In this striking passage we see Lilith becoming the
consort of God! This resulting from God's regular
consort, the Matronit, being in exile. While they are
apart, the Matronit is abused by the left emanations (bad
guys) while Lilith takes her place at God's side. Keep in
mind here that 'God' in this context refers to one of the
emanations of God, not the absolute (Ein Sof). Of course,
it would be tempting to combine this with the 'Adam's
first wife' streams of the tradition, leaving us with a
story in which Lilith is at first rejected by Adam only
to be elevated to be the mate of God himself. I suspect,
however, that these stories come from different places
and cannot be justifiably combined.
Zohar 3:69a
One day the companions were walking
with Rabbi Shim'on bar Yohai. Rabbi Shim'on said: "We see
that all these nations have risen, and Israel is lower
than all of them. Why is this? Because the King [God]
sent away the Matronit from Him, and took the slave woman
[Lilith] in her place. Who is this slave woman? The Alien
Crown, whose firstborn the Holy One, blessed be He,
killed in Egypt. At first she sat behind the handmill,
and now this slave woman inherited the place of her
mistress." And Rabbi Shim'on wept and said: "The King
without the Matronit is not called king. The King who
adhered to the slave woman, to the handmaid of the
Matronit, where is his honor? He lost the Matronit and
attached Himself to the place which is called slave
woman. This slave woman was destined to rule over the
Holy Land of below, as the Matronit formerly ruled over
it. But the Holy One, blessed be He, will ultimately
bring back the Matronit to her place as before. And then,
what will be the rejoicing? Say, the rejoicing of the
King and the rejoicing of the Matronit. The rejoicing of
the King because He will return to her and separate from
the slave woman, and the rejoicing of the Matronit,
because she will return to couple with the King.
(Patai81:468)
