Mastema ( ''Masṭēmā''; ''Mesetēma''), Mastemat, or Mansemat, is an

angel An angel is a spiritual (without a physical body), heavenly, or supernatural being, usually humanoid with bird-like wings, often depicted as a messenger or intermediary between God (the transcendent) and humanity (the profane) in variou ...

in the

Book of Jubilees The Book of Jubilees is an ancient Jewish apocryphal text of 50 chapters (1,341 verses), considered canonical by the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, as well as by Haymanot Judaism, a denomination observed by members of Ethiopian Jewish ...

. He first appears in the literature of the

Second Temple Period The Second Temple period or post-exilic period in Jewish history denotes the approximately 600 years (516 BCE – 70 CE) during which the Second Temple stood in the city of Jerusalem. It began with the return to Zion and subsequent reconstructio ...

as a

personification Personification is the representation of a thing or abstraction as a person, often as an embodiment or incarnation. In the arts, many things are commonly personified, including: places, especially cities, National personification, countries, an ...

of the

Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...

word ''mastemah'' (מַשְׂטֵמָה), meaning "hatred", "hostility", "enmity", or "persecution". In the

, Mastema requests hosts of

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 ...

s, the spirits of the

Nephilim The Nephilim (; ''Nəfīlīm'') are mysterious beings or humans in the Bible traditionally understood as being of great size and strength, or alternatively beings of great power and authority. The origins of the Nephilim are disputed. Some, ...

, from God to tempt and corrupt humanity. He appears to various prophets and puts them to the test. Throughout the work, Mastema substitutes evil actions attributed to

Yahweh Yahweh was an Ancient Semitic religion, ancient Semitic deity of Weather god, weather and List of war deities, war in the History of the ancient Levant, ancient Levant, the national god of the kingdoms of Kingdom of Judah, Judah and Kingdom ...

in the

Torah The Torah ( , "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. The Torah is also known as the Pentateuch () ...

and removes malice from the Godhead of the Hebrew tradition. Nevertheless, Mastema remains subordinate to the Godhead.

Book of Jubilees

According to the

, Mastema ("hostility") is the chief of the

, the

s engendered by the

fallen angel Fallen angels are angels who were expelled from Heaven. The literal term "fallen angel" does not appear in any Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic religious texts, but is used to describe angels cast out of heaven. Such angels are often described ...

s called Watchers with human women. Although leading a group of demons, the text implies that he is an

working for God instead, as he does not fear imprisonment along with the Nephilim. Yet, the matter is blurred because angels and other kinds of spirits are not clearly differentiated in the work. His function is similar to

Satan Satan, also known as the Devil, is a devilish entity in Abrahamic religions who seduces humans into sin (or falsehood). In Judaism, Satan is seen as an agent subservient to God, typically regarded as a metaphor for the '' yetzer hara'', or ' ...

in the

Book of Job The Book of Job (), or simply Job, is a book found in the Ketuvim ("Writings") section of the Hebrew Bible and the first of the Poetic Books in the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. The language of the Book of Job, combining post-Babylonia ...

, as a servant of God. Another devilish entity,

Belial Belial (; , ''Bəlīyyaʿal'') is a term occurring in the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament which later became personified as the devilSee the reference to "Beliar" in ''The Ascension of Isaiah'', at EarlyChristianWritings.com', specifically at 1:8� ...

, is mentioned twice in Jubilees and is probably identical to Mastema.

The story

According to the Book of Jubilees, a retelling of

Book of Genesis The Book of Genesis (from Greek language, Greek ; ; ) is the first book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Old Testament. Its Hebrew name is the same as its incipit, first word, (In the beginning (phrase), 'In the beginning'). Genesis purpor ...

and

Book of Exodus The Book of Exodus (from ; ''Šəmōṯ'', 'Names'; ) is the second book of the Bible. It is the first part of the narrative of the Exodus, the origin myth of the Israelites, in which they leave slavery in Biblical Egypt through the strength of ...

, Mastema requests permission from God to spare some of the giants (demons) and put them under his control (Jubilees 10:8). In Jubilees 11:10, Mastema is behind the birds mentioned in Genesis 15:11. At the time of

Terah Terah or Terach ( ''Teraḥ'') is a biblical figure in the Book of Genesis. He is listed as the son of Nahor and father of the patriarch Abraham. As such, he is a descendant of Shem's son Arpachshad. Terah is mentioned in Genesis 11:26–27, ...

