Most often the night-time is viewed as the time in which demons and monsters roam the earth. That is because Darkness and shadows are usually associated with evil aspects like demonic entities. It may be because the darkness has a sense of secretiveness and concealment to it.
So mythologies portray darkness as a hideout powerful enough to conceal someone even from divine entities.
But Jewish mythology talks about a heavenly being an archangel who rules over the night. The name of this archangel is Lailah and is described as a very gentle angel. The name Lailah itself has the meaning "night". It is said the name has the roots of the Hebrew word "Laylah" which means night.
Lailah In The Bible
The Hebrew Bible does not specifically mention the archangel by her name Lailah. Instead, the bible refers to the term night as if talking about a divine being. Because the name of the archangel Lailah also has the meaning "night" it is assumed the bible is referring to her with the term night when used as if in the context of talking about a being. The passage in Genesis 14 talks about Abraham’s night attack on the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah.
In one of the earlier translations of Genesis 14: 15 is as
"And he divided himself against them by night he and his servants and smote them."
Genesis 14: 15
A Sanhedrin authority named Rabbi Yochanan has interpreted this to mean that Abraham attacked the two kings with the help of an angel called "night".
Job 3:3 also read as,
"And night said: A man-child is brought forth."
Genesis 14: 15
Here as well the term night is believed to represent the archangel Lailah.
Lailah And The Birth of Humans
Not only with the night but the archangel is also said to oversee conception.
As for Jewish folklore, Lailah takes a drop of serum to the highest level of heaven and places it before god to bless. God would then command the archangel to take a soul from the tree of life and place it on the seed. Then God would decide the fate of the soul who is soon to be born into the human world except if the child is going to be good or evil. That God leaves to the free will of the child.
But the soul does not want to leave its heavenly home to go to the human world. It is archangel Lailah who convinces the soul to obey god’s command.
As she takes the soul to the human world from heaven Lailah tells stories about the human world to it. She would then place the blessed seed with the soul inside a woman’s womb who would soon be the mother of the soul. Unlike in heaven, the womb is a very dark place. So Lailah would stay with the soul inside the womb and keep it company.
She would light a candle inside the womb and read the book of life to it. she would then teach all the secrets of the human world including all human and animal languages. She would also tell the past of the soul and the future ahead. It is said the reason a pregnant mother suddenly feels hot is because of the candle Lailah has lit inside her womb.
By the time the baby is ready to be born it knows knowledge of the entire universe and all its secrets and so is now excited to see the human world and experience everything the angel has taught. But when it’s time to be born Lailah presses her finger on the lips of the baby and tells him to keep everything the baby learned in the past 9 months a secret.
As the angel press the finger on the baby’s lips it forgets all the knowledge. As it forgets the baby cries aloud and that is why every baby cry when it is being born. Because of Lailah’s finger, it forms two defined lines under the nose which will stay as a reminder of the time the baby shared in the womb with the angel and all the knowledge it forgot.
The angel will continue to actively watch over children until they turn 13 years old. After 13 years the angel will continue to stay with the child until the time of death but not as active as she used to. She would also assign a guardian angel to each child to protect them from evil. Even though the child forgot everything he learned from the angel he still remembers it in the back of his head. And that is why we sometimes feel as if we have already experienced something even though it is happening for the first time. This effect is commonly known as déjà vu but as for Jewish mythology, we are just remembering one of the stories Lailah told us back when we are in our mother’s womb.
Lailah And Her Lieutenants
The story further extends as angels Senoy, Sansenoy and Semangelof as lieutenants of Lailah. She would task the three lieutenants to protect the children from evil, especially Lilith.
Senoy, Sansenoy, and Semangelof mainly appear in the story of Lilith fleeing from the garden of Eden. It is these three angels God sent to force Lilith back to the garden. But Lilith refuse and demonized herself and also vowed to demonize other human children as well. God then placed the three angels Senoy, Sansenoy, and Semangelof under the archangel Lailah to protect the children.
As for these stories, it is Lailah who fights Lilith directly while her three lieutenants protect the children.
Lailah And Maera
Another deviation of the story says that the angel has a wolfhound named Maera. Maera was a wolfhound that lived in the garden of Eden.
When Lilith disobeyed god the wolfhound accompanied Lailah to fight Lilith and bless the unborn children. So Lailah is viewed as the opposite of Lilith who used the seed of souls for destruction while Lailah use it for creation. Both of them are related to the night as well.
Lailah And Jesus' Conception
Most notably Lailah played a role in Jesus' conception. It is said under god’s command Lailah took a soul and a seed from the tree of life and enthralled it with the Holy Spirit.
She then planted the seed on the soil collected by the angel Azrael who is the angel of death so that the seed would get a physical form. She then planted the seed in the virgin Mary’s womb. After Jesus was born Lailah continued to protect him, especially from Lilith.
Lailah Imprisoning Lucifer
Another interesting story related to Lailah is the role she played to trap Lucifer in the Great tomb which is the most secure prison in hell. As for the legend the great tomb which is also called the Lucifer’s tomb was created by archangel Jophiel.
Because Lucifer was once the favorite of God he was very powerful than all other angels. So the angels were aware that Lucifer would only obey and could be imprisoned on his own will. So on a night when Lucifer was resting under the night sky, Lailah created a constellation and danced across the stars which formed a powerful spell to make lucifer fall into a deep sleep. Once Lucifer is in his sleep archangel Michael appeared and restrained him with an unbreakable chain.
They then imprisoned him in the great tomb. As for some stories Lailah is not an archangel but a low-ranking angel who works under archangel Jophiel. But often it could be seen that most stories are inclined to view Lailah as an archangel.
Lailah's Presesnce
Despite being the angel of the night the angel is believed to inform her presence by a soft white glow with a soft yellow center.
When an infant is seemed as staring at an invisible entity it is said that the infant is seeing the angel.
Conclusion
Unlike most angels, it could be seen that Lailah shows distinct feminine characteristics. This could be considered a very unique aspect of the angel considering the fact that she is associated with night and darkness. Yet the angel could be considered one of the most considerate and gentle angelic beings mentioned in Jewish mythology.
Even though she is not so popular compared to other angels Lailah is one of the most prominent angels that directly interfere with humans and helps the existence of the human race.
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