF YOUR SEX, NOT MINE. I AM A WOMAN. I WILL USE ANY WEAPONS TO GET WHAT I WANT.]"

LILITH was THE FIRST WIFE OF ADAM who left THE GARDEN OF EDEN and became THE MOTHER OF DEMONS and THE SUPREME EMPRESS OF HELL. SHE is also CREDITED as THE CREATOR OF THE TUROK-HAN, AN ANCIENT SPECIES of VAMPIRE, and is thus REGARDED as THE MOTHER OF VAMPIRES.

OVERVIEW

THE BABYLONIANS identified HER as a STORM DEMON known as "LILITU" in ANCIENT MESOPOTAMIAN MYTH around 3000 BC and SHE was THOUGHT to have been THE CAUSE OF DISEASES, ILLNESS, AND DEATH.

A FEMALE DEMON of THE NIGHT who SUPPOSEDLY FLIES AROUND searching for NEWBORN CHILDREN either to KIDNAP or STRANGLE THEM. Also, SHE SLEEPS WITH MEN to SEDUCE THEM into PROPAGATING DEMON SONS. LEGENDS told about LILITH are ANCIENT. THE RABBINICAL MYTHS OF LILITH being ADAM'S FIRSWIFE seem to RELATE  to THE SUMERO-BABYLONIAN GODDESS BELIT-ILI, or BELILI. TO THE CANAANITES, LILITH was BAALAT, THE "DIVINE LADY." 

SHE LATER APPEARS as a NOCTURNAL DEMON in JEWISH LORE and THE PROCLAIMED MOTHER OF ALL DEMONS and THE DARK LADY. LILITH POSSESSES a SEDUCTIVE, MANIPULATIVE NATURE. SHE for DECADES had PRETENDED to be ADVISOR FOR THE GODDESS ISHTAR which GAVE HER THE TITLE of THE SECOND HAND OF ISHTAR.

APPEARANCE

LILITH is an IMPECCABLY BEAUTIFUL and WELL-ENDOWED WOMAN, described as THE WALKING DEFINITION of FEMININE BEAUTY alongside EVE HERSELF. IN CONTRAST to EVE who has GINGER HAIR, LILITH ORIGINALLY had PLATINUM BLONDE HAIR, FAIR SKIN, BRIGHT BLUE EYES, AND LOOKED TO BE MORE SLENDER BUT CURVACEOUS NONETHELESS. SHE was also SHOWN to be RATHER TALLER than EVE, standing roughly AROUND SIX FEET and THREE INCHES IN HEIGHT. LIKE EVE, SHE TOO SPORTED a "CROWN OF LEAVES"  though in HER CASE they CONSISTED of BRANCHES or TWIGS FORMED in an INTRICATE DESIGN.

AFTER being DRIVEN OUT OF THE GARDEN OF EDEN, LILITH'S HAIR DARKENED CONSIDERABLY, having a BLACK RED COLORATION with HER SKIN having a LIGHT BROWN PIGMENTATION. HER EYES, which were ONCE SKY BLUE, became a DARK YELLOW. HER HAIR is also DESCRIBED as being THE "NIGHTTIME SKY CAREFULLY WOMEN ON HER HEAD"  which is a NOD HER SHAPSHIFTING into AN OWL, a NOCTURNAL ANIMAL and HER EVENTUALLY BECOMING a DEMON OF THE NIGHT. SHE also BEARS PUNCTURE WOUNDS ON HER HANDS and FEET from where SENOY, SANSENOY, and SEMANGEL OF PIERCED HER with THEIR LANCES and THREATENED to DROWN HER if SHE DID NOT COMPLY to GOD'S DEMANDS.

AFTER becoming THE EMPRESS OF HELL, LILITH was CLOTHED in ONLY FINEST NOBLE ATTIRE which POSSESSED a CONSISTENCE GOTHIC THEME to it yet DEMONIC IN NATURE. THE CLOTHING in QUESTION would AT TIMES be THIN REVEALING FABRIC,  usually BLACK or a DARK PURPLE. FIERY QUILLS of an EMERALD SHEEN along with SIMILAR SCALES ADORN HER HEAD in PLACE OF HAIR, and THOSE SAME QUILLS RUN DOWN HER SPINE  to CULMINATE  in a REPTILIAN TAIL ending in SAVAGE BARBS. HER HANDS were NO STRANGER to this SAVAGE APPEARANCE and so HER FIVE-FINGERED ended in CURVED CLAWS. LILITH'S MOUTH bears SHARP FANG-LIKE TEETH for SHREDDING HER VICTIMS and HER EYES are SMOLDERING CRIMSON ORBS DEVOID of PUPILS. SHE WAS ADORNED with JEWELRY that WAS RARE on EARTH and ONLY FOUND in THE UNDERWORLD. HER SCLERA are REWITH YELLOW IRISHES  RED with YELLOW IRISHES and BLACK PUPILS.

HISTORY 

GENESIS

LILITH was THE FIRST WIFE OF ADAM, CRAFTED from THE SAME PRIMORDIAL MATTER as HER COUNTERPART BY GOD. AT SOME POINT IN TIME, while SHE STROLLED THE PRIMEVAL PLAINS, LILITH met with LUCIFER and THE TWO had a RATHER AMICABLE CONVERSATION, shortly after THE MORNING STAR was ADMONISHED by THE LORD. DURING THE CONVERSATION, LUCIFER MANAGED to PERUADE LILITH into SIDING WITH HIM as WELL. HE CONVINCED HER that since LILITH had been CREATED from CLAY the same as ADAM, SHE is EQUAL to HIM and therefore SHOULD NOT be under HIM, SHE would be NO PUPPET BOUND to ANY STRING. LILITH was ENLIGHTENED by THE MORNING STAR'S WORDS.

IMMEDIATELY upon RETURNING, LILITH and ADAM began to BICKER as SHE REFUSED to LAY at THE BOTTOM while ADAM was ON TOP during INTERCOURSE only for ADAM to COUNTER HER by saying that HE WILL ONLY BE ON TOP since HE IS SUPERIOR, but LILITH REBUTTED HIM by saying that they were BOTH made EQUAL with THEIR ARGUMENT going BACK and FORTH. LILITH  basically DEMANDED EQUALITY from ADAM and, FAILING to ACQUIRE IT, EXCLAIMED GOD'S  "INEFFABLE NAME" and LEFT HIM in ANGER. ADAM in RETURN COMPLAINED to GOD that HIS WIFE had DESERTED HIM. GOD SENT THREE ANGELS  to take LILITH BACK TO EDEN, who FOUND HER in THE RED SEA.

WHEN they TOLD HER that SHE MUST RETURN to EDEN, LILITH REFUSED and BLASPHEMED them to which THEY PINNED HER HANDS and FEET with THEIR LANCES and HELD HER ABOVE the RED SEA. FROM THERE, they began to THREATEN HER of THE CONSEQUENCES should SHE DEFY THE WORD OF GOD, THE FIRST of which was that SHE WOULD BE TOSSED in THE RED SEA to DROWN but SHE REFUSED. THEY THREATENED HER A SECOND TIME,  which was THE LOSS OF ONE HUNDRED of HER CHILDREN everyday UNLESS SHE RETURNED to ADAM.dam. SHE again REFUSED and was PUNISHED by HAVING all of HER CHILDREN SLAIN though SHE STRUCK BACK by saying that a HUNDRED more will RISE in RESPONSE. REGARDLESS, SHE was DISTRAUGHT, and COMPLETELY LEFT THE GARDEN OF EDEN, SULKING in MISERY and ABANDONMENT.

AT SOME POINT, LILITH MET and BEFRIENDED an ABYSSAL CREATURE known as TAN'IVER who became HER STEED. TANIN'IVER then LED LILITH to THE ARCHANGEL SAMAEL, who was CAST OUT from THE MOUNTAIN OF GOD to HIS MISANTHROPIC views on HUMANITY. WHILE he was INITIALLY HOSTILE towards LILITH due to THE FACT she was human, she stated that her supposed one purpose in EXISTENCE to be SUBSERVIENT  to ADAM is NOTHING but a FARCE, a BLINDFOLD to KEEPER from FINDING and ACHIEVING a HIGHER GOAL. SHE WANTED no PART in HUMANITY'S AFFAIRS within THE ONCOMING CENTURIES and INSTEAD would RATHER be ABOVE THEM than BELOW THEM. FURTHER GOING ON to say that SHE SHARES SAMAEL'S VIEW when IT COMES to THE DESTRUCTIVE NATURE of what HUMANS WILL BRING with NO CONCEPT of EQUALITY between THEM in THEIR SOCIETIES. THIS CONVINCED  SAMAEL to HAVE TRUST IN HER, and MORE SO when SHE TENDED to HIS INJURED STATE.

ORIGINAL SIN

BECAUSE of HELPING SAMAEL and REFUSING to RETURN to ADAM, ONE HUNDRED of LILITH'S CHILDREN would be SLAIN EVERY slain by THE THREE ANGELS. THIS PROMPTED in LILITH'S TOTAL ABANDONMENT of GOD and HER HATRED TOWARDS THE DIVINE along with ADAM being THE FAVORED CREATION. LILITH sat by THE RED SEA alongside TANNIN'IVER until they saw LUCIFER and SAMAEL approaching them SOMETIME after THE WAR IN HEAVEN and were ON THEIR way to THE GARDEN OF EDEN. LILITH and HER STEED JOINED  THE TWO FALLEN ARCHANGELS on THEIR QUEST to STRIKE BACK at GOD and TO PAY BACK HER DEBT to LUCIFER for FREEING HER from ADAM'S PRESENCE. THE FOUR would only MAKE THEIR MOVE at THE HOUR THE ANGELS go up to WORSHIP GOD.

THE FOUR saw THE ANGEL GADREEL guarding THE GATES of EDEN. LUCIFER then CONJURED several STARS, THREW them ACROSS GADREEL'S LINE of VIEW and COMMANDED them to DASH AROUND HIM like HYPERACTIVE FIREFLIES, BRIEFLY DISORIENTING THE ANGEL. FOLLOWING this, LILITH COMMANDED TANIN'IVER to LUNGE towards GADREEL and SUBDUE THE ANGEL by THE THROAT. THIS GAVE SATAN and LILITH THE OPPORTUNITY to SNEAK into THE GARDEN OF EDEN UNDETECTED PROMPTING LUCIFER to LEAVE and RETURN to HELL. TANIN'IVER was WOUNDED by GADREEL during THE SCUFFLE and DROVE THE BEAST away. INSIDE THE GARDEN, LILITH at FIRST opted to CONFRONT ADAM, but DUE to ADAM being HER EQUAL as BOTH SHE and ADAM were CREATED from THE SAME PRIMAL MATTER that GOD USED USED to CREATE  them SHE COULD NOT HARM HIM.

AS A RESULT, SHE SET HER SIGHTS  upon EVE HERSELF seeing that EVE  was INSTEAD made from ADAM'S OWN RIB and was thus WEAK-WILLED due to BEING SUBSERVIENT to ADAM. LILITH then TOOK THE FORM of AN OWL, and WOULD WHISPER WORDS OF POWER, DOUBT, INDEPENDENCE, AND SELF-REFLECTION into EVE'S DREAMS as SHE PERCHED ATOP OF A TREE where EVE SLEPT, COAXING HER enough for SATAN, who assumed THE FORM of a SERPENT, TO DECEIVE EVE into EATING THE FORBIDDEN FRUIT, PROMISING HER that if SHE and HER CONSORT DEVOUR THE FRUIT they WOULD RULE EQUAL AUTHORITY LIKE GOD, LILITH'S DISGUISE was EXPOSED by ONE OF THE ANIMALS in THE GARDEN, a GREAT WOLHOUND that WOULD COME to be KNOWN AS MAERA, and was PROMPTLY DRIVEN AWAY by THE HOUND. SATAN  succeeded in HAVING EVE EAT THE FRUIT, and THE TWO made THEIR ESCAPE from EDEN BENEARTH a CLOAK OF DARKNESS WEAVED by TANIN'IVER.

QUEEN OF HELL 

AFTER THE FALL of THE ANGELS and LILITH  completely CUTTING TIES with HEAVEN and HUMANITY, SHE ELOPED with SAMAEL, now KNOWN as SATAN, and THE TWO were said to HAVE MADE LOVE within a CAVE, which RESULTED in LILITH  GIVING BIRTH to some of THE FIRST GENERATION of DEMONIC OFFSPRING known as THE LILIM.

IN RESPONSE to this, GOD CAST SATAN further DOWN into THE PIT where HIS OUTER BODY is CHAINED UP but HIS TRUE BODY ROAMS the BORDERS of THE NINTH CIRCLE. MOREOVER, THE THREE ANGELS slaughtered LILITH'S CHILDREN just as they WARNED HER they would. DUE TO SATAN'S IMPRISONMENT, SHE took to ASMODEUS instead, PROCREATING DEMONIC OFFSPRING and SPREADING CHAOS at EVERY TURN.

LILITH became a CONSORT of ASMODEUS  and THE OFFSPRING they BORE were THE ASMODAI, A SECOND GENERATIONAL HORDE of LILIM, whom LILITH PERSONALLY RAISED and TRAINED, usually through HARSH and RUTHLESS means. LATER on, LILITH ROSE DRAMATICALLY in THE RANKS by becoming THE FIRST and POSSIBLY ONLY DEMON QUEEN as well as THE EMPRESS OF THE INFERNO by WEDDING LUCIFER, who CROWNED HIMSELF THE EMPEROR OF HELL. LILITH'S UNION with LUCIFER resulted in THE BIRTH of NONE OTHER THAN MUNDUS, THE POTENCIAL HEIR to HELL'S THRONE. ASIDE from HER OTHER DUTIES and HABITS, LILITH would GROOM MUNDUS into becoming a POWERFUL RULER and EVEN SPOIL HIM though LUCIFER held NO SPECIAL LOVE for HIS SON.

MOTHER OF MONSTERS

AFTER HER BANISHMENT from THE GARDEN OF EDEN and HEAVEN entirely, LILITH also SET FOOT upon THE PRIMEVAL EARTH where SHE CAME ACROSS its MANY ANCIENT BEASTLY INHABITANTS. SEEING as HOW SHE BORE THE DEMONS that NOW ROAM HELL, LILITH decided to CREATE EARTHLY MONSTERS as well; IN SOME WRITING, LILITH was TREATED as THE MOTHER OF ALL VAMPIRES or MONSTERS giving HER THE TITLES OF THE FIRST VAMPIRE and THE MOTHER OF MONSTERS. HER CREDIT as THE MOTHER OF VAMPIRES is DUE TO HER CREATING THE TUROK-HAN, whom are REGARDED as THE FIRST VAMPIRES to APPEAR IN HISTORY.

