Serpent seed

===Medieval Judaism===
The teaching also appeared in [[medieval]] Judaica. In his 1957 book ''Cain: Son of the Serpent'', [[David Max Eichhorn]] traces the belief that Cain was the son of the union between the serpent and Eve back to early Jewish [[Midrash]]ic texts which were composed between 800 CE and 1200 CE. Eichhorn identified rabbis who wrote about the topic,<ref name="Eichhorn, D. 1985"/> including a 9th-century book titled ''[[Pirke De-Rabbi Eliezer]]'' and the [[Zohar]].<ref name="Eichhorn, D. 1985">{{cite book|isbn=0-940646-19-6|title= Cain: Son of the Serpent|year=1985|publisher=Rossel Books}}</ref> In their version, Adam's first wife was [[Lilith]] and his second wife was Eve. Lilith became possessed by the spirit of God's wife and rebelled against Adam and became the mother of all demons. Eve was subsequently seduced by the serpent and became the mother of a race of evil men.<ref name="Eichhorn, D. 1985"/>

A later folk-version of the serpent seed doctrine was somewhat widespread in European Christianity during the [[Middle Ages]] and it ascribed the ancestry of legendary monsters such as [[Grendel]] to Cain.<ref>{{cite book
|last=Routh 
|first=James Edward 
|title=Two Studies on the Ballad Theory of the Beowulf
|date=1905
|publisher=J. H. Furst Company
|location=Baltimore
|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1gPXAAAAMAAJ
|access-date=April 24, 2021
|via=Google Books
}}</ref>

The [[Aramaic]] [[Targum Pseudo-Jonathan]] contains passages referencing the serpent seed concept. The targum was referenced by Rabbi [[Menahem Recanati]] (1250–1310) in his Perush 'Al ha-Torah.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.hebrewbooks.org/pdfpager.aspx?req=21617&hilite=bb8c4550-29f4-4410-b27d-87ffb8c46133&st=%D7%9B%D7%9C%D7%91&pgnum=84|title=פירוש על התורה לר' מנחם מרקנאטי - רקנטי, מנחם בן בנימין (page 84 of 309)|website=www.hebrewbooks.org}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.hebrewbooks.org/pdfpager.aspx?req=21617&hilite=0dbc5c32-bcb5-4682-a437-13d38908f426&st=%D7%9B%D7%9C%D7%91&pgnum=85|title=פירוש על התורה לר' מנחם מרקנאטי - רקנטי, מנחם בן בנימין (page 85 of 309)|website=www.hebrewbooks.org}}</ref> The age of the writing is disputed. A 2006 analysis by [[Beverly Mortensen]] dates Targum Pseudo-Jonathan to the 4th century and regards it as a manual for [[kohanim]].<ref>The Priesthood in Targum Pseudo-Jonathan: Renewing the Profession (Studies in Aramaic Interpretation of Scripture 4), Brill Academic Publishers, 2006</ref> Gavin McDowell's analyses suggested the document was created in the early 1200s because it includes excerpts from writings from the 1100s.<ref>{{cite journal|url=https://brill.com/view/journals/arst/19/1/article-p121_8.xml#:~:text=Targum%20Pseudo%2DJonathan%20is%20known,to%20Samuel%20Cases%20of%20Mantua.|author=McDowell, Gavin|title=The Date and Provenance of Targum Pseudo-Jonathan: The Evidence of Pirqe deRabbi Eliezer and the Chronicles of Moses|journal=Aramaic Studies |date=2021 |volume=19 |pages=121–154 |doi=10.1163/17455227-bja10018 |s2cid=236622964 |accessdate=2022-09-07}}</ref>

In Targum Pseudo-Jonathan, the serpent is an angelic being named [[Samael]].
{{blockquote|text= And the Woman beheld Sammael, the angel of death, and was afraid; yet she knew that the tree was good to eat, and that it was medicine for the enlightenment of the eyes, and desirable tree by means of which to understand. And she took of its fruit, and did eat; and she gave to her husband with her, and he did eat. 
|title=''Pseudo-Jonathan'' Genesis 3:6
|author=Targum
}}
And again, in Targum Pseudo-Jonathan..
{{blockquote|text= And Adam knew Hava his wife, who had desired the Angel; and she conceived, and bare Kain; and she said, I have acquired a man, the Angel of the Lord. 
|title=''Pseudo-Jonathan'' Genesis 4:1
|author=Targum
}}
So Adam knew his wife Eve/Hava, who desired the Angel ([[Samael]]), aka "The Serpent, Satan & The Destroyer" in Judaism & Talmudic Lore. And then she bore Kain. In one account [[Samael]] is also believed to be the father of [[Cain]],<ref name=Patai>{{Cite book |first=Raphael |last=Patai |title=Encyclopedia of Jewish Folklore and Traditions |publisher=[[Routledge]] |location=London|date=2015 |isbn=978-1317471714 |page=463}}</ref><ref>[http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/13055-samael Jewish Encyclopedia – Samael]</ref> as well as the partner of [[Lilith]]. The relationship between Samael and Lilith is depicted in the [[Sigil of Baphomet]], the official insignia of the [[Church of Satan]].