Alukah

Last updated • 1 min readFrom Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia

Alukah (Hebrew : עֲלוּקָה, romanized: ‘ăluqā) is a feminine Hebrew word that means "horse-leech", a type of leech with many teeth that feeds on the throats of animals. [1] According to some biblical scholars, alukah can mean "blood-lusting monster" or vampire.[ citation needed ]Alukah is first referred to in Proverbs 30:15 in the Hebrew Bible. [2]

The most detailed description of the alukah appears in the Sefer Hasidim , where the creature is a living human being but can shapeshift into a wolf. [3] It can fly (by releasing its long hair) and would eventually die if prevented from feeding on blood for a long enough time. Once dead, a vampire can be prevented from becoming a demon by being buried with its mouth stuffed with earth. [4]

The claim is that Solomon refers to a female demon named Alukah in a riddle that he tells in the Book of Proverbs [ citation needed ]. The riddle involves Alukah's ability to curse a womb bearing seed. Historically, Alukah has been closely associated with Lilith or thought to be her direct descendant. The name Alukah may, additionally, merely be another title for Lilith. [5]

Robert Masters described the Alukah as "a Hebrew succubus and vampire derived from Babylonian demonology." [6]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abaddon</span> Place of destruction and the archangel of the abyss in the Hebrew Bible

The Hebrew term Abaddon, and its Greek equivalent Apollyon appear in the Bible as both a place of destruction and an angel of the abyss. In the Hebrew Bible, abaddon is used with reference to a bottomless pit, often appearing alongside the place Sheol, meaning the resting place of dead peoples.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lilith</span> Female entity in Near Eastern mythology

Lilith, also spelled Lilit, Lilitu, or Lilis, is a feminine figure in Mesopotamian and Jewish mythology, theorized to be the first wife of Adam and a primordial she-demon. Lilith is cited as having been "banished" from the Garden of Eden for not complying with and obeying Adam.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Masoretic Text</span> Authoritative text of the Tanakh in Rabbinic Judaism

The Masoretic Text is the authoritative Hebrew and Aramaic text of the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh) in Rabbinic Judaism. The Masoretic Text defines the Jewish canon and its precise letter-text, with its vocalization and accentuation known as the mas'sora. Referring to the Masoretic Text, masorah specifically means the diacritic markings of the text of the Jewish scriptures and the concise marginal notes in manuscripts of the Tanakh which note textual details, usually about the precise spelling of words. It was primarily copied, edited, and distributed by a group of Jews known as the Masoretes between the 7th and 10th centuries of the Common Era (CE). The oldest known complete copy, the Leningrad Codex, dates from the early 11th century CE.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saadia Gaon</span> 10th-century rabbi

Saʿadia ben Yosef Gaon was a prominent rabbi, gaon, Jewish philosopher, and exegete who was active in the Abbasid Caliphate.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rabisu</span> Akkadian mythological spirits

In Akkadian mythology the Rabisu, or possibly Rabasa, are vampiric spirits, daimons, or demons. The Rabisu are associated in mythology with the Curse of Akkad. A consistent translation of "Rabisu" is “Lingerers”. The Rabisu, whether intending malicious actions or not, linger around those who have been found wayward or to be rewarded by the deity Enlil.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Belial</span> Term in the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament; later denoted a devil or fallen angel

Belial is a term occurring in the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament which later became personified as the devil in Christian texts of the New Testament. Alternate spellings include Baalial, Balial, Belhor, Beliall, Beliar, Berial, Bylyl and Beliya'al. In the Secret Book of John, an early Gnostic text, the ruler of the underworld is referred to as Belias.

The Ketuvim is the third and final section of the Hebrew Bible, after the Torah ("instruction") and the Nevi'im "Prophets". In English translations of the Hebrew Bible, this section is usually titled "Writings" or "Hagiographa".

<i>Shedim</i> Intermediary beings in Jewish lore

Shedim are spirits or demons in the Tanakh and Jewish mythology. Shedim do not, however, correspond exactly to the modern conception of demons as evil entities as originated in Christianity. While evil spirits were thought to be the cause of maladies, shedim differed conceptually from evil spirits. Shedim were not considered as evil demigods, but the gods of foreigners, and were envisaged as evil only in the sense that they were not God.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nephilim</span> Beings from the Hebrew Bible

The Nephilim are mysterious beings or people in the Bible traditionally imagined as being of great size and strength, or alternatively beings of great power and authority. The origins of the Nephilim are disputed. Some, including the author of the Book of Enoch, view them as the offspring of rebellious angels and humans. Others view them as descendants of Seth and Cain.

Robert Bernard Alter is an American professor of Hebrew and comparative literature at the University of California, Berkeley, where he has taught since 1967. He published his translation of the Hebrew Bible in 2018.

