Parshat Bereshit5 min read

God Made the Demons at Twilight but Shabbat Arrived Too Soon

On the last twilight before Shabbat, God began making demons but could not finish before rest was required, leaving them as spirits without bodies.

Curated by Arthur · Told by Maggid ·
Table of Contents
  1. The Odd Phrase at the End of Creation
  2. Adam's Hundred and Thirty Years of Different Children
  3. The Unfinished and the Unfathered
  4. What the Bodies Would Have Meant

The Odd Phrase at the End of Creation

The Torah's account of the sixth day ends with a phrase that does not quite say what it seems to say. God rested from all the work "which God had created to make." Not "which God had made." Which God had created to make. A third-century sage named Rabbi Bannaya read that phrase as a window. The extra word, "to make," pointed toward something begun but not completed. Some beings had been created to make, meaning their creation was started and not finished. The sages asked: what unfinished creatures are still in the world? The answer was the mazikin, the demons.

Their souls were created on the sixth day. God began the process of giving them bodies. Then the sun descended, Shabbat arrived, and rest was required. A body cannot be built on Shabbat. The demons remained as souls without bodies, as spirits with no physical form to contain or express what they were. They had been started and then interrupted, and Shabbat had done the interrupting.

Adam's Hundred and Thirty Years of Different Children

The demon population did not stop at the ones God began at twilight. After Abel was killed by Cain, Adam separated from Eve. The Talmud in tractate Eruvin 18b records that this separation lasted one hundred and thirty years, and that during those years Adam was not celibate. Rabbi Yirmeya ben Elazar taught that during that time Adam produced spirits, shedim, and liloth, female night spirits. The proof was in the grammar of Genesis 5:3, which notes that Adam lived one hundred and thirty years and then begot Seth in his likeness, after his image. The implication was that before Seth, the children Adam had produced during the separation were not in his likeness, were not fully formed humans, were something else entirely.

These children had mothers drawn from the world of spirits. Female presences attached themselves to Adam during his isolation, in some traditions connected to the figure of Lilith, the first woman who had refused to remain subordinate to Adam and had left Eden before Eve arrived. The lineage was complicated and the tradition did not resolve all its complications. What it preserved was the insistence that the world of spirits was not separate from human history. It had been produced by human choices, by Adam's grief and isolation and the century and more of children born in the interval between his first marriage and his return to Eve.

The Unfinished and the Unfathered

Two different origins, one theological and one biographical. The demons of the twilight were unfinished because Shabbat arrived. The demons of Adam's separation were unloved because their father had turned away from the world in grief. What both groups share, in the tradition's understanding, is incompleteness. The twilight demons lack bodies and cannot be seen or touched in the ordinary way. Adam's demon children lack the image and likeness of their father, the full human form that would have made them recognizable as his offspring.

Ginzberg's Legends of the Jews, compiled from rabbinic sources in the early twentieth century, adds that Lamech's wives were among those who reproached Adam for his separation from Eve. They told him: physician, heal your own lameness. They were pointing out the contradiction of a man who had refused to father human children while the world needed to be populated, who then blamed Eve and the world for his grief. Adam eventually returned to Eve. Seth was born. The hundred and thirty years of demon-producing isolation ended. But the children of that period remained.

What the Bodies Would Have Meant

The twilight demons are a specific problem. They were given souls, which means they have interiority, desire, purpose. They were not given bodies, which means they have no physical location, no stable form in the world, no way to complete what their creation began. The tradition associates them with the dangerous in-between spaces: thresholds, shadows, the hours between sunset and full dark, the edges of the inhabited world. They are creatures of the boundary because they were created at a boundary that could not be crossed.

There is a list of ten things created at the twilight between the sixth day and Shabbat, preserved in Pirkei Avot 5:6, and the demon souls are among them. The list includes the mouth of the earth that swallowed Korah, the mouth of Balaam's donkey, the rainbow, and the original tablets of the law. These are all things that do not fit cleanly into the ordinary categories of created objects, things that arrived at the exact edge between one state of the world and another. The demon souls belong in this company: a creation that was begun at the last possible moment before rest, and left unfinished by the arrival of holiness.

DemonsCreationShabbatAdam EveMidrash
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From the tradition

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The texts this telling draws on, in full. Open a card to read inline, or expand it for a wider, quieter read.

