''Se’īrīm'' (

Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...

: , singular ''sa'ir'') are demons. ''Sa’ir'' was the ordinary Hebrew word for "

he-goat The goat or domestic goat (''Capra hircus'') is a species of goat-antelope that is mostly kept as livestock. It was domesticated from the wild goat (''C. aegagrus'') of Southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of the family Bo ...

", and it is not always clear what the word's original meaning might have been. But in early Jewish thought, represented by ''targumim'' and possibly

3 Baruch 3 Baruch or the Greek Apocalypse of Baruch is a visionary, pseudepigraphic text written some time between the fall of Jerusalem in 70 AD and the third century. Scholars disagree on whether it was written by a Jew or a Christian, or whether a ...

, along with translations of the Hebrew Bible such as the

Peshitta The Peshitta ( ''or'' ') is the standard Syriac edition of the Bible for Syriac Christian churches and traditions that follow the liturgies of the Syriac Rites. The Peshitta is originally and traditionally written in the Classical Syriac d ...

and

Vulgate The Vulgate () is a late-4th-century Bible translations into Latin, Latin translation of the Bible. It is largely the work of Saint Jerome who, in 382, had been commissioned by Pope Damasus I to revise the Gospels used by the Diocese of ...

, the ''se’īrīm'' were understood as demons. They are considered to be the lowest of all created beings. ''Se'īrīm'' are frequently compared with the ''

shedim ''Shedim'' (; singular: ''šēḏ'') are spirits or demons in Judaism, demons in the Tanakh and Jewish mythology. Shedim do not, however, correspond exactly to the modern conception of demons as evil entities as originated in Christian demon ...

'' of Hebrew tradition, along with

satyrs In Greek mythology, a satyr (, ), also known as a silenus or ''silenos'' ( ), and sileni (plural), is a male nature spirit with ears and a tail resembling those of a horse, as well as a permanent, exaggerated erection. Early artistic represen ...

of Greek mythology,

faun The faun (, ; , ) is a half-human and half-goat mythological creature appearing in Greek and Roman mythology. Originally fauns of Roman mythology were ghosts ( genii) of rustic places, lesser versions of their chief, the god Faunus. Before t ...

s of Roman mythology and

jinn Jinn or djinn (), alternatively genies, are supernatural beings in pre-Islamic Arabian religion and Islam. Their existence is generally defined as parallel to humans, as they have free will, are accountable for their deeds, and can be either ...

of Arab culture.Emil G. Hirsch, Richard Gottheil, Kaufmann Kohler, Isaac Broydé,
Demonology
, ''Jewish Encyclopedia'' (1901-6).

Julius Wellhausen Julius Wellhausen (17 May 1844 – 7 January 1918) was a German biblical scholar and orientalist. In the course of his career, his research interest moved from Old Testament research through Islamic studies to New Testament scholarship. Wellhau ...

suggested that they rather correspond to the Arabian ''

Ifrit Ifrit, also spelled as efreet, afrit, and afreet ( ), plural ), is a powerful type of demon in Islamic culture. The ''ʿafārīt'' are often associated with the underworld and identified with the spirits of the dead, and have been compared t ...

''. Thus predicts, in Karen L. Edwards's translation: "But ''wild animals'' 'ziim''will lie down there, and its houses will be full of ''howling creatures'' 'ohim'' there

ostrich Ostriches are large flightless birds. Two living species are recognised, the common ostrich, native to large parts of sub-Saharan Africa, and the Somali ostrich, native to the Horn of Africa. They are the heaviest and largest living birds, w ...

es will live, and there ''goat-demons'' 'sa’ir''will dance." Similarly, declares: "''

Wildcat The wildcat is a species complex comprising two small wild cat species: the European wildcat (''Felis silvestris'') and the African wildcat (''F. lybica''). The European wildcat inhabits forests in Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus, while th ...

s'' 'ziim''shall meet with ''

hyena Hyenas or hyaenas ( ; from Ancient Greek , ) are feliform carnivoran mammals belonging to the family Hyaenidae (). With just four extant species (each in its own genus), it is the fifth-smallest family in the order Carnivora and one of the sma ...

s'' 'iim'' ''goat-demons'' 'sa’ir''shall call to each other; there too ''

Lilith Lilith (; ), also spelled Lilit, Lilitu, or Lilis, is a feminine figure in Mesopotamian and Jewish mythology, theorized to be the first wife of Adam and a primordial she-demon. Lilith is cited as having been "banished" from the Garden of Eden ...

