Friday, April 11, 2008

Bibical, Bilical, etc. (for Biblical)

Lilith is as old as Adam and as serpentine as Eve, and, much like the two of them, she apparently came without an umbilical cord. But, unlike them, she isn't considered entirely Biblical. Her story—which is that she was Adam's first wife—is literally apocryphal; it does not appear in the Bible proper. Nevertheless, the Lilith brand has been incorporated into many cultures and over many centuries: a couple of contemporary references include Lilith Fair, a feminist music festival, and Lilith Sternin, Frasier Crane's unwholesome shrink of a wife on Cheers, played by Bebe Neuwirth. Bibical turns up nine times in OhioLINK—and two or three's company for each of the following: Bilical, Bilbical, and Biblcal. (Portrait of Eden's "Other Woman," Lilith by John Collier, 1892, from Wikimedia Commons.)

Carol Reid

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