Who was Lilith?

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The story of Lilith is not actually found in any authentic Rabbinic tradition. Although it is repeatedly cited as a "Rabbinic legend" or a "midrash," it is not recorded in any ancient Jewish text!

So shocking and abhorrent are some of the contents of "the Alphabet of Ben-Sira" that modern scholars have been at a loss to explain why anyone would have written such a book. Some see it as an impious digest of risqué folk-tales. Others have suggested that it was a polemical broadside aimed at Christians, Karaites, or some other opposing movement. I personally would not rule out the possibility that it was actually an anti-Jewish satire--though, to be sure, it did come to be accepted by the Jewish mystics of medieval Germany; and amulets to fend off the vengeful Lilith became an essential protection for newborn infants in many Jewish communities.

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@dadpad,

I find it most interesting to see where and how myths legends and truths are intermingled.

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@dadpad,

Quote:

In Isaiah 34:14, Lilith (לִּילִית, Standard Hebrew Lilit) is a kind of night-demon or animal, translated as onokentauros; in the Septuagint, as lamia; "witch" by Hieronymus of Cardia; and as screech owl in the King James Version of the Bible. In the Talmud and Midrash, Lilith appears as a night demon. She is often identified as the first wife of Adam, a legend that arose in the Middle Ages.

Why such different translations, this is usually the case when a word only occurs once in the Bible. The middle ages were superstitious times. It is apparent that their superstition shaped their understanding to the ancient biblical texts and their translations thereof. Considering that the scholars that translated the King James Bible were drawn from all corners of the earth. I believe they were also threatened with death by James himself if their translations were later found inaccurate. They translated the text screech owl. Yes an owl is a creature of the night but that is all we really can draw from that without injecting the superstition of today. Consider the Babylonians were conquering Israel when Isaiah was writing his passages. Was he referring to them as being Lilith? A night creature or creature of darkness. This is what the Israelites thought of the Babylonian myths, dark, evil, pagan and against the teachings of the one true God.

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@dadpad,

Quote:

A Hebrew tradition exists in which an amulet is inscribed with the names of three angels and placed around the neck of newborn boys in order to protect them from the lilin until their circumcision. This practice lends weight to the argument that Lilith had existed in earlier Hebrew mythology and is not the creation of later medieval authors

You forget the Israelites spent quite some time in Babylonian captivity and when they emerged then thus also emerged "rabbinic Judaism" the same Judaism that Jesus railed upon and called them hypocrites. This form of Judaism was a blend of Babylonian religion and Judaism. At the same time when Jesus was teaching of the kingdom of heaven the Jews were placing coins over the eyes of their dead for safe passage over the river Styx. The Judaism of Jesus’ time was not pure.

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@dadpad,

Quote:

The passage in Genesis 1:27 — "So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them" (before describing a mate being made of Adam's rib and being called Eve in Genesis 2:22) is sometimes believed to be an indication that Adam had a wife before Eve.

God created man and woman in his own image... What is God’s own image? Answer: SPIRIT so this was when God created the spiritual deposit and it was created able to be upon both male and female. Humans are a three fold being, body, soul and spirit. Then when God forms Eve from Adam’s rib. That means she evolved along side or beside him and this is referring to the body part not the spirit part. So there is no redundancy here only in the minds of today’s scholars who are unaware of the body, soul and spirit thing.

1Thessalonians 5:23 And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Isaiah 43:7 Even every one that is called by my name: for I have created him for my glory, I have formed him; yea, I have made him.

Formed = body
Made = soul
Created = spirit (Gods own image)

Without the understanding of body, soul and spirit the entire Bible falls to pieces and this is how Lilith enters into the Genesis story. The divinity and conception of Christ Jesus cannot be understood without an understanding of body, soul and spirit and our own standing and state cannot be understood without the understanding of body, soul and spirit. Body, soul and spirit are the crux of Christianity.

Romans 1:23 And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image [spirit] made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things.

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Source: "Lilith." Encyclopædia Britannica. 2008. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 25 Aug. 2008 http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/341009/Lilith

'Lilith' in Encyclopedia Mythica™ : http://www.pantheon.org/articles/l/lilith.html

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@Walter Hinteler,

Quote:

Source: "Lilith." Encyclopædia Britannica. 2008. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 25 Aug. 2008 http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/341009/Lilith

'Lilith' in Encyclopedia Mythica™ : http://www.pantheon.org/articles/l/lilith.html

The whole point of this thread (that I am making) is that the out in the world interpretation of these so called Jewish myths are NOT biblical but Babylonian/Sumerian.

DadPad has it right

Quote:

The story of Lilith is not actually found in any authentic Rabbinic tradition. Although it is repeatedly cited as a "Rabbinic legend" or a "midrash," it is not recorded in any ancient Jewish text!

So shocking and abhorrent are some of the contents of "the Alphabet of Ben-Sira" that modern scholars have been at a loss to explain why anyone would have written such a book. Some see it as an impious digest of risqué folk-tales. Others have suggested that it was a polemical broadside aimed at Christians, Karaites, or some other opposing movement. I personally would not rule out the possibility that it was actually an anti-Jewish satire--though, to be sure, it did come to be accepted by the Jewish mystics of medieval Germany; and amulets to fend off the vengeful Lilith became an essential protection for newborn infants in many Jewish communities.

So the story of Lilith is not actually "Jewish" either but something imposed upon the Bible by later [pagan] sources. Now it is used today as a source of hatred for female independence and alternative sexuality. This is not the "middle path" of enlightenment but an extreme path that is against the message of Jesus Christ.

Jesus, friend of re-publicans and sinners (liberals). hehe Smile

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@RexRed,

I consider Jesus a friend with one small difference.... if any of my other friends showed up in my livingroom in all their glory I wouldn't be turned into a pillar of salt or shit my pants in fear of being judged for everything I've ever done and then cast aside into a lake of fire.
Were that the case, I feel sure socializing in one's home would be down pretty much across the board.

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@blueveinedthrobber,

Quote:

I consider Jesus a friend with one small difference.... if any of my other friends showed up in my livingroom in all their glory I wouldn't be turned into a pillar of salt or shit my pants in fear of being judged for everything I've ever done and then cast aside into a lake of fire.
Were that the case, I feel sure socializing in one's home would be down pretty much across the board.

I now you are being jocular but, the Bible clearly states that Christ Jesus will return in the clouds and we will meet him “in the air“, not on the earth. If you should meet him in your living room or anywhere else on this earth and such claims are made, I would cast a bit of doubt myself on the validity of the claim and probably react in much the same way. It is the antichrist that it is written will appear on the earth and some surmise he will try and impersonate Jesus Christ and many will fall down and worship him. The Christian believers are not cast into fire but rewarded and cleansed. This is the hope of the return. Old testament believers are judged not the church because they were under the law.

I am sure first words of Christ Jesus to the church when he appears in the air will be FEAR NOT, for love contains no fear. Smile

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Who was Lilith?

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