# The Testament of Solomon

The Jewish Quarterly Review, pages 1–45
THE JEWISH QUARTERLY REVIEW
October, 1898
THE TESTAMENT OF SOLOMON.
* Introductory Remarks
* The Testament of Solomon
Introductory Remarks.
The Testament of Solomon, translated in the following pages, was published in a volume of anecdota by Fleck in the year 1837. This volume forms the fourth and last of his work entitled Wissenschaftliche Reise durch Deutschland, Italien, &c. Seven years later, in 1844, Bomemann made a German translation in the pages of the Zeitschrift für die histor. Theologie, III, pp. 9–56. This translation is accurate, and to the footnotes which accompany it I am under obligations. The same scholar contributed an essay, entitled Conjectanea in Salomonis Testamentum, to a serial publication called Studien von Geistlichen des Königr. Sachsen, in its second year, 1843, pp. 45–60, and fourth year, pp. 28–69. The latter work is not in Bodley's Library, and to my regret I have not seen it. In Fürst's Orient appeared a reprint of Fleck's Greek text, along with a German translation.
It has been regarded by the few scholars who have examined it as a Christian work written as late perhaps as the fifth century of our era. And in this preface to my translation I will confine my remarks to an examination of the grounds of this view.
​The following is the drift of the Testament. King Solomon is engaged in the work of building the Temple, and in him dwells a supernatural power, the wisdom, also called the spirit and glory of God. In virtue of the immanence in him of this power, Solomon has power over the spirits of the air, of the earth's surface, and of the nether world. The Testament opens rather abruptly with the descent of the vampire spirit Ornias upon Solomon's servant. Solomon goes into the nearly completed Temple and prays for help to the Lord Sabaôth. Grace is granted him, and the archangel Michael brings him a ring, of which the stone was engraved with a pentalpha. This ring endows its possessor with power over all demons.
Armed with it, Solomon calls up before him all the demons, and asks of each in turn his or her name, as well as the name of the star or constellation or zodiacal sign, and of the particular angel to the influence of which each is subject. One after another the spirits are vanquished, and compelled by Solomon to aid in the construction of the Temple. Ornias is the first demon to appear, and he is set down to hew stones. Next appears Beelzeboul, prince and exarch of the demons, who promises to parade before Solomon all his subject spirits, and proceeds to do so, beginning with Onoskelis. Asmodeus follows after Onoskelis, and gives an account of himself which agrees with the Book of Tobit. Beelzeboul reappears on the scene, and, in a dialogue with Solomon, declares that he alone survives of the angels who (as Enoch declares) came down from heaven. He reigns over all who are in Tartarus, and has a child in the Red Sea. He is subject to Emmanuel and Eleêth. Next appears the demon of the ashes, Tephras, who is subject to the archangel Azael; and after him a group of seven female spirits, who declare themselves to be of the thirty-six elements (στοιχεῖα) of the kosmokrator or cosmic ruler of the darkness. They correspond to the Pleiades. A headless demon succeeds, subject to the lightning alone. A hound-like spirit, called ​Rabdos, or Staff, follows, who reveals to Solomon the place of a green stone, useful for the adornment of the Temple. Next a lion-shaped demon appears, called Leôphoros, who inflicts sickness on men, and has also legions of spirits subject to himself. He is to be overcome by Emmanuel, the great among men, who is to suffer much at the hands of men, but will precipitate this particular evil spirit into the water along with his legions.
A three-headed dragon, Koruphê, next appears, who is undone by the angel of great counsel that shall dwell on the cross. A female spirit, Obizuth, all head and no limbs, follows, in whom we recognize the Medusa of Greek legend. She is followed by a spirit with the head of a man and the body of a dragon with wings.
Enêpsigos, a two-headed female demon, follows, whom the wise invoke as Kronos, who prophesies to Solomon the destruction of his kingdom and Temple by the Persians, Medes, and Chaldaeans. In this cataclysm the vessels in which Solomon confines the evil spirits will be broken, and they will roam over the world "until the Son of God is stretched upon the cross, a King dominating all spirits, and conceived by his mother without contact with man. Him the first devil will tempt, but not prevail over, and the number of his name is 644, which is Emmanuel."
A demon, half horse, half fish, in whom we may recognize Poseidon, next appears, to be followed by one of human shape, the offspring of one of the giants of old. He will be destroyed, he says, by the Saviour, a man whose name, if written on our foreheads, terrifies and routs him.
Now at length appear the thirty-six stoicheia or elements, the world-rulers or kosmokratores of this darkness. They are the decani of the twelve zodiacal signs, and, though human in form, have the heads and faces of dogs, asses, oxen, and birds. Each of them presides over some tract of the human body, and inflicts disease within that tract; each has an angel who can defeat its malign influence. Some of them require the names of several angels to be written on ​paper, and worn as an amulet by those who would be safe from their influence.
