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The Testament of
Solomon, translated by F. C. Conybeare
This digital edition by Joseph H. Peterson, Copyright © 1997. All rights
reserved.
This text is an Old Testament Pseudepigraphic catalog of demons
summoned by King Solomon, and how they can be countered by invoking angels and
other magical techniques. It is one of the oldest magical texts attributed to
King Solomon, dating First to Third Century A.D. Translation is by F. C.
Conybeare, Jewish Quarterly Review, October, 1898. Compare with the
translation of D. C. Duling in
Old Testament
Pseudepigrapha volume
1, Edited by James H. Charlesworth, Doubleday, 1983, p. 935 ff.
I
have noted the original page numbers like this: [1]. I have renumbered the
footnotes to follow each verse. Footnotes in [] by J.H. Peterson.
[15]
The Testament of
Solomon
|
(translated from
the codex of the Paris Library, after the edition of Fleck, Wissensch.
Reise, bd. ii. abth. 3)
Greek title:--
|
NOTES:
|
|
1. Testament of
Solomon, son of David, who was king in Jerusalem, and mastered and
controlled all spirits of the air, on the earth, and under the earth. By
means of them also he wrought all the transcendent works of the Temple.
Telling also of the authorities they wield against men, and by what angels
these demons are brought to naught.
Of the sage Solomon.
Blessed art thou,
O Lord God, who didst give Solomon such authority. Glory to thee and might
unto the ages. Amen. |
|
2. And behold, when the Temple of
the city of Jerusalem was being built, and the artificers were working
thereat, Ornias the demon came among them toward sunset; and he
took away half of the pay of the chief-deviser's (?)1 little boy,
as well as half his food.
[16] He also continued to
suck the thumb of his right hand every day. And the child grew thin,
although he was very much loved by the king. |
1. [D: master
workman’s ] |
|
3. So King Solomon
called the boy one day, and questioned him, saying: "Do I not love thee more
than all the artisans who are working in the Temple of God? Do I not give
thee double wages and a double supply of food? How is it that day by day and
hour by hour thou growest thinner?"
4. But the child
said to the king: "I pray thee, O king. Listen to what has befallen all that
thy child hath. After we are all released from our work on the Temple of
God, after sunset, when I lie down to rest, one of the evil demons comes and
takes away from me one half of my pay and one half of my food. Then he also
takes hold of my right hand and sucks my thumb. And lo, my soul is
oppressed, and so my body waxes thinner every day." |
|
5. Now when I
Solomon heard this, I entered the Temple of God, and prayed with all my
soul, night and day, that the demon might be delivered into my hands, and
that I might gain authority over him. And it came about through my prayer
that grace was given to me from the Lord Sabaoth by Michael his
archangel. [He brought me] a little ring, having a seal consisting of an
engraved stone, and said to me: "Take, O Solomon, king, son of David, the
gift which the Lord God has sent thee, the highest Sabaoth. With it thou
shalt lock up all demons of the earth, male and female; and with their help
thou shalt build up Jerusalem. [But] thou [must] wear this seal of God. And
this engraving of the seal of the ring sent thee is a Pentalpha."2
|
2. [D omits the
last sentence.] |
|
6. And I Solomon
was overjoyed, and praised and glorified the God of heaven and earth. And on
the morrow I called the boy, and gave him the ring, and said to him: "take
this, and at the hour in which the demon shall come unto thee, throw this
ring at the chest of the demon, and say to him: 'In the name of God, King
Solomon calls thee hither.3' And then do thou come running to me,
without having any misgivings or fear in respect of aught thou mayest hear
on the part of the demon." |
3. [D: Come!
Solomon summons you!] |
|
7. So the child took the ring, and
went off; and behold, at the
[17] customary hour
Ornias, the fierce demon, came like a burning fire to take the pay from
the child. But the child according to the instructions received from the
king, threw the ring at the chest of the demon, and said: "King Solomon
calls thee hither." And then he went off at a run to the king. But the demon
cried out aloud, saying: "Child, why hast thou done this to me? Take the
ring off me, and I will render to thee the gold of the earth. Only take this
off me, and forbear to lead me away to Solomon4."
|
4. [D: Remove the
ring and give it back to Solomon] |
|
8. But the child
said to the demon: "As the Lord God of Israel liveth, I will not brook thee.
So come hither." And the child came at a run, rejoicing, to the king, and
said: "I have brought the demon, O king, as thou didst command me, O my
master. And behold, he stands before the gates of the court of thy palace,
crying out, and supplicating with a loud voice; offering me the silver and
gold of the earth if I will only bring him unto thee5."
|
5. [D: would not
deliver him to you.] |
|
9. And when
Solomon heard this, he rose up from his throne, and went outside into the
vestibule of the court of his palace; and there he saw the demon, shuddering
and trembling. And he said to him: "Who art thou?" And the demon answered:
"I am called Ornias." |
|
10. And Solomon
said to him: "Tell me, O demon, to what zodiacal sign thou art subject." And
he answered: "To the Water-pourer6. And those who are consumed
with desire for the noble virgins upon earth . . . . . [there appears to be
a lacuna here], these I strangle7. But in case there is no
disposition to sleep8, I am changed into three forms. Whenever
men come to be enamoured of women, I metamorphose myself into a comely
female; and I take hold of the men in their sleep, and play with them. And
after a while I again take to my wings, and hie me to the heavenly regions.
I also appear as a lion, and I am commanded by all the demons. I am
offspring of the archangel Uriel9, the power of God."
|
6. [D: Aquarius.]
7. [D: I strangle
those who reside in Aquarius because of their passion for women whose
zodiacal sign is Virgo.]
8. [D: while in a
trance...]
9. [D: Ouriel.]
|
|
11. I Solomon, having heard the name
of the archangel, prayed and glorified God, the Lord of heaven and earth.
And I sealed the
[18] demon and set him to
work at stone-cutting, so that he might cut the stones in the Temple, which,
lying along the shore, had been brought by the Sea of Arabia. But he,
fearful of the iron, continued and said to me: "I pray thee, King Solomon,
let me go free; and I will bring you all the demons." And as he was not
willing to be subject to me, I prayed the archangel Uriel to come and
succour me; and I forthwith beheld the archangel Uriel coming down to me
from the heavens. |
|
12. And the angel
bade the whales10 of the sea come out of the abyss. And he cast
his destiny upon the ground, and that [destiny] made subject [to him] the
great demon11. And he commanded the great demon and bold
Ornias, to cut stones at the Temple12. And accordingly I
Solomon glorified the God of heaven and Maker of the earth. And he bade
Ornias come with his destiny, and gave him the seal, saying: "Away with
thee, and bring me hither the prince of all the demons." |
10. [D: sea
monsters. ... The sea monsters are named Behemoth (the male) and Leviathan
(the female) in 4Ezra 6:48-52, 1En 60:7.]
11. [D: he
withered up their species and cast his fate to the ground]
12. [D adds: and
to bring to completion the construction of the Temple] |
|
13. So Ornias
took the finger-ring, and went off to Beelzeboul, who has kingship
over the demons. He said to him: "Hither! Solomon calls thee." But
Beelzeboul, having heard, said to him: "Tell me, who is this Solomon of
whom thou speakest to me?" Then Ornias threw the ring at the chest
of Beelzeboul, saying: "Solomon the king calls thee." But
Beelzeboul cried aloud with a mighty voice, and shot out a great
burning flame of fire; and he arose, and followed Ornias, and came
to Solomon.
14. And when I saw
the prince of demons, I glorified the Lord God, Maker of heaven and earth,
and I said: "Blessed art thou, Lord God Almighty, who hast given to Solomon
thy servant wisdom, the assessor of the wise, and hast subjected unto me all
the power of he devil." |
|
15. And I questioned him, and said:
"Who art thou?" The demon replied: "I am Beelzebub, the exarch of the
demons. And all
[19] the demons have their
chief seats close to me. And I it is who make manifest the apparition of
each demon."13 And he promised to bring to me in bonds all the
unclean spirits. And I again glorified the God of heaven and earth, as I do
always give thanks to him. |
13. [D: The demon
said, "I am Beelzeboul, the ruler of the demons." I demanded that without
interruption he sit next to me and explain the manifestations of the
demons.] |
|
16. I then asked
of the demon if there were females among them. And when he told me that
there were, I said that I desired to see them. So Beelzeboul went off at
high speed, and brought unto me Onoskelis, that had a very pretty shape, and
the skin of a fair-hued woman; and she tossed her head14.
|
14. [D: "... fair
complexion, but her legs were those of a mule." Onoskelis means "she who has
ass's legs."] |
|
17. And when she
was come, I said to her: "Tell me who art thou?" But she said to me: "I am
called Onoskelis, a spirit wrought ...[?shabtai/Saturn?]15,
lurking upon the earth. There is a golden cave where I lie. But I have a
place that ever shifts16. At one time I strangle men with a
noose; at another, I creep up from the nature to the arms [in marg: "worms"]17.
