"And to Seth also a son was born, and he called his name Enosh" (Genesis 4:26). They asked before Abba Kohen Bardela: Adam, Seth, Enosh, and then he fell silent. He said: Up to here it was in the image and in the likeness; from here onward the generations became corrupted, and centaurs were created. Four things changed in the days of Enosh son of Seth: the mountains became flinty rock, and the dead began to swarm with maggots, and their faces became like apes, and they became vulnerable prey to the harmful spirits. Rabbi Yitzhak said: It was they themselves who caused themselves to become vulnerable prey to the harmful spirits. What difference is there between one who bows down to an idol and one who bows down to a human being?
The Creation Of Centaurs
Bereshit Rabbah 23:6
וּלְשֵׁת גַּם הוּא יֻלַּד בֵּן וַיִּקְרָא אֶת שְׁמוֹ אֱנוֹשׁ, בְּעוֹן קוֹמֵי אַבָּא כֹּהֵן בַּרְדְּלָא אָדָם שֵׁת אֱנוֹשׁ, וְשָׁתַק, אָמַר עַד כָּאן בְּצֶלֶם וּבִדְמוּת, מִכָּאן וָאֵילָךְ נִתְקַלְקְלוּ הַדּוֹרוֹת וְנִבְרְאוּ קִנְטוּרִין. אַרְבָּעָה דְּבָרִים נִשְׁתַּנּוּ בִּימֵי אֱנוֹשׁ בֶּן שֵׁת, הֶהָרִים נַעֲשׂוּ טְרָשִׁים, וְהִתְחִיל הַמֵּת מַרְחִישׁ, וְנַעֲשׂוּ פְּנֵיהֶם כְּקוֹפוֹת, וְנַעֲשׂוּ חֻלִּין לַמַּזִּיקִין. אָמַר רַבִּי יִצְחָק הֵן הֵן שֶׁגָּרְמוּ לְעַצְמָן לִהְיוֹת חֻלִּין לַמַּזִּיקִין, מַה בֵּין דְּגָחֵין לְצַלְמָא לְמַאן דְּגָחֵין לְבַר נָשׁ.
Themes
Original Sources
- Genesis Rabbah 23:6
- Midrash Tanhuma
- Noah 5
- Zohar 1:56a.