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Introductory
Note to the Reader I am not a demonologist or a scholar of
theology or ancient Jewish writings, but while reading Moncure Daniel
Conway’s Demonology and Devil-Lore, I was deeply struck by his
treatment of Samael—a central figure in Gnostic thought—depicted as both an
angel and a demon, and in some traditions, as the father of Cain or even the
serpent in the Garden of Eden. Having read several Gnostic texts, many
attributed to Samael, I was surprised that during my participation in Gnostic
meetings, we were never told who Samael truly was within a broader
mythological and theological context. As someone raised in the Catholic
tradition, my interest in religion has always been intertwined with
literature and myth. Reading Conway’s reinterpretations of Jewish mysticism
revealed to me how profoundly mythological imagination shaped theological views
of evil, inheritance, and divine justice. This essay does not aim to engage in
theological debate, but rather to examine, through a literary and
mythological lens, how figures such as Samael and Cain became enduring
symbols in both Jewish mysticism and Christian demonology. |
Samael, Eve, and the Demonized Lineage of Cain:
From Jewish Mysticism to Christian Demonology
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Abstract This
paper explores the evolution of the Samael–Eve–Cain tradition from early
Jewish mysticism to its reinterpretation in Christian demonology. Drawing on
Moncure Daniel Conway’s Demonology and Devil-Lore (1879), kabbalistic
sources such as the Zohar and Pirke de-Rabbi Eliezer, and
patristic writings like Augustine’s City of God, the study
investigates how Cain’s mythic paternity shifted from human origins to
demonic descent. In Jewish mystical thought, Cain is often described as the
offspring of Samael and Eve, a conception that externalizes evil as
genealogical rather than moral. Christian tradition later transformed Cain
into a symbol of spiritual corruption and heresy, linking his lineage with
sorcery and rebellion. Through this mythological genealogy, both traditions
articulated theological responses to the enduring problem of evil and human
violence. |
Keywords: Samael, Cain, Jewish
Mysticism, Christian Demonology, Conway, Gnosticism, Kabbalah, Augustine, Myth
of Evil |
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Resumen Este
artículo examina la evolución de la tradición de Samael, Eva y Caín desde la
mística judía hasta su reinterpretación en la demonología cristiana. Basado
en Demonology and Devil-Lore (1879) de Moncure Daniel Conway, así como
en fuentes cabalísticas como el Zohar y el Pirke de-Rabbi Eliezer,
y en textos patrísticos como La ciudad de Dios de San Agustín, el
estudio analiza cómo la paternidad mítica de Caín pasó de un origen humano a
un linaje demoníaco. En la mística judía, Caín es descrito como hijo de
Samael y Eva, una concepción que proyecta el mal como herencia más que como
elección moral. La tradición cristiana, posteriormente, transformó a Caín en
símbolo de corrupción espiritual y herejía, asociándolo con la hechicería y
la rebelión. A través de esta genealogía mítica, ambas tradiciones intentaron
responder teológicamente al problema del mal y de la violencia humana. |
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Resumo Este
artigo investiga a evolução da tradição de Samael, Eva e Caim, desde o
misticismo judaico até sua releitura na demonologia cristã. Baseando-se em Demonology
and Devil-Lore (1879) de Moncure Daniel Conway, em fontes cabalísticas
como o Zohar e o Pirke de-Rabbi Eliezer, e em textos
patrísticos como A Cidade de Deus de Santo Agostinho, o estudo examina
como a paternidade mítica de Caim se transformou de uma origem humana para
uma descendência demoníaca. No pensamento cabalístico, Caim é frequentemente
descrito como filho de Samael e Eva, o que desloca a origem do mal do campo
moral para o genealógico. A tradição cristã, por sua vez, fez de Caim um
símbolo de corrupção espiritual e heresia, relacionando sua linhagem à
feitiçaria e à rebelião. Essa genealogia mítica permitiu que ambas as
tradições elaborassem respostas teológicas para o problema persistente do mal
e da violência humana. |
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Introduction
Cain,
the first murderer in the biblical narrative, quickly became a symbol of
corruption in both Jewish and Christian traditions. In the Hebrew Bible, he is
the firstborn of Adam and Eve (Gen. 4:1–2). Yet medieval Jewish mystical
traditions often reassigned Cain’s paternity to Samael, the serpent-like
adversary, thereby associating him with demonic descent. Moncure Daniel
Conway’s Demonology and Devil-Lore (1879) preserves this tradition,
highlighting how Jewish demonology developed alongside and sometimes in tension
with biblical monotheism making readers understand that Jewish were, at the
beginning, polytheistic in their ancestral beliefs.
While
reading Conway’s book, one gets to realize that Christian demonology later
appropriated and reshaped these ideas, transforming Cain into the archetypal
sinner and, in some medieval narratives, even an ancestor of sorcerers and
heretics. This paper explores Conway’s insights, the kabbalistic expansions,
and the Christian adaptations of the Samael–Cain myth.
Conway
on Samael and Cain
Conway
(1879) underscores the role of Samael as a liminal figure, half angel, half
demon, who became a vessel for projecting theological anxieties about evil. He
notes:
“The mediæval
Jews, in their demonologies, made Samael the paramour of Eve, and Cain the
fruit of their union” (Conway, 1879/Vol. II, p. 30).
In
Conway’s reading of ancient mythologies, Cain becomes a hybrid figure, a man
whose very bloodline is tainted by demonic interference. This shift now
explains Cain’s role as the archetypal fratricide we are presented in the book
of Genesis:
“Cain was not
merely Adam’s son gone astray; he was the embodiment of passions alien to man’s
first innocence” (Conway, 1879/Vol. II, p. 31).