THE TUROK-HAN RAMPAGED across THE ANTEDILUVIAN EARTH and THEIR TERROR was RECORDED ON ANCIENT POTTERY in MESOPOTAMIA. LILITH also TOOK REVENGE against THE HEAVENS by LAUNCHING A REIGN OF TERROR against WOMEN in CHILDBIRTH, NEWBORN INFANTS, particularly MALES, and MEN who SLEPT ALONE. SHE was FORCED, however, TO SWEAR to THE THREE ANGELS that WHENEVER SHE SAWE THEIR NAMES or IMAGES on AN AMULET, SHE WOULD LEAVE INFANTS and MOTHERS ALONE. THIS ALSO RESULTED in HER DEVELOPING a FIERCELY ANTAGONISTIC RELATIONSHIP with LAILAH, THE ARCHANGEL OF NIGHT and PROTECTOR OF CHILDREN.

ANOTHER VERSION of THE STORY as TOLD IN THE "MIDRASH ABKIER", is that AFTER CAIN'S HOMICIDE BRINGS DEATH to THE WORLD, ADAM SEPARATES from EVE and FASTS FOR 130 YEARS. WHEN LILITH SAW HIM SHE TOOK HIM by FORCE by USING HIS OWN SIN AGAINST HIM. SHE BORE HIM MANY DEMONIC SPIRITS known to be A PLAGUE TO MANKIND. THIS TALE was LATER ATTRIBUTED to NAAMAH, A SISTER OF LILITH, and SHE BORE THE NASHIYM who HELPED THEIR MOTHER to SEDUCE THE WATCHERS. NONETHELESS, LILITH would be SEEN AS THE INCARNATION OF LUST, causing MEN TO BE LED ASTRAY, and LILITH as A CHILD-KILLING WITCH, who STRANGLES HELPLESS NEONATES. 

BATTLE FOR THE MESSIAH

WHEN YESHUA(Jesus) was BORN, HELL SHOOK IN TERROR and AWE OF THE MESSIAH'S BIRTH  as THE DEMONS SCREAMED in PROFANITY AGAINST THE CREATOR and THE HEAVENS. LILITH offered to DEVOUR JESUS as a SHOWCASE of HELL'S POWER over THE LIGHT, and that by CONSUMING YESHUA(Jesus) THE DARKNESS will CONSUME THE LIGHT. HER OFFER CAME to AN ACCORD by THE POWERS OF HELL and SHE, alongside HER STEED TANIN'IVER, SET COURSE to KILL THE INFANT CHRIST, STRIKING ON THE NIGHT OF HIS BIRTH and ACCOMPANIED by SEVERAL LILIM.

AS THE INFANT MESSIAH lay SLEEPING in HIS CRIB, LILITH had TANIN'IVER shroud THE BARN of where HE LAID in DARKNESS, with THE ONLY KNOWN LIGHT SOURCE being YESHUA(Jesus) HIMSELF whose RADIANCE DISTURBED THE BEAST and LILITH. TANIN'VER would COMPRESS THE LIGHT OF YESHUA(Jesus)  enough to have THE LILIM get close and DISMEMBER his body before FEEDING it to LILITH. HOWEVER, THE LILIM were INTERCEPTED by THE THREE ANGELS; SENOY, SANSENOY, and SEMANGELOF, quickly SLAYING them. MORE TROUBLING was that THE ARCHANGEL LAILAH alongside MAERA HER WOLFHOUND made THEIR PRESENCE known. LILITH began BATTLING LAILAH over YESHUA(Jesus) and MAERA with TANIN'IVER.  While THE BLIND SERPENT FIGHTS THE HOUND FIERCELY, he could not DEFEAT HIM. 

UPON SEEING TANIN'IVER DEFEATED and TERRIBLY WOUNDED by THE THREE ANGELS and MAERA, LILITH FLEW into a RAGE. SHE LUNGED at LAILAH, TRANSFORMING into a MONSTROUS OWL-LIKE CREATURE OF DARKNESS, but LAILAH DRAWS HER VEIL over LLLITH'S EYES and SHE was "[BLIND AND INFLICTED WITH FATIGUE FROM BRIGHT STARS]" MAERA quickly SUBDUED HER by THE THROAT much LIKE HOW SHE LIKE HOW SHE DID to GADREEL with TANIN'IVER. IN A FEEBLE attempt to ESCAPE, LILITH TRANFORMED into a SNAKE but still MAERA HELD HER CAPTIVE. AT THE MERCY of THE GREAT WOLFHOUND,LILITH was FORCED to ADMIT DEFEAT and SWORE to NEVER AGAIN come AFTER THE INFANT YESHUA(Jesus) SHE RETURNED to HELL in HUMILIATION and FURY, with SATAN SHAMING HER over such a DEFEAT.

BREAKING THE FIRST SEAL

LILITH was ONE OF THE FACTORS in BREAKING THE SEAL that KEPT LUCIFER in HIS TOMB and HERALDING THE ARRIVAL of THE APOCALYPSE. SHE CONTRIBUTED in VERGIL'S TORMENT when HE FIRST FELL INTO HELL and BRAZINGLY CHALLENGED MUNDUS, only to be DEFEATED and then AGAIN WHEN HE FAILED to KILL DANTE as NELO ANGELO. HIS FAILURE resulted in ENDLESS, BRUTAL, and UNSPEAKABLE PUNISHMENT  from THE LIKES of LILITH HERSELF, alongside THE MALEBRANCHE, ALASTOR, and MUNDUS. WHILE VERGIL would ESCAPE, HE WOULD ONLY FAIL in EACH ATTEMPT and is RETURNED TO THE CHAMBER  to begin THE TORTURE all OVER AGAIN; VERGIL recalled that LILITH was one of THE WORST ONES that TOOK PART in HIS TORTURE.

DESPITE THE FACT that MUNDUS ORIGINALLY claimed VERGIL'S SOUL after DEFEATING HIM, it was LILITH that STAKED an INDIRECT CLAIM over VERGIL'S SOUL as SHE WAS AMONG those who KNEW OF LUCIFER'S GRAND PLAN of a NEW WORLD ORDER with MUNDUS having LITTLE INFORMATION over THE MATTER, thus SEEING AS HOW ESSENTIAL it is for VERGIL TO BREAK THE FIRST SEAL with LILITH on THE PLAN, SHE would have CLAIM OVER HIM.

II WAS because of LILITH'S ACTIONS, with MUNDUS  in EXTENSION, that VERGIL'S WILL was COMPLETERLY SHATTERED but did not IMPEDE HIS EFFORTS in ESCAPING and to FINALLY SUCCEED. However, THIS ONLY SERVED as a VICTORY for LILITH as VERGIL'S ESCAPE from HELL was in FACT THE SEAL, TAUNTING DUBBING VERGIL as THE  "RIGHTEOUS MAN" that STRIVES for WHAT IS BEST but BROKEN IN SPIRIT. When VERGIL ESCAPED, LILITH BLEW into HER CROOK, which SPREAD  throughout THE ENTIRETY OF HELL and SIGNALLING THE LEGIONS of THE DAMNED that THE SEAL had BEEN BROKEN, HERALDING THE INEVITABLE RETURN of LUCIFER and THE INITIATION of THE APOCALYPSE.

PERSONALITY

IN THE BEGINNING, LILITH was INDEPENDENT, GENTLE, AMICABLE, but BRASH and PROUD, THE LATTER of which RESULTED in HER REJECTION of ADAM'S ADVANCES, especially when HE WOULD ATTEMPT to LAY ATOP of HER DURING SEXUAL INTERCOURSE. LILITH'S VIEW of this was that DESPITE BEING CRAFTED from THE SAME PRIMORDIAL as ADAM, SHE is REGARDED  as BEING BENEARTH ADAM and ONLY SECOND to HIM which FRUSTED HER. SHE PROCLAIMED that if SHE WAS EQUAL to ADAM then she would be TREATED AS EQUAL. ALTHOUGH, this could INDICATE  some FORM OF INSECURITY from LILITH, IMPLYING that SHE IS NOT TOO FOND of being LOOKED DOWN ON.

LILITH'S EARLY FALL from GRACE even PROMPTED her to JOIN THE SIDE of THE REBEL ANGELS during THE IMPENDING WAR IN HEAVEN. And it was FROM THERE she MET SATAN who, DESPITE having CONTRASTING IDEOLOGIES, possessed a SIMILAR FRUSTRATION and SENSE OF BETRAYAL; in LILITH'S case THE ANGELS that would CATER TO HER and ADAM, would INSTEAD DRIVE HER out of THE GARDEN for HER REBELLIOUS NATURE and more so WHEN SHE REALIZED that GOD WOULD ONLY LISTEN to ADAM instead of HER thereby THINKING THAT GOD shares THE VIEW OF LILITH being SECOND FIDDLE.

AFTER HER BANISHMENT from HEAVEN and ELOPING with SATAN, LILITH became QUITE DECEPTIVE, CUNNING, and CALCULATING to where SHE EVEN MANAGED to MANIPULATE HER SISTER, EVE, into FINDING ANSWERS from THE TREE OF KNOWLEDGE to INITIATE THE FALL OF MAN. HER TREATMENT and ABANDONMENT IN HEAVEN made HER GROW SPITEFUL and VENGEFUL towards THE DIVINE, which RESULTED IN HER CREATING THE FIRST MONSTERS ON EARTH that would TERRORIZE THE CHILDREN OF ADAM AND EVE for CENTURIES TO COME, and her DEMONIC CHILDREN would DRIVE MANKIND down into a SPIRAL OF CHAOS, CORRUPTION, AND SIN, TURNING THEM  away from THE LIGHT OF GOD. SHE is also HIGHLY OPPORTUNISTIC, EVER WATCHFUL OF THE NEXT OPPORTUNITY to GAIN POWER through SOMEONE ELSE.

WHILE LILITH does CARE and LOVE HER CHILDREN she will FIERCELY DISCIPLINE them if they STEP OUT OF LINE or SHOW WEAKNESS, example is HER SUBJECTING THE LILIM through BRUTAL and GRUESOME PUNISHMENTS to "HELP" them GROW, and DID NOT even INTERVENE when LUCIFER DESTROYED MUNDUS, their OWN SON, DESPITE the fact that LILITH HERSELF SPOILED MUNDUS in HIS YOUTH, but this was MOSTLY due to THE FACT that LILITH was AWARE OF MUNDUS' hand in IMPRISONING LUCIFER within HIS TOMB. SHE also DISPLAYED A GREAT DEAL AFFECTION towards HER STEED TANIN'IVER to THE POINT where SHE ERUPTED in FURY UPON SEEING HER BELOVED PET WOUNDED and INCAPACITATED by MAERA alongside SENOI, SANSENOI, and SAMMANGELOF, whom SHE GREALY DESPISES. It is POSSIBLE that LILITH shows AFFECTION towards THOSE that WOULD BE OF SOME BENEFICIAL USE for HER though in RARE CASESC this AFFECTION can be that of GENUINE FONDNESS. 

SURPRISINGLY, and CONTRARY to POPULAR BELIEF, LILITH DEEPLY CARES for EVE DESPITE THEIR BACKGROUNDS. EVEN though LILITH INSTIGATED THE TEMPTATION to HAVE HER EAT THE FRUIT from THE TREE OF THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOOD AND EVIL, SHE has DISPLAYED PITY and ANGER TOWARDS ADAM'S TREATMENT OF EVE BEFORE and AFTER THEIR BANISHMENT from THE GARDEN OF EDEN. WHILE SHE was DISGUISED as AN OWL in THE GARDEN, LILITH and EVE would HAVE SEVERAL CONVERSATIONS with ONE ANOTHER REGARDING ADAM and HIS OVERBEARING NATURE ON EVE, eventually REACHING to a MUTUAL RESPECT and LIKING to ONE ANOTHER especially since LILITH saw that EVE CRAVED for KNOWLEDGE to SATE HER CURIOSITY. LILITH WATCHED over EVE during HER DAYS ON EARTH, and this SAME AFFECTION also EXTENDS to HER other SISTERS such as NAAMAH, AGRAT, and EISHETH.

REGARDLESS, LILITH remains to be ONE OF THE MORE SADISTICALLY MALICIOUS DEMONS. This is ESPECIALLY PROMINENT in HER HABIT OF DEVOURING HUMAN INFANTS and GLEEFULLY causing MISCARRIAGES to PREGNANT WOMEN. SHE is QUITE FOND of TOYING with HER PREY, especially when they are DEFENSELESS and VULNERABLE, EVIDENT when SHE TOOK PART in VERGIL'S  TORMENT during HIS TIME in HELL with VERGIL even OUTRIGHT ADMITTING that LILITH was one of THE MORE HIGHLY UNPLEASANT ONES that took TURNS in TORTURING HIM. 

LILITH would even TAUNT LAILAH, HER ARCHENEMY, by DANGLING THE DEVOURED REMAINS of AN INFANT TOWARDS HER to ADD SALT IN THE WOUND for HER FAILURE to PROTECT THEM. LILITH is also QUITE PROMISCUOUS, as SHE MORE OFTEN than NOT HAD SEXUAL RELATIONS WITH MANY POWERFUL DEMONS, GODS, gods, and even SEVERAL ANGELS. While THE CONCEPT OF LOVE is FOREIGN TO HER and HAD MANY PARTNERS, SHE DOES have a PREFERENCE to WHO SHE IS with such as LUCIFER, SATAN, and ASMODEUS though to a LESSER DEGREE regarding THE LATTER. SHE is also SOMETHING of an EXHIBITIONIST, being SHAMELESS when SHE ENGAGES in an ORGY  consisting of SATANIC WITCHES(male and female) and DEMONS. 

POWERS AND ABILITIES

As the first "TRADITIONAL" DEMON, LILITH is ONE OF THE MOST POWERFUL BEINGS in HELL. AS THE TRUE QUEEN OF HALL she OUTRANKED HER OWN SISTERS as well as HER OWN SON MUNDUS; DANTALION implied that in TERMS OF PURE TALENT in THE ART OF MAGIC LILITH may be a 'SHADE' stronger than MUNDUS, ORNIAS even ADMITTED he would rather FOLLOW LILITH than MUNDUS OUT OF FEAR of DISOBEYING THE QUEEN OF HELL. As such, LILITH COMMANDS THE LEGIONS OF HELL UNCHALLENGED as THEIR QUEEN and is NOT AFRAID to FLEX HER POWER over THEM should they DARE STEP OUT OF LINE. LILITH'S POWER is PREVALENT when she is ABLE TO SUCCESSFULLY WARD OFF NORMAL ANGELS but is HUMBLE ENOUGH to know when SHE IS OUTMATCHED.

What LILITH REALLY EXCELS at was DARK MAGIC and is SAID to have been THE FIRST to ever MASTER THE ART. SHE CAN CAST and WEAVE A COMPLEX WEB of SPELLS that can DEABILITATE even THE MIGHTIEST OF DEMONS. HER MAGIC is PROFICIENT enough to even make LAILAH, THE ARCHANGEL of NIGHT, struggle somewhat in BATTLE against HER. It is also REVEALED that it was SHE WHO TAUGHT HER SON how to EXERCISE THE DARK ARTS to where MUNDUS, using THE KNOWLEDGE he LEARNED from HIS MOTHER, CREATED A SERIES of AERTFICIAL DEMONS, in HIS ARSENAL, many of which WERE SO STRONG hey even THREATENED THE DEMON REALM. ASIDE from HER USE IN MAGIC, HER INHERENT ABILITIES also include SHAPEDHIFTING, when SHE TRANSFORMED into AN OWL, and PYROKINESIS. She also POSSESSES a SONIC SCREAM that can OUTRIGHT VAPORIZE HER OPPONENTS.

