demon
At a glance
In short
Sheid is the demon, the general word. Chazal place the sheidim between angels and men: like the angels they have wings and know the future, and like men they eat, drink and die. Ruach, which literally means wind or spirit, is the apparition, with no body and no form at all. Lilis is the female demon. Whether the word names one particular demoness or a whole class of them is disputed, and so is its meaning in Yeshayahu 34:14, where it first appears. What separates the sheid from the ruach is a body: the sheid has one, and the ruach has none.
Distinctions
Sheid (שד)
The general word. The Gemara (Chagigah 16a) sets the sheidim between two orders of creature: they are like the angels in three ways, in having wings, in flying about the world, and in having access to what Heaven knows of the future, and like men in four, in eating, in drinking, in reproducing and in dying.
Rashi (to Sanhedrin 109a) describes them from the other side, as having a humanoid form and eating and drinking as a man does.
Ibn Ezra (to Vayikra 17:7): they are called se'irim because seeing them makes one's hair, se'ar, stand on end from fright. Ramban there: because those who claim to see them say they appear as goats, se'irim.
Ramban (to Vayikra 17:7): sheidim are so called because they live in desolate, shadud, places such as the wilderness, especially places of great heat or cold.
Maasei Hashem (Bereishis ch. 2): they are called se'irim because they appeared hairy, and sheidim because they usually appeared to people in the field, sadeh. So too Rabbi Moshe David Valle (Vayikra p. 167).
Siddur HaRokeach (ed. Herschler, 1992, p. 106): the Egyptians worshipped sheep because they saw sheidim appearing in the form of sheep. Ibn Ezra (to Vayikra 17:7): they are called se'irim because the deranged who think they see demons report them in the form of goats. Ralbag (there): se'irim are associated with Saturn in the sign of Capricorn, the gedi, a goat, so people imagine Saturn's astral force in the form of a goat.
Rabbi Shes ben Yefes (Chemdas HaChemdah to Devarim 32:17): sheid is from shoded, plundering, because a demon that possesses a man seizes his mind and drives him mad; and also from yashud tzaharayim.
Lilis (לילית)
The female demon, and on Rashi's account at Sanhedrin 109a the one that takes the shape of a man but has wings as well. Rashi to Eruvin 100b has it a kind of sheid; there the Gemara counts among the ten curses that came upon Chavah after the Forbidden Fruit that she was doomed to grow hair like a Lilis.
Chemdas HaChemdah (to Devarim 32:10): Lilis is related to yelel, howling.
Rabbi Tanchum HaYerushalmi (HaMadrich HaMaspik): Lilis is a wild animal that appears only at night, when it scavenges for food.
Ruach (רוח)
The word means wind, or spirit, and that is very nearly the ruling: Rashi (to Sanhedrin 109a) marks the ruchin off from the other two as having no body and no form. Where the sheid eats and drinks and the Lilis takes a shape, the ruach is the one with nothing to take hold of.
Sanhedrin 109a is where the three stand together. Among the punishments of those who built the Tower, some were turned into kofim, monkeys, and others into ruchin, sheidim and lilin.
Where the authorities disagree
Whether Lilis is a name or a category. The Kabbalistic reading makes it a proper name: Lilis is one particular sheidah, the mother of all the sheidim, and the Zohar has her as the consort of the Satan, Samael. Others hold it is a category rather than a name, a kind of female demon.
What the word means in Yeshayahu 34:14, where it first appears. Three views. Rashi: the name of a female sheid. Ibn Ezra: a kind of nocturnal bird. Radak: some sort of nocturnal animal, and Rabbi Tanchum HaYerushalmi (HaMadrich HaMaspik) likewise makes Lilis a wild animal that appears only at night to scavenge for food. Niddah 24b, which speaks of a woman who miscarries a child in the form of a Lilis and whose ensuing discussion shows that the child had wings, supports the first two and not the third, since on that evidence a Lilis must be a demon or a bird. Rashi there again has it a female demon, adding that sheidim have the faces of men and wings besides.