But my most frequent dwelling-places are the precipices, caves, ravines.
Oftentimes, however, do I consort with men in the semblance of a woman, and
above all with those of a dark skin18. For they share my star
with me; since they it is who privily or openly worship my star, without
knowing that they harm themselves, and but whet my appetite for further
mischief. For they wish to provide money by means of memory (commemoration?)19,
but I supply a little to those who worship me fairly." |
15. [D: My name is
Onoskelis. I am a spirit which has been made into a body.]
16. [D: I have a
many sided character.]
17. [D: I pervert
them from their true natures.]
18. [D:
honey-colored]
19. [D: by
remembering (me)] |
|
18. And I Solomon
questioned her about her birth, and she replied: "I was born of a voice
untimely, the so-called echo of a man's ordure20 dropped in a
wood."21 |
20. For the demon
born of an echo we have an analogue in the Hebrew Bath Kol, "the daughter of
a voice." In the Gnostic Hymn to Hermes, edited by Dieterich, Abrasax,
p 19, we read, l. 104...
21. [D: I was
generated from an unexpected voice which is called a voice of the echo of a
black (lead?) heaven, emitted in matter. (meaning uncertain)]
|
|
19. And I said to her: "Under what
star dost thou pass?" And she answered me: "Under the star of the full moon,
for the reason that the moon travels over most things." Then I said to her:
"And
[20] what angel is it that
frustrates thee?" And she said to me: "He that in thee [or "through thee"]
is reigning." And I thought that she mocked me, and bade a soldier strike
her. But she cried aloud, and said: "I am [subjected] to thee, O king, by
the wisdom of God given to thee, and by the angel Joel."22
|
22. [Instead of
"and by the angel Joel." D reads "So I uttered the name of the Holy One of
Israel and..."] |
|
20. So I commanded
her to spin the hemp for the ropes used in the building of the house of God;
and accordingly, when I had sealed and bound her, she was so overcome and
brought to naught as to stand night and day spinning the hemp.
21. And I at once
bade another demon to be led unto me; and instantly there approached me the
demon Asmodeus23, bound, and I asked him: "Who art thou?" But he
shot on me a glance of anger and rage, and said: "And who art thou?" And I
said to him: "Thus punished as thou art, answerest thou me?" But he, with
rage, said to me: "But how shall I answer thee, for thou art a son of man;
whereas I was born an angel's seed by a daughter of man, so that no word of
our heavenly kind addressed to the earth-born can be overweening24.
Wherefore also my star is bright in heaven, and men call it, some the Wain25,
and some the dragon's child. I keep near unto this star. So ask me not many
things; for thy kingdom also after a little time is to be disrupted, and thy
glory is but for a season. And short will be thy tyranny over us; and then
we shall again have free range over mankind, so as that they shall revere us
as if we were gods, not knowing, men that they are, the names of the angels
set over us." |
23. [Asmodeus also
appears in Tobit 3:8, and is ultimately derived from the
Avestan
demon Aeshma-daeva ("demon of wrath"). -JHP]
24. [arrogant.]
25. [D: Great
Bear.] |
|
22. And I Solomon,
on hearing this, bound him more carefully, and ordered him to be flogged
with thongs of ox-hide26, and to tell me humbly what was his name
and what his business. And he answered me thus: "I am called Asmodeus among
mortals, and my business is to plot against the newly wedded, so that they
may not know one another. And I sever them utterly by many calamities, and I
waste away the beauty of virgin women, and estrange their hearts."
|
26. [D: flogged
with a rod] |
|
23. And I said to him: "Is this thy
only business?" And he answered me: "I transport men into fits of madness
and desire, when they have wives of their own, so that they leave them, and
go off by
[21] night and day to others
that belong to other men; with the result that they commit sin, and fall
into murderous deeds.27" |
27. [D: I spread
(or, I *sting to ?) madness about women through the stars, and I have
often committed a rash of murders.] |
|
24. And I adjured
him by the name of the Lord Sabaôth, saying: "Fear God, Asmodeus, and tell
me by what angel thou art frustrated." But he said: "By Raphael, the
archangel that stands before the throne of God. But the liver and gall of a
fish put me to flight, when smoked over ashes of the tamarisk28."
I again asked him, and said: "Hide not aught from me. For I am Solomon, son
of David, King of Israel. Tell me the name of the fish which thou reverest."
And he answered: "It is the Glanos29 by name, and is found in the
rivers of Assyria; wherefore it is that I roam about in those parts."
|
28. [D: smoking on
coals of charcoal. Compare Tobit, where Raphael instructs him in the
use of the gall, heart, and liver for various cures.]
29. [D: "sheatfish",
a large catfish. Gk. ho, hê glanis.] |
|
25. And I said to
him: "Hast thou nothing else about thee, Asmodeus?" And he answered: "The
power of God knoweth, which hath bound me with the indissoluble bonds of
yonder one's seal, that whatever I have told thee is true. I pray thee, King
Solomon, condemn me not to [go into] water." But I smiled, and said to him:
"As the Lord God of my fathers liveth, I will lay iron on thee to wear. But
thou shalt also make the clay for the entire construction of the Temple,
treading it down with thy feet." And I ordered them to give him ten
water-jars to carry water in. And the demon groaned terribly, and did the
work I ordered him to do. And this I did, because that fierce demon Asmodeus
knew even the future. And I Solomon glorified God, who gave wisdom to me
Solomon his servant. And the liver of the fish and its gall I hung on the
spike of a reed30, and burned it over Asmodeus because of his
being so strong, and his unbearable malice was thus frustrated.
|
30. [D: liver and
gall of the fish, along with a branch of storax.] |
26. And I summoned again to stand
before me Beelzeboul, the prince of demons, and I sat him down on a raised
seat of honour, and said to him: "Why art thou alone, prince of the demons?"
And he said to me: "Because I alone am left of the angels of heaven that
came down32. For I was first angel in the first heaven being
entitled Beelzeboul. And now I control all those who are bound in Tartarus.
But I too have a child33, and he haunts the Red Sea. And on any
suitable occasion he comes up to me again, being subject to me; and reveals
to me what he has done, and I support him.34
[22] |
31. [D omits "on a
raised seat of honour"]
32. [i.e.
fell]
33. [D: There also
accompanied me another ungodly (angel)]
34. [D: when he is
ready, he will come in triumph.] |
|
27. I Solomon said
unto him: "Beelzeboul, what is thy employment?" And he answered me: "I
destroy kings.35 I ally myself with foreign tyrants. And my own
demons I set on36 to men, in order that the latter may believe in
them and be lost. And the chosen servants of God, priests and faithful men,
I excite unto desires for wicked sins, and evil heresies, and lawless deeds;
and they obey me, and I bear them on to destruction. And I inspire men with
envy, and [desire for] murder, and for wars and sodomy, and other evil
things. And I will destroy the world."37 |
35. [D: I bring
destruction by means of tyrants]
36. [D: to be
worshipped]
37. [So MS P. D
reads simply "I bring about jealousies and murders in a country, and I
instigate wars."] |
|
28. So I said to
him: "Bring to me thy child, who is, as thou sayest, in the Red Sea." But he
said to me: "I will not bring him to thee. But there shall come to me
another demon called Ephippas38. Him will I bind, and he will
bring him up from the deep unto me." And I said to him: "How comes thy son
to be in the depth of the sea, and what is his name? "And he answered me:
"Ask me not, for thou canst not learn from me. However, he will come to thee
by any command, and will tell thee openly."39 |
38. [According to
D, Ephippas is an Arabian wind demon.]
39. [D adds: So I
said to him, "Tell me in which star you reside." "The one called by men the
Evening Star."] |
|
29. I said to him:
"Tell me by what angel thou art frustrated." And he answered: "By the holy
and precious name of the Almighty God, called by the Hebrews by a row of
numbers, of which the sum is 644, and among the Greeks it is Emmanuel1.
