The Testament of Solomon
The Testament of Solomon
Twilit Grotto
Note: HTML transcription by Joseph H. Peterson.
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. I have noted the original page numbers like
this:
{1}. I have renumbered the footnotes to follow each verse. Compare with
the translation of D. C. Duling in The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha, volume 1, Edited by James H. Charlesworth, Doubleday, 1983, p. 935 ff.
{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:--
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 he 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 builded, 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 (?) 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.
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 bt hour thow 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
opressed, 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."
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.' 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."
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 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 thee."
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 thw Water-pourer. And those who are consumed with
desire for the noble virgins upon earth . . . . . {there appears to be a lacuna
here}, these I strangle. But in case there is no disposition to sleep, 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 Uriel, the power of God."
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 whales 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
demon. And he commanded the great demon and bold Ornias, to cut stones at the
Temple. 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."
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."
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.
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 head.
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?}, lurking
upon the earth. There is a golden cave where I lie. But I have a place that ever
shifts. At one time I strangle men with a noose; at another, I creep up from the
nature to the arms {in marg: "worms"}. 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 skin. 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?),
but I supply a little to those who worship me fairly."
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 ordure {1} dropped in a
wood."
{1. 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...}
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."
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 Asmodeus, 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 overweening. Wherefore also my star is
bright in heaven, and men call it, some the Wain, 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."
22. And I Solomon, on hearing this, bound him more carefully, and ordered him to
be flogged with thongs of ox-hide, 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."
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."
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 tamarisk." 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 Glanos by name, and is found in the rivers of Assyria;
wherefore it is that I roam about in those parts."
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 reed, and burned it over
Asmodeus because of his being so strong, and his unbearable malice was thus
frustrated.
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 down. 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 child, 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.
{22}
27. I Solomon said unto him: "Beelzeboul, what is thy employment?" And he
answered me: "I destroy kings. I ally myself with foreign tyrants. And my own
demons I set on 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."
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 Ephippas. 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."
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 Emmanuel
{1}. 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
Theban {1} 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 sea {1}, with nard and saffron,
and light seven lamps in an earthquake {2}, thou wilt firmly fix thy house. And
if, being pure {3}, {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
present {1}, 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 spat {2} 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 name {1}?" 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 spirits {1}, 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
voice {2}: "We are of the thirty-three elements of the cosmic ruler of the
darkness {3}." 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 Klothod {1}, 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."
40. Likewise also the sixth said: "I am Error {1}, 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 brother {2}. I will lead you into error, so as to pry into graves {3};
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 locust {1}
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
crossways {1} 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-star {1}. 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 Iax {1} 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 huge {1}; 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 Brieus
{1}."
{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 received
{1} 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, Rath {2} 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 steep {1} under water. He is noised
abroad in the three letters which bring him down {2}."
{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 spirit
{1}, whose activity in three lines. But I blind children in women's wombs, and
twirl their ears round. And I make them deaf {2} and mute. And I have again in
my third head means of slipping in {3}. 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 head {4}." 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
limbs {1}, 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 me {1}; 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 stand {2}; 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 fierce {3} 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 640 {1}." 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 dragon {1}, and I chamber not with many women, but only with a
few that are of fair shape, which possess the name of xuli, of this star. And I
pair with them in the guise of a spirit winged in form, coitum habens per nates.
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 {2} 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. 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 magically {1} 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 element {2} 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 asunder {1}; 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 644 {2}, 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 given {3}."
{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 wave
{1}, 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}paston {1}, 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 me {2}. 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 each {1}. 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 forehead
{1}, 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, said {1}: "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 recurvation {1}. 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 coriander {1} 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 aeon {1}, 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, os {1}.'"
{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
types {1} of all of them. For there are principalities, authorities,
world-rulers {2}, 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 lightnings {3} 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 siklos {1} 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 stone {1}, 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 remove {1} 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 Temple {2}?'' 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 air {3}, 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 homing {1} 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 pillar. But when
Ephippas came, being sent by thee, shut up in the vessel of a flask, he fetched
me up to thee."
127. I, therefore, Solomon, having heard this, glorified God and adjured the
demons not to disobey me, but to remain supporting the pillar. And they both
sware, saying: "The Lord thy God liveth, we will not let go this pillar until
the world's end. But on whatever day this stone fall, then shall be the end of
the world {1}."
{1. This legend of the heavy cornerstone and of the spirits supporting a
column in the Temple reappears in the Georgian Acts of Nouna in the fourth
century. There it is a huge wooden column that is lifted by spirit-agency,
when the king and workmen had failed to move it into place. The spirits
support it in the air before letting it sink into its place. These Acts will
shortly appear in an English translation by Miss Wardrop in the forthcoming
number of the Studie Biblica, Clarendon Press, 1898.}
{45}
128. And I Solomon glorified God, and adorned the Temple of the Lord with all
fair-seeming. And I was glad in spirit in my kingdom, and there was peace in my
days. And I took wives of my own from every land, who were numberless. And I
marched against the Jebusaeans, and there I saw Jebusaean, daughter of a man:
and fell violently in love with her, and desired to take her to wife along with
my other wives. And I said to their priests: "Give me the Sonmanites (i.e.
Shunammite) to wife {1}." But the priests of Moloch said to me: "If thou lovest
this maiden, go in and worship our gods, the great god Raphan and the god called
Moloch." I therefore was in fear of the glory of God, and did not follow to
worship. And I said to them: "I will not worship a strange god. What is this
proposal, that ye compel me to do so much?" But they said: ". . . . . {2} by our
fathers."
{1. Song of Sol. vi. 12.
2. utheìs (sic) stands in the MS.; perhaps taîs theaîs should be read.}
129. And when I answered that I would on no account worship strange gods, they
told the maiden not to sleep with me until I complied and sacrificed to the
gods. I then was moved, but crafty Eros brought and laid by her for me five
grasshoppers, saying: "Take these grasshoppers, and crush them together in the
name of the god Moloch; and then will I sleep with you." And this I actually
did. And at once the Spirit of God departed from me, and I became weak as well
as foolish in my words. And after that I was obliged by her to build a temple of
idols to Baal {1}, and to Rapha, and to Moloch, and to the other idols.
{1. Fem. So Rom. xi. 4.}
130. I then, wretch that I am, followed her advice, and the glory of God quite
departed from me; and my spirit was darkened, and I became the sport of idols
and demons. Wherefore I wrote out this Testament, that ye who get possession of
it may pity, and attend to the last things {1}, and not to the first. So that ye
may find grace for ever and ever. Amen.
{1. Cp. Rev. ii. 19.}
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