Lilith In The Bible

The Biblical mythology surrounding Lilth is both mundane, and minute; at least at first glance. The Hebrew Bible, and Jewish texts all contain some mention of Lilith, but only in Isaiah 34:14, where she is called a screech-owl.

In the King James Version, she is thusly mentioned in Isaiah 34:14:

“The wild beasts of the desert shall also meet with the wild beasts of the island, and the satyr shall cry to his fellow; the screech owl also shall rest there, and find for herself a place of rest.”
And how is it that we know that something as innocuous as an owl, was actually Lilith? From the original Hebrew texts, which were:
“pagšu ?iyyim et-?iyyim w-sa?ir ?al-r??hu yiqra ?akšam hirgi?ah lilit u-ma??ah lah mano?” However, the terms used here were all very non-descript, and it was also, some believed, a deliberate tool of the writer to used non-specific terms for the demns and beasts that would fill the barren deserts after God took his vengeance on earth. The translated text was:
“yelpers meet-[perfect] howlers; hairy-ones cry-[imperfect] to fellow. liyliyth reposes-[perfect], acquires-[perfect] resting-place.” And this rough translation became the above quoted passage in the KJV Bible. The Romans interpreted the original Hebrew legends of Lilith as Lamia, and so she went on to be a bastardized semi-deity in Greek & Roman traditions. Because of Lilith and Lamia’s vampiric character, the screech owl, also came to be identified with the Strix, –the Roman version of vampires, which evolved from the use of “Lamia” in the Vulgate Bible of the Romans.
Much of the modern mythology surrounding vampires places their origins rather mistakenly with characters like Vlad the Impaler, or even Judas, the betrayal of Christ being a catalyst for a new race of seductive demons. But are these speculations just another form of creative misogyny? Lilith was one of the oldest mythological figures to be translated as vampiric; the tormentor of men, and the bearer of sickness and disease. It is interesting to see that thousands of years ago, women were every bit as terrifying in their duality and potential for violence, as they are today.