Whether the sheid has wings. Chagigah 16a counts wings among the ways sheidim resemble angels. Rashi to Sanhedrin 109a gives the wings to the lilin and not to the sheidim, which implies they have none. Some answer that the sheidim the builders of the Tower turned into were a kind without wings, though sheidim in general do have them.
Whether the female demon has hair. Ruth Rabbah, and Rashi with it, read Boaz's fright at midnight (Rus 3:8) as a fear of a sheid: he sensed someone at his feet and suspected a demon had come to him. The Zohar (Bereishis 54b) and Sefer Chassidim (§1155) hold that female demons have no hair, which is why Boaz knew from his visitor's head that she was a woman. On that, Rabbi Yehudah Fatiyah (1859 to 1942) reads Rashi to Eruvin 100b precisely: Rashi wrote that a Lilis is a kind of sheid and not a kind of sheidah, because only the males have hair. Others hold that Lilis is the exception, a female demon who does have hair on her head, and account for Boaz another way: Lilis comes to men when they are asleep, not when they are awake. Rabbi Naftali Hertz Bacharach (Emek HaMelech, Shaar Reisha d'Zeir Anpin ch. 30) describes the class called lilin as covered with hair from head to foot, with none on their heads.
Radak on these roots
Sefer HaShorashim
ל-י-ל
Night, with or without a final heh, its plural in the feminine form. Also the לִּילִית, a beast of the wilderness named for crying out at night; some say a bird.
Night, and its forms
שִׁיתִי כַלַּיִל צִלֵּךְ (Yeshayahu 16:3), make your shade like the night; with a heh added, לַיְלָה, as בַּלַּיְלָה הַהוּא (Esther 6:1), on that night. The plural takes the feminine form: עַל־מִשְׁכָּבִי בַּלֵּילוֹת (Shir HaShirim 3:1), upon my bed in the nights, and וְלֵילוֹת עָמָל מִנּוּ־לִֽי (Iyov 7:3), and nights of toil have been allotted me.
לֵיל, bound to the word after it
Bound to the word after it: לֵיל שִׁמֻּרִים הוּא לַֽי"י (Shemos 12:42), it is a night of watching for Hashem. So too שֹׁמֵר מַה־ מִּלֵּֽיל (Yeshayahu 21:11), watchman, what of the night, where the word it is bound to is left out; some say it is the form that stands alone.
The לִּילִית
הִרְגִּיעָה לִּילִית (Yeshayahu 34:14), the lilis takes its rest: it is the name of a beast of the wilderness, called so because it cries out at night. Some say it is a bird that grows out of the air (the edition prints הרות), as the salamander, סלמנדרא, grows out of fire, and that it is called קמֵליאוֹ"ן, the chameleon.
שִׁיתִי כַלַּיִל צִלֵּךְ (ישעיה טז, ג), ובתוספת ה"א לַיְלָה. בַּלַּיְלָה הַהוּא (אסתר ו, א). והקבוץ בלשון נקבות עַל־מִשְׁכָּבִי בַּלֵּילוֹת (שיר השירים ג, א), וְלֵילוֹת עָמָל מִנּוּ־לִֽי (איוב ז, ג), ובסמוך לֵיל שִׁמֻּרִים הוּא לַֽי"י (שמות יב, מב). וכן אמר שֹׁמֵר מַה־מִּלֵּֽיל (ישעיה כא, יא), וחסר הנסמך. ויש אומרים שהוא מוכרת. הִרְגִּיעָה לִּילִית (ישעיה לד, יד), שם חיה מִדְבָּרִית. ולפי שצועקת בלילה נקראת כן. ויש אומרים שהוא עוף גדל, מן הרות כמו סלמנדרא מן האש וקורין לו קמֵליאוֹ"ן.
ר-ו-ח
Relief, the opposite of distress. And רוּחַ: spirit, of prophecy or an angel; will; air; the wind, and from it a side; the soul; and breath.