ONE other DANGEROUS ASPECT of LILITH is her INTELLIGENCE. As SHE IS NOT ONE TO "GET HER HANDS DIRTY", HER GREATEST ASSET in BATTLE LIES in HER KNOWLEDGE and INTELLIGENCE, using STRATEGIES to RENDER HER OPPONENTS HELPLESS without ENGAGING THEM DIRECTLY. SHE IS CAPABLE OF SEDUCING or MANIPULATING THE MESSES to DO HER WORK FOR HER while SHE STAYS on THE SIDELINES PULLING THE STRINGS, SOMETHING that has IMPRESSED the LIKES of BEELZEBUB HIMSELF. 

THIS WAS SEEN when SHE WAS THE ORCHESTRATOR behind ABADDON'S RELEASE and was THE BENEFACTOR FOR THE BLACK HAND in SETTING UP THE PREPARATIONS for THEOKOLES'S ASCENT TO POWER all while THE OPPOSING ORGANIZATIONS from THE DARK KNIGHT INITIATIVE were UNAWARE OF HER INVOLVEMENT for a TIME. SHE KNOWS how to EXPLOIT and TAKE ADVANTAGE OF OTHERS or a SITUATION TO GET WHATEVER SHE DESIRES and DEMONSTRATES both CRAFTINESS and CUNNING IN BATTLE; SHE EXPLOITS HER OPPONENTS' PHYSICAL and EMOTIONAL WEAKNESSES.

MYTH AND LEGENDS

As LATE 18TH CENTURY, it was A COMMON PRACTICE in MANY CULTURES to PROTECT NEW MOTHERS and THEIR INFANTS with AMULETS against LILITH. MALES were MOST VULNERABLE during THE FIRST WEEK OF LIFE, GIRLS during THE FIRST THREE WEEKS. SOMETIMES A MAGIC CIRCLE was DRAWN AROUND THE LYING-IN-BED, with a CHARM INSCRIBED with THE NAMES OF THE THREE ANGELS, ADAM and EVE and THE WORDS "BARRING LILITH" or "PROTECT THIS NEWBORN CHILD from ALL HARM." FREQUENTLY AMULETS were PLACED IN THE FOUR CORNERS and THROUGHOUT THE BEDCHAMBER. IF A CHILD LAUGHED while SLEEPING, it was TAKEN AS A SIGN THAT LILITH was PRESENT. TAPPING THE CHILD on THE NOSE, it was BELIEVED, made HER GO AWAY.

WHO WAS EVE?

HOW THE FIRST WOMAN'S RELATIONSHIP WITH MAN AND GOD IS COMPLICATED

THE FIRST WOMAN according to THE BIBLICAL CREATION STORY in (Genesis 2–3, EVE is perhaps THE BEST-KNOWN FEMALE FIGURE in THE HEBREW BIBLE. HER PROMINENCE comes NOT ONLY from HER ROLE in THE GARDEN OF EDEN STORY itself, but also from HER FREQUENT APPEARANCE in WESTERN ART, THEOLOGY, and LITERATURE. Indeed, THE IMAGE OF EVE, who NEVER APPEARS in THE HEBREW BIBLE after THE OPENING CHAPTERS of GENESIS, may be more STRONGLY COLORED by POSTBIBLICAL CULTURE than by THE BIBLICAL NARRATIVE itself.

FOR MANY, EVE represents SIN, SEDUCTION, AND THE SECONDARY NATURE OF WOMAN. Because SUCH ASPECTS of HER CHARACTER are not ACTUALLY PART of THE HEBREW NARRATIVE of GENESIS, but have BECOME ASSOCIATED with HER IN JEWISH and CHRISTIAN INTERPRETIVE TRADITIONS, a DISCUSSION OF EVE means FIRST POINTING OUT some of THOSE NEGATIVE VIEWS that are not INTRINSIC to THE ANCIENT HEBREW TALE.

THE POST-BIBLICAL DILEMMA

ALTHOUGH EVE is LINKED with THE BEGINNINGS OF SIN in THE EARLIEST MENTIONS of HER OUTSIDE THE HEBREW BIBLE—in THE JEWISH NON-CANONICAL BOOK OF SIRACH, as well as in THE NEW TESTAMENT and in other EARLY JEWISH and CHRISTIAN WORKS—SHE is not called A SINNER in THE GENESIS 2–3 ACCOUNT. TO BE SURE, SHE and ADAM disobeyed GOD; but THE WORD SIN does not APPEAR in THE HEBREW BIBLE until THE CAIN-ABEL NARRATIVE, where it EXPLICITLY REFERS to THE ULTIMATE SOCIAL CRIME, FRATRICIDE.

Another MISCONCEPTION is that EVE TEMPTS or SEDUCES ADAM. IN REALITY she MERELY TAKES a PIECE OF FRUIT—not AN APPLE—and HANDS IT TO HIM; they BOTH had BEEN TOLD not to EAT OF IT, yet they BOTH DID. Also, THE STORY is OFTEN THOUGHT to INVOLVE GOD'S CURSING OF EVE (and Adam), yet THE TEXT SPEAKS only of CURSING THE SERPENT and THE GROUND.

And THE TALE is FREQUENTLY REFERRED to as THE  “FALL" or “FALL OF MAN," although THERE IS NO FALL in THE NARRATIVE; THAT DESIGNATION is a LATER CHRISTIAN APPLICATION of PLATO'S IDEA (in the Phaedrus) of THE FALL OF HEAVENLY BEINGS to EARTH in ORDER TO EXPRESS THE DEPARTURE from DIVINE FAVOR or GRACE. SUCH VIEWS are ENTRENCHED in POST-BIBLICAL NOTIONS OF EDEN, MAKING IT DIFFICULT to SEE FEATURES of EVE AND HER ROLE that FORM PART OF THE HEBREW TALE. THESE FEATURES have BEEN LARGELY UNNOTICED or IGNORED  by THE INTERPRETIVE TRADITION.

THIS SITUATION, and also THE WAY in which THE GENESIS 2–3 STORY APPEARS to SANCTION NOTIONS of MALE DOMINANCE, has MADE RECONSIDERATION OF THE EDEN TALE  an IMPORTANT PROJECT of FEMINIST BIBLICAL STUDY ever since THE FIRST WAVE OF FEMINISM INTEREST the first in BIBLICAL EXEGESIS, which was PART OF THE NINETEENTH-CENTURY SUFFRAGE MOVEMENT in THE UNTED STATES.

CONTEMPORARY FEMINIST BIBLICAL STUDY for THE MOST PART, but not ENTIRELY, HAS TENDED to REMOVE NEGATIVE THEOLOGICAL OVERLAY, to RECAPTURE POSITIVE ASPECTS of EVE'S ROLE, and GENERALLY to UNDERSTAND how THIS FAMOUS BEGINNINGS ACCOUNT might HAVE FUNCTIONED in ISRAELITE CULTURE. THE LTERATURE dealing with EVE and HER STORY is VOLUMINOUS, and ONLY A SAMPLE of THE NEW PERSPECTIVES can be DISCUSSED here.

THE FIRST WOMAN IN GENESIS 1

THE FIRST THING to be NOTED is THE APPARENT CONTRAST between how THE CREATION OF HUMANITY is PORTRAYED in GENESIS 1 and ITS DEPICTION in GENESIS 2–3. FOR LITERARY and THEOLOGICAL REASONS, THE HEAVEN-FOCUSED FIRST CHAPTER of THE HEBREW BIBLE (actually, Genesis 1–2:4a) is USUALLY ATTRIBUTED to a PRIESTLY AUTHOR (or P), whereas THE EARTH-FOCUSED (Genesis 2:4b-3) CREATION STORY is PROBABLY  an EARLIER ACCOUNT.

THE P ACCOUNT has GOD CREATING HUMANITY in THE DIVINE IMAGE (Genesis 1:26) "[THEN GOD SAID: "LET US MAKE MAN IN OUR IMAGE, ACCORDING TO OUR LIKENESS, AND LET THEM HAVE IN SUBJECTION THE FISH OF THE SEA AND THE FLYING CREATURES OF THE HEAVENS AND THE DOMESTIC ANIMALS AND ALL THE EARTH AND EVERY CREEPING ANIMAL THAT IS MOVING ON THE EARTH.]"

THE WORD FOR HUMANITY, ADAM is GRAMMATICALLY MASCULINE and CAN MEAN a MALE and can even be THE PROPER NAME ADAM; but it is OFTEN USED GENERICALLY or COLLECTIVELY, as in GENESIS 1, TO DENOTE a CLASS OF LIVING BEINGS, that is, PEOPLE  (rather than animals or God). 

TRADITIONAL TRANSLATIONS render it “MAN" but more RECENT GENDER-SENSITIVE TRANSLATIONS now RENDER IT with INCLUSIVE WORDS like “HUMANITY" or “HUMANKIND."

A FURTHER ASPECT of CREATION  in GENESIS 1 is that ADAM (humanity) is INCLUSIVE; IT CONSISTS OF BOTH "MALE and FEMALE"; THESE WORDS generally denote TWO BIOLOGICAL (sexual) CATEGORIES and ARE USED in THE BIBLE for BOTH PEOPLE and ANIMALS.

THE SIMULTANEOUS CREATION of FEMALE and MALE in THE IMAGE OF GOD is often INTERPRETED as EVIDENCE of FEMALE-MALE EQUALITY in THE FIRST CREATION STORY.

HOWEVER, it is UNCERTAIN that THESE COMPLEMENTARY BIOLOGICAL CATEGORIES are also SOCIAL.

IN ANY CASE, THE TERMS for THE TWO PARTS of HUMANITY in GENESIS 1 are VERY DIFFERENT in THE  GARDEN OF EDEN STORY.

THE WOMAN OF EDEN AND HER PARTNER

THE WELL-KNOWN EDEN TALE begins with THE SCENE of a WELL-WATERED GARDEN—so UNLIKE THE FREQUENTLY DROUGHT-STRICKEN HIGHLANDS of THE LAND OF CANAAN in which THE ISRAELITES LIVED.

GOD HAD PLACED THERE an ADAM, a PERSON FORMED from “CLODS OF THE EARTH [adamah]”(Genesis 2:7) "[AND JEHOVAH GOD WENT ON TO FORM THE MAN OUT OF DUST FROM THE GROUND AND TO BLOW INTO HIS NOSTRILS THE BREATH OF LIFE, AND THE MAN BECAME A LIVING PERSON.]"

 THIS WORDPLAY evokes THE NOTION OF HUMAN BEINGS as EARTH CREATURES: GOD FORMS an EARTHLING  from THE EARTH, notably REDDISH-BROWN ARABLE LAND (for adam is likely related to adom, the Hebrew word for “red”). 

BECAUSE ADAM is often a GENDER-INCLUSIVE TERM, its USE HERE for THE FIRST HUMAN does not NECESSARILY MEAN that THE FIRST HUMAN is a MAN.

INDEED,some FEMINISMT READINGS of BIBLICAL INCLUSIVE LANGUAGE, and also some RABBINIC TEXTS and MEDIEVAL JEWISH COMMENTARIES, consider THE ORIGINAL HUMAN ANDROGYNOUS, as does an ANCIENT MESOPOTAMIAN CREATION TALE.

THUS GOD has to DIVIDE THE FIRST BEING into FEMALE and MALE in ORDER FOR PROCREATION and ON-GOING HUMAN LIFE TO BEGIN. AT THE VERY LEAST, because THE WORD ADAM in GENESIS 2–3 is not UNAMBIGUOUSLY MALE, it is BEST RENDERED “HUMAN" until a SECOND PERSON IS CREATED. 

GOD TELLS THIS FIRST BEING that ANYTHING IN THE GARDEN may be EATEN EXCEPT for THE FRUIT OF A CERTAIN TREE.

GOD THEN DECIDES that THIS PERSON should NOT BE ALONE and TRIES ANIMALS AS COMPANIONS.

CREATING ANIMALS SERVES TO POPULATE the WORLD WITH LIVING CREATURES but doesn’t quite MEET GOD'S INTENTIONS.

GOD THEN PERFORMS COSMIC SURGERY  on THE FIRST PERSON, REMOVING ONE “SIDE' (NRSV [New Revised Standard Version] “RIB"; to form a second person (Genesis 2:21) "[SO JEHOVAH GOD CAUSED THE MAN TO FALL INTO A DEEP SLEEP, AND WHILE HE WAS SLEEPING, HE TOOK ONE OF HIS RIBS AND THEN CLOSED UP THE FLESH OVER ITS PLACE.]"

THE ESSENTIAL UNITY of THESE FIRST TWO HUMANS is EXPRESSED IN THE WELL-KNOWN WORDS (Genesis 2:23) "[THEN THE MAN SAID: "THIS IS AT LEAST BONE OF MY BONES AND FLESH OF MY FLESH. THIS ONE WILL BE CALLED WOMAN. BECAUSE FROM MAN SHE WAS TAKEN.]"

THE WORD ISHAH is NOW USED for “WOMAN" and ISH for “MAN." THESE SIMILAR SOUNDING WORDS are PROBABLY not from THE SAME HEBREW ROOT, but they do FORM A STRICKING WORD PLAY(as do adam and adamah), INDICATING an ESSENTIAL SAMENESS of THE TWO BEINGS.

THIS UNITY, a FUNCTION OF THE ONE BEING split into TWO, is REENACTED in COPULATION, indicating THE STRENTH OF THE MARITAL BOND over THE NATAL ONE (Genesis 2:24) "[THAT IS WHY A MAN WILL LEAVE HIS FATHER AND HIS MOTHER AND HE WILL STICK TO HIS WIFE, AND THEY WILL BECOME ONE FLESH.]"

THE RELATIONASHIP between THIS FIRST PAIR OF HUMANS is EXPRESSED by the term (Gen 2:20), translated “HELPER AS HIS PARTNER" by the NRSV, “FITTING HELPER" in the NJPS (New Jewish Publication Society Version), and “HELPMEET" or “HELP-MATE" in older English versions (Genesis 2:20) "[SO THE MAN NAMED ALL THE DOMESTIC ANIMALS AND THE FLYING CREATURES OF THE HEAVENS AND EVERY WILD ANIMAL OF THE FIELD, BUT FOR A MAN THERE WAS NO HELPER AS A COMPLEMENT OF HIM.]"

THIS UNUSUAL PHRASE probably indicates MUTUALITY. THE NOUN HELPER can MEAN either “AN ASSISTANT" (subordinate) or “AN EXPERT"  or "SUPERIOR" ; e.g., GOD as HELPER in (Psalms 54:4) "[LOOK! GOD IS MY HELPER; JEHOVAH IS WITH THOSE SUPPORTING ME.]"; but THE MODIFYING PREPOSITION PRASE, used ONLY HERE IN THE BIBLE, apparently means “EQUAL TO."

THE PHRASE, which MIGHT BE TRANSLATED as “AN EQUAL HELPER" or “A SUITABLE COUNTERPART," indicates that NO HIERACHICAL RELATIONSHIP EXISTS between THE TWO MEMBERS of THE PRIMODIAL PAIR.

