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Samael (Template:IPAc-en; Template:Langx, Sammāʾēl, "Venom of God";<ref>"Samael" – Jewish Encyclopedia</ref> Template:Langx, Samsama'il or Template:Langx, Samail; alternatively Smal, Smil, Samil, or Samiel)<ref name="Davidson">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="Fallen Angels">Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> is an archangel in Talmudic and post-Talmudic tradition; a figure who is the accuser or adversary (Satan in the Book of Job), seducer, and destroying angel (in the Book of Exodus).
Although many of his functions resemble the Christian notion of Satan, to the point of being sometimes identified as a fallen angel,<ref name="JVL" /><ref name="Patai" /><ref name=":0" />Template:Rp he is not necessarily evil, since his functions are also regarded as resulting in good, such as destroying sinners.<ref name="Fallen Angels" />
He is considered in Midrashic texts to be a member of the heavenly host with often grim and destructive duties. One of Samael's most significant roles in Jewish lore is that of the main angel of death and the head of satans. Although he condemns man's sins, he remains one of God's servants. He appears frequently in the story of the Garden of Eden and engineered the fall of Adam and Eve with a snake in writings during the Second Temple period.<ref name="JVL">Jewish Virtual Library – Samael</ref> However, the serpent is not a form of Samael, but a beast he rode like a camel.<ref name="Or">Template:Cite book</ref> In a single account he is also believed to be the father of Cain,<ref name="Patai" /><ref>Jewish Encyclopedia – Samael</ref> as well as the partner of Lilith. In early Talmudic and Midrashic literature, he has not yet been identified with Satan. Only in later Midrashim is he entitled "head of satans."<ref name="Yisraeli">Yisraeli, O. (2016). Temple Portals: Studies in Aggadah and Midrash in the Zohar. Deutschland: De Gruyter. p. 146</ref>
As guardian angel and prince of Rome, he is the archenemy of Israel. By the beginning of Jewish culture in Europe, Samael had been established as a representative of Christianity due to his identification with Rome.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref name=":0" />Template:Rp
In some Gnostic cosmologies, Samael's role as a source of evil became identified with the Demiurge, the creator of the material world. Although probably both accounts originate from the same source, the Gnostic development of Samael differs from the Jewish development of Samael, in which Samael is merely an angel and messenger of God.
JudaismEdit
Second Temple period and posteriorityEdit
Samael was first mentioned during the Second Temple period and immediately after its destruction. He is first mentioned in the Book of Enoch, which is a part of the Jewish apocrypha, along with other rebellious angels. In Enoch 1, he is one of the Watchers who descended to Earth to copulate with human women, although he is not their leader,<ref name="JVL"/> this being Samyaza.<ref name=Patai/>
In the Greek Apocalypse of Baruch,<ref name=JVL/> he is the dominant evil figure. Samael plants the Tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thereupon he is banished and cursed by God.<ref name=":0" />Template:Rp To take revenge, he tempts Adam and Eve into sin by taking the form of the serpent.<ref name=JVL/><ref name=Patai>Template:Cite book</ref>
He appears further as the embodiment of evil in the Ascension of Isaiah and is called by various names:
- Melkira Template:Langx, "king of evil/wicked"
- Malkira / Malchira Template:Langx, "Messenger of evil"
- Belkira prob. Template:Langx, "lord of the wall"
- Bechira Template:Langx, "elect/chosen of evil
The names Belial and Satan are also applied to him, and he gains control of King Manasseh to accuse Isaiah of treason.<ref name="Patai" />
Talmudic-Midrashic literatureEdit
In Talmudic and midrash, Samael's role as an agent of evil is relatively marginal. However, from the fifth or sixth century onward, he becomes one of the most prominent among the demonic entities.<ref name=":0" />Template:Rp Samael has not been identified with the angel of death in the Talmud.<ref>Referenzen EVERSON, D. L. A Brief Comparison of Targumic and Midrashic Angelological Traditions. Aramaic Studies, [s. l.], v. 5, n. 1, p. 75–91, 2007. {{#invoke:doi|main}}. Acesso em: 30 Jan. 2022.</ref>
In the Exodus Rabbah, Samael is depicted as the accuser in the heavenly court and tempter to sin, while Michael defends Israel's actions.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Here, Samael is identified with Satan. While Satan describes his function as an "accuser," Samael is considered his proper name. He also fulfills the role of the Angel of Death when he comes to take the body of Moses and is called the leader of Satan.
