Bearing in mind that there is a diversity of opinions on almost everything I am curious about the subject of "demons"  and their place in the Judiac Religion. I did a little research and found:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demon#Jewish_rabbi...


"Rabbinical demonology has three classes of demons, though they are scarcely separable one from another. There were the shedim, the mazziḳim ("harmers"), and the ruḥin ("spirits"). Besides these there were lilin ("night spirits"), ṭelane ("shade", or "evening spirits"), ṭiharire ("midday spirits"), and ẓafrire ("morning spirits"), as well as the "demons that bring famine" and "such as cause storm and earthquake" (Targ. Yer. to Deuteronomy xxxii. 24 and Numbers vi. 24; Targ. to Cant. iii. 8, iv. 6; Eccl. ii. 5; Ps. xci. 5, 6.)."

Can someone please add additional information.

Howdy Silenicus

Nov 15, 2009 -- 7:27PM, Silenicus wrote:

A good source on such matters is Jewish Magic and Superstition by Joshua Trachtenberg.

www.sacred-texts.com/jud/jms/index.htm

Demons were not the same as fallen angels. They were part of the natural world albeit a dangerous part. They were created on the sixth day of creation, but the Eternal did not have time to fashion them bodies before the Sabboth. There were demons on the Ark. There are legends of demons doing good deeds. Usually they are malevalent and care must be taken to stay out of their way. Prayer was not considered effective against them.

Generally, I think demons are the personification of diseases and bad luck.

Thank You for the website.  I also think demons are the personification of diseases and bad luck.

Have A Thinking Day And May Reason Guide You

The redevelopment of belief in demons is strange, when you consider that the all-important issue of the Biblical religion -- the distinction between tahor ("ritually clean") and tamei ("ritually unclean") was the remnant of pre-monotheistic demonology.

Ancient proto-Israelites believed in a world full of spirits, some benign and some malevolent. The evil spirits, or demons, were -- as has been suggested above -- seen as the source of disease and death among other things. Dead bodies of animals and people, certain bodily fluids and diseases, among other things, were shunned because of the baleful influence of the demons, the evil spirits.

When Israelites adopted monotheism, there was no longer a place for these spirits, good or bad. The belief in single sovereign omnipotent God exorcised the demons from Israelite religious life.

The ancient taboo against contact with dead things and bodily discharges endured, however, long after the original reason was forgotten. Such things were believed to be unclean or impure, tainted by death, and thus unsuitable for contact with the Divine and the accoutrement of the ritual worship of the national cult.

Dec 23, 2009 -- 1:00AM, ManzanitaBear wrote:

Dec 21, 2009 -- 10:42AM, nieciedo wrote:

Ancient proto-Israelites believed in a world full of spirits, some benign and some malevolent. The evil spirits, or demons, were -- as has been suggested above -- seen as the source of disease and death among other things. Dead bodies of animals and people, certain bodily fluids and diseases, among other things, were shunned because of the baleful influence of the demons, the evil spirits.

And science tells us that there are, in fact, invisible living beings all around us, some of which cause disease. They are often found in dead bodies, bodily fluids, and the diseased. We call them bacteria and viruses.

And we are surrounded by benevolent bacteria, too.

Two worldviews collide.

True, except that sprinkling blood all over people and thinks tends to benefit the bad bacteria more than the good :)