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Demons in the Old Testament
Issues in Translation
Dennis Bratcher
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There are places in the Old Testament where some English translations
use the word "demon" or "devils" (for example, "demons": Deut 32:17, Psa
106:37; "goat-demons": Lev 17:7, Isa 13:21, NRSV; "devils": 2 Chron 11:15,
AV). In other places, it is easy for people in the modern world who are
accustomed to reading the New Testament to think "demons" when they read
things like "an evil spirit," even though the text clearly says that the
evil spirit is from God (for example, Jud 9:23, 1 Sam 16:14-23).
In spite of the translations, there is no word in Hebrew equivalent to
the English word "demon," nor any word that communicates the same meaning
that the term communicates in English as an malevolent being in the
service of the devil out to destroy humans. That idea today has been
shaped by the imagination of medieval writers and popularized in the
modern church in terms of evil beings against which Christians need to
wage "spiritual warfare." Yet, the ancient Israelites lived in a world in
which that view of "demons" was not part of their culture or way of
thinking.
This disparity between our own modern notions and what lies behind the
Hebrew terms and concepts often leads to misunderstanding the point of the
biblical text and what it communicates. It is always a good idea to read
what the biblical text actually says about a topic, and understand the
passage against the social and cultural background of ancient Israel and
the early church before we impose too many of our modern assumptions and
preconceptions about meaning onto Scripture.
Idols and Demons
A good place to begin is Deuteronomy 32:16-17:
16 They made him jealous with strange gods, with
abhorrent things
they provoked him. 17 They sacrificed to demons, not God, to deities they had never known, to
new ones recently arrived,
whom your ancestors had not feared. (NRSV) 
The Hebrew word translated "demons" in verse 17 (שׁד, seed) occurs
here in the plural with the preposition "to" and vocalized with the
definite article "the"
(לשּׁדים, lassedim), which gives us "to the
demons."
It is important to be aware that translation is not a matter of finding
a single word in one language that translates another word in another
language. Translation is more often the translation of ideas and concepts
rather than merely words, and there is rarely a one-to-one correspondence
of single words between languages. This is especially true of languages
that are separated by 3,000 years of history and culture.
Also, there are other features of language besides just the words that
affect translation. Words do not have fixed or inherent meaning in any
language. The historical and cultural context in which they are used, the
literary features that accompany them, the topics they are used to
address, even who is speaking or writing the words can all affect
"meaning," what a term communicates and how it is to be understood. There
are many words in English that can take on different meanings in different
circumstances, or that can be used as technical terms in one context and
yet take on a more common meaning in another context.
Take for example the simple English verb "run." It has a fairly simple
meaning in most contexts, referring to a human action, "to go faster than
a walk." However, in different contexts it can refer to what a candidate
does in a political campaign, to play a musical passage quickly, to go
back and forth or spread out between two points, to melt, to remain
constant, to penetrate or slip through, etc. It is usually a context or
contexts, as well as other terms in that context, that give us clues to
which meaning is meant.
Rather than complicating the meaning, in many places in Hebrew
Scriptures some of these features actually help us better understand the
meaning of a term no matter what English word we use to translate it.
There is one unique and prominent feature of Hebrew writing that is
especially helpful in providing a context for the meaning of words. It is
known as parallelism, in which ideas are related and emphasized by
the grouping of synonyms or antonyms (see
Parallelism in Hebrew Writing).
Along with the term translated "demons," in the Hebrew of Deuteronomy
32:16-17 there are a whole series of terms with similar meaning
("synonymous parallelism") that will help us understand how the writer is
using the term שׁד (seed). In these two verses, there are four other
parallel terms and phrases that are used with the word translated as
"demons":
strange or foreign gods (זרים, zariym)
abhorrent things (תועבת, to‘eybot)
demons (לשּׁדים, lashshediym)
gods [they did not know] (אלהים, elohiym)
new ones [recently come {of whom} your fathers were not afraid] (חדשים,
chadashim,)
The first of these parallel terms is simply the word "strange" (or
"stranger") or "foreign" ("foreigner"). It is most often used of things
that present a threat to the community, such as foreign people who are
enemies (Hos 7:9, Isa 1:7, Jer 5:19, etc.), prostitutes ("strange women,"
Prov 2:16), or things that violate custom or law ("strange fire," Lev
10:1, Num 3:4; "strange incense," Ex 30:9). In this sense it is also used
to refer to the gods of foreign peoples that present a threat to the
proper worship of God (Psa 44:21, Isa 43:12, Jer 2:25, etc.).