Midrash Tanchuma Buber, Bereshit 17:2Midrash Tanchuma Buber, Bereshit

(Genesis 2:3) ends with a grammatically odd phrase: God rested from all His work "which God had created to make." Not "which God had made." Which God had created to make. Midrash Tanchuma Buber, Bereshit 17:2 treats this peculiar verb as a window into one of the strangest corners of Jewish cosmology.

R. Bannaya's unfinished creatures

R. Bannaya, a late third-century sage, read the phrase literally. Some beings were "created to make", meaning their creation was begun but not completed. Specifically, these were the mazikin (demons).

"These are the demons, whose souls He had created. While He was creating their bodies, the Sabbath commenced. So He left them alone, and they survive to the present as spirit with no body."

The Sabbath interrupted the sixth-day work, and the demons were caught mid-formation, souls without the flesh to contain them. They drift in between, neither fully created nor fully imagined, a permanent population of half-finished beings.

What demons are in Jewish tradition

It is worth pausing to name what the Jewish tradition means by demons and what it does not. Mazikin are not cosmic rebels. They are not beings who opposed God or fell from heaven. The Jewish imagination has no heavenly rebellion, no satanic coup, no dualist battle of light against dark. Demons here are creatures, part of God's world, like humans or animals, whose creation happened to stop early. They are not evil by nature. They are simply incomplete.

The Talmud in Hagigah 16a describes demons as having six characteristics, three like angels and three like humans. Like angels, they have wings, they move from one end of the world to the other, and they know the future. Like humans, they eat and drink, they reproduce, and they die. They are a third category, distinct from both.

Their strange behavior

R. Bannaya notes that demons "are fruitful and multiply like humans, and they die like humans." They are mortal. They have offspring. And they can interact with the human world under certain circumstances.

The midrash mentions, without commentary, that the first Adam, in his long separation from Eve after the expulsion from Eden, fathered children from spirits. The reference is to a tradition preserved elsewhere in rabbinic literature (Eruvin 18b) that Adam spent 130 years apart from Eve, and during that time produced offspring with female demons. These offspring were the ancestors of later demon populations.

A competing interpretation

The midrash closes with an alternative reading. Some sages said the phrase "which God had created to make" referred not to demons but to the future Temple, the Beit HaMikdash that is yet to be rebuilt. The Temple is "created to make," meaning its ultimate form exists in the divine blueprint but awaits human hands to bring it into physical reality.

Both readings agree that creation is not finished. Something was left undone on the sixth day. For R. Bannaya, it was the demons. For the alternative opinion, it is the Temple. Either way, the world is waiting, for completion, for restoration, for the moment when the interrupted work resumes.

The takeaway: the universe has unfinished business. The Sabbath froze creation mid-stride, and some creatures. And some buildings, remain half-made. The work that stopped on day six is still stopped. It will resume only when the time is right.

Full source
Eruvin 18bTalmud Bavli, Eruvin

of a storehouse. Just as a storehouse is built wide on the bottom and narrow on top, in order to hold produce without collapsing, so too a woman is created wide on the bottom and narrow on top, in order to hold the fetus. The Gemara cites an exposition of the end of the previously cited verse: “And brought her unto the man” (Genesis 2:22). This verse teaches that the Holy One, Blessed be He, was Adam the first man’s best man, attending to all his wedding needs and bringing his wife to him.

From here we learn that a greater individual should serve as a best man for a lesser individual and should not feel bad about it as something beneath his dignity. The Gemara asks: And according to the one who says that Eve was a face or side of Adam, which one of them walked in front? Rav Naḥman bar Yitzḥak said: It is reasonable to say that the male walked in front, as this is proper behavior, as it was taught in a baraita: A man should not walk behind a woman on a path, even if she is his wife.

If she happens upon him on a bridge, he should walk quickly in order to catch up to her and consequently move her to his side, so that she will not walk before him. And anyone who walks behind a woman in a river, where she has to lift up her skirt in order to cross, has no share in the World-to-Come. The Sages taught: With regard to one who counts out money for a woman from his hand into her hand or from her hand into his hand, in order to look upon her, even if in other matters he is like Moses our teacher, who received the Torah from Mount Sinai, he will not be absolved from the punishment of Gehenna.