They FORM A MARITAL PARTNERSHIP of THE KIND NECESSARY for SURVIVAL in THE HIGHLAND VILLAGES of ANCIENT ISRAEL, where THE HARD WORK of BOTH WOMEN and MEN was ESSENTIAL. YET another TRANSLATION is POSSIBLE, one that RETAINS THE COUNTERPART IDEA and also TAKE INTO ACCOUNT that EZER can be DERIVED from a HEBREW ROOT meaning “TO BE STRONG, POWERFUL" rather than THE ONE MEANING “TO HELP." THE PHRASE would then be TRANSLATED “POWERFUL COUNTERPART." BECAUSE WOMEN had CONSIDERABLE POWER in AGRARIAN ISRAELITE HOUSEHOLDS in THE IRON AGE, this READING  is COMPELLING.

THIS PRIMEVAL PAIR have NO NAMES. THE NARRATOR doesn’t DISCLOSE THE WOMAN'S NAME, EVE, until LATE IN THE EDEN STORY, RIGHT before EXPULSION from THE GARDEN. Although GENERIC ADAM, often PRECEDED by THE ARTICLE(“the human”) APPEARS NINETEEN TIMES in THE EDEN STORY, it is not UNAMBIGUOUSLY used as THE NAME of THE FIRST MAN until THE END of GENESIS 4, THE CAIN and ABEL STORY. EVE is THE FIRST HUMAN with a SPECIFIC FORM of IDENTICATION.

DISOBEDIENCE AND ITS CONSEQUENCES

THE SERPENT now ENTERS THE SCENE. AN INTELLIGENT BEING, it BEGINS A DIALOGUE with THE WOMAN, who is thus THE FIRST HUMAN to ENGAGE IN CONVERSATION (a reflection perhaps of female skill with words?). THE WOMAN is THE ONE who APPRECIATES THE AESTHETIC and NUTRITIONAL QUALITIES of THE FORBIDDEN TREE and ITS FRUIT, as well as ITS POTENTIAL “TO MAKE ONE WISE." THE WOMAN and THE MAN both EAT AND ULTIMATELY are EXPELLED from EDEN for THEIR MISDEED, LEST THEY EAT OF THE TREE OF LIFE and GAIN IMMORTALITY along with THEIR WISDOM. EATING OF THE FORBIDDEN FRUIT has MADE THEM LIKE GOD, ABLE TO KNOW, PERCEIVE, and UNDERSTAND "GOOD AND BAD" — MEANING EVERYTHING. But THEY MUST NEVER EAT of THE TREE and GAIN IMMORTALITY too.

THIS BRINGS us to PERHAPS THE MOST DIFFICULT VERSE in THE HEBREW BIBLE for PEOPLE CONCERNED with HUMAN EQUALITY. GENESIS 3:16 seems to GIVE MEN THE RIGHT to DOMINATE WOMEN(Genesis 3:16) "[TO THE WOMAN HE SAID: "I WILL GREATELY INCREASE THE PAIN OF YOUR PREGNANCY; IN PAIN YOU WILL GIVE BIRTH TO CHILDREN, AND YOUR LONGING WILL BE FOR YOUR HUSBAND, AND HE WILL DOMINATE YOU.]"  FEMINISTS have GRAPPLED with THIS TEXT in a VARIETY OF WAYS. ONE POSSIBILITY is to RECOGNIZE that THE TRADITIONAL TRANSLATIONS have DISTORTED its MEANING and that it is BEST READ against its SOCIAL BACKGROUND of AGRARIAN LIFE. INSTEAD of THE FAMILIAR “[I WILL GREATLY INCREASE YOUR PANGS IN CHILDBEARING]", THE VERSE should BEGIN “[I WILL GREATLY INCREAE YOUR WORK and YOUR PREGNANCIES.]" THE WORD for “WORK," is THE SAME WORD used in GOD'S STATEMENT to THE MAN (Genesis 3:17–19) "[AND TO ADAM HE SAID: "BECAUSE YOU LISTENED TO YOUR VOICE AND ATE FROM THE TREE CONCERNING WHICH I GAVE YOU THIS  COMMAND, YOU MUST NOT EAT FROM IT,' CURSED IS THE GROUND ON YOUR ACCOUNT, IN PAIN YOU WILL EAT ITS PRODUCE ALL THE DAYS OF YOUR LIFE. IT WILL GROW THORNS AND THISTLES FOR YOU, AND YOU MUST EAT THE VEGETATION OF THE FIELD. IN THE SWEAT OF YOUR FACE YOU RETURN TO THE GROUND FOR OUT OF IT YOU WERE TAKEN. FOR DUST YOU ARE AND TO DUST YOU WILL RETURN.]" : MEN will EXPERIENCE unending TOIL. 

THE USUAL TRANSLATION (“pangs” or “pain”) is FAR less ACCURATE. IN ADDITION TO TOIL, THE WOMAN will EXPERIENCE more PREGNANCIES; THE HEBREW WORD is PREGNANCE, not CHILDBEARING, as MOST TRANSLATIONS have it. WOMEN, in OTHER WORDS, must have MANY CHILDREN. They also MUST WORK HARD, which is what THE NEXT CLAUSE also PROCLAIMS. THE VERSE is a MANDATE for INTENSE PRODUCTIVE and REPRODUCTIVE ROLE FOR WOMEN; IT SANCTIONS what LIFE MEANT for ISRAELITE WOMEN. WOMEN will BEAR CHILDREN, and BOTH WOMEN and MEN will TOIL as PARTNERS in HOUSEHOLD LIFE.

IN LIGHT OF THIS, THE NOTION of GENERAL MALE DOMINANCE in THE SECOND HALF of THE VERSE is a DISTORTION. MORE LIKELY, THE IDEA OF MALE  “RULE" is related to THE MULTIPLE PREGNANCIES mentioned in THE FIRST HALF of THE VERSE. A WOMAN  might RESIST REPEATED PREGNANCIES because of THE DANGERS of DEATH in CHILDBIRTH, but because she will “TURN" (Genesis 3:16) "[TO THE WOMAN HE SAID: "I WILL GREATLY INCREASE THE PAIN OF YOUR PREGNANCY; IN PAIN YOU WILL GIVE BIRTH TO CHILDREN, AND YOUR LONGING WILL BE FOR YOUR HUSBAND, AND HE WILL DOMINATE YOU.]" , rather than “DESIRE" or “URGE" as in MANY translations) TOWARD HER PARTNER she WILL BE SEXUALLY RE-JOINED TO HIM(Gen 2:23–24) "[THEN THE MAN SAID: "THIS IS AT LAST BONE OF MY BONES AND FLESH OF MY FLESH. THIS ONE WILL BE CALLED WOMAN. BECAUSE FROM MAN SHE WAS TAKEN. THAT IS WHY A MAN WILL  LEAVE HIS FATHER AND HIS MOTHER AND HE WILL STICK TO HIS WIFE, AND THEY WILL BECOME ONE FLESH. AND BOTH OF THEM CONTINUED TO BE NAKED, THE MAN AND HIS WIFE; YET THEY WERE NOT ASHAMED.]" MALE RULE in THIS VERSE is NARROWLY DRAWN, relating ONLY TO SEXUALITY; MALE INTERPRETIVE TRADITIONS have EXTENDED that IDEA by CLAIMING that it MEANS GENERAL MALE DOMINANCE.

ARCHETYPES AND ETIOLOGIES

THE RIVETING and CONTROVERSIAL STORY OF HUMAN ORIGINS can BEST be UNDERSTOOD as PORTRAYING ARCHETYPAL HUMAN QUALITIES, whereby THE FIRST HUMANS REPRESENT ALL HUMANS. THE WOMAN'S NAME EVE is PROBABLY DERIVED from a ROOT meaning “TO LIVE." THE INTRODUCTION of HER NAME is FOLLOWED by a FOLK ETYMOLOGY; SHE is “MOTHER OF ALL LIVING". HER NAME is RICH  in SYMBOLISM, characterizing HER ARCHYPICAL ROLE: as THE FIRST WOMAN, EVE REPRESENTS THE ESSENTIAL LIFE-GIVING MATERIAL FUNCTION OF WOMEN. ARCHETYPAL MATERIAL AUTHORITY is also IMPLIED IN HER ROLE as NAME-GIVER of THE FIRST HUMAN CHILD.

EVE is also THE ONE who PROVIDES the FIRST MORSEL OF FOOD in a NARRATIVE in which THE WORDS for “FOOD" and “EAT" (from the same Hebrew root, ’khl) APPEAR REPEATEDLY. THE REPETITION of THESE WORDS in THE STORY OF HUMAN ORIGINS reflects THE ISRAELITE CONCERN with SUSTAINANCE in THE DIFFICULT ENVIRONMENT of THE CANAANITE HIGHLANDS.  EVE'S ACTION in HANDING THE MAN SOME FRUIT may thus DERIVE  from THE REALITY OF WOMEN'S ROLES in FOOD PREPARATION than as a DEPICTION of TEMPTATION  or SEDUCTION.

THE EDEN STORY also SERVES ETIOLOGICAL PURPOSES. IT HELPED ANCIENT ISRAELITES deal with THE HARSH REALITIES of DAILY EXISTENCE in THE IRON AGE (ca. 1200–586 BCE), especially in CONTRAST with LIFE in THE MORE FERTILE and BETTER WATERED AREAS of THE ANCIENT NEAR EAST, by PROVIDING  an “EXPLANATION" for THEIR DIFFICULT LIFE CONDITIONS. THE PUNITIVE STATEMENTS addressed to THE FIRST COUPLE prior to THE EXPULSION from THE GARDEN DEPICT THE REALITIES they WILL FACE.

MOTHER EVE

EVE does not DISAPPEAR from THE BIBLICAL STORY at THE EXPULSION from THE GARDEN. In a LITTLE-NOTICED INTRODUCTION(Genesis 4:1–2a) "[NOW ADAM HAD SEXUAL RELATIONS WITH HIS WIFE EVE, AND SHE BECOME PREGNANT. WHEN SHE GAVE BIRTH TO CAIN, SHE SAID: "I HAVE PRODUCED A MALE CHILD WITH THE HELP OF JEHOVAH. LATER, SHE AGAIN GAVE BIRTH, TO HIS BROTHER ABEL.]" to THE ENSUING CAIN and ABEL NRRATIVE, EVE is said to have “CREATED A MAN TOGETHER WITH THE LORD." TYPICAL TRANSLATIONS—NRSV “PRODUCED A MAN WITH THE HELP OF THE LORD"; NJPS “gained a MALE CHILD WITH THE HELP OF THE LORD"—OBSCURE the HIGHLY UNSUAL LANGUAGE.

THE WORD FOR for “CREATE" is THE SAME as THE WORD used in THE BIBLE for THE CREATIVE POWER of GOD (Genesis 14:19-22) "[THEN HE BLESSED HIM AND SAID: "BLESSED BE ABRAM BY THE MOST HIGH GOD, MAKER OF HEAVEN AND EARTH; AND PRAISED BE THE MOST HIGH GOD, WHO HAS HANDED YOUR OPPRESSORS OVER TO YOU!" AND ABRAM GAVE HIM A TENTH OF EVERYTHING. AFTER THAT THE KING OF SODOM SAID TO ABRAM: "GIVE ME THE PEOPLE, BUT TAKE THE GOODS FOR YOURSELF." FOR ABRAM SAID TO THE KING SODOM: "I RAISE MY HAND IN AN OATH TO JEHOVAH THE MOST HIGH GOD, MAKER OF HEAVEN AND EARTH.]" and in EXTRABIBLICAL TEXTS for THE CREATIVITY of THE SEMITIC MOTHER GODDESS ASHERAH. WOMEN in THE BIBLE are OTHERWISE said to “BEAR CHILDREN," not “CREATE A MAN"; and CREATING A MAN “WITH" GOD links EVE'S CREATIVE POWER with THAT OF GOD. MOREOVER, NAME GIVING is ALMOST ALWAYS a MOTHER'S ACT in THE BIBLE; it SIGNIFIES AUTHORITY over OFFSPRING, and IT APPEARS in EVE'S NAMING OF CAIN. EVE is LAST MENTIONED in THE HEBREW in MORE CONVENTIONAL"[THEN LAMECH COMPOSED THESE WORDS FOR HIS WIVES ADAH AND ZILLAH: "HEAR MY VOICE, YOUR WIVES OF LAMECH; GIVE EAR TO MY SAYING: A MAN I HAVE KILLED FOR WOUNDING ME.]" NOTICES of MOTHERHOOD —when SHE BEARS HER ILL-FATED SECOND SON ABEL(Genesis 4:2) "[LATER SHE AGAIN GAVE BIRTH, TO HIS BROTHER ABEL. ABEL BECAME A SHEPHARD OF THE FLOCK, BUT CAIN BECAME A CULTIVATOR OF THE GROUND.]" and HER THIRD SON SETH (Genesis 4:23) 

LILITH: LADY FLYING IN DARKNESS

THE MOST NOTORIOUS DEMON of JEWISH TRADITION becomes a FEMINIST HERO.

“HALF OF ME IS BEAUTIFUL BUT YOU WERE NEVER SURE WHICH HALF- RUTH FELDMAN, "LILITH"

LILITH is THE MOST NOTORIOUS DEMON in JEWISH TRADITION. IN SOME SOURCES, SHE is CONCEIVED of as THE ORIGINAL WOMAN, CREATED  even before EVE, and SHE is often PRESENTED as a THIEF OF NEWBORN INFANTS. LILITH means “THE NIGHT,'' and SHE EMBODIES THE EMOTIONAL and SPIRITUAL ASPECTS of DARKNESS: TERROR, SENSUALITY, and UNBRIDLED FREEDOM. MORE RECENTLY, SHE has COME TO REPRESENT THE FREEDOM OF FEMINIST WOMEN  who NO LONGER want to be “GOOD GIRLS."

BIBLICAL AND TALMUDIC TALES OF LILITH

THE STORY OF LILITH ORIGINATED in THE ANCIENT NEAR EAST, where a WILDERNESS SPIRIT known as THE "DARK MAID" APPEARS in THE SUMERIAN MYTH “THE DESCENT OF INANNA" (circa 3000 BCE). ANOTHER REFERENCE APPEARS in a TABLET from THE SEVENTH CENTURY BCE found at ARSLAN TASH, SYRIA which CONTAINS THE INSCRIPTION: "O FLYER in a DARK CHAMBER, GO AWAY AT ONCE, O LILI!" 

LILITH later MADE HER way into ISRAELITE TRADITION, POSSIBLY even into THE BIBLE. (Isaiah 34:14) "[DESERT CREATURES WILL MEET UP WITH HOWLING ANIMALS, AND THE WILD GOAT WILL CALL ITS COMPANION. YES, THERE THE NIGHTJAR WILL SETTLE AND FIND A PLACE OF REST.]" DESCRIBING an INHOSPITABLE WILDERNESS, tells us: “THERE GOAT-DEMONS SHALL GREET EACH OTHER, AND THERE THE LILITH SHALL FIND REST]". SOME BELIEVE this word “LILIT" is a REFERENCE  to a NIGHT OWL, and OTHERS say it is INDEED a REFERENCE to THE DEMON LILITH. A MAGICAL BOWL from THE FIRST CENTURY CE, written in HEBREW, reads: "DESIGNATED IS THIS BOWL FOR THE SEALING OF THE HOUSE OF THIS GEYONAI BAR MAMAI, THAT THERE FLEE FROM HIM THE EVIL LILITH..." ANCIENT IMAGES of LILITH which show HER HANDS BOUND APPEAR to be a FORM OF VISUAL MAGIC for CONTAINGING HER.

