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Lailah (Heb. לַיְלָה,Laylāh, meaning "Night") is anangel in some interpretations in theTalmud and in some laterJewish mythology, associated with the night, as well as conception and pregnancy.
"Lailah" is the same as the Hebrew word for "night"laylah (לילה).[1] The noun for "night" in theSemitic languages is derived from thetri-consonantal root:L-Y-L, also found in Arabiclaylah "night" (Arabic:ليلى).
An angel named Lailah is not mentioned in theHebrew Bible. The identification of the word "night" as the name of an angel originates with an interpretation of Genesis 14:15 found in the Babylonian TalmudSanhedrin 96a. This passage, relating toAbraham's night attack on the four kings led byChedorlaomer, reads: "And he divided himself against them by night, he and his servants, and smote them". Rabbi Yochanan interprets this to mean that Abraham attacked with the help of an angel called "night". This interpretation is supported with reference toJob 3:3, which reads: "And night [lailah] said: A male child is brought forth".[2]
InNiddah 16b, the interpretation of rabbiHanina ben Pappa (3rd century AD) posits that Lailah is an angel in charge ofconception who takes a drop ofsemen and places it before God:
For R. Hanina b. Papa made the following exposition: The name of the angel who is in charge of conception is 'Night', and she takes up a drop and places it in the presence of the Holy One, blessed be He, saying, 'Sovereign of the universe, what shall be the fate of this drop? Shall it produce a strong man or a weak man, a wise man or a fool, a rich man or a poor man?'[3]
According to this exposition, the only thing God is not asked to decide is whether the child will be righteous or wicked,[3][4] allowing it to havefree will.
Midrash Tanhuma[5] also details how Lailah is in charge of conception (לַמַּלְאָךְ הַמְּמֻנָּה עַל הַהֵרָיוֹן). As inNiddah 16b, God decrees everything about the unborn child's fate except whether it will be righteous or wicked, since this is a choice the individual has to make for themself.
The angel is also mentioned inZohar Chadash 68:3, again described as being in charge of conception and pregnancy.
The story of Lailah is mentioned byLouis Ginzberg inLegends of the Jews.[6]
FolkloristHoward Schwartz has claimed that unlike most angels, Lailah exhibits "distinctly feminine characteristics".[7][8] Schwartz suggests that Lailah is thepolar opposite ofLilith, who wastes seed, is not maternal, and is bent on destruction, not creation.[7]
The word "night" appears hundreds of times in the Hebrew Bible and continues to be the subject of rabbinic discussion. The nounlayla is afeminine noun in Hebrew, althoughgrammatical gender does not indicate actualgender in Hebrew. Nevertheless, according to Elijah Ben Solomon, the "Vilna Gaon" (1720–1797),Talmudist,halachist, andkabbalist, the Hebrew nounlaylah (night) is feminine in its very essence, but has the unusual quality ofdualism that combines thefeminine withmasculine character.[9] In theZohar, comparison is made betweenleyl (masculine noun) andlayla (feminine noun) "night" is used in reference tothe Exodus "to indicate the union which took place on that night between the Masculine and Feminine aspects in the Divine attributes." (Zohar, Shemoth, Section 2).[10][11]
