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Adapted from Talmud Bavli, Eruvin (Eruvin 18b)
Edition William Davidson Edition - Vocalized Aramaic Translation English translation by Maggid , since no free public English translation of this passage exists.
License Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial (CC-BY-NC) And Rabbi Yirmeya ben Elazar said: throughout all those years that Adam, the first man, was under excommunication, he begot spirits, demons, and female night-demons (lilin), as it is said: "And Adam lived a hundred and thirty years, and he begot a son in his likeness, after his image" (Genesis 5:3), which implies that until then he did not beget after his image. They raised an objection: Rabbi Meir used to say: Adam, the first man, was a great pious one. Once he saw that death had been decreed because of him, he sat in fasting for a hundred and thirty years, and he separated from his wife for a hundred and thirty years, and he drew strands of fig leaves upon his flesh for a hundred and thirty years.
וְאָמַר רַבִּי יִרְמְיָה בֶּן אֶלְעָזָר: כָּל אוֹתָן הַשָּׁנִים שֶׁהָיָה אָדָם הָרִאשׁוֹן בְּנִידּוּי, הוֹלִיד רוּחִין וְשֵׁידִין וְלִילִין, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: ״וַיְחִי אָדָם שְׁלֹשִׁים וּמְאַת שָׁנָה וַיּוֹלֶד בִּדְמוּתוֹ כְּצַלְמוֹ״, מִכְּלָל דְּעַד הָאִידָּנָא לָאו כְּצַלְמוֹ אוֹלֵיד. מֵיתִיבִי, הָיָה רַבִּי מֵאִיר אוֹמֵר: אָדָם הָרִאשׁוֹן חָסִיד גָּדוֹל הָיָה, כֵּיוָן שֶׁרָאָה שֶׁנִּקְנְסָה מִיתָה עַל יָדוֹ, יָשַׁב בְּתַעֲנִית מֵאָה שְׁלֹשִׁים שָׁנָה, וּפֵירַשׁ מִן הָאִשָּׁה מֵאָה שְׁלֹשִׁים שָׁנָה, וְהֶעֱלָה זִרְזֵי תְּאֵנִים עַל בְּשָׂרוֹ מֵאָה שְׁלֹשִׁים שָׁנָה.
Commentary Some say it was Lilith, Adam's first wife, who found him alone and lay down by his side, and thus were begotten myriads of demons, spirits, and imps. Others say it was not Lilith, but her sister, Na'amah, who found Adam there. When God saw how Adam had turned away from Eve, He put desire for her back into Adam's heart. And when, at last, Adam and Eve were reunited, she bore Seth, who, unlike Cain, was the very image of Adam, as it is said, When Adam had lived one hundred and thirty years, he begot a son in his likeness after his image, and he named him Seth (Gen. 5:3). This strange legend about Adam being seduced by female demons, and Eve seducing male ones, grows out of the biblical verse When Adam had lived one hundred and thirty years, he begot a son in his likeness after his image, and he named him Seth (Gen. 5:3). Since the statement of the birth of Seth follows the mention of 130 years, the rabbis assumed that Adam must have withdrawn from Eve for that long. Various explanations are given for Adam's separation from Eve. Some attribute it to their expulsion from Eden and Adam's realization that death had been decreed against the world on his account, while other sources link it to Adam's grief over the death of Abel. There are also contradictory myths explaining what happened to Adam during the 130 years. One tells us that Adam repented by standing in the River Gihon, and the other assumes that his sexual desire was as great as ever, making him vulnerable to female demons, while male demons impregnated Eve. The demons that Adam and Eve give birth to are called mazikim. These mazikim and their demonic consorts account for the proliferation of demons. The Zohar (3:76b) attributes heavenly beauty to the daughters of Adam who were conceived in this way. The reference to Seth being in the image of Adam, and some texts say, the seed of Adam, while Cain was not, refers to the midrash that attributes Cain's conception to intercourse between Eve and the serpent, making Cain the son of the serpent. See "The Seed of Cain," p. 448. This myth about Adam echoes the ancient story of Tantalus, who was punished for his crimes by having to stand in a river up to his neck. There he is consumed by hunger and thirst. There is a nearby tree, with a branch he could reach, that bears every kind of fruit. But if he reaches for it, it pulls away. Likewise, he tries to drink from the river, but as soon as he reaches for it, the water subsides. From this punishment comes the term "tantalize." Note that the ancient story focuses the torment on food and water, while the Jewish myth focuses on sexual issues. See ancient stories by Robert Graves, 108d.
