The Angels Made Them Do It: The Origins of Evil
Many people have heard an excuse: “The devil made me do it.” The great tempter, the Adversary, is often blamed for humanity’s weakness and moral collapse. The story of evil and sin usually begins in the Garden of Eden, where the serpent persuades Chava to eat from the forbidden tree (Gen 3:1-6). Though the serpent in Genesis is never explicitly identified as Satan in the Hebrew Bible, later interpretations frequently conflate the two figures. Thus, for many modern readers, the entrance of sin and evil into the world begins with Adam, Eve, and the serpent.
Yet many Jews during the Second Temple period preserved another explanation for the origins of catastrophic evil and utter human corruption. Adam and Chava certainly brought upon humanity exile and suffering, but another event in Scripture was often viewed as the true turning point that plunged the world into irreversible violence and depravity. Immediately before the Flood narrative, Genesis records a startling statement:
The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great upon the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And ADONAI regretted that He had made man on the earth, and it grieved Him to His heart. (Gen 6:5–6)
The language is astonishing. Humanity had become so corrupt that God regretted creation itself. Very dramatic. But what caused such a collapse? Genesis offers only a cryptic clue:
The sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful, and they took wives for themselves from any they chose. (Gen 6:2)
These few lines of text in the Torah have generated an enormous number of deep spiritual discussions and speculations in the ancient Jewish world.
Pinchas Shir