IN THE TALMUD, LILITH becomes NOT ONLY A SPIRIT OF DARKNESS, but also a FIGURE OF UNCONTROLLED SEXUALITY. THE BABYLONIAN TALMUD (Shabbat151a) says: “[IT IS FORBIDDEN FOR A MAN TO SLEEP ALONE IN A HOUSE, LEST LILITH GET HOLD OF HIM." LILITH is said to FERTILIZE HERSELF with MALE SPERM to GIVE BIRTH to OTHER DEMONS.

LILITH AS ESCAPED WIFE

In GENESIS RABBAH, we ENCOUNTER a BRIEF MIDRASH that CLAIMS  that ADAM had a FIRST WIFE before EVE. THIS INTERPRETATION ARISES from THE TWO CREATION STORIES of GENESIS: In GENESIS 1, MAN and WOMAN are CREATED at THE SAME TIME, while in GENESIS ADAM  precedes Eve. THE RABBINIC TALE he SUGGESTS that THE FIRST CREATION STORY is a DIFFERENT CREATION, in which ADAM has a WIFE made, like HIM, from THE EARTH. FOR SOME REASON THIS MARRIAGE doesn’t WORK OUT, and so GOD MAKES ADAM a SECOND WIFE, EVE. 

IN THE NINTH or TENTH CENTURY, a CLEVER COLLECTION OF LEGENDS  titled THE ALPHABET of BEN SIRA DRAWS on EARLIER STORIES OF ADAM'S WIFE, and of ADAM'S COUPLING DEMONS, and SPINS AN ELABORATE STORY in which LILITH  is ADAM'S FIRST WIFE: 

When THE FIRST MAN, ADAM, saw that HE WAS ALONE, GOD MADE FOR HIM a WOMAN LIKE HIMSELF,from THE EARTH. GOD CALLED HER NAME LILITH, and BROUGHT HER TO ADAM. THEY IMMEDIATELY BEGAN to QUARREL. ADAM  said: “[YOU LIE BENEATH ME.]" And LILITH said: “YOU LIE BENEATH ME! WE ARE BOTH EQUAL, FOR BOTH OF US ARE FROM THE EARTH.]" And they WOULD NOT LISTEN to ONE ANOTHER. 

AS SOON AS LILITH saw this, SHE UTTERED THE DIVINE NAME and FLEW UP INTO THE AIR AND FLED. ADAM BEGAN TO PRAY before HIS CREATOR, saying: “MASTER OF THE UNIVERSE, THE WOMAN THAT YOU GAVE ME HAS FLED." GOD SENT THREE ANGELS and SAID TO THEM; “[GO BRING BACK LILITH.IF SHE WANTS TO COME, SHE SHALL COME, AND IF SHE DOES NOT WANT TO COME, DO NOT BRING HER AGAINST HER WILL.]" THE THREE ANGELS WENT and FOUND HER in THE SEA at THE PLACE WHERE THE EGYPTIANS were DESTINED to DROWN.  THERE THEY GRABBED HER and SAID to HER: “IF NOT, WE WILL DRAWN[IF YOU WILL GO WITH US, WELL AND GOOD, BUT IF NOT, WE WILL DROWN YOU IN THE SEA.]" 

LILITH said to THEM: "MY FRIENDS, I KNOW GOD ONLY MY FRIENDS, I KNOW GOD ONLY CREATED ME TO WEAKEN INFANTS WHEN THEY ARE EIGHT DAYS OLD. FROM THE DAY A CHILD IS BORN UNTIL THE EIGHT DAY, I HAVE DOMINION OVER THE CHILD, AND FROM THE EIGHTH DAY, I HAVE ONWARD I HAVE NO DOMINION OVER HIM IF HE IS A BOY, BUT IF A GIRL, I RULE OVER HER TWELVE DAYS.]"

THEY SAID: “[WE WON'T LET YOU GO UNTIL YOU ACCEPT UPON YOURSELF THAT EACH DAY ONE HUNDRED OF YOUR CHILDREN WILL DIE.]" And SHE ACCEPTED it. That is WHY ONE HUNDRED DEMS DIE every day. They would NOT LEAVE HER ALONE  until she SWORE to them: "[ IN ANY PLACE THAT I SEE YOU OR YOUR NAMES IN AN AMULET, I WILL HAVE NO DOMINION OVER THAT CHILD.]" They LEFT her. And SHE is LILITH, who WEAKENS THE CHILDREN OF MEN......

ALPHABET OF BEN SIRA 23A-B

SOME BELIEVE that THIS STORY is a SERIOUS ATTEMPT to EXPLAIN THE DEATH of INFANTS, while others ARE CONVINCED it is a HUMOROUS TALE of SEXUAL QUARRELS and UNSUCCESSFUL ANGELS. THE LILITH of THIS STORY CONFRONTS both ADAM and GOD: SHE DEFIES PATRIARCHY, REFUSES A SUBMISSIVE SEXUAL POSTURE, and in THE END REFUSES MARRIAGE altogether, PREFERRING to become a DEMON rather thAUTHORITY. NOTICE that LILITH FLESS to THE SEA OF REEDS: THE PLACE WHERE THE HEBREWS will ONE GO FREE FROM SLAVERY. IN THIS VERSION of THE LILITH STORY, LILITH becomes what all TYRANTS FEAR: A PERSON who is AWARE she is ENSLAVED.

THIS VERSION OF THE LILITH TALE in THE ALPHABET OF BEN SIRA quickly SPREAD THROUGHOUT JEWISH LIFE, and OTHERS EXPANDED ON IT. THE ZOHAR, A MYSTICAL WORK from 12TH CENTURY SPAIN, imagines LILITH not only as THE FIRST WIFE OF ADAM but also as THE WIFE OF SATAN. IN THE KABBAH, LILITH takes on COSMIC POWER. SHE IS A CHAOTIC COUNTERPART to THE SHEKHINAH (the feminine Divine Presence, the bride of the Infinite). IN FACT, THE ZOHAR  imagines that while THE JEWS SUFFER IN EXILE, THE HOLY ONE (the masculine aspect of the Divine) SEPARATES from THE SHEKHINAH, and CONSORTS with LILITH. LILITH'S SEXUAL-SPIRITUAL link with THE DIVINE will ONLY END when THE MESSIAH and THE BROKENNESS in THE WORLD is MENDED. 

IN FOLK JUDAISM, THE PRIMARY MYTHS about LILITH continue to IDENTIFY HER PRINCIPALLY as A STEALER OF BABIES. NUMEROUS AMULATES for PREGNANT WOMEN and BABIES from MEDIEVAL through MODERN TIMES use THE THREE NAMES of THE ANGELS in THE ALPHABET OF BEN SIRA (Sanvi, Sansanvi, and Samangelof) to WARD AWAY LILITH. SUCH AMULATES may also CONTAIN A CIRCLE with THE NAMES OF ADAM & EVE on THE INSIDE OF THE CIRCLE, and THE NAME OF LILITH ON THE OUTSIDE: A CLEAR WARNING to LILITH TO STAY OUTSIDE THE FAMILY REALM. A RED RIBBON is also sometimes PLACED ON A CRIB TOWARD OFF LILITH. 

LILITH AND MODERN JEWISH FEMINIST MIDRASH

IN THE MODERN PERIOD, THE TALE OF THE PUT-UPON WIFE who FLEES TO A PLACE OF LIBERATION  became a CELEBRATED PARADIGM. NUMEROUSD MODERN JEWISH POETS AND AUTHORS, FEMALE AND MALE, wrote ACCOUNTS OF LILITH that use OLD STORIES to EXPRESS NEW IDEAS.

PERHAPS THE BEST-KNOWN of THE NEW LILITH TALES is “THE COMING OF LILITH," by JUDITH PLASKOW. IN THIS FEMINIST MIDRASH, LILITH  flees THE GARDEN because she is an “UPPITY WOMAN" who DOESN'T WANT to BE PUSHEDF AROUND by ADAM or GOD. HOWEVER, SHE MISSES FEMALE  COMPANIONSHIP. LILITH soon SNEAK BACK INTO THE GARDEN AND BEFRIENDS EVE. EVE has been TOLD LILITH IS A DEMON, but once THE TWO WOMEN share THEIR STORIES, they become ALLIES and COMPANIONS in THE SEARCH FOR KNOWLEDGE.

ENID DAME, in her poem “LILITH," imagines LILITH as AN ETERNAL BOHEMIAN who LEAVES EDEN, DROPS IN AND OUT OF MEN'S SEXUAL FANTASIES in THE MIDDLE AGES, and NOW LIVES a CAB DRIVER in NEW JERSEY, where SHE STILL CRIES in THE BATHROOM as SHE REMEMBERS EDEN  “[AND THE MAN AND THE GOD I COUNDN'T LIVE WITH.]'

IN LYNN GOTTLIEB'S STORY OF LILITH, LILITH is MADE FROM THE SKY AND ADAM FROM THE EARTH. IN HER LOVE for ADAM, LILITH CHOOSES to FORGET SHE CAME FROM THE SKY, and SHE BECOMES EVE, SETTLED and HAPPY but IGNORANT of HER OWN TRUE NATURE.  IN HER STORY, GOTTLIEB dramatizes THE STRUGGLE OF WOMEN the to LOVE MEN while STILL LOVING THEMSELVES.

WOMEN IN THE BIBLE

IN THE BIBLE, WOMEN are SOMETIMES PORTRAYED as MEN'S EQUALS and OTHER TIMES as MEN'S SUBORDINATES — or PROPERTY. THE HEBREW BIBLE is a COMPOSITE DOCUMENT containing A VARIETY OF TYPES OF LITERATURE, REFLECTING THE ATTITUDES and CONCERNS OF NUMEROUS AUTHORS writing in VERY DIFFERENT TIMES and PLACES.

AN EARLY EXAMPLE OF DIVERGENT VIEWS

AN EXAMPLE of such SIGNIFICANT DIVERSITY as it APPLIES TO WOMEN is EVIDENT in THE TWO CREATION STORIES placed at THE BEGINNING of GENESIS. WHILE THE FIRST ACCOUNT of THE ORIGIN OF HUMAN BEINGS (GENESIS 1:1‑2:3) RECOUNTS that BOTH MALE and FEMALE were CREATED SIMULTANEOUSLY, in THE DIVINE IMAGE, and EQUALLY CHARGED to MULTIPLY and to DOMINATE THE EARTH and THEIR FELLOW CREATURES, THE SECOND NARRATIVE(Genesis 2:4ff.) PRESERVES A TRADITION OF MALE PRIORITY. HERE, WOMAN is a SUBSEQUENT and SECONDARY CREATION, FORMED from MAN'S BODY to FULFILL MELE NEEDS for COMPANIONSHIP  and PROGENY. SUCH DIVERGENT UNDERSTANDINGS of FEMALE STATUS and CAPACITIES, and THE CONTRADICTIONS they ENGENDER, APPEAR throughout THE BIBLICAL LITERATURE.

CONTROLLING WOMEN'S SEXUALITY

RECENT SCHOLARS have UTILIZED a NUMBER of STRATEGIES to CONTEXTUALIZE the DIVERSE PORTRAYALS of WOMEN IN BIBLICAL TEXTS. STUDYING WOMEN'S STATUS in BIBLICAL LAW, TIKVA FRYMER-KENSKY Tikva writes that BIBLICAL LEGISLATION, like ANNCIENT NEAR EASTERN SOCIAL POLICY in GENERAL, ASSUMES A WOMAN'S SUBORDINATION to THE DOMINANT MALE in HER LIFE, whether FATHER or HUSBAND.THIS MAN CONTROLS HER SEXUALITY, including THE RIGHT to CHALLENGE with IMPUNITY BOTH HER VIRGINITY and HER MARITAL FAITHFULNESS(Deuteronomy 11:28‑29) "[SEE, I AM PUTTING BEFORE YOU TODAY A BLESSING AND A CURSE: THE BLESSING IF YOU OBEY THE COMMANDMENTS OF JEHOVAH YOUR GOD THAT I AM COMMANDING YOU TODAY, AND THE CURSE IF YOU DO NOT OBEY THE COMMANDMENTS OF JEHOVAH YOUR GOD AND YOU TURN ASIDE FROM THE WAY I AM COMMANDMENDING YOU TO FOLLOW TODAY AND YOU FOLLOW GODS THAT YOU HAVE NOT KNOWN. WHEN JEHOVAH YOUR GOD BRINGS YOU INTO THE LAND YOU ARE TO POSSES, YOU MUST PRONOUNCE THE BLESSING ON MOUNT GERIZIM AND THE CURSE ON MOUNT EBAL. ARE THEY NOT ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE JORDAN TOWARD THE WEST, IN THE LAND OF THE CANAANITES WHO LIVE IN THE ARABAH, OPPOSITE GILGAL, BESIDES THE BIG TREES OF MOREH? FOR YOU ARE CROSSING THE JORDAN TO ENTER AND TAKE POSSESSION OF THE LAND THAT JEHOVAH YOUR GOD IS GIVING YOU. WHEN YOU TAKE POSSESION OF IT AND LIVE IN IT. YOU MUST BE CAREFUL TO CARRY OUT ALL THE REGULATIONS AND THE JUDICIAL DECISIONS THAT I AM PUTTING BEFORE YOU TODAY.]" (Numbers 5:11‑31).

INDEED, LEGISLATIVE CONCERNS about WOMENS' SEXUAL ACTIVITY  primarily have to do with RELATIONS BETWEEN MEN. A MAN IS EXECUTED for having INTERCOURSE with ANOTHER'S WIFE (Leviticus 20:10) "[NOW REGARDING A MAN WHO COMMITS ADULTARY WITH ANOTHER MAN'S WIFE: THE ONE WHO COMMITS ADULTARY WITH THE WIFE OF HIS FELLOW MAN SHOULD BE PUT TO DEATH WITHOUT FAIL, THE ADULTERER AND THE ADULTERESS.]" , because he has COMMITTED A CRIME OF THEFT AGAINST A MAN; but a MAN WHO SEDUCES or RAPES A VIRGIN PAYS A BRIDEPRICE TO HER FATHER  AND MARRIES HER (Deuteronomy 22:28) "[IF A MAN HAPPENS TO MEET A VIRGIN GIRL WHO IS NOT ENGAGED AND HE SEIZES HER AND LIES DOWN WITH HER AND THEY ARE DISCOVERED, THE MAN WHO LAY DOWN WITH HER MUST GIVE THE GIRL'S FATHER 50 SILVER SHEKELS, AND SHE WILL BECOME HIS WIFE. BECAUSE HE HUMILATED HER, HE WILL NOT BE ALLOWED TO DIVORCE HER AS LONG AS HE LIVES.]" THIS IS NOT A CRIME in THE SAME SENSE at all, NOT BECAUSE of a DISSIMILARITY in what THE MAN DID but because of THE DIFFERENCE in who “OWNED" THE RIGHT to THE WOMEN,S SEXUALITY.

