שֵׁד

From the study of Psalm 106:37

Range of meaning

The word occurs only twice in the Hebrew Bible: here and Deuteronomy 32:17 ('They sacrificed to shedim, not God, to gods they had not known'). It is almost certainly a loanword from Akkadian šēdu. In Mesopotamia a šēdu was a spirit-being, often a guardian. It was paired with the lamassu, and the two are linked with the great winged-bull figures that guarded Assyrian palace gates. A šēdu could also be harmful ('evil šēdu' appears in incantation texts). In biblical Hebrew it means a non-Israelite spirit-power that receives worship, a being below the level of God. In later Aramaic, Syriac and rabbinic Hebrew, shed became the standard word for a harmful demon.

Against the English

'Demons' (BSB, WEB, ESV, NASB) is a fair rendering and has been the standard since the Greek translation (daimonia). 'Devils' (KJV) narrows it toward Satan's minions in Christian folklore. 'Destroyers' (YLT) depends on a guessed link to the verb shadad, 'to devastate', which modern lexicons do not accept. 'False gods' (current NIV) catches the parallel with 'idols' in v. 38 but loses the sense that these are spirit-beings.

How it drifted

Hebrew shed meant a lesser spirit-power or foreign god. Through Greek daimonion in the Septuagint, then Second Temple Jewish demonology (1 Enoch, Jubilees, Tobit), the New Testament and later Christian and rabbinic tradition, the word took on the full picture of evil spirits that possess and torment, ruled by Satan. The English 'demon' carries that later picture.

Used elsewhere in the period

Deut 32:17 (the source Psalm 106 is drawing on). Akkadian šēdu in Mesopotamian religious and royal texts. The Septuagint renders both verses with daimonia (Ps 105:37 LXX). Baruch 4:7 echoes Deut 32:17 ('sacrificing to demons and not to God'). Paul quotes the idea in 1 Cor 10:20. Jubilees 1:11 links child sacrifice and 'demons'. In the Talmud shedim are fully developed demons.

From the study of Deuteronomy 32:17

Range of meaning

A spirit being below the rank of the high gods. The word comes from Akkadian šēdu, which in Mesopotamia named a protective spirit or guardian 'genius' (a personal or household guardian spirit). The šēdu was often paired with the lamassu, as in the huge winged human-headed bulls that guarded Assyrian palace gates, and it could also be a person's own protective spirit. Mesopotamian incantations also mention evil šēdus, so the category could be good or bad. In biblical Hebrew it occurs only twice, here and in Psalm 106:37, where Israel 'sacrificed their sons and daughters to the shedim', identified in the next verse with 'the idols of Canaan'.

Against the English

English Bibles give 'demons' (BSB, WEB, YLT, ESV, NASB), 'devils' (KJV) or 'false gods' (NIV 2011). 'Devils' brings in a whole later picture: Satan's underlings, fallen angels, hell. 'False gods' goes the other way and can suggest nothing more than imaginary idols. The Hebrew word sits between the two. It names real spirit-powers that the nations honoured as guardians, and it ranks them far below God.

How it drifted

The Greek Septuagint translated shedim as daimonia ('spirit-beings, lesser divinities'). Second Temple Jewish writings such as 1 Enoch and Jubilees built an elaborate demonology in which the daimonia were evil spirits, and Christian usage then fixed 'demon/devil' as an evil, Satan-aligned being. In later Hebrew and Aramaic (the Talmud and Syriac šēdā) the word also came to mean 'demon' in that narrower, evil sense. The modern word carries all of this later development.

Used elsewhere in the period

Akkadian šēdu in royal inscriptions and incantations (e.g. the Utukkū Lemnūtu series of incantations against evil spirits). LXX Deut 32:17 has ἔθυσαν δαιμονίοις καὶ οὐ θεῷ, 'they sacrificed to daimonia and not to God'. Baruch 4:7 repeats the phrase almost word for word. Jubilees 1:11 and 1 Enoch 19:1 and 99:7 speak of Israel or humankind sacrificing to demons. Paul quotes the LXX wording in 1 Corinthians 10:20 ('what they sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons and not to God').