And if one of the Romans adjure me by the great name of the power Eleéth, I
disappear at once." |
1. The text must
be faulty, for the word Emmanuel is the Hebrew. The sum 644 is got by adding
together the Greek numbers. |
|
30. I Solomon was
astounded when I heard this; and I ordered him to saw up Theban1
marbles. And when he began to saw the marbles, the other demons cried out
with a loud voice, howling because of their king Beelzeboul.
|
1. We hear of
Pentelic marble in Strabo, but the reference in the text may be to Thebes in
Egypt. |
|
31. But I Solomon questioned him,
saying: "If thou wouldst gain a respite, discourse to me about the things in
heaven." And Beelzeboul said: "Hear, O king, if thou burn gum, and incense,
and bulb of the sea1, with nard and saffron, and light seven
lamps in an earthquake2, thou wilt firmly fix thy house. And if,
being pure3,
[23] thou light them at dawn
in the sun alight, then wilt thou see the heavenly dragons, how they wind
themselves along and drag the chariot of the sun." |
1. Perhaps the
"sea-bulbs" were the balls of hair-like texture which the sea washes up on
Mediterranean shores, e.g. in Tunisia.
2. Perhaps "in a
row," should be read.
3. For the
condition here insisted on cp. Dieterich, Abrasax, p. 141, where in
an incantation ceremonial purity is similarly insisted on. The ritual of a
magic papyrus given by Dieterich, p. 169, is very similar to that here
prescribed in the Testament. |
|
32. And I Solomon,
having heard this, rebuked him, and said: "Silence for this present1,
and continue to saw the marbles as I commanded thee." And I Solomon praised
God, and commanded another demon to present himself to me. And one came
before me who carried his face high up in the air, but the rest of the
spirit curled away like a snail. And it broke through the few soldiers, and
raised also a terrible dust on the ground, and carried it upwards; and then
again hurled it back to frighten us, and asked what questions I could ask as
a rule. And I stood up, and spat2 on the ground in that spot, and
sealed with the ring of God. And forthwith the dust-wind stopped. Then I
asked him, saying: "Who art thou, O wind?" Then he once more shook up a
dust, and answered me: "What wouldst thou have, King Solomon?" I answered
him: "Tell me what thou art called, and I would fain ask thee a question.
But so far I give thanks to God who has made me wise to answer their evil
plots." |
1. So Luke xxii.
51.
2. For the use of
spittle to produce a cure or other effect in a magical way, cp. Mark vii. 33
and viii. 23. In John ix. 6, Jesus, we read, "spat on the ground, and made
clay of the spittle, and anointed the eyes with the clay." Of this magic use
of spittle Pliny, in his Natural History, gives numerous examples. It
was common in antiquity. |
|
33. But [the demon] answered me: "I
am the spirit of the ashes (Tephras)." And I said to him: "What is thy
pursuit?" And he said: "I bring darkness on men, and set fire to fields; and
I bring homesteads to naught. But most busy am I in summer. However, when I
get an opportunity, I creep into corners of the wall, by night and day. For
I am offspring of the great one, and nothing less." Accordingly I said to
him: "Under what star dost thou lie?" And he answered: "In the very tip of
the moon's horn, when it is found in the south. There is my star. For I have
been bidden to restrain the convulsions of the hemitertian fever; and this
is why many men pray to the hemitertian fever, using these three names:
Bultala, Thallal,
[24] Melchal. And I heal
them." And I said to him: "I am Solomon; when therefore thou wouldst do
harm, by whose aid dost thou do it?" But he said to me: "By the angel's, by
whom also the third day's fever is lulled to rest." So I questioned him, and
said: "And by what name1?" And he answered: "That of the
archangel Azael." And I summoned the archangel Azael, and set a seal on the
demon, and commanded him to seize great stones, and toss them up to the
workmen on the higher parts of the Temple. And, being compelled, the demon
began to do what he was bidden to do. |
1. Cp. Acts iv. 7.
|
|
34. And I
glorified God afresh who gave me this authority, and ordered another demon
to come before me. And there came seven spirits1, females, bound
and woven together, fair in appearance and comely. And I Solomon, seeing
them, questioned them and said: "Who are ye?" But they, with one accord,
said with one voice2: "We are of the thirty-three elements of the
cosmic ruler of the darkness3." And the first said: "I am
Deception." The second said: "I am Strife." The third: "I am Klothod, which
is battle." The fourth: "I am Jealousy." The fifth: "I am Power." The sixth:
"I am Error." The seventh: "I am the worst of all, and our stars are in
heaven. Seven stars humble in sheen, and all together. And we are called as
it were goddesses. We change our place all and together, and together we
live, sometimes in Lydia, sometimes in Olympus, sometimes in a great
mountain." |
1. The Pleiades
seem to be referred to. Cp. Job xxxviii. 31, in the Revised Version: "Canst
thou bind the cluster of the Pleiades?" They had a malign influence. The
grouping of evil spirits by sevens is common in Babylonian and Jewish
folk-lore. As examples I may cite the Testamentum of Reuben, ch. 2,
and the seven evil spirits of the N.T. Possibly, however, the Seven Planets
are here in question; though this is unlikely, for they do not tally with
the description given.
2. Rom. xv. 6 has
the same phrase. For "thirty-three" we should read "thirty-six" elements.
Note that later in the Testament these seven spirits are not among
the Kosmokrators, a proof that the document before us is a composite one.
3. Paul speaks of
the Kosmokrators in Eph. vi. 12: "Our wrestling is not against flesh and
blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the
world-rulers of this darkness." See Iren. Haer. I. i. 10.
|
35. So I Solomon questioned them one
by one, beginning with the first, and going down to the seventh. The first
said: "I am Deception, I deceive and weave snares here and there. I whet and
excite heresies. But I have an angel who frustrates me, Lamechalal."
[25]
36. Likewise also
the second said: "I am Strife, strife of strifes. I bring timbers, stones,
hangers, my weapons on the spot. But I have an angel who frustrates me,
Baruchiachel." |
|
37. Likewise also
the third said: "I am called Klothod1, which is Battle, and I
cause the well-behaved to scatter and fall foul one of the other. And why do
I say so much? I have an angel that frustrates me: "Marmarath."
|
1. Fabricius, Cod.
Pseudepigr. V.T. vol. I, p. 1047, reads Klothon, which must be i.q.
Kludun, which Hesychius explains thus: ... |
38. Likewise also
the fourth said: "I cause men to forget their sobriety and moderation. I
part them and split them into parties; for Strife follows me hand in hand. I
rend the husband from the sharer of his bed, and children from parents, and
brothers from sisters. But why tell so much to my despite? I have an angel
that frustrates me, the great Balthial."
|
|
39. Likewise also
the fifth said: "I am Power. By power I raise up tyrants and tear down
kings. To all rebels I furnish power. I have an angel that frustrates me,
Asteraôth."1 |
1. D: Asteraoth.
Cp. 1Kgs 11:5. -JHP |
|
40. Likewise also
the sixth said: "I am Error1, O King Solomon. And I will make
thee to err, as I have before made thee to err, when I caused thee to slay
thy own brother2. I will lead you into error, so as to pry into
graves3; and 1 teach them that dig, and I lead errant souls away
from all piety, and many other evil traits are mine. But I have an angel
that frustrates me, Uriel." |
1. Cp. Testam. of
Symeon, ch. 3.
2. See I Kings ii.
25.
3. A reference to
necromancy, of which the object was to oblige the spirit of the dead to
enter oneself. |
|
41. Likewise also
the seventh said: "I am the worst, and I make thee worse off than thou wast;
because I will impose the bonds of Artemis. But the locust1 will
set me free, for by means thereof is it fated that thou shalt achieve my
desire . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . For if one were wise, he would not
turn his steps toward me." |
1. This refers to
the closing incident narrated in the Testament, the sacrificing by
Solomon of five locusts to Moloch. Tatian, Orat. ad Graecos, cap. 12,
speaks of Artemis magos. She is the same as Hecate. |
42. So I Solomon, having heard and
wondered, sealed them with my ring; and since they were so considerable, I
bade them dig the foundations of the Temple of God. For the length of it was
250 cubits. And I bade them be industrious, and with one murmur of joint
protest they began to perform the tasks enjoined.
[26]
43. But I Solomon
glorified the Lord, and bade another demon come before me. And there was
brought to me a demon having all the limbs of a man, but without a head. And
I, seeing him, said to him: "Tell me, who art thou?'' And he answered: "I am
a demon." So I said to him: "Which?" And he answered me: "I am called Envy.
