Lilith, Serpents and Izanami

This post is somewhat a follow up to my post on The Two Seed Line Theory on another Blog.

I talked about Lilith once on my Prophecy Blog in Edom and Lilith.  I still think that theory might have some truth to it, but I want to talk about some other factors here.

The 8th-10th Century Alphabet of Ben Sira is the first known example of Lilith being identified as a previous wife of Adam.  Though the suggestion that Adam had a previous wife is made in the 3rd-5th Century Genesis Rabbah.  But the Rabbah is weird, implying it's earlier woman was also made from a piece of Adam but he wasn't put to sleep that time.

Later on some Kabbalah writings like Treatise on the Left Emanation would identify Lilith with the Serpent of Genesis 3.  And to be honest there is no solid proof in the Genesis text that the Nahash is male rather then female.  Even Lilith being traditionally depicted as red haired could come from Nahash being similar to the Hebrew word for Bronze.  Lilith has also been associated with the Serpents in Isaiah 27:1, Humm, Alan. Lilith, Samael, & Blind Dragon.  And for some context in the Egyptian Ogdoad the female deities are depicted as Serpents while the males are Frogs.

Nahash is given in 2 Samuel 17:25 as the name of a parent of at least one of David's sisters.  And attempts to explain that usually debate between Nahash as another name for Jesse or a theory that David's mother had a husband before Jesse.  But it's occurred to me that maybe this name can be used by men and women and that this Nahash could have been a wife of Jesse.

Some scholars think the Lilith (Screech Owl in the KJV) of Isaiah 34 is most likely just some normal animal, other words used around there are clearly animals elsewhere in Scripture.  For example the Satyr in the KJV is actually Sayir a Hebrew word for Goat.  Lilith coming from a word for Night could mean it's some kind of Nocturnal animal.  Babylonian Talmud on Tractate Nidda 24b implies Lilith is a winged creature.  Those clues could support the Owl translation.  But if it refers to an animal called by some other term elsewhere in scripture, the flying Serpents of Numbers and other parts of Isaiah are arguably placed near the region of Edom.

The Latin Vulgate of Isaiah 34 translated Lilith as Lamia, the Lamia was a creature in Greek Mythology often depicted as part woman and part serpent. But Lamia's etymology has also been interpreted to mean "Nocturnal Spirit", being related to Lemures.

It is commonly theorized that the idea of a Jewish tradition of Adam having a wife before Eve must come from a desire to reconcile a supposed contradiction between Genesis 1 and 2.  But the truth is if you view them as accounts of separate events, then more then one Adam was created too.  Also if you separate them neither the male or female Adam is made from the dust of the earth in Genesis 1.

It is often overlooked that without even leaving Genesis 2:4-25 there is a basis for Adam having possible wives or at least wife-candidates before Eve, who were also formed from the Dust of the Earth like he was.  That is when Adam names the "Beasts of the Field".

Some of my fellow Creationists may feel the need to mock the suggestion that God was seriously considering mating Adam with any of them.  Indeed if you read verses 19 and 20 in isolation there is no clear indicator they were possible spouses.  But the fact is verse 18 comes before this narrative rather then being saved till after it, that presents it as somehow linked.  Now I certainly believe God knew what the outcome of this would be, but this still happens in the text.  And indeed the actual text of The Alphabet of Ben Sira supports this being where it placed Lilith's creation.

After God created Adam, who was alone, He said, "It is not good for man to be alone." He then created a woman for Adam, from the earth, as He had created Adam himself, and called her Lilith.

Plenty of Creationists have already seen the creation of these animals as separate from their initial creation in Genesis 1, whether we place these events on day six or a later point.  In Genesis 1 they're made before Adam, even those that were the same day, but in Genesis 2 they're made after Adam is placed in The Garden.  In which case I suspect Genesis 1 records the ancestors of the animals we generally see today, while Genesis 2 could be beings peculiar to the Garden, who perhaps were more "sentient".  Maybe the Living Creatures of Revelation aka the Cherubim and the Seraphim were among these?

