The Origin of Evil Spirits: The Reception of Genesis 6.1-4 in Early Jewish Literature

Archie Wright examines the trajectory of the origin of evil spirits in early Jewish literature. His work traces the development of the concept of evil spirits from the Hebrew Bible (Genesis 6) through post biblical Jewish literature. The research is concerned with the reception history of Genesis 6:1-4 in early Enochic and Philonic Judaism during the Second Temple Period. The author suggests that the non-specificity inherent in the biblical text of Genesis 6:1-4 opened the basis for the later emergence of an aetiology of evil spirits as Jewish authors engaged with the text. As a result, Genesis 6:1-4, particularly its interpretation in 1 Enoch 6-16, played an important part in the development of demonology in Second Temple Period Judaism.