''Alukah'' () is a
feminine
Femininity (also called womanliness) is a set of attributes, behaviors, and Gender roles, roles generally associated with women and girls. Femininity can be understood as Social construction of gender, socially constructed, and there is also s ...
Hebrew word that means "
horse-leech", a type of
leech
Leeches are segmented parasitism, parasitic or Predation, predatory worms that comprise the Class (biology), subclass Hirudinea within the phylum Annelida. They are closely related to the Oligochaeta, oligochaetes, which include the earthwor ...
with many teeth that feeds on the throats of animals. According to some biblical scholars, ''alukah'' can mean "blood-lusting monster" or
vampire
A vampire is a mythical creature that subsists by feeding on the Vitalism, vital essence (generally in the form of blood) of the living. In European folklore, vampires are undead, undead humanoid creatures that often visited loved ones and c ...
. ''Alukah'' is first referred to in
Proverbs 30
Proverbs 30 is the 30th chapter of the Book of Proverbs in the Hebrew Bible or the Old Testament of the Christian Bible.''Holman Illustrated Bible Handbook''. Holman Bible Publishers, Nashville, Tennessee. 2012. The book is a compilation of sever ...
:15 in the
Hebrew Bible
The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;["Tanach"](_blank)
. '' Sefer Hasidim
The ''Sefer Hasidim'' or ''Sefer Chassidim'' (, Book of the Pious) is a text attributed to Judah ben Samuel of Regensburg (died 1217), a foundation work of the teachings of the Ashkenazi Hasidim. It offers an account of the day-to-day religio ...
'', where the creature is a living human being but can
shapeshift
In mythology, folklore and speculative fiction, shapeshifting is the ability to physically transform oneself through unnatural means. The idea of shapeshifting is found in the oldest forms of totemism and shamanism, as well as the oldest exist ...
into a
wolf
The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the grey wolf or gray wolf, is a Canis, canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of Canis lupus, subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, includin ...
.
It can fly (by releasing its long hair) and would eventually die if prevented from feeding on blood for a long enough time. Once dead, a vampire can be prevented from becoming a demon by being buried with its mouth stuffed with earth.
The claim is that
Solomon
Solomon (), also called Jedidiah, was the fourth monarch of the Kingdom of Israel (united monarchy), Kingdom of Israel and Judah, according to the Hebrew Bible. The successor of his father David, he is described as having been the penultimate ...
refers to a female
demon
A demon is a malevolent supernatural entity. Historically, belief in demons, or stories about demons, occurs in folklore, mythology, religion, occultism, and literature; these beliefs are reflected in Media (communication), media including
f ...
named Alukah in a riddle that he tells in the
Book of Proverbs
The Book of Proverbs (, ; , ; , "Proverbs (of Solomon)") is a book in the third section (called Ketuvim) of the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh)/the Christian Old Testament. It is traditionally ascribed to King Solomon and his students. When translated into ...
. The riddle involves Alukah's ability to curse a womb bearing seed. Historically, Alukah has been closely associated with
Lilith
Lilith (; ), also spelled Lilit, Lilitu, or Lilis, is a feminine figure in Mesopotamian and Jewish mythology, theorized to be the first wife of Adam and a primordial she-demon. Lilith is cited as having been "banished" from the Garden of Eden ...
or thought to be her direct descendant. The name Alukah may, additionally, merely be another title for Lilith.
described the Alukah as "a Hebrew
succubus
A succubus () is a female demon who is described in various folklore as appearing in the dreams of male humans in order to seduce them. Repeated interactions between a succubus and a man will lead to sexual activity, a bond forming between them, ...
and vampire derived from
Babylonian demonology."