For I delight to devour heads, being desirous to secure for myself a head;
but I do not eat enough, but am anxious to have such a head as thou hast."
|
|
44. I Solomon, on
hearing this, sealed him, stretching out my hand against his chest. Whereon
the demon leapt up, and threw himself down, and gave a groan, saying: "Woe
is me! where am I come to? O traitor Ornias, I cannot see!" So I said to
him: "I am Solomon. Tell me then how thou dost manage to see." And he
answered me: "By means of my feelings." I then, Solomon, having heard his
voice come up to me, asked him how he managed to speak. And he answered me:
"I, O King Solomon, am wholly voice, for I have inherited the voices of many
men. For in the case of all men who are called dumb, I it is who smashed
their heads, when they were children and had reached their eighth day. Then
when a child is crying in the night, I become a spirit, and glide by means
of his voice. . . . In the crossways1 also I have many services
to render, and my encounter is fraught with harm. For I grasp in all instant
a man's head, and with my hands, as with a sword, I cut it off, and put it
on to myself. And in this way, by means of the fire which is in me, through
my neck it is swallowed up. I it is that sends grave mutilations and
incurable on men's feet, and inflict sores." |
1. This seems the
sense of enodiais, unless understood, trivialibus dis, "to the
demons of the wayside or cross-road." Hecate was such a goddess, and in
C.I. 26 we have mention of a daimon enodia, the Latin Trivia. As
a subst. the neut. plur. enodia: = blisters caused by walking, in
Theophr, Sud. 15. |
|
45. And I Solomon,
on hearing this, said to him: "Tell me how thou dost discharge forth the
fire? Out of what sources dost thou emit it?" And the spirit said to me:
"From the Day-star1. For here hath not yet been found that
Elburion, to whom men offer prayers and kindle lights. And his name is
invoked by the seven demons before me. And he cherishes them."
|
1. Or, "from the
Orient." |
|
46. But I said to him: "Tell me his
name." But he answered: "I cannot tell thee. For if I tell his name, I
render myself incurable. But he will come in response to his name." And on
hearing this, I Solomon said to him: "Tell me then, by what angel thou art
frustrated?" And he answered: "By the fiery flash of lightning."
[27] And I bowed myself
before the Lord God of Israel, and bade him remain in the keeping of
Beelzeboul until Iax1 should come. |
1. Bornemann
conjectures "a guardian or watcher." But the angel Iax recurs below in # 86.
|
|
47. Then I ordered
another demon to come before me, and there came into my presence a hound,
having a very large shape, and it spoke with a loud voice, and said, "Hail,
Lord, King Solomon!" And I Solomon was astounded. I said to it: Who art
thou, O hound?" And it answered: "I do indeed seem to thee to be a hound,
but before thou wast, O King Solomon, I was a man that wrought many unholy
deeds on earth. I was surpassingly learned in letters, and was so mighty
that I could hold the stars of heaven back. And many divine works did I
prepare. For I do harm to men who follow after our star, and turn them to .
. . .1 And I seize the frenzied men by the larynx, and so destroy
them." |
1. The MS. has a
vox nihili. Can it mean "her that is born of echo" (see above, p. 19,
n. 8).? |
|
48. And I Solomon
said to him: "What is thy name?" And he answered: ''Staff" (Rabdos). And I
said to him: "What is thine employment? And what results canst thou
achieve?" And he replied: ''Give me thy man, and I will lead him away into a
mountainous spot, and will show him a green stone tossed to and fro, with
which thou mayest adorn the temple of the Lord God." |
|
49. And I Solomon,
on hearing this, ordered my servant to set off with him, and to take the
finger-ring bearing the seal of God with him. And I said to him: "Whoever
shall show thee the green stone, seal him with this finger-ring. And mark
the spot with care, and bring me the demon hither. And the demon showed him
the green stone, and he sealed it, and brought the demon to me. And I
Solomon decided to confine with my seal on my right hand the two, the
headless demon, likewise the hound, that was so huge1; he should
be bound as well. And I bade the hound keep safe the fiery spirit so that
lamps as it were might by day and night cast their light through its maw on
the artisans at work. |
1. The text seems
corrupt here. |
|
50. And I Solomon took from the mine
of that stone 200 shekels for the supports of the table of incense, which
was similar in appearance. And I Solomon glorified the Lord God, and then
closed round the treasure of that stone. And I ordered afresh the demons to
cut marble for the construction of the house of God. And I Solomon prayed to
the Lord, and asked the hound, saying: "By what angel
[28] art thou frustrated?"
And the demon replied: "By the great Brieus1."
|
1. Briareus is
suggested by Bornemann as the right reading, but with little probability,
since Briareus would not have been turned into an angel. |
|
51. And I praised
the Lord God of heaven and earth, and bade another demon come forward to me;
and there came before me one in the form of a lion roaring. And he stood and
answered me saying: "O king, in the form which I have, I am a spirit quite
incapable of being perceived. Upon all men who lie prostrate with sickness I
leap, coming stealthily along; and I render the man weak, so that his habit
of body is enfeebled. But I have also another glory, O king. I cast out
demons, and I have legions under my control. And I am capable of being
received1 in my dwelling-places, along with all the demons
belonging to the legions under me." But I Solomon, on hearing this, asked
him: "What is thy name?" But he answered: "Lion-bearer, Rath2 in
kind." And I said to him: "How art thou to be frustrated along with thy
legions? What angel is it that frustrates thee?" And he answered: "If I tell
thee my name, I bind not myself alone, but also the legions of demons under
me." |
1. dektikos
seems here to bear this sense, as also in the fragment of a very old
commentary on the Shepherd of Hermas in the Oxyrhynchus papyri. part
i, by Grenfell and Hunt, 1898, p. 9. The dwelling-places are the persons of
whom the spirit, good or evil, takes possession. So in the Docetic Acta
Iohannis (ed. M.R. James) the Christ says: "I have no dwelling, and I
have dwellings; I have no place, and I have places; I have no temple, and I
have temples. ... Behold thyself in me who address thee."
2. radinos,
"slender tapering" is suggested by Bornemann as the true reading, because a
"staff" might be such. |
|
52. So I said to
him: "I adjure thee in the name of the God Sabaoth, to tell me by what name
thou art frustrated along with thy host." And the spirit answered me: "The
'great among men,' who is to suffer many things at the hands of men, whose
name is the figure 644, which is Emmanuel; he it is who has bound us, and
who will then come and plunge us from the steep1 under water. He
is noised abroad in the three letters which bring him down2."
|
1. The allusion is
to the swine of Gadara.
2. The three
characters are apparently the numbers 644. |
|
53. And I Solomon, on hearing this,
glorified God, and condemned his legion to carry wood from the thicket. And
I condemned the
[29] lion-shaped one himself
to saw up the wood small with his teeth, for burning in the unquenchable
furnace for the Temple of God. |
|
54. And I
worshipped the Lord God of Israel, and bade another demon come forward. And
there came before me a dragon, three-headed, of fearful hue. And I
questioned him: "Who art thou?" And he answered me: "I am a caltrop-like
spirit1, whose activity in three lines. But I blind children in
women's wombs, and twirl their ears round. And I make them deaf2
and mute. And I have again in my third head means of slipping in3.
And I smite men in the limbless part of the body, and cause them to fall
down, and foam, and grind their teeth. But I have my own way of being
frustrated, Jerusalem being signified in writing, unto the place called 'of
the head4." For there is fore-appointed the angel of the great
counsel, and now he will openly dwell on the cross. He doth frustrate me,
and to him am I subject." |
1. Tribolaios.
The tribolos was a three-spiked instrument, thrown on the ground to wound
horses' feet.
2. bubá, an
unknown word.
3. a word of
doubtful sense.
4. i.e. Golgotha.
The old legend was that Adam's skull reposed in this spot, and that the
cross was planted upon it. |
|
55. "But in the
place where thou sittest, O King Solomon, standeth a column in the air, of
purple...1 The demon called Ephippas hath brought [it] up from
the Red Sea, from inner Arabia. He it is that shall be shut up in a
skin-bottle and brought before thee. But at the entrance of the Temple,
which thou hast begun to build, O King Solomon, lies stored much gold, which
dig thou up and carry off." And I Solomon sent my servant, and found it to
be as the demon told me. And I sealed him with my ring, and praised the Lord
God." |
1. The meaning of
the last part of this compound is unknown. |
|
56. So I said to
him: "What art thou called?" And the demon said: "I am the crest of
dragons." And I bade him make bricks in the Temple. He had human hands.
|
|
57. And I adored the Lord God of
Israel, and bade another demon present himself. And there came before me a
spirit in woman's form, that had a head without any limbs1, and
her hair was dishevelled. And I said to her: "Who art thou?" But she
answered: "Nay, who art thou? And why dost thou want to hear concerning me?