The title of satan is also applied to him in the midrash Pirkei De-Rabbi Eliezer, where he is the chief of the fallen angels,<ref name=":0" />Template:Rp and a twelve-winged seraph.<ref>Dulkin, Ryan S. "The Devil Within: A Rabbinic Traditions-History of the Samael Story in 'Pirkei De-Rabbi Eliezer.'" Jewish Studies Quarterly, vol. 21, no. 2, 2014, pp. 153–175., Template:JSTOR. Accessed 6 Sept. 2021.</ref> According to the text, Samael opposed the creation of Adam and descended to Earth to tempt him into evil. Riding the serpent, he convinces Eve to eat the forbidden fruit.<ref name=Patai/> His role here might be similar to the Islamic idea of Iblis,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> who refused to prostrate himself before Adam because he consists of fire and Adam merely from dust.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The midrash also reveals Samael fathered Cain with Eve.<ref name=Patai/>
In the smaller midrashim, he is the ruler of hell. Several sources, such as Yalkut Shimoni (I, 110) describe him as the guardian angel of Esau relating him to Rome, the one who wrestled with Jacob, the angel who ordered Abraham to sacrifice Isaac, and a patron of Edom.<ref name="Davidson" /><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
KabbalahEdit
In Kabbalah, Samael is described as the "severity of God" and is listed as fifth of the archangels of the world of Beri'ah. Among his portions are Esau, the people who inherit the sword and bring war; the goats and se'irim (demons); and the destroyer angels.<ref name="Yisraeli" />
Although both Samael and Lilith are major demons in earlier Jewish traditions, they do not appear paired until the second half of the thirteenth century, when they are introduced together.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Lilith is a demon created alongside Adam, originally created for the role Eve would fill, who then becomes Samael's bride. With her, Samael created a host of demon children, including a son, the "Sword of Samael"<ref name="Guiley2009">Template:Cite book</ref> (or of Asmodai).<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
In the Kabbalistic work Treatise on the Left Emanation, Samael is part of the qlippoth, prince of all demons, and spouse of Lilith.<ref name=Patai/> The two are said to parallel Adam and Eve, being emanated together from the Throne of Glory as a counterpart. Asmodeus is also mentioned to be subservient to Samael and married to a younger or alternate, lesser Lilith.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> According to the treatise (secondary source) which is unconfirmed, God castrated Samael in order not to fill the world with their demonic offspring.<ref name=Patai/>
In the Zohar, one of Kabbalah's principal works, Samael is described as a leader of the divine forces of destruction, part of the qlippoth. He is mentioned again as the serpent's rider,<ref name=Or/> and is described as having mated with Eisheth Zenunim, Na'amah, and Agrat bat Mahlat, all being "angels" of sacred prostitution.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Notably, the same work later calls him Azazel,<ref name=Or/> which might be a case of mistaken identity, as Azazel may be himself in Zoharistic lore a combination of the angels Ouza and Azrael.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
It is also said that the Baal Shem Tov summoned Samael to make him do his bidding.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Other traditionsEdit
Samael is also depicted as the angel of death and one of the seven archangels, the ruler over the Fifth Heaven and commander of two million angels such as the chief of all the destroying angels.
According to the apocryphal Gedulat Moshe (The Apocalypse of Moses, "The Ascension of Moses" in The Legends of the Jews by Louis Ginzberg) Samael is also mentioned as being in 7th Heaven:
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GnosticismEdit
In the Apocryphon of John, On the Origin of the World, and Hypostasis of the Archons, found in the Nag Hammadi library, Samael is one of three names of the demiurge, whose other names are Yaldabaoth and Saklas.
After Yaldabaoth claims sole divinity for himself, the voice of Sophia comes forth calling him Samael, due to his ignorance.<ref>Gilhus, Ingvild Sælid. 1985. The Nature of the Archons: A Study in the Soteriology of a Gnostic Treatise from Nag Hammadi (CGII, 4). Otto Harrassowitz Verlag. Template:ISBN. p. 44</ref><ref>Fischer-Mueller, E. Aydeet. 1990. "Yaldabaoth: The Gnostic Female Principle in Its Fallenness." Novum Testamentum 32(1):79–95. Template:JSTOR.</ref> In On the Origin of the World, his name is explained as "blind god" and his fellow Archons are said to be blind, too. This reflecting the characteristics of the Christian devil, making people blind, as does the devil in 2 Corinthians 4. Also Samael is the first sinner in the Hypostasis of the Archons and the First Epistle of John calls the devil as sinner from the beginning. These characteristics combined with his boasting conflates the Jewish god with the devil.<ref>M. David Litwa esiring Divinity: Self-deification in Early Jewish and Christian Mythmaking Oxford University Press, 2016 Template:ISBN p. 55</ref> His appearance is that of a lion-faced serpent.<ref>Fischer-Mueller, E. Aydeet. “Yaldabaoth: The Gnostic Female Principle in Its Fallenness.” Novum Testamentum, vol. 32, no. 1, 1990, pp. 79–95. Template:JSTOR</ref> Although the Gnostics and Jewish originally used the same source, both depictions of Samael developed independently.<ref name=":0">Ivry, Elliot R. Wolfson. [1998] 2013. Perspectives on Jewish Thought. Routledge. Template:ISBN.</ref>Template:Rp
Samael is sometimes confused in some books with Camael, who appears in the Coptic Gospel of the Egyptians also as an evil power, whose name is similar to words meaning "like God" (but Camael with a waw missing). The name might be explained, because in Jewish traditions, the snake had the form of a camel, before it was banished by God.<ref name=":0" />Template:Rp
AnthroposophyEdit
To anthroposophists, Samael is known as one of the seven archangels: Saint Gregory gives the seven archangels as Anael, Gabriel, Michael, Oriphiel, Raphael, Samael, and Zerachiel.Template:Citation needed They are all imagined to have a special assignment to act as a global zeitgeist ('time-spirit'), each for periods of about 360 years.<ref>Matherne, Bobby. 2003. "The Archangel Michael, GA# 67" (review). A Reader's Journal 2. Retrieved on 11 October 2014.</ref>
In popular cultureEdit
- In The Wheel of Time, one of the Forsaken is named Sammael, a reference to Samael.
- In the Megami Tensei videogame franchise and many of its spin-offs, Samael appears as one of the Demons in various games.
See alsoEdit
CitationsEdit
ReferencesEdit
Further readingEdit
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External linksEdit
Template:Angels in Abrahamic Religions Template:Satan Template:Authority control