Genesis 3:1 also says that whatever the Nahash is, it could qualify as a Beast of the Field.  Some use the terminology of that verse to say it's distinguished from being a Beast of the Field, but what's even the point of mentioning Beasts of the Field in that case?  Or maybe the Serpent is distinguished from them because he was the offspring of one? possibly by Adam?  I don't know, I'm not planning on building any doctrines on the theories in this post.

I've read that the most direct translation of the Hebrew would be something like "crafty from all of animals of the field", and that Genesis 3:14 clearly defined the Serpent as a a fellow beast of the field.

Maybe the extra-Biblical traditions of Lilith came to involve confusing or conflating all the creatures of chapter 2 verses 19 and 20 together?  After all Lilith is technically a feminine Plural.  Fowls of the air are also explicitly mentioned in those verses.

I've also noticed lately that comparing Amos 9:11-12 as it is in the Masoretic text/KJV to how it's quoted in Acts 15:15-17 shows that what reads Edom in the Masoretic was probably originally Adam, which is spelled the same in Hebrew.  So maybe Isaiah 34 is the same, it was never about Edom but about the domain of Adam?

In my post about why we should not call Satan Lucifer.   I pointed out that Shachar/Shahar the Hebrew word for Dawn/Morning in Isaiah 14:12 is spelled the same as Shachor a Hebrew word that means Black or Dark, and that relating that meaning to the Dawn kind of makes sense because "The Night is Darkest just before The Dawn".  In that context it could make a good synonym for Lilith given the Night association of the name Lilith.  Giving me a basis to argue that Isaiah 14:12 says Satan is the Son of Lilith.

In the past I have noted possible parallels between the figure of Lilith and Izanami of Japanese Mythology.  In the Edom post I already linked to, in a post talking about the Anime called Evangelion, and when speculating on The Lost Tribes possibly going to Japan.  However as I've been reading up more on Lilith, I've noticed even more parallels.

Before it was mostly just her being the Wife of an Adam figure, plus Izanami speaking first in their mating ritual being an issue having a possible parallel to Lilith wanting to be on top in The Alphabet of Ben Sira.

But now I'm learning things like Lilith also being sent to an Underworld type location, from the Myths linking her to Asmodeus, to the Kaballah tradition of her going down to the Great Abyss.   Meaning the debate about if the Queen of The Night Relief is Lilith or Ereshkigal could be redundant, it could be they were always the same woman.

Izanami also possibly reflects Lilith's status as a mother of Demons via her sending Rajin and Shikome after Izanagi from the Underworld, and being the mother of many Kami.  Ryujin could also be compared to Isaiah 27:1, as he's literally a Dragon in the Sea, and as Watasumi is an offspring of Izanagi and Izanami.

In the context of all of that, there are two figures from Greek Mythology it might be plausible to compare to Lilith.

One is Echidna, a Half-Woman and Half-Snake monster who was the wife of Typhon.  And Aristophanes says she was a denizen of the Underworld.  And she was known as the Mother of Monsters.  The word Echidna also appears in the New Testament, the KJV always translated it Viper.  Is it possible that means Echidna was used in the Septuagint where the KJV has Viper in the Old Testament?  I don't know, checking the Septuagint isn't easy given how sometimes the Chapters aren't even in the same order.  Eph'eh is the Hebrew word Translated Viper in the KJV, it's used in Isaiah 30:6 in a way that's possibly synonymous with the fiery flying Serpent.  The Apocryphal Acts of Philip tells a story of Philip dealing with a Temple ruled by Echidna.

Another would be Eurynome who was the wife of Ophion, or in some theories his mother, who was also cast into Tartarus according to Lycophron (1191).  It's possible Eurynome and Echidna could have originally been the same, considering how Typhon and Ophion are almost certainly different versions of the same original myth.  Other Greek mythical figures who could be based on this same original idea are Nyx (means night) and Ceto, and maybe Lamia who was mentioned above.

