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Shedim
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== 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>
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