Bible Encyclopedias
Lilith (2)

Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature

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Lilith

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Lillie, Adam, D.D.

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the name of the first wife of Adam, according to rabbinical tradition. She was made of the earth as was Adam himself, and would not submit to be ruled over by her husband. Seeing no possibility of an agreement between herself and him, she fled away to the sea, where she became the mother of a race of daemons, and, as a punishment for refusing to return to Adam, one hundred of her children were to die every day. Lilith became noted in Jewish legend as a destroyer of infants, and for this reason they adopted the custom of writing the names of three protecting angels on slips of paper or parchment, and binding them upon the infant, to prevent the evil influence of Lilith. Among modern Jews, when a woman approaches the period of her confinement, the husband inscribes on each of the walls or partitions around the bed, along with the names of Adam and Eve, the words "Begone, Lilith." On the inside of the doors also he writes the names of three angels, which it is believed will defend the child from the injuries which it might otherwise receive from Lilith.