There has naturally been a tendency to compare some takes on Lilith to Sophia in Gnosticism.  And Robert Graves basically made Eurynome a Sophia figure in his reconstruction.

This Mother of Monsters aspect could also make one think of Grendel's Mother in Beowulf.  Or in Norse Mythology Angrboða who by Loki was the mother of Hella (the Underworld Goddess), Jormungander, a Sea Serpent monster comparable to Serpents discussed above, and Fenrir a wolf creature you might recognize from Thor Ragnorock.  Sometimes another possible offspring named Larnvidia (she of the Iron-Wood) is mentioned, who is sometimes refereed to as a She-Wolf and the mother of Fenrir's children.  Fenrir and his offspring no doubt played a role in inspiring Tolkien's Wargs and Werewolves (who are not what the term Werewolf generally means), and Fenris Ulf in Narnia, as well as the Direwolves on Game of Thrones.  But the usual "Mother of Monsters" figure in Tolkien's lore is Ungoliant, the ancestress of both Shelob and the Spiders of Mirkwood.  Sulkaris is a villainess from a Zelda fan game who might be partly inspired by Ungoliant.

When I finally read George MacDonald's Lilith, I wonder how relevant all this speculation will be?

Update December 25th 22019: It seems like Fate/Grand Order: Babylonia is identifying the Mesopotamian Tiamat with Echidna since they're clearly implying a relationship with Medusa (Fate/Stay Night's Rider) via a similar look and having the same Voice Actress in both Japanese and the Aniplex Dub, and a similar "mystic eyes" ablity.  And there does seem to be prior precedent for such an identification.  Graves makes Tiamat the same kind of goddess he makes Eurynome.

Turns out the initial Tiamat isn't quite Tiamat but "Gorgon", they're still implying Tiamat is a Mother of Monsters.

Jehosheba and Athaliah

I’ve often thought in the past that the story of Jehosheba, also called Jehoshabeath (2 Kings 11 and 2 Chronicles 22:10-12) might have a vague parallel to fairy tales like Snow White.  Mostly because I was operating under an assumption that Athaliah was probably not Jehosheba’s mother, and therefore could easily be seen as an Evil Step-Mother who’s also a usurper of the throne and thus the Evil Queen.  We are told that Jehosheba is the daughter of Jehoram and a sister of Ahaziah, but not who her mother is.

A few things have changed my perspective on that however.

2 Kings 10:13-14 talks about Jehu encountering brothers of Ahaziah (son of Jehoram and Athaliah).  This is often accused of being a contradiction due to 2 Chronicles 21:17 and 22:1 saying the Philistines and “Arabians that were near Cush” took all the other wives and sons of Jehoram captive.  And some have explained this by saying 2 Kings really means brethren as in nephews or something.

However I feel the point of what 2 Chronicles says here is that they were left with no one but children by Athaliah to inherent Jehoram’s throne.  That by calling Jehoahaz the youngest son they meant the youngest set of sons.  So I think Jehu slew the other sons by Athaliah, after all it was the House of Ahab he was seeking to extinguish.

2 Chronicles 22:8 can be cited as saying it was sons of brethren of Ahaziah that Jehu slew.  But they weren’t alone, they were with Princes of Judah.  The sons of Jehoram by other wives being taken probably hadn’t had children yet, or if they did they too were taken, the point was the potential lines of succession to Jehoram were left to just the children by Athaliah.

2 Chronicles 24:7 confirms that Athaliah had more than one son.

In which context, I started wondering if we can infer these Philistines and Arabs took the daughters of the other wives too?  The word translated sons can sometimes be interpreted gender neutrally when it's used in a plural form, and their taking wives shows they weren’t against taking women.  So I now think it probable that Jehosheba was a daughter of Athaliah, but The Bible doesn’t directly refer to her as such since she didn’t inherit the sins of Jezebel or of Jeroboam.