PROPERTY AND PURITY

NOT SURPRISINGLY, in a PATRIARCHIAL CULTURE in which WOMEN FUNCTION primarily as DAUGHTERS, WIVES, and MOTHERS of PARTICULAR MEN, WOMEN, have VIRTUALLY no PROPERTY RIGHTS. UNMARRIED WOMEN INHERIT from THEIR FATHERS only IF THEY HAVE NO BROTHERS; and, in such CASES, they must SUBSEQUENTLY MARRY within THEIR FATHERS'S CLAN to PREVENT THE DISPERSAL OF TRIBAL PROPERTY among OUTSIDERS (Numbers 36:2‑12) "[THEY SAID: "JEHOVAH COMMANDED MY LORD TO DISTRIBUTE THE LAND BY LOT AS AN INHERITANCE TO THE ISRAELITES; AND MY LORD WAS COMMANDED BY JEHOVAH TO GIVE THE INHERITANCE TO OUR BROTHER ZELOPHEHAD TO HIS DAUGHTERS. IF THEY MARRY MEN FROM ANOTHER ISRAELITE TRIBE, THE WOMEN'S INHERITANCE WILL ALSO BE WITHDRAWN FROM THE INHERITANCE OF OUR FATHERS AND BE ADDED TO THE INHERITANCE OF THE TRIBE TO WHICH THEY WOULD BE WITHDRAWN FROM THE LOT OF OUR INHERITANCE. NOW WHEN THE JUBILEE TAKES PLACE FOR PEOPLE OF ISRAEL, THE WOMEN'S INHERITANCE OF THE TRIBE TO WHICH THEY THEN BELONG, SO THAT THEIR INHERITANCE WOULD BE WITHDRAWN FROM THE INHERITANCE OF THE TRIBE OF OUR FATHERS. THEN MOSES COMMANDED THE ISRAELITES THE ORDER OF JEHOVAH: "WHAT THE TRIBE OF THE SONS OF JOSEPH IS SAYING IS CORRECT. THIS IS THE WORD THAT JEHOVAH HAS COMMANDED FOR THE DAUGHTERS OF ZELOPHEHAD: "THEY MAY MARRY WHOMEVER THEY WISH. HOWEVER, THEY SHOULD MARRY SOMEONE FROM A FAMILY OF THE TRIBE OF THEIR FATHER. NO INHERITANCE OF THE ISRAELITES SHOULD CIRCULATE FROM TRIBE TO TRIBE, FOR THE ISRAELITES SHOULD HOLD ON TO THE INHERITANCE OF THE TRIBE OF THEIR FOREFATHERS. AND EVERY DAUGHTER WHO POSSES AN INHERITANCE AMONG THE TRIBES OF ISRAEL SHOULD BECOME A WIFE OF A DESCENDANT OF HER FATHER'S TRIBE, SO THAT THE ISRAELITES MAY KEEP POSSESSION OF THE INHERITANCE OF THEIR FOREFATHERS. NO INHERITANCE SHOULD CIRCULATE FROM ONE TRIBE TO ANOTHER TRIBE, FOR THE TRIBES OF ISRAEL SHOULD HOLD ON TO THEIR OWN INHERITANCE. THE DAUGHTERS OF ZELOPHEHAD DID JUST AS JEHOVAH HAD COMMANDED MOSES. SO MAHLAH, TRIZAR, HOGLAH.MILCAH, AND NOAH, THE DAUGHTERS OF ZELOPHEHAD, MARRIED THE SONS OF THEIR FATHERS' BROTHERS. THEY BECAME WIVES OF MEN FROM THE FAMILIES OF MANASSEH THE SONS OF JOSEPH SO THAT THEIR INHERITANCE WOULD REMAIN IN THE TRIBE OF THEIR FATHERS' FAMILY: THESE ARE THE COMMANDMENTS AND THE JUDICIAL DECISIONS THAT JEHOVAH GAVE TO THE ISRAELITES THROUGH MOSES ON THE DESERT PLAINS OF MOAB BY THE JORDAN AT JERICHO.]"

WIDOWS do not INHERIT from THEIR HUSBANDS at all, but are DEPENDENT on THEIR SONS or THE GENEROSITY of OTHER HEIRS. ACCORDING to THE PRACTICE of LEVIRATE MARRIAGE, CHILDLESS WIDOWS are THE LEGAL RESPONSIBILITY of THEIR HUSBANDS' OLDEST BROTHER(Deuteronomy 25:5‑10) "[IF BROTHERS DWELL TOGETHER AND ONE OF THEM DIES WITHOUT HAVING A SON, THE WIFE OF THE DEAD ONE SHOULD NOT MARRY SOMEONE FROM OUTSIDE THE FAMILY. HER BROTHER-IN-LAW SHOULD GO TO HER, TAKE HER AS HIS WIFE AND PERFORM BROTHER IN-LAW MARRIAGE WITH HER. THE FIRSTBORN WHOM SHE WILL BEAR WILL CARRY ON THE NAME OF HIS DEAD BROTHER, SO THAT HIS NAME MAY NOT BE WIPED OUT OF ISRAEL. NOW IF THE MAN DOES NOT WANT TO MARRY HIS BROTHER'S WIDOW, HIS BROTHER'S WIDOW SHOULD THEN GO TO THE ELDERS AT THE CITY GATE AND SAY, 'MY HUSBAND'S BROTHER HAS REFUSED TO PRESERVE HIS BROTHERS, NAME IN ISRAEL. HE  HAS NOT CONSENTED TO PERFOM BROTHER-IN-LAW MARRIAGE WITH ME.' THE ELDERS OF HIS CITY MUST CALL HIM AND SPEAK TO HIM. SHOULD HE INSIST AND SAY, 'I DO NOT WANT TO MARRY HER,' THEN HIS BROTHERS'S WIDOW SHOULD APPROACH HIM BEFORE THE ELDERS,REMOVE HIS SCANDAL FROM HIS FOOT, SPIT IN HIS FACE, AND SAY, 'THAT IS WHAT SHOULD BE DONE TO THE MAN WHO WILL NOT BUILD UP HIS BROTHERS' HOUSEHOLD.' AFTER THAT HIS FAMILY NAME IN ISREAL WILL BE KNOWN AS 'THE HOUSE OF THE ONE WHO HAD SANDAL REMOVED.]"

SUSAN NIDITCH notes that THE MOST NOTICEABLE LAWS of FENCING OFF and BOUNDARY MAKING vis-à-vis WOMEN are THE PRIESTLY LAWS PERTAINING to PURITY. ACCORDING to THESE REGULATIONS MENSTRATING and POSTPARTUM WOMEN are UNCLEAN and SEXUALLY UNAVAILABLE to THEIR HUSBANDS for PRESCRIBED PERIODS OF TIMES (Leviticus 12, 15), DURING WHICH they also HAVE THE POTENTIAL to RENDER RITUALLY IMPURE PEOPLE and OBJECTS AROUND THEM […]

CHANGES IN SOCIETY AFFECTED ATTITUDES TOWARD WOMEN

CAROL MEYERS has APPLIED INSIGHTS GLEANED from SOCIOLOGY, ANTHROPOLOGY, and ARCHAELOGY to RECONSTRUCT MODELS of ISRAELITE SOCIAL LIFE and THE ORDINARY WOMEN'S PLACE within it in VARIOUS PERIODS of BIBLICAL HISTORY. SHE ARGUES that when AGRICULTURAL WORK and CHILDBEARING, TWO SPHERES in which WOMEN PLAYED  an ACTIVE ROLE, were CENTRAL to BIBLICAL SOCIETY, SOCIAL and RELIGIOUS LIFE in ANCIENT ISRAEL was RELATIVELY EGALITARIAN. When THE POLITICAL STATE and THE MONARCHY EMERGED, and RELIGIOUS LIFE was INSTITUTIONALIZED in THE TEMPLE CULT and PRIESTLY BUREAUCRACY  (beginning in the tenth century B.C.E.), however, WOMEN were increasingly EXCLUDED from THE PUBLIC ARENA and LOST ACCESS to COMMUNAL AUTHORITY.

THE NEGATIVE images of WEALTHY and LEISURED URBAN WOMEN in PROVERBS and some of THE PROPHETIC BOOKS may REFLECT this NEW REALITY, in which WOMEN'S TRADITIONAL ROLES have been TRANSFORMED  and DEVALUED. […]

FEMALE RITUALS, FEMALE DEITIES

REFERENCES to GIRLS' PUBERTY RITES(Judges 11:39‑40) "[AT THE END OF TWO MONTHS, SHE RETURNED TO HER FATHER, AFTER WHICH HE CARRIED OUT THE VOW HE HAD MADE REGARDING HER. SHE NEVER HAD RELATIONS WITH A MAN. AND IT BECAME A CUSTOM IN ISRAEL: FROM YEAR TO YEAR, THE YOUNG WOMEN OF ISRAEL WOULD GO TO GIVE COMMENDATION TO THE DAUGHTER OF JEPHTHAH THE GILEADITE FOUR DAYS IN THE YEAR.]" HAVEST DANCES (Judges 21:19‑21) "[THEN THEY SAID: "LOOK! THERE IS A FESTIVAL OF JEHOVAH FROM YEAR TO YEAR IN SHILOH, WHICH IS NORTH OF BETHEL AND EAST OF THE HIGHWAY THAT GOES UP FROM BETHEL TO SHECHEM AND SOUTH OF LEBONAH." SO THEY COMMANDED THE MEN OF BENJAMIN: "GO AND SET AN AMBUSH IN THE VINEYARDS. AND WHEN YOU SEE THE YOUNG WOMEN OF SHILOH COME OUT TO JOIN IN THEIR CIRCLES DANCES, EACH OF YOU SHOULD COME OUT FROM THE VINEYARD AND SEIZE A WIFE FROM THE YOUNG WOMEN OF SHILOH COME OUT FROM THE VINEYARDS AND SEIZE A WIFE FROM THE YOUNG WOMEN OF SHILOH, AND YOU SHOULD RETURN TO THE LAND OF BENJAMIN. AND SHOULD THEIR FATHERS OR THEIR CHILDREN BROTHERS COME TO MAKE A COMPLAINT AGAINST US, WE WILL THEN TELL THEM, 'SHOW US FAVOR FOR THEIR SAKES, BECAUSE WE COULD NOT PROVIDE EACH ONE A WIFE BY WAR AND YOU SHOULD NOT GIVE A WIFE TO THEM WITHOUT BECOMING GUILTY.]", and CHILDBIRTH RITUALS(Leviticus 12:6‑8) "[WHEN THE DAYS OF HER PURIFICATION FOR A SON OR A DAUGHTER ARE COMPLETED, SHE WILL BRING A YOUNG RAM IN ITS FIRST YEAR FOR A BURNT OFFERING AND A YOUNG PIGEON OR A TURTLEDOVE FOR A SIN OFFERING  TO THE ENTRANCE OF THE TENT OF MEETING, TO THE PRIEST. HE WILL PRESENT IT BEFORE JEHOVAH AND MAKE ATONEMENT FOR HER, AND SHE WILL BE CLEAN FROM HER FLOW OF BLOOD. THIS IS THE LAW ABOUT THE WOMAN WHO GIVES BIRTH TO EITHER A MALE OR A FEMALE. BUT IF SHE CANNOT AFFORD A SHEEP, SHE MUST THEN TAKE TWO TORTLEDOVES OR TWO YOUNG PIGEONS, ONE FOR A BURNT OFFERING, AND THE PRIEST WILL MAKE ATONEMENT FOR HER, AND SHE WILL BE CLEAN.]" GIVE FLEETING ILLUMINATION to EXCLUSIVELY FEMALE CEREMONIES that WERE NOT of INTEREST  to MALE BIBLICAL WRITERS and EDITORS. A NUMBER OF SCHOLARS additionally have DISCUSSED THE PERSISTENCE of GODDESS WORSHIP in ANCIENT ISRAEL and THE PARTICULAR PLACE of THE NEAR EASTERN FERTILITY GODDESS, ASHERASH.

While FRYMER-KENSKY ARGUES  that BIBLICAL MONOTHEISM biblical was GENERALLY SUCCESSFUL in ABSORBING the CENTRAL IDEAS of POLYTHEISM and THE FUNCTIONS and ROLES OF GODDESSES, SHE AGREES that REMNANTS OF GODDESS WORSHIP remained. JEREMIAH'S CONDEMNATIONS of WORSHIP PRACTICES involving “THE QUEEN OF HEAVEN"(Jeremiah 7:17‑18) "[DO YOU NOT SEE WHAT THEY ARE DOING IN THE CUTIES OF JUDAH AND IN THE STREETS OF JERUSALEM? THE SONS ARE GATHERING WOOD, THE FATHERS ARE LIGHTING THE FIRE, AND THE WIVES ARE KNEADING DOUGH IN ORDER TO MAKE SACRIFICIAL CAKES TO THE QUEEN OF HEAVEN, AND THEY ARE POURING OUT DRINK OFFERINGS TO OTHER GODS TO OFFEND ME.]"(Jeremiah 44:15‑25) "[AND THE REMNANT OF JUDAH WHO HAVE GONE TO RESIDE IN THE LAND OF EGYPT WILL NOT ESCAPE OR SURVIVE TO RETURN TO THE LAND OF JUDAH. THEY WILL LONG TO RETURN AND DWELL THERE, BUT THEY WILL NOT RETURN, EXCEPT FOR A FEW ESCAPEES. ALL THE MEN WHO KNEW THAT THEIR WIVES HAD BEEN MAKING SACRIFICES TO OTHER GODS AND ALL THE WIVES WHO WERE STANDING THERE, WHO FORMED A LARGE GROUP, AND ALL THE PEOPLE WHO WERE LIVING IN THE LAND OF EGYPT, IN PATHROS, ANSWERED JEREMIAH: "WE WILL NOT LISTEN TO THE WORD THAT YOU HAVE SPOKEN TO US IN THE NAME OF JEHOVAH. INSTEAD, WE WILL SURELY CARRY OUT EVERY WORD THAT OUR MOUTHS HAVE SPOKEN, TO MAKE SACRIFICES TO THE QUEEN OF HEAVEN AND TO POUR OUT DRINK OFFERINGS TO HER, JUST AS WE, OUR FOREFATHERS, OUR KINGS, AND OUR PRINCES DID IN THE CITIES OF JUDAH AND IN THE STREETS OF JERUSALEM WHEN WE WERE SATISFIED WITH BREAD AND WERE WELL-OFF, WHEN WE SAW NO CALAMITY AT ALL. FROM THE TIME WE QUIT MAKINGS SACRIFICES TO THE QUEEN AND POURING OUT OF DRINK OFFERING TO HER, WE HAVE LACKED EVERYTHING AND HAVE PERISHED BY THE SWORD AND BY THE FAMINE. THE WOMEN ADDED: "AND WHEN WE WERE MAKING SACRIFICES TO THE QUEEN OF HEAVEN AND POURING OUT DRINK OFFERINGS TO HER, WAS IT WITHOUT THE CONSENT OF OUR HUSBANDS THAT WE MADE SACRIFICIAL CAKES SHAPED IN HER IMAGE AND WE POURED OUT DRINK OFFERINGS TO HER?]"

