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Other Names / Variants: |
Sammael, Satanil, Samil, Satan, Seir,
Salmael, etc |
Samael -
A combination of "sam" meaning poison and "el"
meaning angel. In rabbinic literature, Samael is chief of the
Satans and the angel of death. In the Secrets of Enoch
(Enoch II) he is the prince of demons and a magician.
Samael has been regarded both as evil and good; as one of the
greatest and as one of the foulest spirits operating in Heaven, on
earth, and in Hell. On the one hand he is said to be chief
ruler of the 5th Heaven (in Jewish legendary lore his residence is
usually placed in the 7th Heaven), one of the 7 regents of the world
served by 2 million angels; on the other hand, he is "that great
serpent with 12 wings that draws after him, in his fall, the solar
system." [Cf. Revelation 12.] Samael is also the angel
of death (one of a number of such angels) whom God sent to fetch the
soul of Moses when the Lawgiver's days on earth had come to an end.
Talmud Yalkut I, 110, speaks of Samael as Esau's guardian
angel. Sotah 10b speaks of Samael as Edom's sar
(angelic prince guardian). In the Sayings of Rabbi Eliezer,
Samael is charged with being the one (in the guise of a serpent) who
tempted Eve, seduced her, and became by her the father of Cain.
In The Zohar (Vayishlah 170b), Samael is the dark angel who
wrestled with Jacob at Peniel, although Michael, Uriel, Metatron,
and others have been identified as this antagonist. Samael is
also equated with the satan (i.e., the adversary) who tempted David
to number Israel [Rf. I Chronicles 21]. Targum Jonathan to
the Prophets renders Genesis 3:6 as: "And this woman saw Samael
the angel of death." This verse is translated in the
Paraphrase of Job, 28:7, as "the path of the Tree of Life which
Samael, who flies like a bird, did not know, and which the eye of
Eve did not perceive." In Waite, The Holy Kabbalah, p.
255, Samael is characterized as the "severity of God" and is listed
as 5th of the archangels of the world of Briah. Here he
corresponds to the sefira Geburah. Cornelius Agrippa, Three
Books of Occult Philosophy, equates Samael with the Greek god
Typhon. Baruch III, 4, mentions "the angel Sammael." In
Charles, The Ascension of Isaiah IV, 7, occurs this passage:
"And we ascended to the firmament, I and he [i.e., Isaiah and his
escorting angel, a very glorious one, not named - but compare with
the angel that Abraham encounters in the Apocalypse of Abraham],
and there I saw Sammael and his hosts, and there was great fighting
therein and the angels of Satan were envying one another." It
is clear here that Sammael and Satan are interchangeable. In
Longellow's extensive poem, The Golden Legend, when the rabbi
asks Judas Iscariot why the dogs howl at night, the answer is: In
the Rabbinical book it sayeth/The dogs howl when, with icy
breath,/Great Sammael, the Angel of Death,/Takes through the town
his flight. In fiction, "Red Samael the Seducer," father
of the hero, is a character in Cabell, The Devil's Own Dear Son.
Cabell calls Samael the "youngest and most virile of the 72 princes
of Hell, a red-headed rogue who had made his reputation centuries
ago with both Eve and Lilith." To Cabell, Samael belongs to
the order of seraphim and is "first of the art critics." (a)
Seir -
Another name for
Samael, according to Nahmanides. [Rf.
Bamberger, Fallen Angels, p. 154.]
(a)
SAMAEL:
By :
Executive Committee of the Editorial Board. Ludwig Blau
ARTICLE HEADINGS:
Samael in the History of Mankind.
In the Cabala.
Prince of the demons, and an important figure both in Talmudic and in
post-Talmudic literature, where he appears as accuser, seducer, and
destroyer. His name is etymologized as = "the venom of God," since he is
identical with the angel of death (Targ. Yer. to Gen. iii. 6; see also
Death, Angel of), who slays men with a drop of poison ('Ab. Zarah 20b; Kohut,
"Angelologie und Dämonologie," pp. 69, 71). It is possible, however, that
the name is derived from that of the Syrian god Shemal (Bousset, "Religion,"
p. 242).
Samael is the "chief of Satans" (Deut. R. xi. 9; Jellinek, "B. H." i. 125),
quite in the sense of "the prince of the devils" mentioned in Matt. ix. 34;
but, on the other hand, he is "the great prince in heaven." (Pirḳe R. El.
xiii., beginning), who rules over angels and powers (ib.; Martyrdom of
Isaiah, ii. 2). As the incarnation of evil he is the celestial patron of the
sinful empire of Rome, with which Edom and Esau are identified (Tan. on Gen.
xxxii. 35; Jellinek, l.c. vi. 31, 109, etc.). He flies through the air like
a bird (Targ. to Job xxviii. 7), and, while the ḥayyot and ofannim have only
six wings, he has twelve, and commands a whole army of demons (Pirḳe R. El.
xiii.). In so far as he is identified with the serpent ("J. Q. R." vi. 12),
with carnal desire (Yeẓer ha-Ra'), and with the angel of death, all legends
associated with Satan refer equally to him, while as a miscreant he is
compared to Belial ( = "worthless"; see collection of material in Bousset,
"Antichrist," pp. 99-101).