As I was contemplating the Oedipus=Akhnaton theory a while back, I also thought about Electra (possibly called Laodice by Homer), the myth often considered the female counterpart of Oedipus in terms of how Psychologists like Freud and Jung use Greek mythology anyway.  And when I read that according to Pindar (Pythia, xi. 25) Clytemnestra also tried to kill Orestes, but he was rescued by either Electra or his wet-nurse.  I immediately thought of Jehosheba saving Jehoash and his wet-nurse from Athaliah’s attempt to massacre all her grandchildren.

King Strophius could be seen as playing the role of Jehoiada.  And Aegisthus as Mat-tan the Priest of Baal.

Still there are differences, besides the genealogy being different.  The Bible does not actually involve Jehosheba in the killing of Athaliah. The genealogy difference could come down to just skipping one generation in the direct royal line, the Greek version having no equivalent for Ahaziah or merging him with Jehoram.  Athaliah didn't kill Jehoram or Ahaziah, but Jeosheba or others could have blamed her for their demises because of her role in leading the nation into Idolatry.

This connection could happen to fit with Salverda’s identification of Pelops with Ahab, the Greek oral tradition simply changed through which parent Jehosheba and Jehoash descended from Ahab.  However I’ve come to prefer possibly identifying Pelops with Jehu, or maybe even with a Davidic King.  Perhaps Tyndareus and Leda are in some way based on Ahab and Jezebel?

I think Jehosheba’s marriage to Jehoiada was probably a purely arranged one.  2 Chronicles 22:11 seems to explicitly say that Jehoiada was married to Jehoshabeath because she was the sister of Ahaziah.  Exodus 6:22 says Aaron, the first High Priest was married to Elisheba, the sister of Naashon/Nahshon then Prince of Judah (Numbers 1:7, 2:3, 7:12-17 and 10:14) and an ancestor of King David according to Ruth 4, 1 Chronicles 2, Matthew 1 and Luke 3.  So it might be sisters of the King marrying High Priests was a common custom.

If I wrote a dramatization of Jehosheba’s story, I would probably write in a Lesbian story-line.  Possibly between her and the wet-nurse, or maybe between her and Zibiah of Beersheba the mother of Jehoash.  Or maybe both, a nice Yuri threesome.

Update 8/14/18: I kind of follow up on this here, Jacob Fathered Two Sets of Twins.

Update December 5th 2018: Achaeans

In the Greek Strongs Concordance Achaia is right next to Ahaz because how Ahaz is rendered in Greek looks like the first part of Achaia.  Ahab begins the same as Ahaz in Hebrew, this is why Salverda could argue a connection between Ahab and the Achaeans.  Ahaziah is another name that begins the same way, the name of sons of both Ahab and Jehoram of Judah.

His mistake was thinking that made Pelops an Achaean.

Herodotus and Pausanias both said that the Achaeans originally dwelt in Laconia(Sparta) and Argos(including Mycenae), so Agamemnon and Menelaus were Achaeans by marriage and by ruling them, not by their descent from Pelops who was in Elis.  The Iliad used Danaans/Danaoi and "Long Haired Achaeans" interchangeably, the most famous Danite was Samson who's long hair was a vital plot point.

1 Maccabees and Josephus record how Areus I King of Sparta sent letters to High Priest Onias I about how he had documentation that the Spartans descended from Abraham.  The letter was stamped with an image of an Eagle Clutching a Serpent.  The Serpent is a Biblical symbol of Dan based on Genesis 49, the Eagle isn't directly, but Micah uses an Eagle as a symbol of Samaria.

Omri was first crowned King at Gibbethon a city of Dan's original Allotment, and then Omri founded Samaria.  So Maybe an Eagle and Serpent together is a symbol of the House of Omri?  Maybe he married his son to a Phoenician Princess because of the Danites past associations with the Phoenicians?

So thus Clytemnestra was a daughter of the House of Omri.