The verse says about him: “Hand to hand, the evil man shall not go unpunished” (Proverbs 11:21). One who hands money from his hand to her hand, even if he received the Torah from God’s hand to his own, like Moses, he will not be absolved from the punishment of Gehenna, which is called evil. Rav Naḥman said: From the following verse, it is known that Samson’s father, Manoah, was an ignoramus, as it is stated: “And Manoah arose, and went after his wife” (Judges 13:11), which shows that he was unfamiliar with the principle that one must not walk behind a woman.

Rav Naḥman bar Yitzḥak strongly objects to this: If that is so, if the verse relating to Manoah is understood literally, what will one say about the verse with regard to Elkana, the father of the prophet Samuel, as it is written: “And Elkana walked after his wife.” Does this verse mean that Elkana was also an ignorant person? And what of the verse with regard to the prophet Elisha, as it is written: “And the mother of the child said: As the Lord lives, and as your soul lives, I will not leave you; and he arose and followed her” (ii Kings 4:30).

Does this verse mean that Elisha was also an uneducated person? Rather, certainly each of these verses means that he followed her words and advice. If so, here too, the verse concerning Manoah may be similarly interpreted. He did not literally walk behind his wife, but rather he followed her words and advice.

Rav Ashi said: And according to what Rav Naḥman said, that Manoah was an ignoramus, he did not even read the basic Torah stories that children learn in school. As it is written: “Rebecca arose, and her damsels, and they rode upon the camels, and followed the man” (Genesis 24:61); they followed him and did not walk before the man. On this topic, Rabbi Yoḥanan said: It is preferable to walk behind a lion, and not behind a woman.

And it is preferable to walk behind a woman and not behind idolatry. When a procession honoring idolatry is passing in the street, it is better to walk behind a woman than appear to be accompanying the idolatry. It is preferable to walk behind idolatry and not behind a synagogue at a time of prayer. By walking behind a synagogue at a time of prayer and not entering, one appears as though he were denying the God to Whom the congregation is directing its prayers.

Having cited an aggadic statement of Rabbi Yirmeya ben Elazar, the Gemara cites other statements of his: Rabbi Yirmeya ben Elazar said: All those years during which Adam was ostracized for the sin involving the Tree of Knowledge, he bore spirits, demons, and female demons, as it is stated: “And Adam lived a hundred and thirty years, and begot a son in his own likeness, after his image, and called his name Seth” (Genesis 5:3).

By inference, until now, the age of one hundred thirty, he did not bear after his image, but rather bore other creatures. The Gemara raises an objection from a baraita: Rabbi Meir would say: Adam the first man was very pious. When he saw that death was imposed as a punishment because of him, he observed a fast for a hundred thirty years, and he separated from his wife for a hundred thirty years, and wore belts [zarzei] of fig leaves on his body as his only garment for a hundred thirty years.

If so, how did he father demons into the world? The Gemara answers: When Rabbi Yirmeya made his statement, he meant that those destructive creatures were formed from the semen that Adam accidentally emitted, which brought the destructive creatures into being. And Rabbi Yirmeya ben Elazar further said: Only some of a person’s praise should be said in his presence, and all of it may be said not in his presence.

Only some of his praise should be said in his presence, as it is written: “And the Lord said to Noah, come, you and all your house into the ark, for you have I seen righteous before Me in this generation” (Genesis 7:1). And all of it may be said not in his presence, as it is written: “These are the generations of Noah; Noah was a righteous man, and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God” (Genesis 6:9).

When not referring to him in his presence, God refers to Noah as a righteous and perfect man. And Rabbi Yirmeya ben Elazar also said: What is the meaning of that which is written: “And the dove came in to him in the evening, and lo, in her mouth was an olive leaf, plucked off [taraf]; so Noah knew that the waters were abated from off the earth” (Genesis 8:11)? The dove said before the Holy One, Blessed be He: Master of the Universe, let my food be bitter as an olive but given into Your hand, and let it not be sweet as honey but dependent upon flesh and blood.

He adds this explanation: Here it is written: Taraf. And there it is written: “Remove far from me falsehood and lies; give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me [hatrifeni] my allotted portion” (Proverbs 30:8). And Rabbi Yirmeya ben Elazar also said: Any house in which the words of Torah are heard at night will never be destroyed, as it is stated: “But none says: Where is God my Maker, Who gives songs in the night” (Job 35:10).