All these descriptions of Samael show that he was regarded simply as the
principle of evil that brought upon Israel and Judah every misfortune that
befell them. Even at the creation of the world he was Lucifer, who ever
sought evil and who began his malignant activity with Adam. His opponent is
Michael, who represents the beneficent principle, and who frequently comes
into conflict with him (comp. Jew. Encyc. viii. 536 et seq.; Lucken,
"Michael," pp. 22 et seq.).
Samael in the History of
Mankind.
The evil nature of Samael may be illustrated by a number of examples. He
and his demonic host descended from heaven to seduce the first human pair (Pirḳe
R. El. xiii., beginning; Yalḳ. Gen. i. 25), and for this purpose he planted
the vine, the forbidden tree of paradise (Greek Apocalypse of Baruch, iv.).
He was himself the serpent, whose form he merely assumed (ib. ix.; "J. Q.
R." vi. 328), and was one of the leaders of the angels who married the
daughters of men (Gen. vi. 1-4), thus being partially responsible for the
fall of the angels (Enoch vi., in Kautzsch, "Apokryphen," ii. 238 et seq.;
Lucken, l.c. p. 29). His former wife was Lilith (Jellinek, l.c. vi. 109). He
endeavored to persuade Abraham not to offer up Isaac, and, failing in his
purpose, he caused the death of Sarah by carrying the news of the sacrifice
to her (Gen. R. lvi. 4; Sanh. 89a et passim; Pirḳe R. El. xxxii.). He
wrestled with Jacob (Gen. R. lxxvii. and parallels), and also took part in
the affair of Tamar (Soṭah 10b). He brought accusations against the
Israelites when God was about to lead them out of Egypt (Ex. R. xxi. 7;
Bacher, "Ag. Pal. Amor." i. 25, 473), and was jubilant at the death of Moses
because the latter had brought the Torah (Deut. R. xi. 9; Jellinek, l.c. i.
12 et passim). Entering into King Manasseh, Samael caused the martyrdom of
the prophet Isaiah (Martyrdom of Isaiah, i., in Kautzsch, l.c. ii. 124); and
he considered himself victorious over Michael when God decided that the ten
pious scholars during the reign of Hadrian must suffer death (Jellinek, l.c.
ii. 66, iii. 87, vi. 31). On the Day of Atonement, however, Israel has no
fear of him (Lev. R. xxi. 4).
In the Cabala.
In the quotations from the Slavonic Book of Enoch (vi.) Samael is
represented as a prince of the demons and a magician. He is, therefore,
frequently mentioned in the cabalistic writings of the Middle Ages, from
which Eisenmenger compiled a rich collection of passages ("Entdecktes
Judenthum," i. 826 et seq.), to which must be added those in Schwab's "Vocabulaire
de l'Angélologie" (p. 199). As lord of the demons, Samael is regarded as a
magic being, and must be considered in the preparation of amulets, although
there is no agreement as to his power and activity. He presides over the
second "teḳufah" (solstice) and the west wind of the fourth teḳufah, as well
as the third day of the week ("Sefer Raziel," 6a, 40b, 41b; see also Schwab,
l.c.). In Hebrew amulets Samael is represented as the angel of death ("Revue
de Numismatique," 1892, pp. 246, 251). Eve is supposed to have become
pregnant by him (Targ. Yer. to Gen. iv. 1); and the cabalists add many
details to this legend (Eisenmenger, l.c. i. 832 et seq.). The spot in the
moon is supposed to have been caused by the filth of Samael (Menahem of
Recanati, p. 140, c. 2).
Bibliography: Eisenmenger, Entdecktes Judenthum, i.
826-838;
Brecher, Das Transcendentale, Magie, und Magische Heilarten in Talmud, pp.
40-44, Vienna, 1850;
Kohut, Angelologie und Dämonologie, pp. 62-72, Leipsic, 1866;
Hamburger, R. B. T. i. 897, ii. 1060;
Hastings, Dict. Bible, iv. 407-412;
Schwab, Vocabulaire de l'Angélologie, p. 199, Paris, 1897;
Bousset, Der Antichrist, Göttingen, 1895;
idem, Religion des Judenthums im Neutestamentlichen Zeitalter, pp. 242, 329,
Berlin, 1903;
Lucken, Michael, Göttingen, 1895, Index;
Weber, Jüdische Theologie, Index, 2d ed., Leipsic, 1897;
Stave, Ueber den Einfluss des Parsismus auf das Judenthum, pp, 236 et seq.,
Haarlem, 1898;
Moritz Friedländer, Der Antichrist in den Vorchristlichen Jüdischen Quellen,
Göttingen, 1901.
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See
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Salmael |