Relief
וְרָוַח לְשָׁאוּל (Shmuel I 16:23), and Shaul had relief, and אֲדַבְּרָה וְיִרְוַח לִי (Iyov 32:20), let me speak and find relief. The noun is רֶוַח וְהַצָּלָה (Esther 4:14), relief and rescue, and וְרֶוַח תָּשִׂימוּ (Bereishis 32:17), and you shall put a space; another form is כִּי הָיְתָה הָרְוָחָה (Shemos 8:11), that there was respite, and לְרַוְחָתִי לְשַׁוְעָתִי (Eichah 3:56), for my relief, to my cry, which he explains: do not hide Your ear from my cry, that I cry to You for my relief. In the heavy form, וַעֲלִיּוֹת מְרֻוָּחִים (Yirmiyahu 22:14), and spacious upper rooms. The sense, he says, is known: it is the opposite of distress.
At the רוּחַ of the day
Rabbi Yonah wrote לְרוּחַ הַיּוֹם (Bereishis 3:8), at the רוּחַ of the day, from this sense, which Radak explains: at the time of the day's רוח, that is, the coolness of its air. It may also be read from the wind that blows, in its plain sense: at the turn of the day, when the wind blows; and מתהלך, going about, in the pasuk then goes back to the wind or to the voice, as in קוֹלָהּ כַּנָּחָשׁ יֵלֵךְ (Yirmiyahu 46:22), her voice goes like a serpent.
Wind, and what is winnowed by it
It is air: וְרוּחַ לֹא יָבוֹא בֵינֵיהֶם (Iyov 41:8), and air shall not come between them. It is the wind that blows: וְרוּחַ גְּדוֹלָה וְחָזָק (Melachim I 19:11), a great and strong wind, and רוּחַ קָדִים (Shemos 10:13), an east wind. From this comes אֲשֶׁר זֹרֶה בָרַחַת (Yeshayahu 30:24), winnowed with the רַחַת, the tool grain is winnowed with, because it is waved into the wind. Rabbi Yaakov ben Elazar wrote וְהוֹרַדְתִּי בָרִיחִים כֻּלָּם (Yeshayahu 43:14), and I will bring them all down בריחים, from this sense: they are ships, called so because they go by the wind; and so Yonasan renders it, וְאַחֲתֵית בִּמְשׁוֹטִין כּוּלְהוֹן, and I brought them all down with oars. וַעֲלִיּוֹת מְרֻוָּחִים (Yirmiyahu 22:14) may also be read from this: upper rooms the wind enters, made for the days of summer, which is why it says וְקָרַע לוֹ חַלּוֹנָי, and he cuts him out windows.
The four winds and the four sides
והבאתי אל עילם ארבע רוּחוֹת (Yirmiyahu 49:36), and I will bring four winds upon Eilam, is explained as four kingdoms: the navi likens them to wind, as a strong wind wrecks and breaks the high cedars, and he means truly four, since evil will come on them from every side and every corner. From this sense a side is called רוּחַ, there being four winds to the four sides: מָדַד רוּחַ הַצָּפוֹן (Yechezkel 42:17), he measured the north side, and לְאַרְבַּע רוּחוֹת מְדָדוֹ (Yechezkel 42:20), he measured it on the four sides. וַיִּהְיוּ הָרִמֹּנִים תִּשְׁעִים וְשִׁשָּׁה רוּחָה (Yirmiyahu 52:23), and the pomegranates were ninety-six רוּחָה, accented on the syllable before the last, means that on one side the pomegranates were so many. Some explain from this סוֹבֵב סֹבֵב הוֹלֵךְ הָרוּחַ (Koheles 1:6), round and round goes the רוּחַ, as said of the sun, which circles and goes along the side.
Spirit, prophecy and angel
Another sense: כֹּל אֲשֶׁר הָיָה בָרוּחַ עִמּוֹ (Divrei HaYamim I 28:12), all that was in the spirit with him, and וְרוּחֲךָ הַטּוֹבָה נָתַתָּ לְהַשְׂכִּילָם (Nechemiah 9:20), You gave Your good spirit to instruct them. וַיֵּצֵא הָרוּחַ וַיַּעֲמֹד (Melachim I 22:21), the spirit went out and stood, is the spirit of prophecy or an angel; so וְסוּסֵיהֶם בָּשָׂר וְלֹא רוּחַ (Yeshayahu 31:3), their horses are flesh and not spirit, means not an angel, since an angel is a thing of spirit; and so שְׁלָחַנִי וְרוּחוֹ (Yeshayahu 48:16), He has sent me, and His spirit, means and His angel.
