View source for Shedim


{{Short description|Intermediary beings in Jewish lore}}
{{italic title}}
[[File:Compendium rarissimum totius Artis Magicae. Wellcome L0027769.jpg|thumb|The sheyd [[Asmodeus|Ashmodai]] ({{lang|he|אַשְמְדּאָי}}) in birdlike form, with typical rooster feet, as depicted in ''Compendium rarissimum totius Artis Magicae'', 1775]]
[[File:Foster Bible Pictures 0074-1 Offering to Molech.jpg|thumb|[[Child sacrifice]] to the sheyd [[Moloch|Molekh]] ({{lang|he|מֹלֶךְ}}), showing the typical depiction of the [[Ammon|Ammonite]] deity ''Moloch'' of the [[Old Testament]] in medieval and modern sources (illustration by Charles Foster for ''Bible Pictures and What They Teach Us'', 1897)]]
{{quote box|width=30%|35. And they mingled with the nations and learned their deeds. 36. They worshipped their idols, which became a snare for them. 37. They slaughtered their sons and daughters to the demons [(shedim)]. 38. They shed innocent blood, the blood of their sons and daughters whom they slaughtered to the idols of Canaan, and the land became polluted with the blood. 39. And they became unclean through their deeds, and they went astray with their acts.|Tehillim (Psalms), 106.35-39<ref>[http://www.chabad.org/library/bible_cdo/aid/16327/showrashi/true ''The Complete Jewish Bible'']. Chabad.org.</ref>}}
{{quote box|width=30%|17. They sacrificed to demons [(shedim)], which have no power, deities they did not know, new things that only recently came, which your forefathers did not fear.|Devarim (Deuteronomy), 32.17<ref>[http://www.chabad.org/library/bible_cdo/aid/9996 ''The Complete Jewish Bible'']. ''Chabad.org''.</ref>}}
'''''Shedim''''' ({{langx|he|שֵׁדִים|šēḏim}}; singular: {{lang|he|שֵׁד}} ''šēḏ'')<ref>Russell, J. B. (1987). The Devil: Perceptions of Evil from Antiquity to Primitive Christianity. Vereinigtes Königreich: Cornell University Press. p. 215</ref> are spirits or [[demons in Judaism|demons]] in the [[Tanakh]] and [[Jewish mythology]]. Shedim do not, however, correspond exactly to the modern conception of demons as evil entities as originated in [[Christian demonology|Christianity]].<ref>Dorian Gieseler Greenbaum. ''The Daimon in Hellenistic Astrology: Origins and Influence''. BRILL, 2015. {{ISBN|9789004306219}}. p. 127.</ref> While evil spirits were thought to cause maladies, shedim differed conceptually from evil spirits.<ref>Dorian Gieseler Greenbaum. ''The Daimon in Hellenistic Astrology: Origins and Influence''. BRILL, 2015. {{ISBN|9789004306219}}. p. 128.</ref> Shedim were not considered evil [[demigod]]s, but the gods of foreigners; further, they were envisaged as evil only in the sense that they were ''not God''.<ref>Benjamin W. McCraw, Robert Arp. ''Philosophical Approaches to Demonology''. Routledge, 2017. {{ISBN|978-1-315-46675-0}}. p. 9.</ref>