The same is true of the second term, "abhorrent things." This term is
often used to refer generally to the whole practice of Baal worship that
included cult objects like household idols, images, sacred poles, trees,
and high places, as well as sexual practices of the fertility religion,
which were all "abhorrent" or "offensive" to Israelites (Lev. 18:22, Deut
7:25, 1 King 14:24, etc).
The final two terms also refer to the gods of Canaan with which the
Israelites had come into contact only after their entry into the land (for
the time frame of Deuteronomy see The Book of
Deuteronomy; the "golden calf" or bull in Exodus 32 may have reflected
Egyptian religious beliefs). In this sense they were "new" gods that the
people "did not know" before.
It seems obvious in this context from these parallel terms that the
term translated "demons" also refers to the gods of the surrounding
peoples that posed a threat to Israel’s worship of Yahweh. In this passage
in Deuteronomy, the wider context is an appeal, in the form of recounting
Israel’s failure to worship God and their practice of worshipping the
idols of Canaan, to worship God properly as the only God.
The immediate context of the use of
שׁד(seed) here is also
important. Just a few verses later in this passage, there is a clear
statement that these "demons" or "strange gods" or "abhorrent things" that
the people are so tempted to elevate to deity and use to replace Yahweh
are really no gods at all (Deut 32:21):
32:21 They made me jealous with what
is no god, provoked me with their idols.
This leads to the conclusion that the word translated as "demons" does
not refer to anything close to what we moderns think of as demons, but is
a pejorative term to refer to the idols of Baal worship that are declared
to be nothing at all (compare Isa 44:6-20, where the writer pokes fun at the
gods of Canaan as nothing but wood and stone). What is emphasized is that
they are "no god."
In light of this verse, we might note that verse 17a can be translated
in two ways. In NRSV, it is translated: "they sacrificed to demons, not
God." This would imply that the verse should be understood to say that
they sacrificed "to the demons" instead of
sacrificing to God. However the construction in 17a is identical to verse
21, which means it could as easily be translated "they sacrificed to
demons that are not god," which would further emphasize the pejorative use
of the term שׁד (seed) here (the LXX supports the NRSV translation).
In any case, a closer look at the word
שׁד (seed) in Hebrew
emphasizes that it refers in a negative way to Canaanite idols and
deities. Actually, the term
שׁד (seed, "demons") does not even
originate in Hebrew. It is a loanword from Assyria, from the Assyrian word
šędu. This word in Assyrian refers to the mythological creatures that
were supposed to guard the sphinx-colossus of Asshur, the primary deity of
the Assyrians (in Western mythology they are called griffons). The word in
Hebrew, then, originally referred to mythological creatures associated
with Assyrian deities. The very purpose of using the term, and paralleling
them with other terms for pagan idols and deities, seems to be to
emphasize that the pagan deities are not something to fear because they
are not really gods at all. In Hebrew thought, that is equivalent to
saying that they do not exist, or have no power or importance of which to
fear.
It is instructive, then, to note that LXX translates
שׁד (seed)
in Deuteronomy 32:17 with δαιμονίοις (daimoniois,
"demons"), not in the context of "demonic powers" or minions of the devil
as we want to hear the term, or even in the context of the NT usage, but
in the context of mythological creatures that are specifically stated to
be "no-god" (ου
θεω, ou theo). In other words, even though the Greek
translation uses a term that sounds much closer to our word "demons," the
meaning is not what that word means to us in English, but rather what the
Hebrew term communicates.
Further, the word שׁד (seed) only occurs twice in the MT, here in
Deuteronomy 32:17 and in Psalm 106:36-37. It is no accident that the
context in the Psalm is precisely the same as the Deuteronomy passage;
that is, the condemnation of the Israelites for worshipping the idols of
foreign deities.
