Samyaza

Samyaza, also transliterated Semjaza or Shemyaza, is a figure in the Book of Enoch, a pseudepigraphal Jewish text. He is described as the leader of the Watchers, a group of 200 angels who descended to earth in the days of Jared and took human wives, with Samyaza commonly named as their chief.

According to the narrative, Samyaza persuaded the other Watchers to break their heavenly oath and join in unions with human women. The Watchers then imparted to humanity forbidden knowledge and arts, including sorcery, astrology, metalworking, and other crafts. The union produced offspring known as the Nephilim, a race of giants that distorted and corrupted the earth.

God responds by sending archangels to confront the Watchers. The fallen angels are judged and bound; Samyaza is described as one of the leaders who is to be imprisoned until the day of judgment. The event is presented as a major act of divine punishment for disobedience and for the widespread corruption that followed from the Watchers’ actions, culminating in the antediluvian flood.

In later Jewish and Christian tradition, Samyaza is often treated as a prototype of a fallen angel or demon and appears in various lists as the chief of the fallen hosts. The name has multiple transliterations (Semjaza, Shemyaza, Semyaza), reflecting its Hebrew and Aramaic roots. The Book of Enoch itself is non-canonical in most traditions, though it holds canonical status in the Ethiopian Orthodox Church and has influenced later demonology and apocalyptic thought.