Samael (Hebrew: סַמָּאֵל, Sammāʾēl, "Venom/Poison of God";1 Arabic: سمسمائيل, Samsama'il or سمائل, Samail; alternatively Smal, Smil, Samil, or Samiel)234 is an archangel in Talmudic and post-Talmudic lore; a figure who is the accuser or adversary (Satan in the Book of Job), seducer, and Destroying angel (in the Book of Exodus). Although many of his functions resemble the Christian notion of Satan, to the point of being sometimes identified as a fallen angel,567: 257–60 he is not necessarily evil, since his functions are also regarded as resulting in good, such as destroying sinners.3 He is considered in Midrashic texts to be a member of the heavenly host with often grim and destructive duties. One of Samael's greatest roles in Jewish lore is that of the main angel of death and the head of satans. Although he condones the sins of man, he remains one of God's servants. He appears frequently in the story of the Garden of Eden and engineered the fall of Adam and Eve with a snake in writings during the Second Temple period.5 However, the serpent is not a form of Samael, but a beast he rode like a camel.8 In a single account he is also believed to be the father of Cain,69 as well as the partner of Lilith. In early Talmudic and Midrashic literature he is not identified with Satan yet. Only in later Midrashim he is entitled "head of satans".10 In some Gnostic cosmologies, Samael's role as source of evil became identified with the Demiurge, the creator of the material world. Although probably both accounts originate from the same source, the Gnostic development differs from the Jewish development of Samael, in which Samael is merely an angel and servant of God. In the Zohar, one of Kabbalah's main works, Samael is described as a leader of the divine forces of destruction, being part of the qlippoth. He is mentioned again as the serpent's rider,8 and is described as having mated with Eisheth Zenunim, Na'amah, and Agrat bat Mahlat, all being "angels" of sacred prostitution.