Lilith

Lilith (; Hebrew: לִילִית, romanized: Līlīṯ; also spelled Lilit or Lilis) is a feminine figure in late-antique Mesopotamian and Jewish mythology. Lilith does not appear in the Hebrew Bible or any other biblical source, although the Hebrew word lilit appears in the Book of Isaiah, specifically in Isaiah 34:14. The meaning of this word is debated by scholars with interpretations ranging from a primordial she-demon to a night bird. The King James translation renders the term in this verse as "screech-owl". Based on medieval Jewish folklore, Lilith is said to have fled from the Garden of Eden because she did not want to submit to Adam. The earliest known mention of Lilith is in the Dead Sea Scrolls (4Q510-11), and afterwards in Mandaean and Jewish sources from late antiquity (300 AD onward), in historiolas – incantations that incorporate a short mythic story – that give partial descriptions of her. She is mentioned in the Babylonian Talmud (at Eruvin 100b, Niddah 24b, Shabbat 151b, Bava Batra 73a), and in the Zohar § Leviticus 19a as "a hot fiery female who first cohabited with man". Some rabbinic authorities, including Maimonides and Menachem Meiri, reject the existence of Lilith.