In discussing Genesis with a wide variety of people, I have encountered several who believe that Adam may have had a different wife before Eve. This mystery woman is often given the name Lilith.
There are multiple versions of Lilith’s story, but the basic plot shared by most of them is as follows: Originally, God created Adam out of dust, and also created a woman out of dust to be Adam’s wife. This woman was Lilith. She and Adam were unable to live peaceably together, so she eventually left the garden of Eden and refused to return, at which point God created Eve from Adam’s rib to supply the man’s need for a helper. Angry, bitter, and alone, Lilith went on to roam the world, living promiscuously, taking advantage of young men, and threatening pregnant
women and children. This tale is filled with details and implications both sinister and disturbing. And it is completely lacking in biblical support.
Nowhere does the Genesis account of creation mention a woman created before Eve. Some have attributed their theory to the alleged “discrepancy” between the first two chapters of Genesis, suggesting that within certain wordings and differences there is allusion to the creation of Lilith. However, a study of Hebrew literature shows that Genesis 1 and Genesis 2 are an example of synonymous
parallelism—a literary device used to give readers first a broad overview of a subject or event, followed by a closer, more detailed account.
Genesis 1 and Genesis 2 describe the exact same events, just in different degrees of detail.
There is no room to insert the creation of another, “original” woman into the account, and to insist upon doing so is to add man’s ideas to the word of God.
In fact, the word “Lilith” only occurs once in the Bible, in Isaiah 34:14. The context of the chapter is a description of the desolation that will cover the land in the wake of
God’s judgment, and verse 14 lists some of the creatures that will come to inhabit the ruins left behind. One of the creatures mentioned is “the lilith.” Some Bible versions translate this as “the screech owl,” “night creatures,” or “nocturnal animals.” Other versions use either the name, Lilith, or terms like “night monster,” “night hag,” or “night demon.”¹ And it is in these translations that we begin to get a sense of the true nature and origins of Lilith.
The name “Lilith” has its origins in the Sumerian “lilitu,” which can mean either a wind spirit or a female demon. The character given the name appears in texts as early as The Epic of Gilgamesh, where she is portrayed as a succubus (a demonic creature), and is heavily associated with Sumerian witchcraft.²
In Babylonian demonology, Lilith is a spirit that is hostile to pregnant women and infants, held responsible for infant mortality and pregnancy-related deaths. Belief in her seems to have encompassed the ancient world, showing up in Hittite and Egyptian beliefs, as well as Jewish mythology.³ Many artifacts have been found bearing her name along with prayers or spells of protection due to her dangerous nature, and there is evidence to suggest a connection between the story of Lilith and the character Lamia from Greek mythology, as well as a possible connection to later beliefs in the existence of vampires.
How did such a repugnant creature ever become associated with Adam, and God’s “very good” creation (Genesis 1:31)? While there are Jewish writings from the fifth century A.D.5 a first wife other than Eve, 6 that mention the idea of Adam having her identity doesn’t seem to have become linked with Lilith until somewhere between the eight and tenth centuries, when The Alphabet of Ben Sira first made its appearance.7
However, while the Alphabet does give the name Lilith to Adam’s alleged (and biblically unsupported) first wife, thereby connecting the previously unrelated characters, there is a problem with taking his claim seriously: namely, The Alphabet of Ben Sira is not a historical work. Scholars agree the work is one of irreverent satire, 8 and is even considered by many to be heretical.9 That is certainly not a source that Christians should use to reiterpret the biblical account of creation, in which God created Adam alone from the dust of the ground and, when no suitable helper for Adam was found, the Creator then formed Eve from one of Adam’s ribs.
There is no need to invent a story or “midrash” to explain the differences between the wording in Genesis 1 and Genesis 2; as we discussed previously, those differences are an example of synonymous parallelism, giving varying degrees of detail about the same sequence of events. No additional information is required for a clear understanding of the text.
Furthermore, at the end of Genesis 1 God looks at His creation and calls it “very good.” If the whole of Lilith’s story supposedly takes place within that chapter, this means that Adam’s and Lilith’s arguments, anger, power struggle, unkindness, and eventual separation (divorce) all fall within that “very good” pronouncement. But God clearly states that such things are displeasing to Him (Colossians 3:8, Ephesians 4:31-32, Ephesians 5:21, Malachi 2:16). This rules out a declaration of “very good.”
When examined all together, the evidence is clear: there is no room within the biblical text for an “original woman” created before Eve, and the sources that suggest such a woman’s existence are non-historical works written thousands of years after the historical book of Genesis. Additionally, the character Lilith is plainly portrayed across a variety of cultures and mythologies as an evil and dangerous spiritual being.
Christians need to be aware of Lilith’s true nature, as well as the falsity of claims that she was Adam’s first wife. Today, Lilith is seeing a resurgence as a mascot for radical feminism, and the fictional story of her power struggle with Adam is being used in popular culture as “evidence” supporting the false claim that the Bible promotes the rape and oppression of women. Christians must be prepared to counter these false assertions with the truth—namely, that the idea of Adam having a wife prior to Eve is unbiblical, and that the story of Adam and Lilith is fictional, from a much later, non-historical source.
The appeal of strange, mysterious stories connected to scripture is undoubtedly strong for many people. But as Christians we must constantly remember the dangers, first of adding to Scripture things that are not there (Proverbs 30:6, Deuteronomy 4:2). Secondly, in fixating on stories such as this, we run the risk of forgetting that the source of hidden wisdom and knowledge is Christ, not ancient myths and obscure writings (Colossians 2:3).
“If any man lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all men generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him.” (James 1:5)
Something we see in our daily lives and don’t give much thought to is trees. These staples of our world have very interesting ways of pointing back to our Creator. Let’s examine how just two species of trees give evidence of design.
Giant Flood, Giant Rocks, Giant Wonder On a recent trip to Northern Ireland, my family had the opportunity to visit one of her greatest natural wonders: Giant’s
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Everyone has a worldview, and every worldview has questions that it must answer. The truth will naturally produce the best and most sensible answers, and the Bible does just that.