The verse implies that one who sings songs of Torah in his house at night will not need to lament the destruction of his home. And Rabbi Yirmeya ben Elazar further said: From the day that the Temple was destroyed, it is enough for the world to use in its praise of God, or in greeting one another with the name of God, only two letters of the Tetragrammaton, namely yod and heh, as it is stated: “Let everything that has breath praise the Lord [Yah].

Halleluya” (Psalms 150:6), without mentioning the full name of God, comprised of four letters. And Rabbi Yirmeya ben Elazar also said: When Babylonia was cursed, its neighbors were cursed along with it. When Samaria was cursed, its neighbors were blessed. He explains: When Babylonia was cursed, its neighbors were cursed, as it is written: “I will also make it a possession for wild birds, and pools of water” (Isaiah 14:23), and the arrival of predatory animals brings harm to the surrounding neighbors as well.

When Samaria was cursed, its neighbors were blessed, as it is written: “Therefore I will turn Samaria into a heap of rubble in the field

Full source
Legends of the Jews, III. The Ten Generations, The Descendants Of Adam And LilithLegends of the Jews

Legends of the Jews (Ginzberg) turns to The Descendants Of Adam And Lilith.

In Legends of the Jews, Adam made a decision after Abel's death: he separated himself from Eve. He thought, "Why should I beget children, if it is but to expose them to death?" A reasonable question, given the circumstances! But life, as they say, finds a way.

The story continues with Lamech's wives who, upon hearing Adam's decision, turned on him, exclaiming, "O physician, heal thine own lameness!" Ouch. Harsh, but perhaps understandable.

Here's where things get really interesting. Though Adam avoided intercourse with Eve, he was, um, visited in his sleep by female spirits. The Zohar tells us of the existence of these spirits and, from his union with them, sprang shades and demons of various kinds, endowed with peculiar gifts. It's a rather… unconventional family tree, to say the least. These beings are sometimes referred to as the descendants of LILITH, Adam's mythical first wife.

And that brings us to the tale of Rabbi Hanina. This story, preserved in Legends of the Jews, tells of a very rich and pious man in Palestine who loved the Torah. On his deathbed, he instructs his son, Rabbi Hanina, to study Torah day and night, fulfill the commandments, and be a friend to the poor. He also predicts that he and his wife will die on the same day, and that the seven days of mourning will end on Passover eve. And he gives his son one very specific, very strange instruction: On Passover eve, go to the market and buy the first thing offered to you, no matter how expensive.

Everything happens as foretold. Rabbi Hanina goes to the market and finds an old man selling a silver dish for an exorbitant price. Obedient to his father’s wishes, he buys it. At the Seder table, he opens the dish to find another dish inside, and inside that dish? A live frog, hopping around!

He feeds the frog, cares for it, and the frog grows… and grows… and grows. Eventually, Rabbi Hanina has to build a whole chamber for this enormous amphibian. But the frog's appetite is insatiable, and Rabbi Hanina is eventually stripped of all his possessions.

Now, you might be thinking, "What a ridiculous story! What's the point?" But hold on. This is where the magic happens. The frog finally speaks, saying, "My dear Rabbi Hanina, do not worry! Seeing thou didst raise me and care for me, thou mayest ask of me whatever thy heart desireth."

Rabbi Hanina, ever the scholar, asks for nothing more than to learn the whole of the Torah. And the frog agrees! He teaches him the entire Torah, plus seventy languages, and even the language of beasts and birds! His method? Writing words on scraps of paper and having Rabbi Hanina swallow them. Not exactly the Rosetta Stone, but effective, apparently.

But the story doesn't end there. The frog also rewards Rabbi Hanina's wife, taking them both to the woods. There, the frog cries out, summoning all sorts of beasts and birds. He commands them to produce precious stones and herbs, teaching Rabbi Hanina's wife how to use the herbs as remedies. They return home wealthy and wise, enjoying the respect of the king.

Finally, the frog reveals his true origins: "I am the son of Adam, a son whom he begot during the hundred and thirty years of his separation from Eve. God has endowed me with the power of assuming any form or guise I desire." Talk about a plot twist!

So, what are we to make of this strange tale? Is it just a bizarre story about a giant, talking frog? Or is it a symbolic representation of something deeper? Perhaps it's a reminder that even in the darkest of times, even when we feel separated from God, from our loved ones, and from our own sense of purpose, there is still potential for connection, for growth, and for unexpected blessings. And sometimes, those blessings come in the most unusual forms… even a frog.

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