Psalm 106:36 They served their idols
and they became a hindrance to them; 37 they sacrificed their sons and
their daughters to the demons. 38 they poured out innocent blood, the
blood of their sons and daughters, whom they sacrificed to the idols of
Canaan; and the land was polluted with blood.
Once again, parallelism gives us some indication of the meaning of the
word. The Hebrew word שׁד (seed) in verse 36 is parallel to the word
עצבים (‘atsabim), "idols" or "graven images, and in verse 38 to
עצבי כנען (‘atsabey
kená‘an), "idols of Canaan." Clearly,
שׁד (seed)
is related to the gods of the Canaanites. And again the Septuagint
translates שּׁדים (sedim) by
τοις
δαιμονιοις (tois daimoniois) to describe these false gods of
the Canaanites, as is clear from the latter part of the verse.
So, it can be concluded that the Hebrew term
שׁד (seed) is a
loanword from the mythology of the surrounding peoples. Originally, it
referred to the mythological creatures of Canaanite and Assyrian religion
that were representations of various gods. In biblical usage, it becomes
synonymous with "idol," a pejorative way to refer to Canaanite deities.
Goats and Satyrs
In other places, other Hebrew terms are sometimes also translated as
"demons." However, in every case, the context of the term is an attack
upon the idolatrous practices of Baal worship, or a negative reference to
Canaanite mythology. For example, in 2 Chronicles 11:15, an account of the
pagan practices introduced by Jeroboam in the Northern Kingdom, the KJV
translates "devils" for a different Hebrew term.
11:15 And he ordained him priests
for the high places, and for the devils, and for the calves which he
had made. (KJV)
11:15 and had appointed his own
priests for the high places, and for the goat-demons, and for the
calves that he had made. (NRSV)
Here the Hebrew word translated "devils" in the KJV or "goat-demons" in
the NRSV is שׂעיר (sa‘iyr). The most common meaning of the word
שׂעיר
(sa‘iyr) is "goat," specifically "he-goat" or buck (for
example,
Gen 37:1; Lev 4:24, etc.; 53 times in the MT). A feminine form of the word
occurs twice to refer to "she-goat" (Lev 4:28, 5:6). The root of this word
in Hebrew is the word שׂער (se‘ar), which means "hair," either of
animals (Gen 25:25) or of persons (Ju 16:22). Another derived cognate of
this word is the word שׂערה (se‘orah), which is usually translated
"barley," that is, a hairy or bearded grain. The connotation of
שׂעיר (sa‘iyr)
is that of a "hairy" animal, which is appropriate since many goats in the
Middle East are longhaired or Angora goats.
However, there are four occurrences in the Hebrew text where the term
שׂעיר (sa‘iyr) takes on a slightly different shade of meaning (2
Chron 11:15, Lev 17:7, Isa 13:21, and 34:14) while at the same time
retaining the basic meaning of "he-goat." Leviticus 17:7 reads:
Lev 17:7 . . . they may no longer
offer their sacrifices for goat-demons, to whom they prostitute
themselves . . ..
The context here is the regulation of the killing and eating of meat,
specifically prohibiting the killing of animals in the open fields or even
within the camp without subsuming the taking of life under the covenantal
worship of God. Directly forbidden in verse seven is the offering of
sacrifices to the "he-goats" instead of to Yahweh. It becomes clear, then,
that the "he-goat" is not just an ordinary goat, but refers to something
that is a false object of worship, especially with the term "prostitute"
that is commonly used in the Old Testament to describe graphically the
unfaithfulness of the people in worshipping pagan gods.
In 2 Chronicles 11:15,שׂעיר (sa‘iyr) is connected with "calves"
and "high places" that are both associated with pagan Canaanite religious
practices. Likewise, in Leviticus 17:7, "he-goat" refers to idolatrous
images, either physically represented or part of Canaanite mythology.
The two other occurrences of
שׂעיר (sa‘iyr) are both in Isaiah
(13:21; 34:14). Although in a different context with a different emphasis,
the meaning is similar in both passages.