Will, breath and soul
It is will: וְרוּחַ לָבְשָׁה אֶת עֲמָשַׂי (Divrei HaYamim I 12:19), a spirit clothed Amasai, is the spirit of will and desire; so עֵקֶב הָיְתָה רוּחַ אַחֶרֶת עִמּוֹ (Bamidbar 14:24), because another spirit was with him, and עַד יֵעָרֶה עָלֵינוּ רוּחַ מִמָּרוֹם (Yeshayahu 32:15), until a spirit is poured upon us from on high, the will of the Creator. וּשְׁאָר רוּחַ לוֹ (Malachi 2:15), and an excess of spirit was his, is the surplus of will and of good spirit that Avraham Avinu had. אֶל אֲשֶׁר יִהְיֶה־שָׁמָּה הָרוּחַ לָלֶכֶת יֵלֵכוּ (Yechezkel 1:12), wherever the spirit would be to go, they went, means wherever their desire and will would be to go, they went. אַבִּיעָה לָכֶם רוּחִי (Mishlei 1:23), I will pour out my spirit to you, may be read of this sense as well. It is the soul: וְהָרוּחַ תָּשׁוּב אֶל הָאֱלֹהִים אֲשֶׁר נְתָנָהּ (Koheles 12:7), and the spirit returns to Hashem who gave it, the name being given sometimes to each of the three souls and sometimes to the neshamah, the highest, alone; or to the one seated in the heart, which is where anger lives, so it says אַל תְּבַהֵל בְּרוּחֲךָ לִכְעוֹס (Koheles 7:9), do not be hasty in your spirit to anger; and כָּל רוּחוֹ יוֹצִיא כְסִיל (Mishlei 29:11), a fool lets out all his spirit, that is, all his will. It is also said of breathing: רוּחִי זָרָה לְאִשְׁתִּי (Iyov 19:17), my breath is strange to my wife; and וּבְרוּחַ שְׂפָתָיו יָמִית רָשָׁע (Yeshayahu 11:4), with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked, is by the speech of his lips, since speech leaves the mouth with breath and vapour. His father explained וַהֲרִיחוֹ בְּיִרְאַת (Yeshayahu 11:3) from this sense: his speech will be in the fear of Hashem; and likewise לְרַוְחָתִי לְשַׁוְעָתִי (Eichah 3:56): do not hide Your ear from my words and from my cry. Radak himself explains that pasuk from relief.
