''Se’īrīm'' (

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

: , singular ''sa'ir'') are a kind of demon. ''Sa’ir'' was the ordinary Hebrew word for " he-goat", and it is not always clear what the word's original meaning might have been. But in early Jewish thought, represented by ''targumim'' and possibly 3 Baruch, along with translations of the Hebrew Bible such as the

Peshitta The Peshitta ( syc, ܦܫܺܝܛܬܳܐ ''or'' ') is the standard version of the Bible for churches in the Syriac tradition, including the Maronite Church, the Chaldean Catholic Church, the Syriac Catholic Church, the Syriac Orthodox Church, the ...

and

Vulgate The Vulgate (; also called (Bible in common tongue), ) is a late-4th-century Bible translations into Latin, Latin translation of the Bible. The Vulgate is largely the work of Jerome who, in 382, had been commissioned by Pope Damasus&nbs ...

, the ''se’īrīm'' were understood as demons. They are considered to be the lowst of all created beings. ''Se'īrīm'' are frequently compared with the '' shedim'' of Hebrew tradition, along with satyrs of Greek mythology, fauns of Roman mythology and

jinn Jinn ( ar, , ') – also romanized as djinn or anglicized as genies (with the broader meaning of spirit or demon, depending on sources) – are invisible creatures in early pre-Islamic Arabian religious systems and later in Islamic my ...

of Arab culture. Thus predicts, in Karen L. Edwards's translation: "But ''wild animals'' 'ziim''will lie down there, and its houses will be full of ''howling creatures'' 'ohim'' there

ostrich Ostriches are large flightless birds of the genus ''Struthio'' in the order Struthioniformes, part of the infra-class Palaeognathae, a diverse group of flightless birds also known as ratites that includes the emus, rheas, and kiwis. There a ...

es will live, and there ''goat-demons'' 'sa’ir''will dance." Similarly, declares: "'' Wildcats'' 'ziim''shall meet with ''

hyena Hyenas, or hyaenas (from Ancient Greek , ), are feliform carnivoran mammals of the family Hyaenidae . With only four extant species (each in its own genus), it is the fifth-smallest family in the Carnivora and one of the smallest in the clas ...

s'' 'iim'' ''goat-demons'' 'sa’ir''shall call to each other; there too '' Lilith'' 'lilit''shall repose and find a place to rest." In the Latin

translation of the

Old Testament The Old Testament (often abbreviated OT) is the first division of the Christian biblical canon, which is based primarily upon the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible or Tanakh, a collection of ancient religious Hebrew writings by the Israelites. The ...

, ''sa’ir'' is translated as "'' pilosus''", which also means "hairy". Jerome, the translator of the Vulgate, equated these figures with satyrs. The ''se'irim'' are also mentioned once in probably a recalling of

Assyria Assyria (Neo-Assyrian cuneiform: , romanized: ''māt Aššur''; syc, ܐܬܘܪ, ʾāthor) was a major ancient Mesopotamian civilization which existed as a city-state at times controlling regional territories in the indigenous lands of the As ...

n demons in shape of goats. Samuel Bochart and other

Biblical scholars Biblical studies is the academic application of a set of diverse academic discipline, disciplines to the study of the Bible (the Old Testament and New Testament).''Introduction to Biblical Studies, Second Edition'' by Steve Moyise (Oct 27, 2004 ...

identified the Se'irim with Egyptian goat-deities. admonishes Israel to keep from sacrificing to the Se'irim. Texts from the

Dead Sea Scrolls The Dead Sea Scrolls (also the Qumran Caves Scrolls) are ancient Jewish and Hebrew religious manuscripts discovered between 1946 and 1956 at the Qumran Caves in what was then Mandatory Palestine, near Ein Feshkha in the West Bank, on the ...

describe the nether regions as full of Se'irim. Abraham ibn Ezra (1089 / 1092 – 27 January 1164 / 28 January 1167) writes in his commentary, that the ''se'irim'' are a form of spirits (''shedim'') seen by crazy people. People stray away from God by believing in them, for seeking them out, implies a belief in another force besides God who can make things go good or bad. It is not clear from ibn Ezra, if he considers ''se'irim'' to be merely delusions, or real but can only be seen by crazy people (in the form of he-goats) who falsely attribute power independent from God to them.Slifkin, Natan. "A History of Rabbinic Attitudes to Demons." (2011). p. 10

References

Demons in Judaism Jinn {{legendary-creature-stub