13:21 But wild animals will lie down
there, and its houses will be full of howling creatures; there ostriches
will live, and there goat-demons will dance. 13:22 Hyenas will cry in
its towers, and jackals in the pleasant palaces; its time is close at
hand, and its days will not be prolonged.
34:13 Thorns shall grow over its
strongholds, nettles and thistles in its fortresses. It shall be the
haunt of jackals, an abode for ostriches. 34:14 Wildcats shall meet with
hyenas, goat-demons shall call to each other; there too Lilith shall
repose, and find a place to rest. 34:15 There shall the owl nest and lay
and hatch and brood in its shadow; there too the buzzards shall gather,
each one with its mate.
In both passages the emphasis is on wild animals that inhabit the
desolate places of the desert. These verses are highly poetic descriptions
of the desolation of the land under God’s judgment, specifically Babylon
(ch. 13) and Edom (ch. 34). The imagery is that of cities being so
thoroughly destroyed and overgrown with thorns that only wild animals live
there. Among the wild animals, the Hebrew text refers to
שׂעיר (sa‘iyr).
While it could be argued that the term refers to the ordinary goat, this
was a domesticated animal in biblical times. Even though it wandered the
hillsides, it was not really a "wild" animal. In other words, "goat" does
not fit the imagery here to symbolize devastated and uninhabitable land.
Some versions (for example, KJV) translate
שׂעיר (sa‘iyr)
in these verses not as "devils" or "evil spirits" or even "he-goat" but as
"satyr". The satyr is a legendary creature that shows up in the
mythologies of various cultures of the ancient world as the guardian of
holy places or deities, or as the personification of debauchery and
revelry. It was portrayed as half-human and half-animal, usually with the
feet, tail and ears of a longhaired goat or horse and the torso, head and
arms of a man. In Greek mythology, the satyrs were the escorts, guardians,
and companions of the god Dionysus, the god of mirth, wine, and revelry.
They were thought to inhabit the countryside, especially waste areas and
ruins. The Greek god Pan was often portrayed in paintings as a satyr.
Much of what we know about satyrs in ancient mythology comes from Greek
and Roman sources. Yet, there seems to be some connection between the idea
of שׂעיר (sa‘iyr) in the ancient Middle East and the satyr in
western mythology. Some have even suggested a linguistic connection
between the terms. In any case, the Hebrew term
שׂעיר (sa‘iyr) in
these four verses seems to refer to mythological creatures from Canaanite
religion, false idols that the people worshipped instead of Yahweh.
There are overtones in the Isaiah passages of the mythological
creatures associated with these particular animals, for example the idea
of the satyr behind the use of
שׂעיר (sa‘iyr). However, the real
point is that Isaiah is using the creatures as metaphorical symbols of
desolation, of destruction, of total devastation that results in a place
fit only for wild creatures, real or mythological, who inhabit the humanly
uninhabitable places of the earth. This picks up the overtones of
"emptiness" that is associated with the idols elsewhere (see below). To
read more into this by trying to connect the term with the modern idea of
demons is drastically to misunderstand the function of poetic language
(sometimes called "mythopoetic" language) in prophetic oracles.
An interesting passage in 2 Kings 23:8 can be further instructive at
this point.
23:8 He brought all the priests out of
the towns of Judah, and defiled the high places where the priests had
made offerings, from Geba to Beer-sheba; he broke down the high places
of the gates that were at the entrance of the gate of Joshua the
governor of the city, which were on the left at the gate of the city.
The context of this passage is the religious reforms of Josiah in
which he tore down the pagan altars and idols in response to the discovery
of the law book in the temple. The Hebrew text here reads "high places of
the gates" (השּׁערים, hashshe‘ariym, "the gates"). However, "gates"
does not fit with the meaning of this verse here. Most textual scholars
suggest that the letter שׁ(sh) in the Massoretic text should be
corrected to the letter שׂ (s). They suggest that the reading of the
initial letter שׂ (s) as
שׁ (sh) was influenced by the
repeated occurrence of the word
שׁער (sha‘ar) "gate" in the verse
("gate of Joshua," "gates of the city"). With this correction, the word
would read השּׂערים (hasse‘iriym), "satyrs." So, a better translation
of this passage is " . . .he broke down the high places of the satyrs that
were at the entrance of the gate of Joshua the governor of the city . . .