וְרָוַח לְשָׁאוּל (שמואל א' טז, כג), אֲדַבְּרָה וְיִרְוַֽח־לִי (איוב לב, כ). והשם רֶוַח וְהַצָּלָה (אסתר ד, יד), וְרֶוַח תָּשִׂימוּ (בראשית לב, יז), בסגול. ומשקל אחר כִּי הָֽיְתָה הָֽרְוָחָה (שמות ח, יא), לְרַוְחָתִי לְשַׁוְעָתִֽי (איכה ג, נו). ופירושו אַל־תַּעְלֵם אָזְנְךָ לשועתי שאני משוע אליך בעבור רוחתי. והפעל הכבד [פִּעֵל] וַֽעֲלִיּוֹת מְרֻוָּחִים (ירמיה כב, יד), ענין הרוח ידוע שהוא הפך הצוקה. ורבי יונה כתב מזה לְרוּחַ הַיּוֹם (בראשית ג, ח), כלומר בעת רוח היום, ורוח היום הוא קרות אוירו. ואפשר לפרשו מענין רוח הנושבת כמשמעו, כלומר לעת פנות היום שנושב הרוח, ומתהלך שב אל הרוח או אל הקול. וכמוהו קוֹלָהּ כַּנָּחָשׁ יֵלֵךְ (ירמיה מו, כב). וענין אחר רוּחַ י"י דִּבֶּר־בִּי (שמואל ב' כג, ב), כֹּל אֲשֶׁר הָיָה בָרוּחַ עִמּוֹ (דברי הימים א' כח, יב), וְרֽוּֽחֲךָ הַטּוֹבָה נָתַתָּ לְהַשְׂכִּילָם (נחמיה ט, כ). וַיֵּצֵא הָרוּחַ וַיַּֽעֲמֹד לִפְנֵי י"י (מלכים א' כב, כא), הוא רוח הנבואה או מלאך. וכן וְסוּסֵיהֶם בָּשָׂר וְלֹא־רוּחַ (ישעיה לא, ג), ולא מלאך לפי שהוא רוחני. וכן אֲדֹנָי אלהים שְׁלָחַנִי וְרוּחֽוֹ (ישעיה מח, טז), ומלאכו. וְרוּחַ לָֽבְשָׁה אֶת־עֲמָשַׂי (דברי הימים א' יב, יח), פירוש רוח הרצון והחפץ. וכן עֵקֶב הָֽיְתָה רוּחַ אַחֶרֶת עִמּוֹ (במדבר יד, כד), עַד־יֵֽעָרֶה עָלֵינוּ רוּחַ מִמָּרוֹם (ישעיה לב, טו), רצון הבורא. וּשְׁאָר רוּחַ לוֹ (מלאכי ב, טו), יתרון רצון ורוח טובה היה לו לאברהם אבינו. ועוד נפרש הפסוק בשרש שָׁאַר, אֶל אֲשֶׁר יִֽהְיֶה־שָׁמָּה הָרוּחַ לָלֶכֶת יֵלֵכוּ (יחזקאל א, יב), כלומר אל אשר יהיה חפצם ורצונם ללכת ילכו. ויש לפרש מזה אַבִּיעָה לָכֶם רוּחִי (משלי א, כג). וְרוּחַ לֹֽא־יָבוֹא בֵֽינֵיהֶֽם (איוב מא, ח), אויר. וְרוּחַ גְּדוֹלָה וְחָזָק (מלכים א' יט, יא), רֽוּחַ־קָדִים (שמות י, יג), הרוח הנושבת ומזה נגזר אֲשֶׁר־זֹרֶה בָרַחַת (ישעיה ל, כד), בשקל מְלֹא כַף נָחַת (קהלת ד, ו), והוא הכלי שמזרים בו התבואה לפי שמניפין אותו אל הרוח פל"א בלע"ז. וכתב החכם רבי יעקב בן אלעזר מזה וְהֽוֹרַדְתִּי בָֽרִיחִים כֻּלָּם (קהלת מג, יד), והם הספינות ונקראו כן לפי שהולכים ברוח. וכן תרגם יונתן וְאַחֲתֵית בִּמְשׁוֹטִין כּוּלְהוֹן. ויתכן לפרש מזה וַֽעֲלִיּוֹת מְרֻוָּחִים כלומר שיכנס בהם הרוח עשויין לימי הקיץ. וזהו שאמר וְקָרַֽע לוֹ חַלּוֹנָי (ירמיה כב, יד). והבאתי אל עילם ארבע רוּחוֹת מארבע קצות השׁמים (ירמיה מט, לו), פירוש אַרְבַּע מַלְכֻיוֹת. ודמה אותם לרוח כמו שהרוח החזקה משחתת ומכילה הארזים הגבוהים. ורצונו לומר באמת ארבע כי מכל צד ומכל פנה תבוא להם הרעה. ומהענין הזה נקראת הפאה רוח לפי שהם ארבע רוחות לארבע הפאות. לְכָל־רוּחַ אֱזָרֶה (יחזקאל ה, יב), מָדַד רוּחַ הַצָּפוֹן (יחזקאל מב, יז), אֵת רוּחַ הַדָּרוֹם מָדָד (יחזקאל מב, יח), וַיִּֽהְיוּ הָֽרִמֹּנִים תִּשְׁעִים