Samael

Gustave Doré, Jacob Wrestles with the Angel Samael

(1855)
Samael (Hebrew: ‫ ַס ָמּ ֵאל‬Sammāʾēl,
"Venom of God",[1] "Poison of God", or
"Blindness of God"; rarely "Smil", "Samil", or
"Samiel")[2][3][4] is an important archangel
in Talmudic and post-Talmudic lore, a
figure who is the accuser (Ha-Satan),
seducer, and destroyer (Mashhit), and has
been regarded as both good and evil.
Rabbinical writings describe Samael as
the guardian angel of Esau [5] and a patron
of Edom.

He is considered in Talmudic texts to be a

member of the heavenly host (with often
grim and destructive duties). One of
Samael's greatest roles in Jewish lore is
that of the main archangel of death. He
remains one of God's servants even
though he condones the sins of man. As
an angel, Samael resides in the seventh
heaven, although he is declared to be the
chief angel of the fifth heaven, the reason
for this being the presence of the throne of
glory in the seventh heaven.[6]

Judaism
In Judaism, Samael is said to be the angel
of death, and the title "Satan" is accorded
to him. While Satan describes his function
as an accuser, Samael is considered to be
his proper name. While Michael defends
Israel's actions, Samael tempts people to
sin.[7] He is also depicted as the angel of
death and one of the seven archangels, the
ruler over the Fifth Heaven and
commander of two million angels such as
the chief of other satans. Yalkut Shimoni
(I, 110) presents Samael as Esau's
guardian angel.[2]

According to The Ascension of Moses,[8]

Samael is also mentioned as being in 7th
Heaven:

In the last heaven Moses saw

two angels, each five hundred
parasangs in height, forged out
of chains of black fire and red
fire, the angels Af, "Anger," and
Hemah, "Wrath," whom God
created at the beginning of the
world, to execute His will. Moses
was disquieted when he looked
upon them, but Metatron
embraced him, and said, "Moses,
Moses, thou favorite of God, fear
not, and be not terrified," and
Moses became calm. There was
another angel in the seventh
heaven, different in appearance
from all the others, and of
frightful mien. His height was so
great, it would have taken five
hundred years to cover a
distance equal to it, and from
the crown of his head to the
soles of his feet he was studded
with glaring eyes. "This one,"
said Metatron, addressing
Moses, "is Samael, who takes the
soul away from man." "Whither
goes he now?" asked Moses, and
Metatron replied, "To fetch the
soul of Job the pious."
Thereupon Moses prayed to God
 in these words, "O may it be Thy
will, my God and the God of my
fathers, not to let me fall into the
hands of this angel."

In The Holy Kabbalah (Arthur Edward

Waite, 255), Samael is described as the
"severity of God", and is listed as fifth of
the archangels of the world of Briah.
Samael then became the consort of
Adam's first wife, Lilith. Lilith is a demon
created alongside Adam, originally created
for the role Eve would fill. Samael created
with her a host of demon children,
including a son, the "Sword of Samael"[9]
(or Asmodai).[10]

Samael is sometimes confused in some

books with Camael, an archangel of God,
whose name is similar to words meaning
"like God" (but Camael with a waw
missing).

It is also said that the Baal Shem once

summoned Samael, to make him do his
bidding.[11]

In several interpretations of the Ascension

of Isaiah, Samael is often identified as
Melkira (Heb.: ‫ מלך רע‬melek ra - lit. "king of
evil", "king of the wicked") or
Malkira/Malchira (‫מלאך רע‬
malakh/malach ra - "messenger of evil",
"angel of iniquity") or Belkira (prob. ‫בעל‬
‫ קיר‬baal qir - "lord of the wall") or Bechira
(‫ בחיר רע‬bachir ra, - "the elect of evil",
"chosen by evil") which are all epithets of
the false prophet sent by Belial to accuse
Isaiah of treason. Notably, the passage
also identifies him as Satan.[6]

In Pirke De-Rabbi Eliezer, a Midrash work,

dated to the period during the spread of
Islam, Samael appears as the serpent in
Genesis and Satan. Probably influenced by
the Quran,[12] due to its parallels to the
Islamic equivalent of Satan;[13] Samael,
consisting of fire, disapproved the creation
of Adam made from dust,[14] afterwards
descended from heaven to seduce Adam
and Eve to eat from the forbidden fruit.
Furthermore, probably adopted from
Apocryphon of John, Cain was born from
Eve by intercourse with Samael.[15][16]

Demonology
In Christian demonology Samael is
sometimes regarded as a powerful
demon.

According to some myths, Samael was

mated with Eisheth Zenunim, Na'amah,
Lilith, and Agrat bat Mahlat, all except Lilith
being 'angels' of sacred prostitution.[17]

This link is a dubious one and likely arises

from a case of mistaken identity equating
Samael with the demon Azazel who is
himself in Zoharistic lore a combination of
the angels Aza and Azrael.[18]

Gnosticism
In the Apocryphon of John, found in the
Nag Hammadi library, Samael is the third
name of the demiurge, whose other names
are Yaldabaoth and Saklas. In this context,
Samael means "the blind god",[19] the
theme of blindness running throughout
gnostic works. His appearance is that of a
lion-faced serpent.[20] In On the Origin of
the World in the Nag Hammadi library
texts, he is also referred to as Ariael, the
Archangel of Principalities.