When these thirty-six spirits have been imprisoned or set to work, Ornias reappears and foretells the death of a youth within three days. The prophecy is fulfilled, and is made the occasion for a discourse on the part of Ornias, in which he explains to Solomon how the demons soar into the firmament of heaven, and there overhear the sentences pronounced on the souls of men; how they descend forthwith and execute these sentences, or appear to men and cause themselves to be worshipped. Such demons ever and anon fall like lightnings from heaven, where they have no foothold; and we men see them fall, and fondly imagine them to be falling stars.
Next comes the visit of the Queen of the South to Solomon, and then the episode of Adares, King of Arabia. The latter is oppressed by a demon, Ephippas, whose hot breath devastates his land. The demon is caught through the magic ring in a skin-bag, and brought into the Temple, where he is utilized to raise into its place the headstone of the corner, which, because of its weight, the workmen had abandoned.
Ephippas declares his subjection to the only-ruling God, who is to be born of a virgin and crucified by the Jews, whom also angels and archangels worship. The same demon, after raising the headstone of the corner to its place, aids the demon of the Red Sea, Abezithibod, son of Beelzeboul, to bring up from that sea an enormous column, and raise it aloft in the Temple, where it still hangs in mid air, supported by these two spirits. This spirit was of old invoked by Iannes and Iambres against Moses, but afterwards, being confined under the pillar or column, had remained in the Red Sea until Ephippas, at Solomon's instance, fetched him thence.
The concluding incident of the Testament is Solomon's fall. Lured by passion for a Shunammite woman, he sacrifices grasshoppers to Moloch. Forthwith the Spirit of God ​leaves him; he is weakened, and builds temples to Baal, Raphan, and Moloch.
If it is certain that in this remarkable document we have some Christian elements, it is equally clear that we have yet more matter still that can be most properly described as Jewish and Gnostic. The following are the passages which demonstrate Christian influence. I give them in the original Greek, indicating the pages of Fleck's edition:—
P. 124. ἔχω δὲ τὰς ὑποτεταγμένας μοι λεγεῶνας· δεκτικόν εἰμι τοῖς τόπας· ἅμα δὲ τοῖς πᾶσι δαίμοσι τοῖς τῶν ὑπ' ἐμὲ λεγεώνων. (See below, §51.)
P. 124. εἶπε δέ μοι τὸ πνεῦμα ὁ μεγάλοις ἀνθρώποις ἔχων πολλὰ παθεῖν ὑπὸ ἀνθρώπων, οὗ τὸ ὄνομα ψῆφος χ͏̅μ͏̅δ͏̅, ὅ ἐστιν ἐμμανουήλ, ὃς καὶ δέσμουσεν ἡμᾶς, ὃς καὶ τότε ἐλευσόμενος κατα' τοῦ ὕδατος κρημνοβαπτίσει ἡμας. (See below, § 52.)
P. 124. ὑποσημειουμένης τῆς Ἱερουσαλὴμ εἰς τὸν λεγόμενον τόπον κεφάλαιον. ἐκεῖ γὰρ προώριστο ὁ ἄγγελος τῆς μεγάλης βουλῆς· καὶ νῦν φανερῶς τ' ἐπὶ ζύλου οἰκήσει. (See below, § 54.)
P. 127. πλανήσοµεν πᾶσαν τὴν οἰκουμένην μεχρὶ πολλοῦ καιροῦ, ἕως τοῦ θεοῦ ὁ υἱὸς τανυσθῇ ἐπὶ ξύλου· καὶ οὐκέτι γὰρ γίνεται τοιοῦτος βασιλεὺς ὅμοιος αὐτῷ, ὁ πάντας ἡμᾶς καταργῶν, οὗ ἡ µήτηρ ἀνδρὶ οὗ µιγήσεται, καὶ τίς λάβῃ τοιαύτην ἐξουσίαν κατὰ πνευμάτων, εἰ μὴ ἐκεῖνος, ὃν ὁ πρῶτος διάβολος πειράσαι ζητήσει καὶ οὐκ ἰσχύσει πρὸς αὐτόν· οὗ ἡ ψῆφος τοῦ ὀνόματος χ͏̅μ͏̅δ͏̅, ὅ ἐστιν ἐμμανονήλ. (See below, § 65.)
P. 129. ἐμὲ καταργεῖ ὁ µέλλων σωτὴρ γενέσθαι ἄνθρωπος, οὗ τὸ στοιχεῖον ἐν τῷ µετώπῳ εἴ τις ἐπιγράψει ἡττήσει µε. (See below, § 71.)
