Laylah, also transliterated Lailah, is the name meaning Night associated with an angel in the Babylonian Talmud. Two passages give the name distinctive settings: the beginning of human life and Abraham’s nighttime battle. Neither passage portrays this angel as a night demon.
The angel appointed over conception
In Niddah 16b, Rabbi Hanina bar Pappa describes the angel in charge of conception. The angel takes a drop before God and asks whether it will produce a strong or weak person, a wise person or a fool, and a rich or poor person. The Soncino English translation renders the angel’s name as Night.
The questions deliberately omit whether the person will be righteous or wicked. The discussion connects that omission with Rabbi Hanina’s teaching about the fear of God remaining outside what heaven determines. The story therefore distinguishes circumstances of life from moral responsibility.
Its image is a drop presented before God. It does not describe the angel carrying an unborn soul to a throne, and the passage alone does not establish a general office of guarding childbirth or gestation.
Night and Abraham’s battle
Sanhedrin 96a discusses the nighttime battle in Genesis 14. Rabbi Johanan reads the word lailah as the name of the angel appointed to help Abraham. The passage also records another interpretation connecting the assistance with the activity of the night and the stars.
These are interpretations within a rabbinic discussion, rather than details expressly named in the Genesis verse. Keeping the two Talmudic settings visible provides a more precise account of Laylah than a broad list of powers derived from the word night.
Explore related entries
Read Dumah, Suriel, the angel names A–Z index, or the guide to source traditions.