'' 'lilit''shall repose and find a place to rest." In the Latin

translation of the

Old Testament The Old Testament (OT) is the first division of the Christian biblical canon, which is based primarily upon the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible, or Tanakh, a collection of ancient religious Hebrew and occasionally Aramaic writings by the Isr ...

, ''sa’ir'' is translated as "'' pilosus''", which also means "hairy". Jerome, the translator of the Vulgate, equated these figures with satyrs. The ''se'irim'' are also mentioned once in probably a recalling of

Assyria Assyria (Neo-Assyrian cuneiform: , ''māt Aššur'') was a major ancient Mesopotamian civilization that existed as a city-state from the 21st century BC to the 14th century BC and eventually expanded into an empire from the 14th century BC t ...

n demons in shape of goats. Due to the connection to wild animals (jackals, ostriches, hyenas), there are regarded as metaphorical images of life-threatening beasts outside civilized areas.Hutter, Manfred, Görg, Manfred, Kollmann, Bernd, Haustein, Jörg, Koch, Guntram, Streib, Heinz, Veltri, Giuseppe, Dan, Joseph and Krawietz, Birgit, “Demons and Spirits”, in: Religion Past and Present. Consulted online on 31 January 2024 , First published online: 2011, First print edition: , 2006-2013 Such wild animals settling in ruined areas such as

Babylon Babylon ( ) was an ancient city located on the lower Euphrates river in southern Mesopotamia, within modern-day Hillah, Iraq, about south of modern-day Baghdad. Babylon functioned as the main cultural and political centre of the Akkadian-s ...

and

Edom Edom (; Edomite language, Edomite: ; , lit.: "red"; Akkadian language, Akkadian: , ; Egyptian language, Ancient Egyptian: ) was an ancient kingdom that stretched across areas in the south of present-day Jordan and Israel. Edom and the Edomi ...

reinforces them as a symbol of divine judgement and chaos.

Samuel Bochart Samuel Bochart (30 May 1599 – 16 May 1667) was a French Protestant biblical scholar, a student of Thomas Erpenius and the teacher of Pierre Daniel Huet. His two-volume (Caen 1646) exerted a profound influence on seventeenth-century Biblical e ...

and other

Biblical scholars Biblical studies is the academic application of a set of diverse academic discipline, disciplines to the study of the Bible, with ''Bible'' referring to the books of the Biblical canon#Jewish canons, canonical Hebrew Bible in mainstream Judais ...

identified the Se'irim with Egyptian goat-deities. admonishes Israel to keep from sacrificing to the Se'irim. Texts from the

Dead Sea Scrolls The Dead Sea Scrolls, also called the Qumran Caves Scrolls, are a set of List of Hebrew Bible manuscripts, ancient Jewish manuscripts from the Second Temple period (516 BCE – 70 CE). They were discovered over a period of ten years, between ...

describe the nether regions as full of Se'irim.

Abraham ibn Ezra Abraham ben Meir Ibn Ezra (, often abbreviated as ; ''Ibrāhim al-Mājid ibn Ezra''; also known as Abenezra or simply ibn Ezra, 1089 / 1092 – 27 January 1164 / 23 January 1167)''Jewish Encyclopedia''online; '' Chambers Biographical Dictionar ...

(1089 / 1092 – 27 January 1164 / 28 January 1167) writes in his commentary, that the ''se'irim'' are a form of spirits (''shedim'') seen by crazy people. People stray away from God by believing in them, for seeking them out implies a belief in another force besides God who can make things go good or bad. It is not clear from ibn Ezra, if he considers ''se'irim'' to be merely delusions, or real but can only be seen by crazy people (in the form of he-goats) who falsely attribute power independent from God to them.Slifkin, Natan. "A History of Rabbinic Attitudes to Demons." (2011). p. 10

References

{{Reflist} Demons in Judaism Jinn