P. 138. ὁ μονάρχης θεός, ὁ ἔχων ἐξουσίαν κατ' ἐμοῦ καὶ ἀκούεσθαι, ὁ διὰ παρθένου µέλλων γεννᾶσθαι, καὶ ὑπὸ Ἰουδαίων σταυρωθῆναι ἐπὶ ξύλου· ὃν προσκυνοῦσιν ἄγγελοι, ἀρχάγγελοι. ἐκεῖνός µε καταργεῖ. (See below, § 122.)
Besides these longer passages there occur many phrases throughout the Testament which have a New Testament colour, as witness the following uses, which I instance in the order in which they come, most of them being mentioned in my notes below the translation:—
ὑπέταξε—ἀερίων ἐπιγείων καὶ καταχθονίων—ἐξουσίαι—καταργοῦνται—χαλεπὸν πνεῦμα—ἐκραύγασε λέγων—ἀνέκραξε φωνῇ µεγάλῃ—τὸν ἄρχοντα τῶν δαιµονίων—ἀκάθαρτα πνεύµατα—µή µε κατακρίνῃς εἰς ὕδωρ—σιώπα μοι ἕως τούτου—ἐν ποίῳ ὀνόματι—ὁμοθυμαδὸν ἐν ἑνὶ στόµατι—πρὸς τοὺς ​κοσµοκράτορας—βασανίζεις—ἀναμετρητῶν β͏̅—ὁμοθυμαδὸν μιᾷ φωνῇ—κοσµοκράτορες τοῦ σκότους—Satan fallen from heaven—ἀκρογωνιαῖος λίθος κ.τ.λ.—πτερύγιον τοῦ ναοῦ—"remove mountains."
Again, on p. 124 of Fleck, the demon says καὶ ποιῶ καταπίπτειν καὶ ἀφρίζειν καὶ τρίζειν τοὺς ὀδόντας. So Mark ix. 18 it is said of the πνεῦμα ἄλαλον that whenever it seized the boy, ῥήσσει αὐτόν, καὶ ἀφρίξει καὶ τρίζει τοὺς ὀδόντας αὐτοῦ καὶ χηραίνεται. Are we to regard the author of the Testament as here imitating the Greek Testament? Similarly on p. 136 we have the passage: καὶ ἐγένετο ἐν τῷ εἶναί µε ἐν τῇ βασιλείᾳ µου, ἀπέστειλέ μοι ἐπιστολὴν ὁ βασιλεύς. Here we have an Aramaism which is very common in Luke, and which occurs, though seldom, in Matthew and Mark as well. There is really no reason for supposing any of these phrases to be imitated from the New Testament. It is quite as probable that the writer of the document was a Hellenistic Jew, who naturally employed the same phraseology and idioms as the writers of the New Testament. He has not the air of imitating another document; and if he were writing with the Gospels before him as a model, he would surely imitate them in a more unmistakable manner.
Even the phrase κοσµοκράτορες τοῦ σκότους (§ 72), in spite of its recurrence in Paul (Eph. vi. 12), cannot be regarded as imported from Paul into the Testament. For Paul merely glances at a system of belief which the Testament sets before us in lengthy detail. Celsus, in his book against the Christian religion, written about A.D. 170, and subsequently controverted by Origen, gave an account of the thirty-six world-ruling decani identical with that of the Testament in all respects but one, namely, that he used the Coptic or Egyptian names of the decani, whereas the Testament has mock Hebrew ones. The following passage from an old Latin writer exhibits the same belief; and in it, as in the Testament, the supernatural powers are ​termed decani, i.e. lords of ten degrees of the zodiacal circle:—
Julii Firmici Materni, Matheseos; recens Car. Sittl. ed. Teubner, 1894, lib. iv. 21:—
§ 2. Singula signa in libro institutionis ternos habere decanos diximus; sunt autem decani ipsi magni numinis ac potestatis, et per ipsos omnia prospera et omnia infortunia decernuntur. Sic et Nechipso, iustissimus Aegypti imperator et astronomus valde bonus, [et] per ipsos decanos omnia vitia valetudinesque collegit ostendens, quam valetudinem qui decanus efficeret et, quia natura alia natura vincitur et quia deum frequenter alius deus vincit, ex contrariis naturis et ex contrariis potestatibus omnium aegritudinum medelas divinae rationis magisteriis invenit. § 3. Triginta sex itaque decani omnem zodiaci possident circulum et per xii signorum numerus id est decanorum dividitur.
