# Who was Lilith? Was she really the first wife of Adam? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 27, 2004, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-lilith-was-she-really-the-first-wife-of-adam/266257 "2004-09-27T04:30:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2004, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-lilith-was-she-really-the-first-wife-of-adam/266257/1 "2004-09-27T04:30:40Z")
I was taking one of my daughter’s friends to the mall for a rendevous with my daughter (yes I am the daddy chauffeur), and on the way there we were chatting about some things she had been reading lately, and she started talking about how she had been reading about “Lilith”, and how Lilith was Adam’s first wife, but wouldn’t obey him, so God destroyed her and started over again with Eve. Sensing my incredulity she proclaimed “It’s in the Bible”! “And you read this in the Bible?” I asked. “Well I saw that in was in the Bible on the Discovery Channel, they had a big show all about Lilith.” she replied. Ok I’ll admit I’m not all that Boble savvy but I think I would have heard about something as fundamental as Adam’s first wife in my church going days. Who is this Lilith? Is she in the Bible? ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2004, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-lilith-was-she-really-the-first-wife-of-adam/266257/2 "2004-09-27T04:44:02Z")
She’s from the Talmud, not the bible. [http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mlilith.html](http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mlilith.html) ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2004, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-lilith-was-she-really-the-first-wife-of-adam/266257/3 "2004-09-27T04:45:13Z")
> [@](#): > > Lilith’s name only appears once in the Old Testament at Isaiah 34:14, where it is translated as “great owl” in the King James Version of the Bible, leading to Lilith often being portrayed in imagery as an owl (this interpretation has been disputed). > > However, some interpret the passage in Genesis 1:27 — “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them” — before describing a mate being made of Adam’s rib and being called Eve in Genesis 2:22, to mean that Adam had a wife before Eve, and that this could have been Lilith. However, this divergence is often explained as a careless weaving together of two discrete biblical creation myths, as the Bible describes man being created in both Genesis 1:26 and 2:27. > > Lilith’s name also appears in the Dead Sea Scrolls in passages that are based on the above-noted Isaiah reference, and in various places in the Talmud and the Zohar . > **[Lilith](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lilith)** > > Lilith (/ˈlɪlɪθ/; Hebrew: לִילִית‎, romanized: Līlīṯ) is a demonic figure in Judaic mythology, supposedly the primordial she-demon and alternatively first wife of Adam. She is presumed to be mentioned in Biblical Hebrew in the Book of Isaiah, and later in Late Antiquity in Mandaean Gnosticism mythology and Jewish mythology sources from 500 CE onwards. Lilith appears in historiolas (incantations incorporating a short mythic story) in various concepts and localities that give partial descr Lilith... [Further reading](http://www.studylight.org/enc/isb/view.cgi?word=night-monster&search.x=0&search.y=0&search=Lookup&action=Lookup) ---
**Author:** ![Electronic\_Chaos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Electronic\_Chaos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Electronic_Chaos)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2004, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-lilith-was-she-really-the-first-wife-of-adam/266257/4 "2004-09-27T04:48:13Z")
Nothing is mentioned of Lilith in the Genesis story. Apparently, Lilith came from Jewish folklore. [Reference here](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lilith). As for the Discovery Channel, well, it’s sad to say, but sometimes they’re not always factually accurate. ---
**Author:** ![t-keela](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a3d4f5/32.png) [@t-keela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/t-keela)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2004, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-lilith-was-she-really-the-first-wife-of-adam/266257/5 "2004-09-27T05:13:51Z")
In some stories I’ve read they equate **Lilith = Mother Nature** She wasn’t subservient to Adam…if anything she had more power than he. She also had the ability to “create” life. She is considered by many as a Godess in her own right. She definitely wasn’t going to be fooled with by a simple man. Thus the saying…it’s not nice to “fool” Mother Nature. Well, maybe that’s stretching it a bit. I distinctly recall hearing that somewhere though. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![moriah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b2d939/32.png) [@moriah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moriah)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2004, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-lilith-was-she-really-the-first-wife-of-adam/266257/6 "2004-09-27T16:38:29Z")
Trying to find proof that Lilith was Adam’s first wife is difficult seeing that one night while Adam was out of the house, Eve threw out all of Adam’s stuff from his previous relationship. ---
**Author:** ![vetbridge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5e925/32.png) [@vetbridge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vetbridge)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2004, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-lilith-was-she-really-the-first-wife-of-adam/266257/7 "2004-09-27T16:54:17Z")
Lilith was Dr Frazier Crane’s wife in the TV sitcom _CHEERS_. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2004, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-lilith-was-she-really-the-first-wife-of-adam/266257/8 "2004-09-27T17:09:58Z")
> [@astro](#): > > Who is this Lilith? Is she in the Bible? I have nothing to add but might suggest that when checking a “biblical” history topic for accuracy one should consider that The Bible" with which most of us are familiar is incomplete and has been edited, translated and iistranslated several times since the original inking of the plethora of independently produced documents which make up the story of creation & God’s earthly interactions. Just a thought. ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2004, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-lilith-was-she-really-the-first-wife-of-adam/266257/9 "2004-09-27T17:19:27Z")
Hmm, Lilith, Lilith. Oh yes. [Here](http://www.absoluteanime.com/eva/lilith.htm). Funny, it doesn’t look female. Actually, on second thought, you probably shouldn’t bring this series up. Although it would be amusing to see how long you could keep it up and see if she believed it. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2004, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-lilith-was-she-really-the-first-wife-of-adam/266257/10 "2004-09-27T17:37:27Z")
evidently, I have played a part in the book’s history in past lives. :rolleyes: