Woman Before Eve

Many people, whether they are religious or not, know the story of Adam and Eve. According to the Bible, God created Adam out of the dirt of the earth that He had made. When Adam grew lonely, God plucked a rib from Adam's body, and from this rib he created a companion for the first man: Eve.

What most people don't know is that Eve might not have been the first woman made by God. Before God created Eve, he made another woman, also for the purpose of serving as Adam's friend and companion. This woman was created out of dirt, like Adam had been. Her name was Lilith.

Lilith is not mentioned in the Bible, but is most likely a "legend" that was passed down orally before the Bible was ever written down.

Because of the way Lilith was born, she wanted to be just like Adam. They were both created in the same manner, so Lilith demanded to be Adam's equal, and to be treated this way. She refused to be regarded as a lower being than Adam, and was disobedient to him. Why should she obey her equal?

One day Adam came to God and told Him that his wife Lilith had vanished. God sent angels to seek her out and bring her back, When the angels found Lilith, they ordered her to come back or be punished. Lilith refused, saying that she'd rather suffer punishment than go back to Adam (sounds like a typical modern couple). She supposedly had 100 children a day with demons.

Lilith became a creature of the night. She goes around at night injuring children - she is said to harm boys on the first night of their life, and girls for the first 12 years. Some say that Lilith and her demon daughters are responsible for nocturnal emissions. To ward her off, children wore an amulet with the angels on it, to keep them safe.

In a way, Lilith was the first feminist to ever walk the earth. We are all made of the same dirt and flesh, she told the world, and therefore we are all equal. Perhaps knowing of Lilith it becomes easier to forgive Eve for her sin that led to humanity's fall from Eden - she was an obedient and inferior being. Meanwhile, Lilith escaped from such a life by any means possible, sacrificing paradise and living in darkness, just to escape from oppression.

And yet, despite her strength and steadfastness, we hear nothing of Lilith, but know the name of Eve. Perhaps we all have a thing of two to learn from Lilith.