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Naamah (demon)

This article is about the demon. For other uses, see Naamah (disambiguation).

Naamah is a Jewish succubus who seduces men in their dreams and bears their offspring, which later become spirits and demons. She is also a consort of the archangel Samael and sister of Tubal-Cain. In the Midrash Tanhuma, she is said to be a woman of extraordinary beauty. She appears in the Hebrew Bible, the Zohar, the midrashim and other Jewish literature.

Etymology

Naamah or Na'amah (Hebrew: נַעֲמָה‎‎; translated as "pleasant", “lovely”) is a demoness appearing in Jewish religious and mythological texts. She is the daughter of Lamech and Zillah, and sister of Tubal-Cain (Gensis 4:22). Rabbi Abba. B. Kahana claims that Naamah is so named because she is the wife of Noah and gets her name because she is a woman who pleases God. However, most scholars reject this interpretation arguing that Naamah is a woman who engages in idolatry and “sings pleasant songs to idols”.

Hebrew Bible

In Genesis 4:22, Naamah is the sister of Tubal-Cain, who is the son of Lemech, a descendent of Cain. In Genesis 6:1-4, marriages occur between “sons of God” and “daughters of men” during the Antediluvian period. Various Rabbis including the authors of the Midrash Tanhuma and the Zohar interpret Namaah as one of the “daughters of men” who seduce the fallen angels. These unions also result in the birth of the Nephilim.

The Zohar

During a conversation led by Rabbi Shim’on, Naamah is said to be one of the four consorts of the archangel Samael together with Lilith, Agrat bat Mahlat and Eisheth Zenunim. Naamah, along with her companion, Lilith, causes diphtheria in children. After Cain kills Abel, Adam separates from Eve for 130 years. During this time, Lilith and Naamah visit him and bear his demonic children, who become the Plagues of Mankind. (Zohar 3:76b-77a). Her union with angel Shamdon produces Ashmedai, king of the demons. Naamah and her demonic offspring wander around at night and seduce men, causing them to spill semen unconsciously. The Zohar states “Whenever they find people sleeping alone in a house, they hover above them, grab hold of them, cling to them, seize desire from them, and bear offspring.” They do all these under the waning moon. People who are attacked by Naamah must bathe to purify themselves.

In another story from the Zohar, Naamah is said to corrupt the fallen angels Uzza and Azrael, which results in them being bound in iron chains in the mountain of darkness (Zohar Be-Reshit 19b). Naamah also bears spirits and demons by her unions with Uzza and Azael.

In the Zohar Genesis 1:9b, Naamah is said to be approached by two six-winged officials of arqua (one of the seven earths below), named Afrira and Kastimon, who swim the vast ocean and fly through the night. She leaps a distance of 60,000 parasangs and metamorphoses into numerous figures confronting human beings, so that they follow her.

Naamah and her cohort Lilith and Agrat bat Mahlat will live until God eliminates the spirit of impurity from earth (Zachariah 13:2). Until then, she dwells in the Red Sea.

See Also

Lilith

Agrat bat Mahlat

Eisheth Zenunim

References

Midrash Tanhuma Vol. III: Numbers and Deuteronomy, translated into English with Introduction, Indices, and Brief Notes by John T. Townsend, KTAV Publishing House, Inc. Jersey City, NJ, 2003.

The Zohar Vol. I, translated and commentary by Daniel C. Matt, Stanford University Press, Stanford, CA, 2004.

“Naamah”, Jewish Encyclopedia 1906 Edition, Funk and Wagnalls Company, 1907.    

Midrash Hagadol, Genesis. Rabbah 4:22