(Jeremiah 44:20-23) "[THEN JEREMIAH SAID TO ALL THE PEOPLE, TO THE MEN AND THEIR WIVES AND TO ALL THE PEOPLE WHO WERE SPEAKING TO HIM: "THE SACRIFICES THAT YOU, YOUR FOREFATHERS, YOUR KINGS, YOUR PRINCES, AND THE PEOPLE OF THE LAND MADE IN THE CITIES OF JUDAH AND IN THE STREETS OF JERUSALEM- JEHOVAH REMEMBERED THEM AND THEY CAME UP INTO HIS HEART! FINALLY JEHOVAH COULD NO LONGER PUT UP WITH YOUR EVIL PRACTICES AND THE DETESTABLE THINGS YOU HAD DONE, AND YOUR LAND BECAME A DEVASTATED PLACE, AN OBJECT OF HORROR AND CURSING, WITHOUT AN INHABITANT, AS IT IS TODAY. IT IS BECAUSE YOU HAVE SINNED AGAINST JEHOVAH BY NOT OBEYING THE VOICE OF JEHOVAH AND FOLLOWING HIS LAW, HIS STATUTES, AND HIS REMINDERS THAT THIS CALAMITY HAS COME UPOIS THEN YOU, AS IS THE CASE TODAY.]"

(Jeremiah 44:24-30) "[JEREMIAH CONTINUED TO SAY TO  ALL THE WOMEN: "HEAR THE WORD OF JEHOVAH, ALL YOU OF JUDAH WHO ARE IN THE LAND OF OF EGYPT. THIS IS WHAT JEHOVAH OF ARMIES, THE GOD OF ISREAL, SAYS, 'WHAT YOU AND YOUR WIVES HAVE SPOKEN FULFILLED WITH YOUR HANDS, FOR YOU SAID: "WE WILL SURELY CARRY OUT OUR VOWS TO MAKE SACRIFICES TO THE QUEEN OF HEAVEN AND TO POUR OUT DRINK OFFERINGS TO HER." YOU WOMEN WILL SURELY CARRY OUT YOUR VOWS AND PERFORM YOUR VOWS. THEREFORE HEAR THE WORD OF JEHOVAH, ALL YOU OF JUDAH WHO ARE LIVING IN THE LAND OF EGYPT: "HEAR I SWEAR BY MY OWN GREAT NAME," SAYSJEHOVAH, "THAT MY NAME WILL NO LONGER BE CALLED ON IN AN OATH BY ANY MAN OF JUDAH IN ALL THE LAND OF EGYPT WHO SAYS, 'AS SURELY AS THE SOVEREIGN LORD JEHOVAH IS A LIVE!' NOW I AM WATCHING OVER THEM TO BRING A CALAMITY AND NOT SOMETHING GOOD; ALL THE MEN OF JUDAH IN THE LAND OF EGYPT WILL PERISH BY THE SWORD AND BY THE FAMINE, UNTIL THEY CEASE TO EXIST. ONLY A FEW WILL ESCAPE THE AND RETURN FROM THE LAND OF EGYPT TO THE LAND OF JUDAH. THEN ALL THE REMNANT OF JUDAH WHO CAME TO THE LAND OF EGYPT TO RESIDE THERE WILL KNOW WHOSE WORD HAS COME TRUE, MINE OR THEIRS! AND THIS IS THE SIGN FOR YOU,' DECLARESJEHOVAH, 'THAT I WILL PUNISH YOU IN THIS PLACE, SO THAT YOU WILL KNOW THAT MY WORDS PROMISING CALAMITY AGAINST YOU WILL SURELY COME TRUE. THIS IS WHAT JEHOVAH SAYS: "HERE I AM GIVING PHAROAH HOPHRA, THE KING OF EGYPT, INTO THE HAND OF HIS ENEMIES AND OF THOSE SEEKING TO TAKE HIS LIFE, JUST AS I GAVE KING ZEDEKIAH OF JUDAH INTO THE HAND OF KING NEBUCHADNEZZAR OF BABYLON, WHO  WAS HIS ENEMY AND SOUGHT TO TAKE HIS LIFE."'" and FREQUENT ARCHEOLOGICAL DISCOVERIES of ANCIENT ISRAELITE FEMALE CLAY FIGURINES, particularly PROMINENT in THE PERIOD OF THE MONARCHIES, indicate THAT ASPECTS of such WORSHIP may have LINGERED, if only as UNCONSCIOUS AFFIRMATIONS of THE POWER OF FERTILITY that was seen as THE REWARD OF DEVOTION to THE INVISIBLE, TRANSCENDENT GOD.

NIDITCH suggests that THE FEMALE PERSONIFICATION of WISDOM IN PROVERBS also PRESERVES RESIDUAL ELEMENTS of FEMALE DIVINITY. Although SHE SERVES as a DIVINE EMISSARY (Proverbs 1:29) "[BECAUSE THEY HATED KNOWLEDGE, AND THEY DID NOT CHOOSE TO FEAR JEHOVAH.]"  and not a FULLY INDEPENDENT DEITY, WISDOM, GOD'S CONFIDATE and DELIGHT (Proverbs 8:30) "["ALL THE SAYINGS OF MY MOUTH ARE RIGHTEOUS. NONE OF THEM ARE TWISTED OR CROOKED.]" is PORTRAYED as HAVING BEEN CREATED before THE WORLD and ITS INHABITANTS  (Proverbs 8:22) "[JEHOVAH PRODUCED ME AS THE BEGINNIN OF HIS WAY, THE EARLIEST OF HIS ACHIEVEMENTS OF LONG AGO.]" and FUNCTIONS as AN ESSENTIAL INTERMEDIARY  to DIVINE FAVOR (Proverbs 8:35‑37). "[FOR THE ONE FINDING ME WILL FIND LIFE, AND HE RECIEVES APPROVAL FROM JEHOVAH. BUT THE ONE WHO IGNORES ME HARMS HIMSELF, AND THOSE HATE ME LOVE DEATH.]"

AS NIDITH has written, “[THIS GODDESS-LIKE FIGURE IN PROVERBS DIRECTS HER ATTENTION TO MALE ADHERENTS, BUT ALSO OFFERS A SOURCE OF IDENTIFICATION AND EMPOWERMENT FOR WOMEN BY SUGGESTING THAT THE FEMALE.....CAN BE A SOURCE OF WISDOM AND LIFE.]"

SEXUALITY IN THE BIBLE

Although DIVINE MANIFESTATIONS of FEMALE AND MALE SEXUALITY were MAJOR COMPONENTS of MANY ANCIENT NEAR EASTERN RELIGIOUS SYSTEMS, THE BIBLE treats SEXUALITY ESSENTIALLY as A QUESTION of SOCIAL CONTRIL: “[WHO WITH WHOM AND IN WHAT CIRCUMSTANCES.]"

WHILE a NUMBER of BIBLICAL NARRATIVES demonstrate THE STRENGTH the of SEXUAL ATTRACTION and ITS POTENTIALLLY DESTRUCTIVE CONSEQUENCES, only THE SONG OF SONGS preserves AN IDYLLIC VISION of HUMAN SEXUALITY beyond NORMAL SOCIETAL CONSTRAINTS and OFFERS an ESTABLISHED VOCABULARY of FEMALE-MALE EROTIC LOVE.

MORE TYPICALLY, PROVERBS warns YOUNG MEN to SHUN THE SNARES of ENTICING and SEDUCTIVE WOMEN (Proverbs 5:3-23) "[FOR THE LIPS OF A WAYWARD WOMAN DRIP HONEY-COMB, AND HER MOUTH IS SMOOTHER THAN OIL. BUT IN THE END SHE IS AS BITTER AS WORMWOOD AND AS SHARP AS A TWO-EDGED SWORD. HER FEET DESCEND INTO DEATH. HER STEPS LEAD STRAIGHT TO THE GRAVE. SHE GIVES NO THOUGHTTO THE PATH OF LIFE. HER COURSE WONDERS, BUT SHE DOES NOT KNOW WHERE. NOW, MY SONS, LISTEN TO ME AND DO NOT TURN AWAY FROM WHAT I AM SAYING. STAY FAR AWAY FROM HER; DO NOT GO NEAR THE ENTRANCE OF HER HOUSE, SO THAT YOU MAY NOT GIVE YOUR DIGNITY TO OTHERS NOR REAP YEARS OF WHAT IS CRUEL; SO THAT STRANGERS MAY NOT DRAIN YOUR RESOURCES AND WHAT YOU LABORED FOR GO TO THE HOUSE OF A FOREIGNER. OTHERWISE, YOU WILL GROAN AT THE END OF YOUR LIFE WHEN YOUR FLESH AND BODY WASTE AWAY AND YOU SAY: "HOW I HATED DESCIPLINE! HOW MY HEART DESPISED REPROOF! I DID NOT LISTEN TO THE VOICE OF MY INSTRUCTORS OR PAY ATTENTION TO MY TEACHERS. I HAVE COME TO THE BRINK OF COMPLETE RUIN IN THE MIDIST OF THE ENTIRE CONGREGATION. DRINK WATER FROM YOUR OWN CISTERN AND FLOWING WATER FROM YOUR OWN WELL. SHOULD YOUR OFFSPRINGS BE DISPERSED OUTSIDE, YOUR STREAMS OF WATER IN THE PUBLIC SQUARES? LET THEM BE FOR YOU ALONE, AND NOT FOR STRANGERS WITH YOU. MAY YOUR OWN FOUNTAIN BE BLESSED, AND MAY YOU REJOICE WITH THE WIFE OF YOUR YOUTH, A LOVING DOE, GRACEFUL MOUNTAIN GOAT. LET HER BREASTS SATISFY YOU AT ALL TIMES. MAY YOU BE CAPTIVATED BY HER LOVE CONSTANTLY. SO WHY, MY SON, SHOULD YOU BE CAPTIVATED BY A WAYWARD WOMAN OR EMBRACE THE BOSOM OF AN IMMORAL WOMAN? FOR THE WAYS OF A MAN ARE BEFORE THE EYES OF JEHOVAH; HE EXAMINES ALL HIS PATHS. THE WICKED ONE IS ENSNARED BY HIS OWN ERRORS, AND HE WILL BE CAUGHT IN THE ROPES HIS OWN SIN. HE WILL DIE FOR LACK OF DISCIPLINE AND GO ASTRAY BECAUSE OF HIS EXCESSIVE FOOLISHNESS.]" (Proverbs 31:2‑3) "[INCLINE YOUR TO ME. COME QUICKLY TO MY RESCUE. BECOME FOR ME A MOUNTAIN STRONGHOLD, A FORTIFIED PLACE TO SAVE ME. FOR THE SAKE OF YOUR NAME YOU WILL LEAD ME AND GUIDE ME.]" While ACKNOWLEDGING that SEXUAL ATTRACTION and LOVE underlie THE POWERFUL BIBLICAL METAPHOR of GOD and ISRAEL as HUSBAND and WIFE, FRYMER-KENSKY notes THE ABSENCE in THE HEBREW BIBLE of a CONSIDERED DISCOURSE on THE DYNAMICS and IMPLICATIONS of HUMAN SEXUALITY.

She SUGGESTS  that THIS VACUUM was ULTIMATELY FILLED in HELLENISTIC /RABBINIC TIMES by THE GREEK-DERIVED "ANTIWOMAN, ANTICARNAL IDEAS that HAD such A LARGE IMPACT on THE DEVELOPMENT of WESTERN RELIGION and CIVILIZATION."

ASHERA: GOD'S FORGOTTEN WIFE

Those RAISED in THE JUDEO-CHRISTIAN TRADITION may be SURPRISED to LEARN that THE GOD WE WERE TOLD was SINGULARY SACRED once had A WIFE. How do we KNOW? ASHERAH figures prominently as THE WIFE OF EL-THE SUPREME GOD—in a TREASURE TROVE of CUNEIFORM texts found in THE SECOND MILLENIUM PORT CITY OF UGARIT(in today’s Northern Syria). For perhaps HUNDREDS OF YEARS before ABRAHAM MIGRATED to what would become known as ISRAEL, ASHERAH was REVERED as ATHIRAT, EARTH MOTHER and FERTILITY GODDESS. Upon ENTERING THE REGION, THE ANCIENT ISRAELITES soon ADOPTED HER and GAVE HER THE HEBREW equivalent name of ASHERAH. THE UGARIT EXCAVATION of 1928 put ASHERAH, THE GODDESS, on THE MAP AGAIN, after having LOST HER PLACE for THOUSANDS OF YEARS.

ASHERAH, PARTNER OF YAHWEH

But WHO WAS ASHERAH to THE ANCIENT ISRAELITES? And WHY is SHE often FOUND PAIRED found with YAHWEH, THE HEBREW GOD? HISTORIANS and ARCHEOLOGISTS have PIECED TOGETHER ASHERAH'S NARRATIVE and FOUND LARGE CHUNKS of it INTERWOVEN in THE ARTIFACTS from THE REGION and in THE SCRIPTURES OF THE HEBREW BIBLE itself. EVIDENCE suggests that ASHERAH observed in ANCIENT ISRAEL and JUDAH as EARLY as THE 12TH CENTURY BC, THE 12TH CENTURY BC, to a FEW DECADES before THE FALL of THE SOUTHERN KINGDOM OF JUDAH (587-588 BC), a TIME known as THE PRE-EXILIC PERIOD. 

Were THE PRE-EXILLIC ISRAELITES and JUDEANS POLYTHEISTIC?In fact, THE VERY NOTION of POLYTHEISM is INHERENT in THE QUEST for ASHERAH. After all, ASHERAH'S PLACE in THE PANTHEON is alongside YAHWEH'S, THE SUPREME DEITY. Furthermore, THE MANY ARTIFACTS representing ASHERAH and HER CULT from THE REGION belies THE BIBLICAL PROHIBITION against THE CREATION OF IDOLS.How THEN did they WORSHIP? 

DIFFERENCES BETWEEN BOOK AND FOLK RELIGION

At this POINT it is IMPORTANT to MAKE A DISTINC TION between THE BOOK RELIGION of THE RULING CLASSES in THE METROPOLIS and FOLK or POPULAR RELIGION as it was PRACTICED in RURAL COMMUNITIES for which MOST ISRAELITES WERE A PART. LITERACY was CLOSE TO NON-EXISTENT in THE RURAL COMMUNITIES, thus THE BOOK RELIGION as PRACTICED in THE CITIES would have LITTLE MEANING in THE LIVES of THOSE INHIBITING the OUTLYING AREAS.Instead, RURAL COMMUNITIES had THEIR OWN RELIGIOUS BELIEFS using STATUARY and OTHER ARTIFACTS.