Anthroposophy
To anthroposophists, Samael is known as
one of the seven archangels: Saint Gregory
gives the seven archangels as Anael,
Gabriel, Michael, Oriphiel, Raphael, Samael,
and Zerachiel. They are all imagined to
have a special assignment to act as a
global zeitgeist ("time-spirit"), each for
periods of about 360 years.[21] Since 1879,
anthroposophists posit, Michael has been
the leading time spirit.

References
Bunson, Matthew, (1996). Angels A to Z :
A Who's Who of the Heavenly Host. Three
Rivers Press. ISBN 0-517-88537-9.
Davidson, Gustav. A Dictionary of Angels:
Including the Fallen Angels. Free Press.
ISBN 0-02-907052-X

Further reading
Charles, R.H. (trans.) (1900) The
Ascension of Isaiah London, Adam &
Charles Black.
Bamberger, Bernard Jacob, (March 15,
2006). Fallen Angels: Soldiers of Satan's
Realm. Jewish Publication Society of
America. ISBN 0-8276-0797-0
Cruz, Joan C. (1999). Angels and Devils.
Tan Books & Publishers. ISBN 0-89555-
638-3.
Jung, Leo (1925). "Fallen Angels in
Jewish, Christian and Mohammedan
Literature. A Study in Comparative Folk-
Lore", published in four parts in The
Jewish Quarterly Review, New Ser.
Vol. 15, No. 4 (April 1925), pp. 467–
502, doi:10.2307/1451739
 Vol. 16, No. 1 (July 1925), pp. 45–
88, doi:10.2307/1451748
Vol. 16, No. 2 (October 1925),
pp. 171–205, doi:10.2307/1451789
Vol. 16, No. 3 (January 1926),
pp. 287–336, doi:10.2307/1451485

External links
Jewish Encyclopedia
1. "Samael" - Jewish Encyclopedia
2. "Samael" in A Dictionary of Angels,
including the fallen angels by Gustav
Davidson, Simon & Schuster, p.255
3. Jung, Leo (1925). "Fallen Angels in
Jewish, Christian and Mohammedan
Literature. A Study in Comparative Folk-
Lore", The Jewish Quarterly Review, vol. 16,
no. 1 (July 1925), p. 88
4. The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha:
Apocalyptic literature and testaments , ed.
James H. Charlesworth, Hendrickson
Publishers, 1 Feb 2010, p.658
5. Howard Schwartz Tree of Souls: The
Mythology of Judaism Oxford University
Press 2006 ISBN 978-0-195-32713-7 page
361
6.
http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/text/
ascension.html
7. Sara E. Karesh, Mitchell M. Hurvitz
Encyclopedia of Judaism Infobase
Publishing, 2005 ISBN 978-0-816-06982-8
page 447
8. Louis Ginzberg, The Ascension of Moses,
Chapter IV "Aggadah: The Legend of the
Jews"
9. Rosemary Guiley (2009). The
Encyclopedia of Demons and Demonology .
Infobase Publishing. pp. 222–. ISBN 978-1-
4381-3191-7.
10. "Lilith the younger" . Liber 777 Notes.
Archived from the original on 25 October
2014.
11. Tales of the Hasidim, by Martin Buber.
Book 1, page 77.
12. Joseph Dan Gershom Scholem and the
Mystical Dimension of Jewish History NYU
Press 1987 ISBN 978-0-814-72097-4
13. David Mevorach Seidenberg Kabbalah
and Ecology Cambridge University Press
2015 ISBN 978-1-107-08133-8 page 65
14. William Irwin Thompson The Time
Falling Bodies Take To Light: Mythology,
Sexuality and the Origins of Culture
Palgrave Macmillan 1996 ISBN 978-0-312-
16062-3 page 14
15. Natalie B. Dohrmann, David Stern
Jewish Biblical Interpretation and Cultural
Exchange: Comparative Exegesis in Context
University of Pennsylvania Press 2013
ISBN 978-0-812-20945-7
16. Rachel Adelman The Return of the
Repressed: Pirqe De-Rabbi Eliezer and the
Pseudepigrapha BRILL 2009 ISBN 978-9-
004-17049-0 page 104
17. (Erika D. Johnson) rosetta.bham.ac.uk
citing The Oxford Classical Dictionary
definition [Retrieved 2012-12-13]
18. (Rav Michael Laitman, PhD)
19. "Jewish Virtual Library" . Jewish Virtual
Library. Retrieved 2011-12-05.
20. "The Apocryphon of John" . Gnosis.org.
Retrieved 2011-12-05.
21. Matharene, B. (2003). The Archangel
Michael, GA# 67 – review. Retrieved from:
http://www.doyletics.com/arj/tamrev.htm
on 11 October 2014

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