The Hasidim of Ashkenaz were a Jewish mystical, ascetic movement in the German Rhineland during the 12th and 13th centuries.

Lilith is the name of two fictional characters appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The first version is the daughter of Dracula. The second version is a demon.

Over 120 species of animals are mentioned in the Bible, ordered alphabetically in this article by English vernacular name. Animals mentioned in the Old Testament will be listed with their Hebrew name, while those mentioned in the New Testament will be listed with their Greek names. This list includes names of mythical creatures such as the griffin, lamia, siren and unicorn, which have been applied to real animals in some older translations of the Bible due to misunderstandings or educational prejudices of the Greek and Latin translators. In the following list D.V. stands for Douay Version, A.V. and R.V. for Authorized and Revised Version respectively.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vampire folklore by region</span>

Legends of vampires have existed for millennia; cultures such as the Mesopotamians, Hebrews, ancient Greeks, and Romans had tales of demonic entities and blood-drinking spirits which are considered precursors to modern vampires. Despite the occurrence of vampire-like creatures in these ancient civilizations, the folklore for the entity known today as the vampire originates almost exclusively from early 18th-century Central Europe, particularly Transylvania as verbal traditions of many ethnic groups of the region were recorded and published. In most cases, vampires are revenants of evil beings, suicide victims, or witches, but can also be created by a malevolent spirit possessing a corpse or a living person being bitten by a vampire themselves. Belief in such legends became so rife that in some areas it caused mass hysteria and even public executions of people believed to be vampires.

Estries are female vampires of Jewish folklore that were believed to prey on Hebrew citizens. The name derives from the French strix, a term for a night owl. In some accounts they are considered identical with succubi: both were portrayed as beautiful, blood-thirsty female demons, with succubi thought to favor babies and young children as prey. Estries, like other vampires, needed to feed on blood to survive and were more indiscriminate in their choice of victims. Succubi were said to kill pregnant women and babies out of jealousy or spite, and to seduce men. Estries and succubi were both said to be able to appear as humans or in spirit form at will, but Estries were also described as able to turn into birds or cats and various other animals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lilith in popular culture</span> Biblical character and figure in Jewish mythology

Lilith, a biblical character suggested to be Adam's first wife and a significant female figure from Jewish mythology, has been developed over time into distinct characters in popular culture. One writer on witches, Judika Illes, wrote, "No spirit exerts more fascination over media and popular culture than Lilith. Her appearances are genuinely too numerous to count." Lilith is one of several figures with biblical or related origins integrated into popular culture who have been titled demon.

Ancient Hebrew writings are texts written in Biblical Hebrew using the Paleo-Hebrew alphabet before the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hebrew riddles</span> Traditional form of word-play in Hebrew

Riddles in Hebrew are referred to as חידות ḥidot. They have at times been a major and distinctive part of literature in Hebrew and closely related languages. At times they have a complex relationship with proverbs.

Se’īrīm are demons. Sa’ir was the ordinary Hebrew word for "he-goat", and it is not always clear what the word's original meaning might have been. But in early Jewish thought, represented by targumim and possibly 3 Baruch, along with translations of the Hebrew Bible such as the Peshitta and Vulgate, the se’īrīm were understood as demons. They are considered to be the lowest of all created beings. Se'īrīm are frequently compared with the shedim of Hebrew tradition, along with satyrs of Greek mythology, fauns of Roman mythology and jinn of Arab culture. Julius Wellhausen suggested that they rather correspond to the Arabian Ifrit.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Proverbs 30</span> Book of Proverbs, chapter 30

Proverbs 30 is the 30th chapter of the Book of Proverbs in the Hebrew Bible or the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. The book is a compilation of several wisdom literature collections: the heading in Proverbs 1:1 may be intended to regard Solomon as the traditional author of the whole book, but the dates of the individual collections are difficult to determine, and the book probably obtained its final shape in the post-exilic period. This chapter first records "the sayings of Agur", followed by a collection of epigrams and aphorisms.

References

  1. Kitto, John (1851). A Cyclopedia of Biblical Literature. Edinburgh: Robert Clark. p. 131.
  2. "Proverbs 30". Holy Bible, New International Version. Biblica, Inc. Retrieved 6 February 2013.
  3. "Sefer Hasidim". Princeton University Sefer Hasidim Database (PUSHD). Princeton University. Retrieved 6 February 2013.
  4. Dennis, Geoffrey W. (2007). The Encyclopedia of Jewish Myth, Magic, And Mysticism. Llewellyn Worldwide. p. 271.
  5. Wayne Biggs, Mark (2010). The Case for Lilith: 23 Biblical Evidences Identifying the Serpent as Adam's First Failed Wife in Genesis (PDF). Samson Books. pp. 15, 97–103.
  6. Masters, R. E. L (1962). Eros and Evil: The Sexual Psychopathology of Witchcraft. The Julian Press. p. 181.