Kabbalistic
Sources: Samael and Eve
Going
further in Conway’s book, the kabbalistic Zohar elaborates on this theme
by connecting Samael with both Lilith and Eve. Conway (1879) points out that it
is Lillith, Adam’s first wife, the one serpent in the Garden of Eden tempting
Eve, Adam’s second wife. In Zohar I:35b–36a, Samael mates with Eve and
produces Cain, whereas Abel is fathered by Adam. Thus, the first brothers
already represent two spiritual lineages: one corrupted, one pure.
From a different mythological line, the Pirke de-Rabbi Eliezer (ch. 21) similarly suggests that the serpent (identified with Samael, and not with Lillith) impregnated Eve with Cain. This dual paternity creates a mythological framework where Cain’s act of murder is not only personal but genealogical; he kills his “half” brother because he is born of a killer spirit. Finally, as Isaac Luria explains, in later kabbalistic thought, he tied Cain’s soul to the “qelippot” (husks of impurity), while Abel’s soul contained holy sparks destined for redemption (Scholem, 1965).
Mythological
Parallels
The
story of Cain’s demonic paternity parallels other myths of divine-human
hybrids. From the Greek Heracles, born of Zeus and a mortal, to the biblical
Nephilim of 1 Enoch, such unions blur the line between human and
supernatural. Yet unlike heroic hybrids, Cain embodies corruption rather than
greatness. His lineage is not destined for triumph but for violence.
Conway
situates this in a larger pattern:
“The fiends
that haunted man’s imagination were but his own passions and crimes projected
into monstrous personalities” (Conway, 1879/Vol. I, p. 12).
Christian
Demonology and Cain
As
Christianity started to absorb Jewish mystical motifs, Cain’s image expanded in
demonological imagination. Early Church Fathers, such as Augustine, emphasized
Cain as the prototype of the civitas terrena (earthly city), in
opposition to Abel’s civitas Dei (City of God) (City of God,
XV.1). Though Augustine does not mention Samael directly, his dichotomy laid
the foundation for seeing Cain’s lineage as spiritually corrupt.
By the
Middle Ages, Christian demonology began incorporating Jewish traditions about
Samael indirectly. Cain was depicted as consorting with demons, or as a
spiritual ancestor of sorcerers and heretics. Medieval legends, for instance,
linked Cain’s descendants with secret knowledge passed down through fallen
angels (Russell, 1981). In some apocryphal lore, Cain’s wandering after Abel’s
murder resembled the fate of the cursed Wandering Jew, a figure
associated with eternal exile and demonic punishment (Anderson, 1965). This
further blurred the boundary between Cain’s human guilt and supernatural taint.
The
association of Cain with witchcraft also emerged: witchcraft trials
occasionally referenced Cain as a forefather of necromancy, particularly in
German demonological literature of the fifteenth century (Bailey, 2006). Thus,
the motif of Cain’s demonic ancestry became fertile ground for linking biblical
narrative with the Christian fight against heresy and sorcery.
Theological
Implications
By
attributing Cain’s origin to Samael, both Jewish and Christian traditions
externalized evil, locating it in corrupted ancestry rather than solely in free
will. In Judaism, this explained the persistence of violence despite divine
creation. In Christianity, Cain became a symbol of inherited sin and rebellion
against divine order.
The
shared theme across traditions is that Cain is never merely a human sinner. He
is mythologized into a vessel of demonic corruption, a status that allowed both
Jews and Christians to narrate the problem of evil in mythological rather than
purely moral terms.
Conclusion
The
Samael–Eve–Cain tradition, preserved in Conway’s Demonology and Devil-Lore
and elaborated in kabbalistic sources, illustrates the evolution of myth from
biblical ambiguity to demonological certainty. Jewish mysticism framed Cain as
the son of Samael, embedding evil in his lineage. Christian demonology absorbed
and reshaped this tradition, casting Cain as the archetype of rebellion,
heresy, and even sorcery.
Conway’s
work remains valuable not only for preserving these legends but also for
recognizing their function: the mythologization of evil as genealogical. Cain’s
contested paternity thus continues to serve as a vivid example of how cultures
externalize the burden of violence into mythic ancestry.
📚 References
Augustine of Hippo. (1998). The City of God against the
Pagans (R. W. Dyson, Trans.). Cambridge University Press. (Original work
published ca. 426 CE)
Anderson, G. K. (1965). The Legend of the Wandering Jew.
Providence: Brown University Press.
Bailey, M. D. (2006). Magic and Superstition in Europe:
A Concise History from Antiquity to the Present. Lanham, MD: Rowman &
Littlefield.
Conway, M. D. (1879). Demonology and Devil-Lore
(Vols. I & II). London: Chatto & Windus. (Reprint edition consulted,
2001).
Russell, J. B. (1981). The Devil: Perceptions of Evil
from Antiquity to Primitive Christianity. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.
Scholem, G. (1965). On the Kabbalah and Its Symbolism
(R. Manheim, Trans.). New York: Schocken Books.
Tishby, I. (1989). The Wisdom of the Zohar: An Anthology
of Texts (D. Goldstein, Trans.). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Zohar (trans. 1984). The Zohar (D. C. Matt, Ed.
& Trans.). Stanford: Stanford University Press.
The Evolution of Cain’s Identity in Jewish and Christian Traditions
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