They appear only twice (and in both instances in the plural) in the Tanakh, at [[Psalm 106]]:37 and [[Song of Moses|Deuteronomy]] 32:17. In both instances, the text deals with [[child sacrifice]] or [[animal sacrifice]].<ref>W. Gunther Plaut, ''The [[Torah]]: A Modern Commentary'' (Union for Reform Judaism, 2005), p. 1403 [https://books.google.com/books?id=wCTfI2rpvXEC&dq=shedim&pg=PP1422 online]</ref><ref>Dan Burton and David Grandy, ''Magic, Mystery, and Science: The Occult in Western Civilization'' (Indiana University Press, 2003), p. 120 [https://books.google.com/books?id=vSWSSBU7EdwC&dq=%22The+Hebrew+term+for+demons%22&pg=PA120 online].</ref> Although the word is traditionally derived from the root {{sc|šwd}} ({{langx|he|שוד}} ''shuḏ'') that conveys the meaning of "acting with violence" or "laying waste,"<ref>{{cite web |title=Old Testament Hebrew Entry for Strong's #7700 - שֵׁד |url= https://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?t=kjv&strongs=h7700 |publisher=BlueLetterBible.org |access-date=8 March 2019}}</ref> it was possibly a [[loanword]] from [[Akkadian language|Akkadian]], in which the word ''[[shedu]]'' referred to a spirit that could be either protective or malevolent.<ref name="EliorSchäfer2005">{{cite book|author1=Rachel Elior|author2=Peter Schäfer|title=על בריאה ועל יצירה במחשבה היהודית: ספר היובל לכבודו של יוסף דן במלאת לו שבעים שנה|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7Fg2TiVGRQ0C&pg=PA29|year=2005|publisher=Mohr Siebeck|isbn=978-3-16-148714-9|page=29}}</ref><ref>''Encyclopedia of Spirits: The Ultimate Guide to the Magic of Fairies, Genies, Demons, Ghosts, Gods & Goddesses''. Judika Illes. HarperCollins, Jan 2009. [https://books.google.com/books?id=jDr51XX_YjEC&dq=shedim&pg=PA902 p. 902].</ref><ref name = PA21>''The Encyclopedia of Demons and Demonology''. Rosemary Guiley. Infobase Publishing, May 12, 2010. [https://books.google.com/books?id=NHosWhaeWDQC&dq=sedim%2C+assyrian+guard+spirits&pg=PA21 p. 21].</ref> With the translation of Hebrew texts into Greek, under the influence of [[Zoroastrism|Zoroastrian]] [[Dualistic cosmology|dualism]], "shedim" was translated into Greek as ''[[daimon]]ia'' with implicit connotations of negativity. Later, in Judeo-Islamic culture, shedim became the [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]] word for the [[jinn]], conveying the morally ambivalent attitude of these beings.<ref>Jan Dirk Blom, Iris E. C. Sommer. ''Hallucinations: Research and Practice''. Springer Science & Business Media, 2011. {{ISBN|978-1-461-40958-8}}. p. 237.</ref>

== Origin ==
According to one legend, the shedim are the descendants of serpents, or of demons in [[snake|serpent]] form, in allusion to the story of the serpent in [[Garden of Eden |Eden]], as related in [[Book of Genesis|Genesis]].<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oVtt4Xqp6gEC |title=The Expositor |date=1907 |publisher=The Expositor |page=331 |language=en}}</ref> 
A second view is that they are the offspring of [[Lilith]],<ref>{{Cite book |last=Altschuler|first=David|title=Metzudat Zion on Isaiah|year=1740–1780|at=Chapter 34:14|url = https://www.sefaria.org/Metzudat_Zion_on_Isaiah.34.14 |language = he}}</ref> from her union with [[Adam and Eve|Adam]] or other men, while a third says that [[God in Judaism|God]] created them on the sixth day, starting to fashion their bodies but failing to complete the work because he was obliged to rest on the [[Shabbat|Sabbath]].<ref>Loos, H. v. d. (1965). The Miracles of Jesus. Belgien: E. J. Brill. p. 343</ref> Even after the Sabbath, he left them as they were, in order to show that, when the Sabbath comes, all work still unfinished at the beginning of the Sabbath must afterward be viewed as complete.<ref name = shedim>Maureen Bloom. ''Jewish Mysticism and Magic: An Anthropological Perspective''. Routledge, 2007. {{ISBN |978-1-134-10329-4}}. p. 128.</ref> As a result, the shedim have souls like those of humans, but lack the bodies to contain them.<ref>Edwards, J. R. (2009). The Hebrew Gospel and the Development of the Synoptic Tradition. Vereinigtes Königreich: Eerdmans Publishing Company. p.52</ref>
Yet a fourth conception was that the shedim had their origins among the builders of the [[Tower of Babel]] - these being divided by their motivations into three groups, of which the third and worst comprised those who sought actively to wage war against God and were punished for their [[sacrilege|sacrilegious]] [[hubris]] by transformation into the shedim.<ref name="JewishGuide">{{cite book|last =Taylor|first =P.|title =A Jewish Guide to the Mysterious|publisher = Mosaica Press|date = 2020|isbn = 9781946351890}}</ref>
Finally, the ''[[Zohar]]'' describes them as offspring of the demons [[Azazel]] and [[Naamah (demon)|Naamah]].<ref name="PA21" /><ref>{{Cite book|title=Zohar|at=3:76b-77a}}</ref>