So again the usage of
שׂעיר (sa‘iyr) indicates reference to a
pagan idol that was being improperly worshipped as a symbol of Canaanite
deity. This understanding makes 2 Chronicles 11:15 even more clear. The
context there is the sin of Jeroboam I in banishing the Levitical
priesthood from the Northern Kingdom and setting up idols of bulls and
goats for the people to worship. In fact, this idolatry of Jeroboam I in
setting up images of animals to represent the gods of the Canaanites
became a paradigm in Israelite theology of the sinful ruler who rejected
Yahweh to follow the false gods of the land (compare 1 Kings 12:25-33;
16:25-26).
It is again instructive to note the Septuagint rendering of these
verses. In 2 Chronicles 11:15, rather than simply translating the Hebrew
word שׂעיר (sa‘iyr) with another word, the translators attempt to
translate the "concept" or the meaning. The Greek reading for שׂעיר (sa‘iyr)
is "the idols and the worthless" (και τοις
ειδωλοις και τοις ματαιοις, kai tois eidolois kai tois mataiois).
This clearly indicates that the understanding of the term was pagan idols.
Especially interesting here is the use of the nominal adjective
ματαιοις (mataiois, "vanities," "emptiness," "worthless things") to
describe these idols: they are empty, worthless, powerless things! (Note
the use of the nominal form of this word in Ephesians 4:17.) It is with
this understanding that we note that the word
שׂעיר (sa‘iyr) in
Leviticus 17:7 is translated in the Septuagint solely by the word
τοις ματαιοις (tois mataiois): "And they shall no
longer offer sacrifices to emptiness."
All of this clearly indicates that this word
שׂעיר (sa‘iyr) is
not used in Hebrew Scriptures to mean anything close to our idea of
"demonic powers" but exclusively to refer to the idols of the pagan
deities who were recognized to be nothing or empty, devoid of any power.
This negative connotation of the imagery of "he-goat" may well be related
to the use of a goat in the Israelite sacrificial system as the bearer of
the sins of the people (for example, Lev 16:21-22), although it is
impossible to know which way the influence ran.
It can be debated whether Israelites viewed these idols in ontological
terms, whether they would ever have asked if the gods they represented
"really" existed or not. They would most likely not have asked such a
question, since those categories of ultimate reality are alien to the
ancient world. They tended to express things in functional terms (what
they can do) rather than ontological terms (whether they exist).
However, it is clear that the biblical traditions did not view the
שׁד
(seed)
or the שׂעיר (sa‘iyr) as anything to be feared. They simply
represented the idols of the Canaanites, which were powerless and could be
treated as "emptiness" or "nothing." In Hebrew thought, that comes close
to what moderns mean when they say, "does not exist."
Conclusion
In summary, there is no Hebrew word that can be translated as "demons"
to communicate what that word implies in English. There does lie behind the
Old Testament conception a basic animistic and mythological world view
with which the Israelites are in dialog. But they are using the terms and
in dialog with such conceptions, not because they accept them or are
dominated by them, but precisely to deny the validity of such mythological
world views. The biblical writers use the terms, not to accept what
they represent, but precisely to reject it. It is clear that there was a
popular belief among Israelites in such things as ghosts and the
mythological creatures of Canaanite religion. But the biblical
tradition as it stands moves beyond such popular mythological conceptions
to a vision of a Creator, a sovereign God who is in sole control of the
world, and does not share that with anything or anyone. So again, there
are no "demons" in the Old Testament, with what that word
implies in modern popular English, only idols that are rejected as
"no-gods."
-Dennis Bratcher, Copyright ©
2018, Dennis
Bratcher, All Rights Reserved
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Related pages For a more
extensive treatment of Israel's use of mythological language and imagery
see
Speaking the Language of Canaan
Baal Worship in the Old
Testament
Old Testament
History/Culture
New Testament
Biblical Theology
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