But, as thou wouldst learn, here I stand bound before thy face. Go
[30] then into thy royal
storehouses and wash thy hands. Then sit down afresh before thy tribunal,
and ask me questions; and thou shalt learn, O king, who I am."
|
1. Here we seem to
have the Greek head of Medusa transformed into a demon. |
|
58. And I Solomon
did as she enjoined me, and restrained myself because of the wisdom dwelling
in me1; in order that I might hear of her deeds, and reprehend
them, and manifest them to men. And I sat down, and said to the demon: "What
art thou?" And she said: "I am called among men Obizuth; and by night I
sleep not, but go my rounds over all the world, and visit women in
childbirth. And divining the hour I take my stand2; and if I am
lucky, I strangle the child. But if not, I retire to another place. For I
cannot for a single night retire unsuccessful. For I am a fierce3
spirit, of myriad names and many shapes. And now hither, now thither I roam.
And to westering parts I go my rounds. But as it now is, though thou hast
sealed me round with the ring of God, thou hast done nothing. I am not
standing before thee, and thou wilt not be able to command me. For I have no
work other than the destruction of children, and the making their ears to be
deaf, and the working of evil to their eyes, and the binding their mouths
with a bond, and the ruin of their minds, and paining of their bodies."
|
1. The Sophia,
identified by Philo and the early Fathers with the Logos, is supposed to
have entered into and taken possession of Solomon as it afterwards did with
Jesus.
2. stamatihu,
an unknown verb.
3. xalepón.
|
|
59. When I Solomon
heard this, I marvelled at her appearance, for I beheld all her body to be
in darkness. But her glance was altogether bright and greeny, and her hair
was tossed wildly like a dragon's; and the whole of her limbs were
invisible. And her voice was very clear as it came to me. And I cunningly
said: "Tell me by what angel thou art frustrated, O evil spirit?" By she
answered me: "By the angel of God called Afarôt, which is interpreted
Raphael, by whom I am frustrated now and for all time. His name, if any man
know it, and write the same on a woman in childbirth, then I shall not be
able to enter her. Of this name the number is 6401." And I
Solomon having heard this, and having glorified the Lord, ordered her hair
to be bound, and that she should be hung up in front of the Temple of God;
that all the children of Israel, as they passed, might see it, and glorify
the Lord God of Israel, who had given me this authority, with wisdom and
power from God, by means of this signet. |
1. Bornemann (Zeitschr.
f.d. Hist. Theol. 1844, p. 38) gives the tale of figures. r = 100; a =
1; f = 500; a = 1; m = 8; l = 30. Total 640. |
|
[31]
60. And I again
ordered another demon to come before me. And the came, rolling itself along,
one in appearance like to a dragon, but having the face and hands of a man.
And all its limbs, except the feet, were those of a dragon; and it had wings
on its back. And when I beheld it, I was astonied, and said: "Who art thou,
demon, and what art thou called? And whence hast thou come? Tell me."
|
|
61. And the spirit
answered and said: "This is the first time I have stood before the, O King
Solomon. I am a spirit made into a god among men, but now brought to naught
by the ring and wisdom vouchsafed to thee by God. Now I am the so-called
winged dragon1, and I chamber2 not with many women,
but only with a few that are of fair shape, which possess the name of xuli3,
of this star. And I pair with them in the guise of a spirit winged in form,
coitum habens per nates4. And she on whom I have leapt goes heavy
with child, and that which is born of her becomes eros. But since such
offspring cannot be carried by men, the woman in question breaks wind. Such
is my role. Supposed then only that I am satisfied, and all the other demons
molested and disturbed by thee will speak the whole truth. But those
composed of fire 5 will cause to be burned up by fire the
material of the logs which is to be collected by them for the building in
the Temple." |
1. pterodrákun,
a word not in the lexicons.
2. [i.e.
copulate.]
3. [D: Touxylou.]
4. [D: copulating
(with them) through their buttocks.]
5. Tà dè dià
pyrós. |
|
62. And as the
demon said this, I saw the spirit going forth from his mouth, and it
consumed the wood of the frankincense-tree, and burned up all the logs which
we had placed in the Temple of God. And I Solomon saw what the spirit had
done, and I marvelled.
63. And, having
glorified God, I asked the dragon-shaped demon, and said: "Tell me, by what
angel art thou frustrated?" And he answered: "By the great angel which has
its seat in the second heaven, which is called in Hebrew Bazazeth. And I
Solomon, having heard this, and having invoked his angel, condemned him to
saw up marbles for the building of the Temple of God; and I praised God, and
commanded another demon to come before me. |
|
64. And there came before my face
another spirit, as it were a woman in the form she had. But on her shoulders
she had two other heads with hands. And I asked her, and said: "Tell me, who
art thou?" And she said to me: "I am Enêpsigos, who also have a myriad
names." And I said her: "By what angel art thou frustrated?" But she said to
me: "What seekest, what askest thou? I undergo changes, like the goddess I
am called. And I change again, and pass into possession of another shape.
And be not
[32] desirous therefore to
know all that concerns me. But since thou art before me for this much,
hearken. I have my abode in the moon, and for that reason I possess three
forms. At times I am magically1 invoked by the wise as Kronos. At
other times, in connexion with those who bring me down, I come down and
appear in another shape. The measure of the element2 is
inexplicable and indefinable, and not to be frustrated. I then, changing
into these three forms, come down and become such as thou seest me; but I am
frustrated by the angel Rathanael, who sits in the third heaven. This then
is why I speak to thee. Yonder temple cannot contain me."
|
1. mageyoméne.
2. Perhaps "the
place or size of the heavenly body." |
|
65. I therefore
Solomon prayed to my God, and I invoked the angel of whom Enépsigos spoke to
me, and used my seal. And I sealed her with a triple chain, and (placed)
beneath her the fastening of the chain. I used the seal of God, and the
spirit prophesied to me, saying: "This is what thou, King Solomon, doest to
us. But after a time thy kingdom shall be broken, and again in season this
Temple shall be riven asunder1; and all Jerusalem shall be undone
by the King of the Persians and Medes and Chaldaeans. And the vessels of
this Temple, which thou makest, shall be put to servile uses of the gods;
and along with them all the jars, in which thou dost shut us up, shall be
broken by the hands of men. And then we shall go forth in great power hither
and thither, and be disseminated all over the world. And we shall lead
astray the inhabited world for a long season, until the Son of God is
stretched upon the cross. For never before doth arise a king like unto him,
one frustrating us all, whose mother shall not have contact with man. Who
else can receive such authority over spirits, except he, whom the first
devil will seek to tempt, but will not prevail over? The number of his name
is 6442, which is Emmanuel. Wherefore, O King Solomon, thy time
is evil, and thy years short and evil, and to thy servant shall thy kingdom
be given3." |
1. I conjecture
the sense which the word must bear in this context.
2. xmd.
3. This prophecy
corresponds roughly to the one which Lactantius, Instit. Div. lib.
iv. c. 18, quotes from an apocryphal Book of Solomon. |
|
66. And I Solomon, having heard
this, glorified God. And though I marvelled at the apology of the demons, I
did not credit it until it came true. And I did not believe their words; but
when they were
[33] realized, then I
understood, and at my death I wrote this Testament to the children of
Israel, and gave it to them, so that they might know the powers of the
demons and their shapes, and the names of their angels, by which these
angels are frustrated. And I glorified the Lord God of Israel, and commanded
the spirits to be bound with bonds indissoluble. |
|
67. And having
praised God, I commanded another spirit to come before me; and there came
before my face another demon, having in front the shape of a horse, but
behind of a fish. And he had a mighty voice, and said to me: "O King
Solomon, I am a fierce spirit of the sea, and I am greedy of gold and
silver. I am such a spirit as rounds itself and comes over the expanses of
the water of the sea, and I trip up the men who sail thereon. For I round
myself into a wave1, and transform myself, and then throw myself
on ships and come right in on them. And that is my business, and my way of
getting hold of money and men. For I take the men, and whirl them round with
myself, and hurl the men out of the sea. For I am not covetous of men's
bodies, but cast them up out of the sea so far. But since Beelzeboul, ruler
of the spirits of air and of those under the earth, and lord of earthly
ones, hath a joint kingship with us in respect of the deeds of each one of
us, therefore I went up from the sea, to get a certain outlook 2
in his company. |
1. Cp. Jude 13.
That Jude here indulges in no mere metaphor is clear from the words which
follow, which embody the belief detailed in the Testament of Solomon,
p. 40.
2. "descent, or
spiritual assault." |
|
68. "But I also
have another character and role. I metamorphose myself into waves, and come
up from the sea. And I show myself to men, so that those on earth call me
Kuno[s]paston1, because I assume the human form. And my name is a
true one. For by my passage up into men, I send forth a certain nausea. I
came then to take counsel with the prince Beelzeboul; and he bound me and
delivered me into thy hands. And I am here before thee because of this seal,
and thou dost now torment me2. Behold now, in two or three days
the spirit that converseth with thee will fail, because I shall have no
water." |
1. Cf. Pliny,
Nat. Hist. 24. 74 "Cynosbaton, alii Cynospaston, alii neurospaston
vocant; folium habet vestigio hominis simile. Fert et uvam nigram, in cuius
acino nervum habet, unde neurospastos dicitur." The human form revealed
itself in the footstep, which the leaf resembled.