Biblical and rabbinical texts depict shedim as demonic entities, with references such as [[Haazinu#Third reading—Deuteronomy 32:13–18|Deuteronomy 32:17]] and Psalm 106:37 suggesting sacrifices to these beings, including human sacrifices like the firstborn. However, the extent and details of such practices in ancient Israel remain a subject of debate among scholars. Hurwitz's work, citing archaeological finds and the existing rite of 'pidjon ha’ben,' supports the notion of such sacrifices, especially in the archaic period.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hurwitz |first=Siegmund |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6T9Y1EhiwDUC |title=Lilith - the First Eve: Historical and Psychological Aspects of the Dark Feminine |date=1999 |publisher=Daimon |isbn=978-3-85630-577-2 |language=en}}</ref>

== Traits ==
The [[Talmud]] describes the shedim as possessing some traits of [[Angels in Judaism|angels]], and some traits of humans:
{{quote|{{lang|he|תָּנוּ רַבָּנַן, שִׁשָּׁה דְּבָרִים נֶאֶמְרוּ בַּשֵּׁדִים: שְׁלֹשָׁה כְּמַלְאֲכֵי הַשָּׁרֵת, וּשְׁלֹשָׁה כִּבְנֵי אָדָם. שְׁלֹשָׁה כְּמַלְאֲכֵי הַשָּׁרֵת — יֵשׁ לָהֶם כְּנָפַיִם כְּמַלְאֲכֵי הַשָּׁרֵת, וְטָסִין מִסּוֹף הָעוֹלָם וְעַד סוֹפוֹ כְּמַלְאֲכֵי הַשָּׁרֵת, וְיוֹדְעִין מַה שֶּׁעָתִיד לִהְיוֹת כְּמַלְאֲכֵי הַשָּׁרֵת.}}<br />
The Sages taught: Six statements were said with regard to demons: In three ways they are like ministering angels, and in three ways they are like humans. The baraita specifies: In three ways they are like ministering angels: They have wings like ministering angels; and they fly from one end of the world to the other like ministering angels; and they know what will be in the future like ministering angels.|[[Babylonian Talmud]] [[Hagigah]] 16a<ref>{{cite web |title=Chagigah 16a:5 |url=https://www.sefaria.org/Chagigah.16a.5?lang=bi&with=all&lang2=en |website=www.sefaria.org}}</ref>}}

According to ''[[Rashi]]'', shedim, like ''[[Lillith|lillin]]'' but unlike ''ruchos'', have human form, although no human body. They eat and drink as humans do.<ref name="JewishGuide"/>{{rp|style=ama|p=177}}

They can cause sickness and misfortune,<ref name="shedim" /> follow the dead and fly around graves.

One is admonished not to do many thing that could invoke 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; they can be helpful. Some are said to be even able to live according to the [[Torah]], like [[Asmodeus]].<ref>Raphael Patai ''Encyclopedia of Jewish Folklore and Traditions'' Routledge 2015 {{ISBN|978-1-317-47170-7}}</ref>

Conjuring shedim is not necessarily forbidden, depending on whether the theologian discussing the topic views such summoning to constitute sorcery. Even if summoning shedim is an act of sorcery and thus forbidden, consulting shedim conjured by a non-Jew would be permissible.<ref name="JewishGuide"/>{{rp|style=ama|p=179}}

== Appearance ==
In early [[midrash]]im, shedim are corporeal beings. they take the form of men, but have no shadow (Yeb. 122a; Giṭ. 66a; Yoma 75a). Sometimes they are black goat-like beings ([[Kiddushin (Talmud)|Kiddushin]] 29a); other times, seven-headed dragons (Kiddushin 29a). They are occasionally called ''malʾake ḥabbala'' (angels of destruction) (Ber. 51a; Ket. 104a; Sanh. 106b). If a man could see them, he would lack the strength to face them, although he can see them by throwing the ashes of the fetus of a black cat around his eyes, or by scattering ashes around his bed he can trace their footprints similar to those of [[rooster|roosters]] in the morning ( Ber.6a). To see if the shedim were present, ashes were thrown to the ground or floor, which rendered their footsteps visible. In later Judaism, these entities developed into more abstract beings.