וְשִׁשָּׁה רוּחָה (ירמיה נב, כג), מלעיל, ופירושו לרוח אחת היו הרמונים כך. לְאַרְבַּע רוּחוֹת מְדָדוֹ (יחזקאל מב, כ). ויש מפרשים מזה סוֹבֵב סֹבֵב הוֹלֵךְ הָרוּחַ וְעַל־סְבִֽיבֹתָיו שָׁב הָרֽוּחַ (קהלת א, ו), והוא אומר על השמש שיסוב וילך הפאה. וְרוּחַ כָּל־בְּשַׂר־אִֽישׁ (איוב יב, י), רוּחוֹ וְנִשְׁמָתוֹ אֵלָיו יֶאֱסֹֽף (איוב לד, יד), פעמים היא קרואה כל אחת משלש הנפשות כן, או הנשמה והעליונה בלבד. וְהָרוּחַ תָּשׁוּב אֶל־הָאֱלֹהִים אֲשֶׁר נְתָנָֽהּ (קהלת יב, ז). או השכונה בלב והיא בעלת הכעס לפיכך אמר אַל־תְּבַהֵל בְּרֽוּֽחֲךָ לִכְעוֹס (קהלת ז, ט), כִּֽי־תָשִׁיב אֶל־אֵל רוּחֶךָ (איוב טו, יג), הֵנִיחוּ אֶת־רוּחִי בְּאֶרֶץ צָפֽוֹן (זכריה ו, ח), כָּל־רוּחוֹ יוֹצִיא כְסִיל (משלי כט, יא), פירוש כל רצונו. ויש שיאמר על הנשימה רוח רוּחִֽי זָרָה לְאִשְׁתִּי (איוב יט, יז), לֹֽא־יִתְּנֵנִי הָשֵׁב רוּחִי (איוב ט, יח). וּבְרוּחַ שְׂפָתָיו יָמִית רָשָֽׁע (ישעיה יא, ד), פירוש בדבר שפתיו כי הדבר יוצא מהפה ברוח והבל. אַבִּיעָה לָכֶם רוּחִי (משלי א, כג). ואדוני אבי ז"ל פירש מזה וַֽהֲרִיחוֹ בְּיִרְאַת י"י (ישעיה יא, ג), דבורו יהיה ביראת י"י. וכן פירש מזה לְרַוְחָתִי לְשַׁוְעָתִֽי (איכה ג, נו), אַל־תַּעְלֵם אָזְנְךָ לדברי ולצעקתי.
Radak, Sefer HaShorashim, Berlin 1847. Public domain, digitised by Sefaria from the National Library of Israel.
Sources
Rabbi Reuven Chaim Klein, "Of Demons and Spirits," What's in a Word?. Not among the essays Ohr Somayach carries; drawn from the book manuscript, where it is filed under Shavuos.
Cited in the essay: Rus 3:8 with Ruth Rabbah and Rashi; Yeshayahu 34:14 with Rashi, Ibn Ezra and Radak; Chagigah 16a; Sanhedrin 109a with Rashi; Eruvin 100b with Rashi; Niddah 24b with Rashi; Zohar, Bereishis 54b; Sefer Chassidim §1155; Rabbi Yehudah Fatiyah; Ruth Rabbah 6:1 with the commentaries there; Shiyurei Taharah, maareches shin §42; Minchas Yehudah, Bereishis §20; Chemdas HaChemdah to Devarim 32:10; Ibn Ezra and Ramban to Vayikra 17:7; Ramban to Vayikra 17:7; Maasei Hashem, Bereishis ch. 2; Rabbi Moshe David Valle, Vayikra p. 167; Siddur HaRokeach p. 106; Ibn Ezra and Ralbag to Vayikra 17:7; Chemdas HaChemdah to Devarim 32:17; Rabbi Tanchum HaYerushalmi, HaMadrich HaMaspik; Emek HaMelech (Amsterdam, 1648), Shaar Reisha d'Zeir Anpin ch. 30, 140b.