“He appeared to him as a [X]”: Talmudic Stories of Incarnations of God, Eliyahu, Satan, and Demons
Continuation of my previous piece: “Some Notes on the Anthropomorphization of God in the Talmud” (January 7, 2024)
Incarnation
This piece will focus narrowly on incarnation (appearance in a body), as opposed to the more broad anthropomorphization (attributing human characteristics, whether physical or emotional).
Incarnation literally means embodied in flesh or taking on flesh. It refers to the conception and the embodiment of a deity or spirit in some earthly form or the appearance of a god as a human.
The standard Talmudic term for incarnation of a spirit in a physical form is with the Aramaic construct idmi (“appeared”):1
אדמי ליה כ[...]
“He appeared to him as a X”
See the definition of the cognate Hebrew verb, dama - דמה - Wiktionary: 2
דָּמָה • (dama)
to resemble
(flowery) to seem, to appear
Outline
God and Angels
Sanhedrin 95b.16 - God appeared to Sennacherib as an old man (gavra saba), and angels appeared to him as men (gavrei)
Elijah
Berakhot 6b.20 - Elijah appeared as an Arab (taya’a) to a certain individual praying
Berakhot 58a.13 - Elijah appeared as a person (inish) and testified for R’ Sheila
Taanit 21a.12 - Elijah appeared before a ruler as “one of them” (had minayu) to support Naḥum of Gam Zu
Avodah Zarah 17b.12 - Elijah appeared before a ruler as one of the Roman noblemen to support R’ Elazar ben Perata
Shabbat 109b.11 - Elijah appeared before Rav Shimi bar Ashi as a horseman (prasha)
Satan
Kiddushin 81a.13 - Satan appeared to R’ Meir as a woman (it’ta)
Kiddushin 81a.14 - Satan appeared to R’ Akiva as a woman (it’ta)
Kiddushin 81a.15 - Satan appeared to Pelimo as a pauper (anya)
Sanhedrin 95a.8 - Satan appeared to David as a deer (tavya)
Sanhedrin 107a.5 - Satan appeared to David as a bird (tziparta)
Angel of Death
Moed Katan 28a.24 - Angel of Death appeared to R’ Ḥiyya as a pauper (anya)
A Demon
Kiddushin 29b12-13 - A Demon appeared to Abaye as a serpent (tanina) with seven heads
Boldings are mine
God and Angels
Sanhedrin 95b.16 - God appeared to Sennacherib as an old man (gavra saba), and angels appeared to him as men (gavrei)
On this passage, see the end of my previous piece.
Elijah
Berakhot 6b.20 - Elijah appeared as an Arab (taya’a) to a certain individual praying
חלף אליהו. חזייה, אידמי ליה כטייעא
Elijah the Prophet passed by and he saw him. He appeared to him as an Arab [taya’a].
Berakhot 58a.13 - Elijah appeared as a person (inish) and testified for R’ Sheila
אתא אליהו אדמי ליה כאיניש, ואסהיד.
Elijah the prophet came and appeared as a person and testified.
Taanit 21a.12 - Elijah appeared before a ruler as “one of them” (had minayu) to support Naḥum of Gam Zu
אתא אליהו אדמי ליה כחד מינייהו
Elijah the Prophet came and appeared before the ruler as one of his ministers.
Avodah Zarah 17b.12 - Elijah appeared before a ruler as one of the Roman noblemen to support R’ Elazar ben Perata
אתא אליהו אידמי ליה כחד מחשובי דמלכותא
Elijah came disguised as one of the of the Roman noblemen
(See also in the continuation, ibid. 17b.13:
אתא אליהו פתקיה ארבע מאה פרסי
Elijah came and threw it [=a written letter that was composed by some of the most important people of the Roman Empire in order to send it to the Emperor’s court] a distance of four hundred parasangs)
Shabbat 109b.11 - Elijah appeared before Rav Shimi bar Ashi as a horseman (prasha)
אתא אליהו אידמי ליה כפרשא
Elijah came and appeared to Rav Shimi bar Ashi as a horseman.
(Cf. the story of R’ Meir and Bruriah’s sister, where R’ Meir disguises himself as a horseman (prasha).
Satan
Kiddushin 81a.13 - Satan appeared to R’ Meir as a woman (it’ta)
יומא חד אידמי ליה שטן כאיתתא בהך גיסא דנהרא
One day, Satan appeared to him as a woman standing on the other side of the river.
Kiddushin 81a.14 - Satan appeared to R’ Akiva as a woman (it’ta)
אידמי ליה שטן כאיתתא בריש דיקלא.
Satan appeared to him as a woman at the top of a palm tree
Kiddushin 81a.15 - Satan appeared to Pelimo as a pauper (anya)
פלימו הוה רגיל למימר כל יומא ״גירא בעיניה דשטן״. יומא חד מעלי יומא דכיפורי הוה. אידמי ליה כעניא.
The Sage Peleimu had the habit to say every day: An arrow in the eye of Satan, mocking the temptations of the evil inclination. One day, it was the eve of Yom Kippur, and Satan appeared to him as a pauper
Sanhedrin 95a.8 - Satan appeared to David as a deer (tavya)
אתא שטן ואדמי ליה כטביא
Satan came and appeared to him as a deer.
Sanhedrin 107a.5 - Satan appeared to David as a bird (tziparta)
אתא שטן אידמי ליה כציפרתא
Satan came and appeared to David as a bird.
Angel of Death
Moed Katan 28a.24 - Angel of Death appeared to R’ Ḥiyya as a pauper (anya)
יומא חד אידמי ליה כעניא
One day the Angel of Death appeared to him as a poor person.
A Demon
Kiddushin 29b (section #13) - A Demon appeared in the study hall of Abaye as a serpent (tanina) with seven heads
על, בת בההוא בי רבנן.
אידמי ליה כתנינא דשבעה רישוותיה.
כל כריעה דכרע נתר חד רישיה.
Rav Aḥa found no place to spend the night, and he entered and spent the night in that study hall of the Sages.
The demon appeared to him like a serpent with seven heads.
Rav Aḥa bar Ya’akov began to pray, and with every bow that he bowed one of the demon’s heads fell off, until it eventually died.
On Satan in Talmudic literature, see the Hebrew article by Yair Barkai, “Satan in the Bible and Rabbinic Literature”. Esp. p. 82 and on (section 2, “Satan in aggadic stories in rabbinic literature”). The stories of incarnation of Satan in Kiddushin 81b are discussed ibid., 91ff.
"דמות השטן במקרא ובספרות חז"ל", מים מדליו 25-26 (תשע"ד-תשע"ה), עמ' 71-100
On stories of appearances of Eliyahu to Talmudic sages, cf. Hebrew Wikipedia, “Appearance of Elijah” (גילוי אליהו), and cf. Elijah - Wikipedia > “In Judaism”.
On the anthropomorphization of God in the Talmud, see the literature cited in the introduction of Dora Lantos, Anthropomorphic Aspects Of The Rabbinic Tradition In Thirteenth Century Jewish-Christian Polemics (2017), MA Thesis In Medieval Studies.
On the anthropomorphization of God in the Bible, see the excellent accessible book by Francesca Stavrakopoulou, God: An Anatomy (2022).