(לא) אַל־תִּפְנ֤וּ אֶל־הָאֹבֹת֙ וְאֶל־הַיִּדְּעֹנִ֔ים אַל־תְּבַקְשׁ֖וּ לְטׇמְאָ֣ה בָהֶ֑ם אֲנִ֖י ה' אֱלֹקֵיכֶֽם׃
(31) Do not turn to ghosts and do not inquire of familiar spirits, to be defiled by them: I the LORD am your God.
(6) And if any person turns to ghosts and familiar spirits and goes astray after them, I will set My face against that person and cut him off from among his people.
(10) Let no one be found among you who consigns his son or daughter to the fire, or who is an augur, a soothsayer, a diviner, a sorcerer,
(11) one who casts spells, or one who consults ghosts or familiar spirits, or one who inquires of the dead.
אוֹב ᴵ m.n. (pl. אוֹבוֹת) , skin bottle. [Of uncertain etymology. cp. אוֹב ᴵᴵ (a hapax legomenon occurring Job 32:19 in the pl.).]
אוֹב ᴵᴵ m.n. (pl. אוֹבוֹת) 1 necromancer, sorcerer. 2 ghost. [Of uncertain etymology. Some scholars connect this word with Arab. ’ā́ba (= he came back), so that אוֹב would denote the ghost coming back from the other world. cp. Fren. revenant (= ghost), properly subst. use of the pres. part. of revenir (= to come back). However, it is more prob. that אוֹב in the above sense is ultimately identical with אוֹב (= skin bottle), and would properly refer to the dull sounds made by the ghost. This etymology gains in probability if we compare Syr. זַכּוּרָא (= necromancer) with Arab. zúkra (= wine skin).]
The Torah: A Modern Commentary: Revised Edition (p. 802). CCAR Press. Kindle Edition.
(16) They incensed Him with alien things,
Vexed Him with abominations. (17) They sacrificed to demons, no-gods,
Gods they had never known,
New ones, who came but lately,
Who stirred not your fathers’ fears.-f
they sacrificed to demons.
The Torah: A Modern Commentary: Revised Edition (p. 1403). CCAR Press. Kindle Edition.
הַאי מַאן דְּבָעֵי לְמִידַּע לְהוּ לַיְיתֵי קִיטְמָא נְהִילָא, וְנַהְדַּר אַפּוּרְיֵיהּ, וּבְצַפְרָא חָזֵי כִּי כַּרְעֵי דְתַרְנְגוֹלָא. הַאי מַאן דְּבָעֵי לְמֶחֱזִינְהוּ, לַיְתֵי שִׁלְיְיתָא דְּשׁוּנָּרְתָּא אוּכַּמְתָּא בַּת אוּכַּמְתָּא בּוּכְרְתָא בַּת בּוּכְרְתָא, וְלִיקְלְיֵהּ בְּנוּרָא, וְלִשְׁחֲקֵיהּ, וְלִימְלֵי עֵינֵיהּ מִנֵּיהּ, וְחָזֵי לְהוּ.
Because fear of demons in bathrooms was pervasive, the Gemara relates: Abaye’s mother raised a lamb to accompany him to the bathroom. The Gemara objects: She should have raised a goat for him. The Gemara responds: A goat could be interchanged with a goat-demon. Since both the demon and the goat are called sa’ir, they were afraid to bring a goat to a place frequented by demons.
The Sages taught, for three reasons one may not enter a ruin: Because of suspicion of prostitution, because the ruin is liable to collapse, and because of demons. Three separate reasons seem extraneous, so the Gemara asks: Why was the reason because of suspicion necessary? Let this halakha be derived because of collapse.