, Mastema sends ravens to eat and devour the seeds from the fields. It is Mastema who initiates the

binding of Isaac The Binding of Isaac (), or simply "The Binding" (), is a story from Book of Genesis#Patriarchal age (chapters 12–50), chapter 22 of the Book of Genesis in the Hebrew Bible. In the biblical narrative, God in Abrahamic religions, God orders A ...

and, by that, substitutes

. Likewise, not Yahweh but Mastema hardens the Pharaoh's heart (Jub. 48:15–17). The account of

Zipporah at the Inn Zipporah at the Inn is the name given to an episode alluded to in three verses in the 4th chapter of the Book of Exodus. The much-debated passage is one of the more perplexing conundrums of the Torah due to ambiguous references through pronouns and ...

where Yahweh meets

Moses In Abrahamic religions, Moses was the Hebrews, Hebrew prophet who led the Israelites out of slavery in the The Exodus, Exodus from ancient Egypt, Egypt. He is considered the most important Prophets in Judaism, prophet in Judaism and Samaritani ...

and tries to kill him is retold in a way that attributes the attack to Mastema instead (Jubilees 48:1-3). Mastema is also said to have been chained while the

Israelites Israelites were a Hebrew language, Hebrew-speaking ethnoreligious group, consisting of tribes that lived in Canaan during the Iron Age. Modern scholarship describes the Israelites as emerging from indigenous Canaanites, Canaanite populations ...

left Egypt, but then let go to encourage the Egyptians to chase after the Israelites and so come to their doom in the Red Sea. The deaths of the firstborn of the Egyptians are attributed to "all the powers of Mastema". Mastema is also behind the powers of the Pharaoh's sorcerers.

Historical perspectives

The figure Mastema might be a step in developing the concept of the Devil as independent from God during the

Second Temple period The Second Temple period or post-exilic period in Jewish history denotes the approximately 600 years (516 BCE – 70 CE) during which the Second Temple stood in the city of Jerusalem. It began with the return to Zion and subsequent reconstructio ...

. By substituting Yahweh's malevolent role throughout the

with one of his angels, God is abolished from evil actions. Yet, the authors of the Book of Jubilees assert that, ultimately, evil is caused by God, as it is God who explicitly grants Mastema demons. Accordingly, God allows evil to exist, but only for a limited period of time, without committing evil himself. Although a prince of evil, Mastema never harms God's servants. Whenever Mastema acts, it is only by God's permission, or Mastema is immediately restrained. In cases when harm actually befalls God's people, Mastema is not associated with the act. Mastema and his demons only succeed when they attack a non-Jewish nation. Throughout the Book of Jubilees, God's loyalty to the people of Israel remains unshaken. Mastema might be understood as a figure of evil befalling the non-Jewish nations. As such, the text inverts the audience's expectations by nullifying the power of the agent of evil as long as they stay loyal to the Jewish tradition. There are no parallel stories to that of Mastema and Abraham in later Jewish traditions. However, parallels are found between Mastema and

Nimrod Nimrod is a Hebrew Bible, biblical figure mentioned in the Book of Genesis and Books of Chronicles, the Books of Chronicles. The son of Cush (Bible), Cush and therefore the great-grandson of Noah, Nimrod was described as a king in the land of Sh ...

in Muḥammad al-Kisāʾī's '' Qisas al-Anbiya''. In the

Quran The Quran, also Romanization, romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a Waḥy, revelation directly from God in Islam, God (''Allah, Allāh''). It is organized in 114 chapters (, ) which ...

, Mastema's function is reflected in the figure

Iblis Iblis (), alternatively known as Eblīs, also known as Shaitan, is the leader of the Shayatin, devils () in Islam. According to the Quran, Iblis was thrown out of Jannah#Jinn, angels, and devils, heaven after refusing to prostrate himself bef ...

, who likewise requests God to tempt humanity and receives hosts of demons in order to do so, and is subordinative to God, unable to harm God's servants.

