Does the Hebrew Bible refer to demons? Remarkably, the standard answer to this question has remained rather stable: although there are indeed traces of demons, there is no evidence of the sophisticated type of demonology that is found in Akkadian texts. While this may be true, a more fundamental point remains unanswered. Did the ancient Near Easterners view demons in the same way as modern scholars do, as intrinsically evil beings who deliberately choose to engage in malicious activities contrary to the wishes of the governing deity? Here the answer must be negative. The present article examines the issue of demons in the Hebrew Bible through an evaluation of an Akkadian subordinate supernatural being called rabisu, the root of which is shared by [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] (robes) in Gen 4:7, which is routinely thought to denote a demon. Akkadian texts indicate that the rabisu is a neutral being that is nothing other than a current of wind dispatched by the deities to perform certain duties. This point not only informs the use of [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] (rabasa) in Deut 29:19 but also permits a connection with [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] ("spirit of God") and [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] ("spirit of YHWH"), both of which are occasionally qualified with [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] ("evil"). The evidence demonstrates that, like the evil associated with rabisu, the [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] attributed to a divine [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] actually references its mission and not its moral standing. Therefore, demons as inherently evil subordinate supernatural beings did not exist in the ancient Near East. They are, rather, divinely articulated verdicts handed down as judgments in response to human transgressions.

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Better to reign in Hell than serve in Heaven.

--John Milton, Paradise Lost, 1.263

One of the most vexing problems of the Hebrew Bible concerns its references to subordinate supernatural beings that engage in destructive activities. Modern readers cannot help but react negatively when YHWH dispatches a company of [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] ("messengers of evils") in Ps 78:49 that are expressions of divine "wrath, indignation, and distress" ([TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]). In 2 Sam 24:16, when David is punished for taking a census, YHWH's [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] is described as [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] ("the one who destroys"), a name--if it may be called such--shared by [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] in Exod 12:23, which YHWH prevents from entering the Israelites' homes. Even more disquieting is the fact that these [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] act according to the wishes of the Godhead. Do these particular beings have any relation to the [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] ("destructive wind") of which YHWH states, according to Jer 51:1, "I am about to stir up [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] against Babylon"?

Theologians may find it difficult to accept that a deity who is all-good can nevertheless dispatch subordinate supernatural beings who wreak havoc. According to conventional views, even though these...