מַזִּיק m. (נָזַק) one who does damage, destroys, wastes. Yoma 80ᵇ, sq. כי יאכל פרט למ׳ ‘if he eats’ (Lev. XXII, 14) which excludes him who wastes (by eating excessively).—In gen. (ה) מ׳ the offender that occasioned damage, opp. ניזק the injured claimant. B. Kam. I, 2; a. fr.—Pl. מַזִּיקִים, מַזִּיקִיו. Ib. III, 11, v. נָזַק.—Gen. R. s. 54 מַוִּיקֵי ביתו the annoyances of one’s house (flies &c.).—Esp. demons. Ber. 3ᵃ, sq. מפני המ׳ on account of the demons (dwelling in ruins). Num. R. s. 12, beg.; a. fr.
מַזִּיק, מַזִּיקָא ch. same , esp. demon. Targ. Cant. VIII, 3.—Kidd. 29ᵇ הוה ההוא מ׳ … דאביי there was a demon dwelling in Abbayi’s school house.—Pl. מַזִּיקַיָּא, מַזִּיקִין, מַזִּיקֵי. Targ. Job V, 7. Targ. Ps. LXXXIX, 33 (ed. Lag. מוז׳); a. e.—Ḥull. 105ᵇ משום דשכיחי מ׳ because demons frequent there; a. e.
they were all recorded in Your book;
in due time they were formed,
to the very last one of them.-a
וַיֹּאמֶר אֱלֹקִים נַעֲשֶׂה אָדָם בְּצַלְמֵנוּ כִּדְמוּתֵנוּ (בראשית א, כו),... אָמַר רַבִּי יִרְמְיָה בֶּן אֶלְעָזָר בְּשָׁעָה שֶׁבָּרָא הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא אֶת אָדָם הָרִאשׁוֹן, אַנְדְּרוֹגִינוֹס בְּרָאוֹ, הֲדָא הוּא דִכְתִיב (בראשית ה, ב): זָכָר וּנְקֵבָה בְּרָאָם. ...רַבִּי תַּנְחוּמָא בְּשֵׁם רַבִּי בְּנָיָה וְרַבִּי בֶּרֶכְיָה בְּשֵׁם רַבִּי אֶלְעָזָר אָמַר, בְּשָׁעָה שֶׁבָּרָא הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא אֶת אָדָם הָרִאשׁוֹן גֹּלֶם בְּרָאוֹ, וְהָיָה מוּטָל מִסּוֹף הָעוֹלָם וְעַד סוֹפוֹ, הֲדָא הוא דִכְתִיב (תהלים קלט, טז): גָּלְמִי רָאוּ עֵינֶיךָ וגו'.
... Said R’ Yirmiyah ben Elazar: In the hour when the Holy One created the first human, He created him [as] an androgyne/androginos, as it is said, “male and female He created them”.... R’ Tanchuma in the name of R’ Banayah and R’ B’rakhyah in the name of R’ Elazar said: In the time that the Holy One created Adam Harishon, [as] a golem He created him and he was set up from [one] end of the world and unto its [other] end – that’s what is written: “Your eyes saw my golem” [Ps 139:16]. ...
In the popular legend which adorned the figures of the leaders of the Ashkenazi ḥasidic movement with a crown of wonders, the golem became an actual creature who served his creators and fulfilled tasks laid upon him. Legends such as these began to make their appearance among German Jews in the 15th century and spread widely, so that by the 17th century they were "told by all" (according to Joseph Solomon *Delmedigo). In the development of the later legend of the golem there are three outstanding points:
(1) The legend is connected with earlier tales of the resurrection of the dead by putting the name of God in their mouths or on their arm, and by removing the parchment containing the name in reverse and thus causing their death. Such legends were widespread in Italy from the tenth century (in Megillat *Aḥima'az).
(2) It is related to ideas current in non-Jewish circles concerning the creation of an alchemical man (the "homunculus" of Paracelsus).
(3) The golem, who is the servant of his creator, develops dangerous natural powers; he grows from day to day, and in order to keep him from overpowering the members of the household he must be restored to his dust by removing or erasing the alef from his forehead.
https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/golem