Shedim can [[shapeshifting|shapeshift]], sometimes assuming a human form, the Talmud telling how [[Asmodeus]] assumed [[King Solomon]]'s form and ruled in his place for a time.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Babylonian Talmud|pages=Gittin 68a}}</ref>

In the Zohar:<ref>{{Cite book|title=Zohar|pages=3:276a}}</ref> 
{{quote|The [[Shekhinah]] hid [[Esther]] from [[Ahasuerus]] and gave him a ''Shedah'' [a she-devil]<ref>{{Cite web|title=שדה {{!}} Definition of שדה at Definify|url=http://definify.com/word/%D7%A9%D7%93%D7%94|access-date=2021-10-18|website=definify.com}}</ref> instead while she returned to [[Mordecai|Mordechai's]] arms. [...] This is why a man must speak with his wife before he mates with her, because she might have been exchanged with a female demon.}}

==See also==
* [[Dybbuk]]
* [[Fairy]]
* [[Lamassu]]
* [[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.&nbsp;27–38, limited preview [https://books.google.com/books?id=7Fg2TiVGRQ0C&dq=shedim&pg=PA29 online.]
* Charles, R.H. ''The [[Syriac Apocalypse of Baruch|Apocalypse of Baruch]], Translated from the Syriac''. Originally published 1896, Book Tree edition 2006 [https://books.google.com/books?id=WElyjf345R0C&dq=shedim&pg=PA16 online.]
* Charles, R.H. ''The Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha of the Old Testament'', vol. 2: Pseudepigrapha. Originally published 1913, Apocryphile Press Edition 2004, p.&nbsp;485 [https://books.google.com/books?id=z60UVlN6HgYC&dq=shedim&pg=PA485 online] and p.&nbsp;497.
* [[J. H. Chajes]]. ''Between Worlds: Dybbuks, Exorcists, and Early Modern Judaism''. University of Pennsylvania Press, 2003, pp.&nbsp;11–13 [https://books.google.com/books?id=Wu-MNV81hksC&dq=shedim&pg=PA11 online.]
* Goldish, Matt. ''Spirit Possession in Judaism''. Wayne State University Press, 2003, p.&nbsp;356 [https://books.google.com/books?id=CF1C84xHeucC&dq=shedim&pg=PA356 online.]
* Heiser, Michael S. 2015. ''The Unseen Realm: Recovering the Supernatural Worldview of the Bible''. [https://books.google.com/books?id=0R94CgAAQBAJ&q=the+unseen+realm+michael+heiser]
* Koén-Sarano, Matilda. ''King Solomon and the Golden Fish: Tales from the Sephardic Tradition''. Translated by Reginetta Haboucha. Wayne State University Press, 2004. Limited preview [https://books.google.com/books?id=E3rY4Ft5AXgC&q=shedim&pg=PA45 online.]
* Plaut, W. Gunther. ''The Torah: A Modern Commentary''. Union for Reform Judaism, 2005, p.&nbsp;1403 [https://books.google.com/books?id=wCTfI2rpvXEC&dq=shedim&pg=PP1422 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''.[https://books.google.com/books?id=WvGaDwAAQBAJ&dq=demons+and+spirits+in+biblical+theology+john+walton&pg=PR4]

== External links ==
* ''[http://www.elyonimvetachtonim.project.uj.edu.pl/ Elyonim veTachtonim]''. An on-line database of angels, demons, ghosts and monsters in the Bible and Babylonian Talmud.
{{Book of Deuteronomy}}
[[Category:Demons in Judaism]]
[[Category:Jewish legendary creatures]]
[[Category:Kabbalistic words and phrases]]
[[Category:Psalms]]
[[Category:Book of Deuteronomy]]
[[Category:Daimons]]
[[Category:Jinn]]