Dead Sea Scrolls

The name appears in the

Dead Sea Scrolls The Dead Sea Scrolls, also called the Qumran Caves Scrolls, are a set of List of Hebrew Bible manuscripts, ancient Jewish manuscripts from the Second Temple period (516 BCE – 70 CE). They were discovered over a period of ten years, between ...

. In the Damascus Document, the expression "angel of mastema" (''mal'ak ha-mastema'') occurs. The definite article ''ha-'' indicates that ''mastema'' is not a proper name here. The ''Serek ha-Yahad'' declares that God:

"made Belial for the pit, an angel of mastema; and in dark ess ishis uleand in his counsel is to bring wickedness and guilt about; and all the spirits of his lot are angels of destruction; they walk in the statutes of darkness."

It is unclear if it is meant to refer to the type of angel that Belial is or a proper name.

In fiction

*In Anne Rice's 1999 novel '' Vittorio the Vampire'', Mastema is an angel that aids the main character in attacking a vampire coven. *In the ''

Megami Tensei ''Megami Tensei'', marketed internationally as ''Shin Megami Tensei'' (formerly ''Revelations''), is a Japanese media franchise created by Aya Nishitani, Kouji Okada, Kouji "Cozy" Okada, Ginichiro Suzuki, and Kazunari Suzuki. Primarily developed ...

'' series of video games and its spin-offs, Mastema is portrayed as a

, although, within the context of the franchise, the term "demon" is used in its classical meaning (cf. ''

daemon A demon is a malevolent supernatural being, evil spirit or fiend in religion, occultism, literature, fiction, mythology and folklore. Demon, daemon or dæmon may also refer to: Entertainment Fictional entities * Daemon (G.I. Joe), a character ...

'') to refer to any supernatural creature. Mastema can be fought but can also join the player's group. In ''Strange Journey'', Mastema represents the Law alignment and plays a significant role within the game. *In the

Digimon , short for "Digital Monsters" ( ''Dejitaru Monsutā''), is a Japanese media franchise, which encompasses virtual pet toys, anime, manga, video games, films, and a trading card game. The franchise focuses on the eponymous creatures who inhabit a ...

game, Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth, Mastemon is an Angel Digimon who manipulates light and darkness, and has the power to cross through space-time. *In the

Yu-Gi-Oh! is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Kazuki Takahashi. It was serialized in Shueisha's manga magazine ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' between September 1996 and March 2004, with its chapters collected in 38 volumes. The ...

trading card game, the card "Darklord Nasten" (堕天使マスティマ, ''datenshi Fallen AngelMastema'') is based on this demon. *In the comic book '' Birthright'', Mastema is the name of one of the mages living on Earth that maintain the barrier between worlds. She is revealed shortly after her introduction to be the daughter of the series' main villain. *In the mobile game '' Arknights'', Mostima is the name of an operator that has angelic and demonic qualities. *In the Korean

MMORPG A massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) is a video game that combines aspects of a role-playing video game and a massively multiplayer online game. As in role-playing games (RPGs), the player assumes the role of a Player charac ...

MapleStory ''MapleStory'' () is a free-to-play, 2D, side-scrolling massively multiplayer online role-playing game, developed by South Korean company Wizet. Several versions of the game are available for specific countries or regions, published by var ...

'', Mastema (마스테마) is the name of the devout follower of the playable class "Demon", and it can transform into a purple cat to conceal its power.

References

External links

MASTEMA
by David Flusser. ''

Encyclopaedia Judaica The ''Encyclopaedia Judaica'' is a multi-volume English-language encyclopedia of the Jewish people, Judaism, and Israel. It covers diverse areas of the Jewish world and civilization, including Jewish history of all eras, culture, Jewish holida ...

'' article at

Encyclopedia.com ''Encyclopedia.com'' is an online encyclopedia. It aggregates information, images, and videos from other published dictionaries, encyclopedias, and reference works. History The website was launched by Infonautics in March 1998. Infonautics w ...

{{Satan Demons in the Old Testament apocrypha Angels in Judaism Satan Fallen angels Book of Jubilees Individual angels Crossing the Red Sea

Book of Jubilees

The story

Historical perspectives

Dead Sea Scrolls

In fiction

See also

References

External links