By WAY of CONTRAST, THE INTELLECTUAL COMMUNITY in THE METROPOLIS PRODUCED  a TEXT, which was WRITTEN ENTIRELY  from THE PERSPECTIVE of THE UPPER or RULING CLASSES. PERHAPS SURPRISINGLY, ASHERAH is MENTIONED in THE EARLY HEBREW BIBLE some FORTY SEPARATE TIMES, although MOST OFTEN as an OBJECT OF DERISION. BY and LARGE, THE BIBLICAL WRITERS were UNHAPPY THAT ASHERAH shared THE SAME PLATFORM with THEIR MALE DEITY, YAHWEH, and REPEATEDLY tried to DISSUADE THEIR PAIRING.

YAHWEH AND HIS ASHERAH 

As much as THE RULING ELITE TRIED to INHIBIT ASHERAH and YAHWEH'S “MARRIAGE," THEIR UNION APPEARS SOLIDIFIED in AN ANCIENT BLESSING seen with SOME REGULARITY at a NUMBER OF EXCAVATION SITES in THE REGION.  THE INSCRIPTION READS: “[I HAVE BLESSED YOU BY YAHWEH---AND HIS ASHERAH.]" NOT ONLY was THIS EGRAVING FOUND in THE 9TH-8TH CENTURY BC ISRAELITE CARAVANSERAI, KUNTILLET AJRUD, THE SAME TEXT was FOUND in a NUMBER OF SITES thought to be YAHWEH SANCTUARIES, such as in SAMARIA, JERUSALEM, TEMAN, and in THE BIBLICAL KINGDOM OF JUDAH, at THE ANCIENT BURIAL SITE of KHIRBET EL-QOM, DATING 750 BC.

IN FACT, this phrase “[YAHWEH AND HIS ASHERAH]" was so QUOTIDIAN that it ACTUALLY APPEARS in THE HEBREW BIBLE. THE CRYPTIC BLESSING is in AN EARLY RENDITION of (Deuteronomy 33.2-3) "[ when ASHERA'S INFLUENCE had NOT YET BEEN FULLY SUBORDINATED. THE FULL HYMM READS: “[YHWH CAME FROM SINAI AND SHONE FORTH....AT HIS RIGHT HAND HIS OWN ASHERAH.]"

ASHERIM POLES

However, as THE BOOK RELIGION solidified, ASHERAH became INCREASINGLY MARGINALIZED in THE SCRIPTURES to THE POINT of being REDUCED to HER CULT OBJECT—THE STYLIZED TREE or WOODEN POLE which became known as ASHERAH or ASHERIM. TREES were REVERED as SYMBOLS OF LIFE and NOURISHMENT in ARID REGIONS and so became ASSOCIATED with ASHERAH and HER CULT. MANY SCHOLARS believe that ASHERAH'S TREE FUNCTIONED in THE GARDEN OF EDEN PARABLE.THE RULING ELITE PROPAGANDIZED against GODDNESS WORSHIP by INTERGRATING THE STORY OF THE FALL OF MANKIND to THE TREE which was CLEARLY ASSOCIATED with ASHERAH. 

Whereas ASHERAH'S INFLUENCE was RESTRAINED in THE OFFICIAL RELIGION, HER PRESENCE LOOMED LARGE in THE RURAL COMMUNITIES, most often in THE FORM OF FIGURINES which are PROLIFIC in THE REGION. Even while IDOLATRY is REVILED in THE HEBREW BIBLE ample ARCHEOLOGICAL EVIDENCE that THOSE LIVING OUTSIDE THE METROPOLIS idolized STATUARY and CULT OBJECTS as part of THEIR RELIGION, LEADING ONE SCHOLAR TO OPINE: “FOLK RELIGION CAN BE DEFINED AS EVERYTHING THAT THOSE WHO WROTE THE BIBLE CONDEMNED.]"

AASHERA PILLAH FIGURES

ASHERAH is REPRESENTED MANY TIMES in VARIOUS FORMS SCATTERED throughout THE REGION. But THE MOST ABUNDANT OF THESE are HER PILLAR FIGURINES which were POPULAR from THE 10TH through THE 7TH CENTURIES BC. The term “[IMAGES OF ASHERAH]" is often used in THE HEBREW BIBLE and it is THOUGHT that THESE PILLAR FIGURINES are what THE WRITERS OF THE BIBLE HAD IN MIND.

Because THE BREASTS are EXAGGERATED with THE HANDS SUPPORT THEM, they are thought to SYMBOLIZE THE NURTURING ASPECT of THE MOTHER GODDESS. PREDOMINANTLY, THE PILLAR FIGURINES were found in PRIVATE HOMES, suggesting THEIR DOMESTICITY. In a WORLD BESET by HARDSHIP and DROUGHT, likely a CONCERN FOR FECUNDITY was what ATTRACTED THE RURAL ISRAELITES and JUDEANS to THE GODDESS ASHERAH,whom they ASSOCIATED WITH ABUNDANCE.

MISSING PIECES OF THE PUZZLE

While THERE ARE VOLUMINOUS ARTIFACTS  identified as ASHERAH in THE REGION, there are still PIECES MISSING from THE PUZZLE. Was ASHERAH YAHWEH'S WIFE, as MANY SCHOLARS now CONTEND?  Was HER WORSHIP CONFINED TO FOLK RELIGION ONLY, or was HER INFLUENCE FELT in THE BOOK RELIGION of THE HEBREW BIBLE as well?

Indeed, UNEARTHING A GODDNESS who has BEEN BURIED FOR CLOSE TO TWO MILLENIA has its DISTINCT DISADVANTAGES. Yet increasingly, ASHERAH'S INFLUENCE in THE REGION is BECOMING RECOGNIZED by ARCHEOLOGISTS and HISTORIANS alike, with THE EXPECTATION of FURTHER SCRUTINY and SCHOLARSHIP  to COME in THIS AREA.

MOTHER GODESS OF ASHERA (QUEEN OF HEAVEN) 

Like all ENERGIES in THE UNIVERSE EXISTING IN PAIRS, is there a POSSIBILITY that GOD also EXISTS IN A DIVINE PAIR? GOD has had MANY MANIFESTATIONS across THE MANY RELIGIONS. There are also MANY COMMONALITIES, some of which essentially DEFINE THE CONCEPT of “[GOD]" PRIMARILY, they are WORSHIPPED  as THE SINGULAR, ULTIMATE POWER OF THE UNIVERSE. MANY GODS, typically in PANTHEISTIC RELIGIONS, HAVE WIVES. But, was THERE also a QUEEN OF HEAVEN in MONOTHEISTIC JUDAISM, MANIFEST as THE ULTIMATE CONSORT OF GOD, equally POWERFUL and WORSHIPPED? 

THIS ARTICLE EXPLORES THE STORY OF THE FORGOTTEN GODDESS ASHERAH, or THE WIFE OF GOD. THE OLD TESTAMENT portrays God as THE ULTIMATE POWER of THE UNIVERSE, but SCRIPTURES and TEXTS related to THE OLD TESTAMENT also offer TANTALIZING CLUES as to a POSSIBLE WIFE OF GOD.

AN ANCIENT TRUTH?

THE CLAIM THAT GOD HAD A WIFE and SHE WAS  WORSHIPPED by PEOPLE in ANCIENT ISRAEL has SURFACED from TIME to TIME. Such CLAIMS ARE NOT NEW, and there has been MUCH INDEPENDENT RESEARCH into THE PRESENCE of OTHER GODS and GODDESSES apart from THE SUPER-ENTITY of GOD, as PORTRAYED in THE OLD TESTAMENT. There is much EVIDENCE that ANCIENT CULTURES in ANCIENT ISRAEL worshiped many GODS and GODDESES as IDOLS. One of THE MOST PROMINENT GODDESSES out of these was ASHERAH, worshipped as THE QUEEN OF HEAVEN by THE EARLY ISREALITES.

But, many BELIEVE that THE EXISTENCE of ASHERAH was SUPPRESSED  by THE NARRATIVE of THE BIBLE, which SOUGHT TO HIDE THE HISTORICAL TRUTH. In fact, THE BIBLE STATES in MULTIPLE ECERPTS that there was INDEED IDOL WORSHIP, and ASHERAH was one of THE PRINCIPAL GODDESS in IDOL FORM. From ARCHELOGICAL EVIDENCE EVIDENCE to SHREDS OF EVIDENCE from THE OLD TESTAMENT, there are many INSTANCES that SUPPORT THE EXISTENCE OF ASHERAH. ARCHAELOGICAL EVIDENCE from ANCIENT TEMPLES finds that THE GOD WORSHIPPPED by THE ISRAELITES, known by THE YAHWEH, was WORSHIPPED alongside HIS WIFE ASHERAH. THE SIGNIFICANCE of ASHERAH'S  EXISTENCE first came to PROMINANCE in 1967, when HISTORIAN RAPHAEL PATAI compiled THE EVIDENCE for ASHERAH in RELIGIOUS HISTORY religious and ARCHAELOGY. Based on ANCIENT TEXTS, STATUES, and FIGURES, he saw EVIDENCE OF GOD'S EXISTENCE not as a SOLITARY GOD, but ALONGSIDE CONSORT.

EVIDENCE IN THE ARCHAELOGY

FIGURINES DISCOVERED in KUNTILLET AJRUD, an ARCHEOLOGICAL SITE in THE EAST OF THE SINAI PENINSULA dating back to THE 8TH CENTURY BC, speak of “[YAHWEH OF SAMARIA AND HIS ASHERA]" and “YAHWEH OF TEMAN AND HIS ASHERAH]" SAMARIA refers to THE CENTRAL REGION OF ISRAEL, and TEMAN to THE NEIGHBORING EDOMITES, CONFIRMING this as a REFERENCE to THE GOD OF THE ISRAELITES. 

THE MENTION of “his” ASHERAH  indicates a CONSORT RELATIONSHIP between this ANCIENT GOD AND THE QUEEN OF HEAVEN. SIMILAR INSCRIPTIONS that REFER to YAHWEH and HIS CONSORT have been DISCOVERED on TOMBS in KHIRBET EL QOM, an ARCHELOGICAL SITE site in THE BIBLICAL KINGDOM OF JUDAH that also DATES BACK to THE 8TH CENTURY BC. There are other FIGURINES and ARTIFACTS  that also hint TOWARD THE WORSHIP OF ASHERAH in THE ANCIENT ISRAEL in THE 8TH AND 9TH CENTURIES BC. From HORNED ALTARS and FIGURINES to OTHER RITUALISTIC OBJECTS, many ARTIFACTS DISCOVERED SCATTERED around much of THE ANCIENT ISRAEL indicate that there was a CULT OF ASHERAH at some time in THE 8TH CENTURY BC. 

THE PIECES OF EVIDENCE show that ASHERAH was once WORSHIPPED as a GODDNESS OF FERTILITY and PROSPERITY SPREADING from ISRAEL as far a FIELD as EGYPT. MOST OF THE ANCIENT INSCRIPTIONS and TEXTS ask for THE BLESSING of YAHWEH and ASHERAH together, which FURTHER STRENGTHENS THE BELIEF that ASHERAH is indeed THE WIFE OF GOD. APART from ARCHEOLOGICAL PIECES of EVIDENCE and TEMPLE REMAINS, THE BIBLE also OFFERS CLUES REGARDING THE WORSHIP of ASHERAH  alongside YAHWEH.

BIBLICAL REFERENCES TO ASHERAH

ACCORDING to THE BIBLE, ASHERAH was WORSHIPPED in THE TEMPLE of JERUSALEM alongside GOD, as HIS CONSORT and DIVINE EQUAL. ACCORDING to THE BOOK OF KINGS, THE GODDESS was HOUSED in THE TEMPLE COMPLEX, and RITUALS were REGULARY CONDUCTED in HER WORSHIP. MANY BIBLICAL SCHOLARS have CONCLUDED that a CONCERTED EFFORT was made by THE PRIEST  who COMPILED THE HEBREW BIBLE to REMOVE ALL REFERENCES to ASHERAH. HOWEVER, they were not COMPLETELY SUCCESSFUL in this, and THEIR FAILURE SUGGESTS there was some POPULAR SUPPORT for a DEPICTION OF GOD which did not SHOW HIM as ALL-POWERFUL and SOLITARY.

WHY WAS THE INFANCY GOSPEL OF THOMAS EXCLUDED FROM THE BIBLE?

ASHERAH APPEARS in THE BOOKS of EXODUS, CHRONICLES, KINGS, and JUDGES, where SHE is also REFERRED to as ASIRA or ATHIRAT among THE PEOPLE. IN ADDITION, THE DESCRIPTION OF ASHERAH as THE “QUEEN OF HEAVEN" is also FIRST MADE IN THE BIBLE, where SHE is TWICE REFERRED to as such in THE BOOK OF JEREMIAH.

Even though THESE VERSES CONFIRM that ASHERAH was WORSHIPPED as an IDOL, THE BOOK OF JEREMIAH shows an ENTIRELY DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE on ASHERAH. JEREMIAH'S CONVERSATIONS with GOD show that GOD was DISAPPOINTED by THE IDOL WORSHIP of ASHERAH. THE REASONS behind this were MULTIPLE. For example, GOD BELIEVED that THE WORSHIP OF ASHERAH in THE FORM OF OFFERINGS to FIGURINES STATUES was due to SUPERSTITIOUS BELIEFS. GOD BELIEVED that THE OFFERINGS made by WOMEN were an EFFORT at APEASEMENT of OTHER GODS, which had COME ABOUT because He had NOT KEPT THEM SAFE.

NOT JUST A MINOR GODDESS

ACCORDING to SOME OLDER PASSAGES in THE BIBLE, almost HALF OF THE ANCIENT POPULATION OF ISREAL believed in OTHER GODS and GODDESSES like ASHERAH. THE PEOPLE would also BUILD TEMPLES AND ALTARS for THEIR WORSHIP. THIS TESTIMONY offered by THE BIBLE and THE ARCHAELOGICAL SHREDS of EVIDENCE OF ASHERAH'S EXISTENCE often OVERLAP. For example, THE REMAINS OF ASHERAH STATUES found in SAMARIA match DESCRIPTIONS from THE BIBLE, which CONFIRMS their EXISTENCE and WORSHIP.

THERE ARE also REFERENCES in THE BIBLE to GOD being a HUSBAND to another DIVINE ENTITY, or to THE EXISTENCE of a MARITAl RELATIONSHIP between GOD and ASHERAH. These MAY have been SUPPRESSED and ASHERAH'S WORSHIP in IDOL FORM may have DIED OUT, but THE CLUES remain. ASHERAH was ONCE a POPULAR GODDESS of one of THE MOST ENDURING religious CULTURES on EARTH. However, just like THE EVOLUTION OF MAN, RELIGIOUS SYMBOLS also EVOLVE. Therefore, it’s not SURPRISING that ASHERAH has been NEGLECTED and REMOVED from PUBLIC MEMORY as a GODDESS. However, this DOES NOT MEAN we can dismiss ASHERAH as a MERE RELIGIOUS THEORY. THE EVIDENCE would SEEM TO BE CLEAR: THE QUEEN OF HEAVEN existed in THE HEBREW BIBLE, as PART of a DIVINE PAIR alongside THE ALL-POWERFUL GOD OF THE JEWS.