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.
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.
Shedim (Hebrew:שֵׁדִים,romanized: šēḏim; singular:שֵׁדšēḏ)[3] are spirits ordemons in theTanakh andJewish mythology. Shedim do not, however, correspond exactly to the modern conception of demons as evil entities as originated inChristianity.[4] While evil spirits were thought to cause maladies, shedim differed conceptually from evil spirits.[5] Shedim were not considered evildemigods, but the gods of foreigners; further, they were envisaged as evil only in the sense that they werenot God.[6]
They appear only twice (and in both instances in the plural) in the Tanakh, atPsalm 106:37 andDeuteronomy 32:17. In both instances, the text deals withchild sacrifice oranimal sacrifice.[7][8] Although the word is traditionally derived from the rootŠWD (Hebrew:שודshuḏ) that conveys the meaning of "acting with violence" or "laying waste,"[9] it was possibly aloanword fromAkkadian, in which the wordshedu referred to a spirit that could be either protective or malevolent.[10][11][12] With the translation of Hebrew texts into Greek, under the influence ofZoroastriandualism, "shedim" was translated into Greek asdaimonia with implicit connotations of negativity. Later, in Judeo-Islamic culture, shedim became theHebrew word for thejinn, conveying the morally ambivalent attitude of these beings.[13]
According to one legend, the shedim are the descendants of serpents, or of demons inserpent form, in allusion to the story of the serpent inEden, as related inGenesis.[14] A second view is that they are the offspring ofLilith,[15] from her union withAdam or other men, while a third says thatGod created them on the sixth day, starting to fashion their bodies but failing to complete the work because he was obliged to rest on theSabbath.[16] 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.[17] As a result, the shedim have souls like those of humans, but lack the bodies to contain them.[18]Yet a fourth conception was that the shedim had their origins among the builders of theTower 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 theirsacrilegioushubris by transformation into the shedim.[19]Finally, theZohar describes them as offspring of the demonsAzazel andNaamah.[12][20]
Biblical and rabbinical texts depict shedim as demonic entities, with references such asDeuteronomy 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.[21]
TheTalmud describes the shedim as possessing some traits ofangels, and some traits of humans:
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.
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.
According toRashi, shedim, likelillin but unlikeruchos, have human form, although no human body. They eat and drink as humans do.[19](p177)
They can cause sickness and misfortune,[17] 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 mysticJudah ben Samuel of Regensburg wrote in hiswill 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 theTorah, likeAsmodeus.[23]
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.[19](p179)
In earlymidrashim, 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 29a); other times, seven-headed dragons (Kiddushin 29a). They are occasionally calledmalʾake 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 ofroosters 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 canshapeshift, sometimes assuming a human form, the Talmud telling howAsmodeus assumedKing Solomon's form and ruled in his place for a time, although he had to take care never to be seen barefoot because he could not disguise his clawed feet.[24]
In the Zohar:[25]
TheShekhinah hidEsther fromAhasuerus and gave him aShedah [a she-devil][26] instead while she returned toMordechai'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.