2. basaníxeis.
Cp. Matt. viii. 6, 29; xiv. 24; Mark v. 7. |
|
69. And I said to him: "Tell me by
what angel thou art frustrated."
[34] And he answered: "By
Iameth." And I glorified God. I commanded the spirit to be thrown into a
phial along with ten jugs of sea-water of two measures each1. And
I sealed them round above the marbles and asphalt and pitch in the mouth of
the vessel. And having sealed it with my ring, I ordered it to be deposited
in the Temple of God. And I ordered another spirit to come before me.
|
1. Cp. John ii. 6.
|
|
70. And there came
before my face another enslaved spirit, having obscurely the form of a man,
with gleaming eyes, and bearing in his hand a blade. And I asked: "Who art
thou? But he answered: "I am a lascivious spirit, engendered of a giant man
who dies in the massacre in the time of the giants." I said to him: "Tell me
what thou art employed on upon earth, and where thou hast thy dwelling."
|
|
71. And he said:
"My dwelling is in fruitful places, but my procedure is this. I seat myself
beside the men who pass along among the tombs, and in untimely season I
assume the form of the dead; and if I catch any one, I at once destroy him
with my sword. But if I cannot destroy him, I cause him to be possessed with
a demon, and to devour his own flesh, and the hair to fall off his chin."
But I said to him: "Do thou then be in fear of the God of heaven and of
earth, and tell me by angel thou art frustrated." And he answered: "He
destroys me who is to become Saviour, a man whose number, if any one shall
write it on his forehead1, he will defeat me, and in fear I shall
quickly retreat. And, indeed, if any one write this sign on him, I shall be
in fear." And I Solomon, on hearing this, and having glorified the Lord God,
shut up this demon like the rest. |
1. Rev. ix. 4;
xiii, 16, 17. |
|
72. And I commanded another demon to
come before me. And there came before my face thirty-six spirits, their
heads shapeless like dogs, but in themselves they were human in form; with
faces of asses, faces of oxen, and faces of birds. And I Solomon, on hearing
and seeing them, wondered, and I asked them and said: "Who are you?" But
they, of one accord with one voice, said1: "We are the thirty-six
elements, the world-rulers 2 of this darkness. But, O King
Solomon, thou wilt not wrong us nor imprison us, nor lay command on us; but
since the Lord God has given thee authority over every spirit, in the air,
and on the earth, and under the earth, therefore do we also present
ourselves before thee like the other spirits, from ram and bull, from
[35] both twin and crab,
lion and virgin, scales and scorpion, archer, goat-horned, water-pourer, and
fish. |
1. Acts ii. 1.
2.
kosmokratores. Cp. Paul, Eph. vi. 12; Origen, c. Celsum, viii,
58. |
|
73. Then I Solomon
invoked the name of the Lord Sabaoth, and questioned each in turn as to what
was its character. And I bade each one come forward and tell of its actions.
Then the first one came forward, and said: "I am the first decans of the
zodiacal circle, and I am called the ram, and with me are these two." So I
put to them the question: "Who are ye called?" The first said: "I, O Lord,
am called Ruax, and I cause the heads of men to be idle, and I pillage their
brows. But let me only hear the words, 'Michael, imprison Ruax,' and at once
I retreat."
74. And the second
said: "I am called Barsafael, and I cause those who are subject to my hour
to feel the pain of migraine. If only I hear the words, 'Gabriel, imprison
Barsafael,' at once I retreat." |
|
75. The third
said: "I am called Arôtosael. I do harm to eyes, and grievously injure them.
Only let me hear the words, 'Uriel, imprison Aratosael' (sic), at once I
retreat . . . . .1" |
1. There seems to
be a lacuna here. |
|
76. The fifth
said: "I am called Iudal, and I bring about a block in the ears and deafness
of hearing. If I hear, 'Uruel Iudal,' I at once retreat."
|
|
77. The sixth
said: "I am called Sphendonaêl. I cause tumours of the parotid gland, and
inflammations of the tonsils, and tetanic recurvation1. If I
hear, 'Sabrael, imprison Sphendonaêl,' at once I retreat.''
|
1. The Greek
medical terms which stand in the Greek text are found in Hippocrates, Galen,
and Cuel. Aurel. |
|
78. And the
Seventh said: "I am called Sphandôr, and I weaken the strength of the
shoulders, and cause them to tremble; and I paralyze the nerves of the
hands, and I break and bruise the bones of the neck. And I, I suck out the
marrow. But if I hear the words, 'Araêl, imprison Sphandôr,' I at once
retreat."
79. And the eight
said: "I am called Belbel. I distort the hearts and minds of men. If I hear
the words, 'Araêl, imprison Belbel,' I at once retreat."
80. And the ninth
said: "I am called Kurtaêl. I send colics in the bowels. I induce pains. If
I hear the words, 'Iaôth, imprison Kurtaêl,' I at once retreat."
81. The tenth
said: "I am called Metathiax. I cause the reins to ache. If I hear the
words, 'Adônaêl, imprison Metathiax,' I at once retreat."
82. The eleventh said: "I am called
Katanikotaêl. I create strife
[36] and wrongs in men's
homes, and send on them hard temper. If any one would be at peace in his
home, let him write on seven leaves of laurel the name of the angel that
frustrates me, along with these names: Iae, Ieô, sons of Sabaôth, in the
name of the great God let him shut up Katanikotaêl. Then let him wash the
laurel-leaves in water, and sprinkle his house with the water, from within
to the outside. And at once I retreat."
83. The twelfth
said: "I am called Saphathoraél, and I inspire partisanship in men, and
delight in causing them to stumble. If any one will write on paper these
names of angels, Iacô, Iealô, Iôelet, Sabaôth, Ithoth, Bae, and having
folded it up, wear it round his neck or against his ear, I at once retreat
and dissipate the drunken fit."
84. The thirteenth
said: "I am called Bobêl (sic), and I cause nervous illness by my assaults.
If I hear the name of the great 'Adonaêl, imprison Bothothêl,' I at once
retreat."
85. The fourteenth
said: "I am called Kumeatêl, and I inflict shivering fits and torpor. If
only I hear the words: 'Zôrôêl, imprison Kumentaêl,' I at once retreat."
86. The fifteenth
said: "I am called Roêlêd. I cause cold and frost and pain in the stomach.
Let me only hear the words: 'Iax, bide not, be not warmed, for Solomon is
fairer than eleven fathers,' I at [once] retreat." |
|
87. The sixteenth
said: "I am called Atrax. I inflict upon men fevers, irremediable and
harmful. If you would imprison me, chop up coriander1 and smear
it on the lips, reciting the following charm: 'The fever which is from dirt.
I exorcise thee by the throne of the most high God, retreat from dirt and
retreat from the creature fashioned by God.' And at once I retreat."
|
1. Pliny, Nat.
Hist. xx. 20, notes the same use of coriander: "Seminis grana tria in
tertianis devorari iubent aliqui ante accessionem, vel plura illini fronti."
The Testament evidently belongs to Pliny's age. |
|
88. The
seventeenth said: "I am called Ieropaêl. On the stomach of men I sit, and
cause convulsions in the bath and in the road; and wherever I be found, or
find a man, I throw him down. But if any one will say to the afflicted into
their ear these names, three times over, into the right ear: 'Iudarizê,
Sabunê, Denôê,' I at once retreat."
89. The eighteenth said: "I am
called Buldumêch. I separate wife from husband and bring about a grudge
between them. If any one write down the names of thy sires, Solomon, on
paper and place it in the ante-chamber of his house, I retreat thence. And
the legend written shall be as follows: 'The God of Abram, and the God of
Isaac, and the God of Jacob commands thee -- retire from this house in
peace.' And I at once retire."
[37]
90. The nineteenth
said: "I am called Naôth, and I take my seat on the knees of men. If any one
write on paper: 'Phnunoboêol, depart Nathath, and touch thou not the neck,'
I at once retreat."
91. The twentieth
said: "I am called Marderô. I send on men incurable fever. If any one write
on the leaf of a book: 'Sphênêr, Rafael, retire, drag me not about, flay me
not,' and tie it round his neck, I at once retreat." |
|
92. The
twenty-first said: "I am called Alath, and I cause coughing and
hard-breathing in children. If any one write on paper: 'Rorêx, do thou
pursue Alath,' and fasten it round his neck, I at once retire...1"
|
1. There must here
be a lacuna in the text. |
|
93. The
twenty-third said: "I am called Nefthada. I cause the reins to ache, and I
bring about dysury. If any one write on a plate of tin the words: 'Iathôth,
Uruêl, Nephthada,' and fasten it round the loins, I at once retreat."
