Shedim

''Shedim'' ( he, שֵׁדִים; singular: ''Shed'') are spirits or demons in the Tanakh. However, they are not necessarily equivalent to the modern connotation of demons as evil entities. Evil spirits were thought as the cause of maladies; conceptually differing from the ''shedim'', who are not evil demigods, but the foreign gods themselves. ''Shedim'' are just evil in the sense that they are ''not God''.

They appear only twice (always plural) in the Tanakh, at Psalm 106:37 and Deuteronomy 32:17. Both times it deals with child or animal sacrifices. Although the word is traditionally derived from the root ( he, שוד ''shûd'') that conveys the meaning of "acting with violence" or "laying waste," it was possibly a loan-word from Akkadian in which the word '' shedu'' referred to a spirit which could be either protective or malevolent.''The Encyclopedia of Demons and Demonology''. Rosemary Guiley. Infobase Publishing, May 12, 2010
p. 21
With the translation of Hebrew texts into Greek, under influence of Zoroastrian dualism, ''shedim'' were translated into ''daimonia'' with implicit negativity. Otherwise, later in Judeo-Islamic culture, ''shedim'' became the Hebrew word for ''Jinn'' with a morally ambivalent attitude.

Origin

According to one legend, the ''shedim'' are descendants of serpents, or of demons in the form of serpents, alluding to the serpent in Eden as related in Genesis. According to one common view, they are the offspring of Lilith, from her union with Adam or other men. Another legend said that God created them on the sixth day, he had started making their bodies but did not complete their creation because he was resting during the Sabbath. Even after the Sabbath, he left them how they were to show that when the Sabbath comes, all work must be viewed as complete.Maureen Bloom. ''Jewish Mysticism and Magic: An Anthropological Perspective''. Routledge, 2007. . p. 128. Therefore, the ''shedim'' have souls like that of humans, but without a body.

The people who build the Tower of Babel were divided by their motivations into three groups. Those who wished to wage war against God were transformed into ''shedim''.

The Zohar describes them as offspring of the demons Azazel and Naamah.

Traits

The Talmud describes the ''shedim'' as possessing some traits of angels, and some traits of humans:

According to '' Rashi'', ''shedim'', like '' lillin'' but unlike ''ruchos'', have human form, although no human body. They eat and drink like humans do.

They can cause sickness and misfortune, follow the dead and fly around graves.

Supposedly, sinful people sacrificed their daughters to the ''shedim'', but it is unclear if the sacrifice consisted in the murdering of the victims or in the sexual satisfaction of the demons.

There are many things that one is admonished not to do in order to avoid invoking the ''shedim'', such as whistling or even saying the word "''shedim''". The 12th century mystic Judah ben Samuel of Regensburg wrote in his will and testament that one should not seal up windows completely because it traps ''shedim'' in the house.

The ''shedim'' are not always seen as malicious creatures and are also considered to be helpful to humans. They are said to be even able to live according to the Torah, like Asmodeus.

Conjuring ''shedim'' isn't necessarily forbidden, depending on whether or not, author's view summoning them as sorcery or not. Even if summoning ''shedim'' is an act of sorcery and thus forbidden, consulting shedim conjured by a non-Jew would be permissible.

Appearance

''Shedim'' are said to have had the feet and claws of a rooster. To see if the ''shedim'' were present, ashes were thrown to the ground or floor, which made their footsteps become visible.

''Shedim'' can shapeshift and assume a human form. The Talmud tells of Asmodeus assuming King Solomon's form and ruling in his place for some time. However, he was never seen barefoot because he could not disguise his feet.

In the Zohar:

See also

* Daemon (classical mythology)
* Dybbuk
* Jinn
* Lamassu (Shedu)
* Mazzikin
* Se'irim
* Shdum

References

{{reflist

Further reading

* Ben-Amos, Dan. "On Demons." In ''Creation and Re-creation in Jewish Thought: Festschrift in Honor of Joseph Dan on the Occasion of His Seventieth Birthday''. Mohr Siebeck, 2005, pp. 27–38, limited previe
online.
* Charles, R.H. ''The Apocalypse of Baruch, Translated from the Syriac''. Originally published 1896, Book Tree edition 200
online.
* Charles, R.H. ''The Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha of the Old Testament'', vol. 2: Pseudepigrapha. Originally published 1913, Apocryphile Press Edition 2004, p. 48
online
and p. 497.
* Chajes, Jeffrey Howard. ''Between Worlds: Dybbuks, Exorcists, and Early Modern Judaism''. University of Pennsylvania Press, 2003, pp. 11–1
online.
* Goldish, Matt. ''Spirit Possession in Judaism''. Wayne State University Press, 2003, p. 35
online.
* Heiser, Michael S. 2015. ''The Unseen Realm: Recovering the Supernatural Worldview of the Bible''

* Koén-Sarano, Matilda. ''King Solomon and the Golden Fish: Tales from the Sephardic Tradition''. Translated by Reginetta Haboucha. Wayne State University Press, 2004. Limited previe
online.
* Plaut, W. Gunther. ''The Torah: A Modern Commentary''. Union for Reform Judaism, 2005, p. 140
online.
* Walton, John H., and J. Harvey Walton. 2019. ''Demons and Spirits in Biblical Theology: Reading the Biblical Text in its Cultural and Literary Context'

External links

*
Elyonim veTachtonim
'. An on-line database of angels, demons, ghosts and monsters in the Bible and Babylonian Talmud.

Demons in Judaism
Jewish legendary creatures
Kabbalistic words and phrases