Samyaza (Hebrew: שַׁמְּחֲזַי Šamməḥăzay; Imperial Aramaic: שְׁמִיעָזָא Šəmīʿāzāʾ; Greek: Σεμιαζά; Arabic: ساميارس, Samyarus[1][2]), also Shamhazai, Aza or Ouza, is a fallen angel of apocryphal Abrahamic traditions and Manichaeism as the leader of the Watchers.
It is also spelled "Samyaza", "Shemhazai", "Samiaza(z)", "Semiaza", "Shamazya", "Shemyazaz", "Shemihazah", "Shemyaza", "Sêmîazâz", "Semjâzâ", "Samjâzâ", "Šemihaza", and "Semyaza".
[3][4] The scholars lean towards the Semitic etymology of this appellation which contains the letters shin (ש) and mem (מ), thus suggesting the derivation from either “name” (Heb.
[5] In the Book of Enoch, one of the apocryphal writings, Samyaza is portrayed as the leader of a band of angels called "sons of God" or "Watchers" (grigori in Greek).
Samyaza is introduced in Book 6, heading a meeting of a total of 200 angels, wherein they discuss their desire to consummate with human women:[3] And Semjâzâ, who was their leader, said unto them: "I fear ye will not indeed agree to do this deed, and I alone shall have to pay the penalty of a great sin."
[7]The text does not elucidate the identity of Samyaza who appears nowhere else in the corpus, but clearly portrays him as the grandfather of Og, the king of Bashan and the last of Rephaim known for his gigantic height and strength (Deuteronomy 3:11).