94. The
twenty-fourth said: "I am called Akton. I cause ribs and lumbic muscles to
ache. If one engrave on copper material, taken from a ship which has missed
its anchorage, this: 'Marmaraôth, Sabaôth, pursue Akton,' and fasten it
round the loin, I at once retreat."
95. The
twenty-fifth said: "I am called Anatreth, and I rend burnings and fevers
into the entrails. But if I hear: 'Arara, Charara,' instantly do I retreat."
96. The
twenty-sixth said: "I am called Enenuth. I steal away men's minds, and
change their hearts, and make a man toothless (?). If one write: 'Allazoôl,
pursue Enenuth,' and tie the paper round him, I at once retreat."
|
|
97. The
twenty-seventh said: "I am called Phêth. I make men consumptive and cause
hemorrhagia. ,If one exorcise me in wine, sweet-smelling and unmixed by the
eleventh aeon1, and say: 'I exorcise thee by the eleventh aeon to
stop, I demand, Phêth (Axiôphêth),' then give it to the patient to drink,
and I at once retreat." |
1. A Gnostic
reference. Just above "eleven fathers" were mentioned. |
|
98. The
twenty-eighth said: "I am called Harpax, and I send sleeplessness on men. If
one write 'Kokphnêdismos,' and bind it round the temples, I at once retire."
99. The
twenty-ninth said: "I am called Anostêr. I engender uterine mania and pains
in the bladder. If one powder into pure oil three seeds of laurel and smear
it on, saying: 'I exorcise thee, Anostêr. Stop by Marmaraô,' at once I
retreat."
100. The thirtieth said: "I am
called Alleborith. If in eating
[38] fish one has swallowed
a bone, then he must take a bone from the fish and cough, and at once I
retreat."
101. The
thirty-first said: "I am called Hephesimireth, and cause lingering disease.
If you throw salt, rubbed in the hand, into oil and smear it on the patient,
saying: 'Seraphim, Cherubim, help me!' I at once retire."
102. The
thirty-second said: "I am called Ichthion. I paralyze muscles and contuse
them. If I hear 'Adonaêth, help!' I at once retire." |
|
103. The
thirty-third said: "I am called Agchoniôn. I lie among swaddling-clothes and
in the precipice. And if any one write on fig-leaves 'Lycurgos,' taking away
one letter at a time, and write it, reversing the letters, I retire at once.
'Lycurgos, ycurgos, kurgos, yrgos, gos, os1.'"
|
1. botrydón,
for which Bornemann conjectures boystrofydón. There is a parallel in
a magic papyrus edited by Dieterich (Abraxas, p. 185).
|
|
104. The
thirty-fourth said: "I am called Autothith. I cause grudges and fighting.
Therefore I am frustrated by Alpha and Omega, if written down."
105. The
thirty-fifth said: "I am called Phthenoth. I cast evil eye on every man.
Therefore, the eye much-suffering, if it be drawn. frustrates me."
106. The
thirty-sixth said: "I am called Bianakith. I have a grudge against the body.
I lay waste houses, I cause flesh to decay, and all else that is similar. If
a man write on the front-door of his house: 'Mêltô, Ardu, Anaath,' I flee
from that place."
107. And I
Solomon, when I heard this, glorified the God of heaven and earth. And I
commanded them to fetch water in the Temple of God. And I furthermore prayed
to the Lord God to cause the demons without, that hamper humanity, to be
bound and made to approach the Temple of God. Some of these demons I
condemned to do the heavy work of the construction of the Temple of God.
Others I shut up in prisons. Others I ordered to wrestle with fire in (the
making of) gold and silver, sitting down by lead and spoon. And to make
ready places for the other demons in which they should be confined.
108. And I Solomon had much quiet in
all the earth, and spent my life in profound peace, honoured by all men and
by all under heaven. And I built the entire Temple of the Lord God. And my
kingdom was prosperous, and my army was with me. And for the rest the city
of Jerusalem had repose, rejoicing and delighted.
[39] And all the kings of
the earth came to me from the ends of the earth to behold the Temple which I
builded to the Lord God. And having heard of the wisdom given to me, they
did homage to me in the Temple, bringing gold and silver and precious
stones, many and divers, and bronze, and iron, and lead, and cedar logs. And
woods decay not they brought me, for the equipment of the Temple of God.
109. And among
them also the queen of the South, being a witch, came in great concern and
bowed low before me to the earth. And having heard my wisdom, she glorified
the God of Israel, and she made formal trial of all my wisdom, of all love
in which I instructed her, according to the wisdom imparted to me. And all
the sons of Israel glorified God.
110. And behold,
in those days one of the workmen, of ripe old age, threw himself down before
me, and said: "King Solomon, pity me, because I am old." So I bade him stand
up, and said: "Tell me, old man, all you will." And he answered: "I beseech
you king, I have an only-born son, and he insults and beats me openly, and
plucks out the hair of my head, and threatens me with a painful death.
Therefore I beseech you avenge me.
111. And I
Solomon, on hearing this, felt compunction as I looked at his old age; and I
bade the child be brought to me. And when he was brought I questioned him
whether it were true. And the youth said: "I was not so filled with madness
as to strike my father with my hand. Be kind to me, O king. For I have not
dared to commit such impiety, poor wretch that I am." But I Solomon on
hearing this from the youth, exhorted the old man to reflect on the matter,
and accept his son's apology. However, he would not, but said he would
rather let him die. And as the old man would not yield, I was about to
pronounce sentence on the youth, when I saw Ornias the demon laughing. I was
very angry at the demon's laughing in my presence; and I ordered my men to
remove the other parties, and bring forward Ornias before my tribunal. And
when he was brought before me, I said to him: "Accursed one, why didst thou
look at me and laugh?" And the demon answered: "Prithee, king, it was not
because of thee I laughed, but because of this ill-starred old man and the
wretched youth, his son. For after three days his son will die untimely; and
lo, the old man desires to foully make away with him."
112. But I Solomon, having heard
this, said to the demon: "Is that true that thou speakest?" And he answered:
"It is true; O king." And I, on hearing that, bade them remove the demon,
and that they should again bring before me the old man with his son. I bade
them
40
make friends with one another again, and I supplied them with food. And then
I told the old man after three days to bring his son again to me here;
"and," said I, "I will attend to him." And they saluted me, and went their
way.
113. And when they
were gone I ordered Ornias to be brought forward, and said to him: "Tell me
how you know this;" and he answered: "We demons ascend into the firmament of
heaven, and fly about among the stars. And we hear the sentences which go
forth upon the souls of men, and forthwith we come, and whether by force of
influence, or by fire, or by sword, or by some accident, we veil our act of
destruction; and if a man does not die by some untimely disaster or by
violence, then we demons transform ourselves in such a way as to appear to
men and be worshipped in our human nature." |
|
114. I therefore,
having heard this, glorified the Lord God, and again I questioned the demon,
saying: "Tell me how ye can ascend into heaven, being demons, and amidst the
stars and holy angels intermingle." And he answered: "Just as things are
fulfilled in heaven, so also on earth (are fulfilled) the types1
of all of them. For there are principalities, authorities, world-rulers2,
and we demons fly about in the air; and we hear the voices of the heavenly
beings, and survey all the powers. And as having no ground (basis) on which
to alight and rest, we lose strength and fall off like leaves from trees.
And men seeing us imagine that the stars are falling from heaven. But it is
not really so, O king; but we fall because of our weakness, and because we
have nowhere anything to lay hold of; and so we fall down like lightnings3
in the depth of night and suddenly. And we set cities in flames and fire the
fields. For the stars have firm foundations in the heavens like the sun and
the moon." |
1. Cp. Heb. viii.
5.
2. Cp. Rom. viii.
38.
3. Luke x. 18: "I
beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven." June 13. |
|
115. And I
Solomon, having heard this, ordered the demon to be guarded for five days.
And after the five days I recalled the old man, and was about to question
him. But he came to me in grief and with black face. And I said to him:
"Tell me, old man, where is thy son? And what means this garb?" And he
answered: "Lo, I am become childless, and sit by my son's grave in despair.
For it is already two days that he is dead." But I Solomon, on hearing that,
and knowing that the demon Ornias had told me the truth, glorified the God
of Israel. |
|
116. And the queen of the South saw
all this, and marvelled,
[41] glorifying the God of
Israel; and she beheld the Temple of the Lord being builded. And she gave a
siklos1 of gold and one hundred myriads of silver and choice
bronze, and she went into the Temple. And (she beheld) the altar of incense
and the brazen supports of this altar, and the gems of the lamps flashing
forth of different colours, and of the lamp-stand of stone, and of emerald,
and hyacinth, and sapphire; and she beheld the vessels of gold, and silver,
and bronze, and wood, and the folds of skins dyed red with madder. And she
saw the bases of the pillars of the Temple of the Lord. All were of one gold
...2 apart from the demons whom I condemned to labour. And there
was peace in the circle of my kingdom and over all the earth.
|
1. A shekel. Philo
has the form síklos, i. 468. síglos is the usual spelling in
the LXX.
2. There seems to
be here a lacuna in the MS. |
117. And it came
to pass, which I was in my kingdom, the King of the Arabians, Adares, sent
me a letter, and the writing of the letter was written as follows: --
"To King
Solomon, all hail! Lo, we have heard, and it hath been heard unto all the
ends of the earth, concerning the wisdom vouchsafed in thee, and that thou
art a man merciful from the Lord. And understanding hath been granted thee
over all the spirits of the air, and on earth, and under the earth. Now,
forasmuch as there is present in the land of Arabia a spirit of the
following kind: at early dawn there begins to blow a certain wind until
the third hour. And its blast is harsh and terrible, and it slays man and
beast. And no spirit can live upon earth against this demon. I pray thee
then, forasmuch as the spirit is a wind, contrive something according to
the wisdom given in thee by the Lord thy God, and deign to send a man able
to capture it. And behold, King Solomon, I and my people and all my land
will serve thee unto death. And all Arabia shall be at peace with thee, if
thou wilt perform this act of righteousness for us. Wherefore we pray
thee, contemn not our humble prayer, and suffer not to be utterly brought
to naught the eparchy subordinated to thy authority. Because we are
suppliants, both I and my people and all my land. Farewell to my Lord. All
health!"
|
|
118. And I Solomon read this
epistle; and I folded it up and gave it to my people, and said to them:
"After seven days shalt thou remind me of this epistle. And Jerusalem was
built, and the Temple was being completed. And there was a stone1,
the end stone
[42] of the corner lying
there, great, chosen out, one which I desired lay in the head of the corner
of the completion of the Temple. And all the workmen, and all the demons
helping them came to the same place to bring up the stone and lay it on the
pinnacle of the holy Temple, and were not strong enough to stir it, and lay
it upon the corner allotted to it. For that stone was exceedingly great and
useful for the corner of the Temple." |
1. Cp. I Pet. ii.
6, 7, who combines in the same way Ps. cxviii. 22 and Isa. xxviii. 16. Cp.
Matt. xxi. 42, Mark xii, 10, Luke xx, 17. |
|
119. And after
seven days, being reminded of the epistle of Adares, King of Arabia, I
called my servant and said to him: "Order thy camel and take for thyself a
leather flask, and take also this seal. And go away into Arabia to the place
in which the evil spirit blows; and there take the flask, and the
signet-ring in front of the mouth of the flask, and (hold them) towards the
blast of the spirit. And when the flask is blown out, thou wilt understand
that the demon is (in it). Then hastily tie up the mouth of to flask, and
seal it securely with the seal-ring, and lay it carefully on the camel and
bring it me hither. And if on the way it offer thee gold or silver or
treasure in return for letting it go, see that thou be not persuaded. But
arrange without using oath to release it. And then if it point out to the
places where are gold or silver, mark the places and seal them with this
seal. And bring the demon to me. And now depart, and fare thee well."
120. Then the
youth did as was bidden him. And he ordered his camel, and laid on it a
flask, and set off into Arabia. And the men of that region would not believe
that he would be able to catch the evil spirit. And when it was dawn, the
servant stood before the spirit's blast, and laid the flask on the ground,
and the finger-ring on the mouth of the flask. And the demon blew through
the middle of the finger-ring into the mouth of the flask, and going in blew
out the flask. But the man promptly stood up to it and drew tight with his
hand the mouth of the flask, in the name of the Lord God of Sabaôth. And the
demon remained within the flask. And after that the youth remained in that
land three days to make trial. And the spirit no longer blew against that
city. And all the Arabs knew that he had safely shut in the spirit.
121. Then the youth fastened the
flask on the camel, and the Arabs sent him forth on his way with much honour
and precious gifts, praising and magnifying the God of Israel. But the youth
brought in the bag and laid it in the middle of the Temple. And on the next
day, I King Solomon, went into the Temple of God and sat in deep distress
about the stone of the end of the corner. And when
[43] I entered the Temple,
the flask stood up and walked around some seven steps and then fell on its
mouth and did homage to me. And I marvelled that even along with the bottle
the demon still had power and could walk about; and I commanded it to stand
up. And the flask stood up, and stood on its feet all blown out. And I
questioned him, saying: "Tell me, who art thou?" And the spirit within said:
"I am the demon called Ephippas, that is in Arabia." And I said to him: "Is
this thy name?" And he answered: "Yes; wheresoever I will, I alight and set
fire and do to death." |
|
122. And I said to
him: "By what angel art thou frustrated?" And he answered: "By the
only-ruling God, that hath authority over me even to be heard. He that is to
be born of a virgin and crucified by the Jews on a cross. Whom the angels
and archangels worship. He doth frustrate me, and enfeeble me of my great
strength, which has been given me by my father the devil." And I said to
him: "What canst thou do?'' And he answered: ''I am able to remove1
mountains, to overthrow the oaths of kings. I wither trees and make their
leaves to fall off." And I said to him: "Canst thou raise this stone, and
lay it for the beginning of this corner which exists in the fair plan of the
Temple2?'' And he said: "Not only raise this, O king; but also,
with the help of the demon who presides over the Red Sea, I will bring up
the pillar of air3, and will stand it where thou wilt in
Jerusalem.'' |
1. Cp. the faith
which removes mountains.
2. Bornemann
suggests that the gate of the Temple called Beautiful (Acts iii. 2, 10) is
referred to.
3. I conjecture
the sense. |
|
123. Saying this,
I laid stress on him, and the flask became as if depleted of air. And I
placed it under the stone, and (the spirit) girded himself up, and lifted it
up top of the flask. And the flask went up the steps, carrying the stone,
and laid it down at the end of the entrance of the Temple. And I Solomon,
beholding the stone raised aloft and placed on a foundation, said: "Truly
the Scripture is fulfilled, which says: 'The stone which the builders
rejected on trial, that same is become the head of the corner.' For this it
is not mine to grant, but God's, that the demon should be strong enough to
lift up so great a stone and deposit it in the place I wished."
124. And Ephippas led the demon of
the Red Sea with the column. And they both took the column and raised it
aloft from the earth. And I outwitted these two spirits, so that they could
not shake the entire earth in a moment of time. And then I sealed round with
my
[44] ring on this side and
that, and said: "Watch." And the spirits have remained upholding it until
this day, for proof of the wisdom vouchsafed to me. And there the pillar was
hanging of enormous size, in mid air, supported by the winds. And thus the
spirits appeared underneath, like air, supporting it. And if one looks
fixedly, the pillar is a little oblique, being supported by the spirits; and
it is so to day. |
|
125. And I Solomon
questioned the other spirit which came up with the pillar from the depth of
the Red Sea. And I said to him: "Who art thou, and what calls thee? And what
is thy business? For I hear many things about thee.'' And the demon
answered: "I, O King Solomon, am called Abezithibod. I am a descendant of
the archangel. Once as I sat in the first heaven, of which the name is
Ameleouth -- I then am a fierce spirit and winged, and with a single wing,
plotting against every spirit under heaven. I was present when Moses went in
before Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and I hardened his heart. I am he whom Iannes
and Iambres invoked homing1 with Moses in Egypt. I am he who
fought against Moses 2 with wonders with signs."
|
1. oíkoyxúmenoi
in the MS., a vox nihili. If we had the apocryph of Iannes and
Iambres we might understand the reference.
2. 2 Tim. iii. 8.
|
|
126. I said
therefore to him: "How wast thou found in the Red Sea?" And he answered: "In
the exodus of the sons of Israel I hardened the heart of Pharaoh. And I
excited his heart and that of his ministers. And I caused them to pursue
after the children of Israel. And Pharaoh followed with (me) and all the
Egyptians. Then I was present there, and we followed together. And we all
came up upon the Red Sea. And it came to pass when the children of Israel
had crossed over, the water returned and hid all the host of the Egyptians
and all their might. And I remained in the sea, being kept under this
pilla | |