The following is the passage of Celsus above referred to. He is defending the worship of demons, which Christianity imperilled:—
That among these demons, even down to the least ones, there exists some one or another to whom authority (ἐχουσία) has been given, may be learned by any one from what the Egyptians say, namely, that thirty-six demons, or ethereal gods of a kind, have distributed among themselves man's body, which is apportioned into a corresponding number of parts. Some say the number of these demons is much greater. One demon then is appointed to take care of one part and another of another. Of these demons they know the names in the local speech (i. e. Coptic), as, for example, Khnoumên, and Khnakoumen, and Knat, and Sikat, and Bion, and Eron, and Erebion, and Ramanor, and Reianoor, and the rest of the names used in their tongue. And, of course, by invoking these demons, they cure the sufferings of the several parts.
Celsus draws the moral that if we desire health we ought to propitiate these thirty-six unseen powers. Origen replies that, since "in the name of Jesus every knee shall bend, of those in heaven, and on earth, and under the earth," Christians have no need to consult this mob of demons, but only to trust in the living God. The course indicated by the Testament of Solomon is rather different. We are to know the name of the particular angel who can rout each ​particular demon, and, with the help of these names and of sundry amulets and incantations, we are to make shift. The exclusive use of the name of Jesus Christ or of the living God is not here advocated by the Testament as it is by Origen. Clearly the Christianity of the Testament, if it be originally Christian at all, is of a very different type to Origen's. The real analogue to the faith here revealed is to be found among the Palestinian Essenes, who cherished as a secret lore "the names of the angels," so that the neophyte, on entering their order, took an oath not to reveal them (Josephus, De Bello Iud., ii. 142). The same Essenes had great skill as leeches, because they had sought and found roots and qualities of stones which warded off disease. The entire section of the Testament in which these thirty-six decani and their functions and countervailing angels are enumerated has nothing Christian about it. The coincidence with Paul's epistle must therefore be due to the fact that he and the writer of the Testament had, as Jews, a common stock of demonological beliefs.
These thirty-six world-rulers, so we read in the Testament, had heads shaped like dogs, asses, oxen, and birds. So in a passage of Celsus which Origen (vi. 33) quotes we learn that the shapes of the world-rulers were those of lions, oxen, dragons, eagles, bears, or dogs. Such is the circle of superstition in which the writer of the Testament moves. When the Testament calls these thirty-six kosmokratores by the name of elements, stoicheia, it explains several enigmatical passages in Paul's epistles, e.g. Gal. iv. 3: "So we also, when we were children, were held in bondage under the elements (stoicheia) of the world: but when the fulness of time came, God sent forth his Son … that he might redeem them that were under the law." Again, in Gal. iv. 9 Paul exhorts his converts, who have now come to know God and to be known of God, not to turn them back again to the weak and beggarly elements (stoicheia), whereunto they desire to be in bondage ​over again. And he notes significantly that those who revert to these elements "observe days, and months, and seasons, and years." Throughout this passage Paul has in view the deeply rooted astrological belief in the twelve zodiacal signs and their thirty-six decani which governed human life and conduct. These were the powers, according to Celsus (Origen, c. Celsum, viii. 58), which really had authority, exousia (the Pauline word), over man. "You are trying," replies Origen, "to bring back our souls under the sway of the demons, which you pretend have our bodies as their lot." "See," he exclaims in the next section (59), "how Celsus turns us away from belief through Jesus Christ in the universal God, and summons us to believe, because of the healing of our bodies, in six and thirty barbaric demons, for whom the magi of the Egyptians, and none else, find I know not what names, and promise us prosperity. It is time for us, according to Celsus, to take to magic and to swindling rather than to being Christians." The observance of days and months, of seasons and years, which Paul laments in this connexion among his Galatian converts, is still further explained by Julius Firmicus, whom Salmasius thus summarizes:—
Climacterici vero dies sunt, in quibus pericula ex morbis aut ex casibus qui extrinsecus eveniunt vitae nostrae intentantur, quibusque in discrimen et metum interitus adducitur ac pene subvertitur. Et climacteres illos sive pericula, quae annis vel diebus climactericis vel etiam horis inde appellatis accidunt, a Decanis fieri crediderunt, ut dictum est, et per ipsos Decanos omnia vitia valetudinesque colligebant antiquissimi Aegyptii, ut ex Firmico supra docuimus.
Paul himself believed in the reality of these unseen powers, which made days and hours, and even years, unlucky by their malign influence. In Jesus Christ, the prophet of the one God, he found a superior power that sheltered him and his converts against them. Faith in the ​Saviour and appeal to his name was potent to frustrate all the demoniac beings who, in Paul's belief, menaced, while controlling, man and all man's circumstances.
The legend about the corner-stone can, still less than the passage of the Testament, which we have just considered, have been inspired by the N. T., even though Ps. cxviii. 22 and Isa. xxviii. 16 are combined in 1 Pet. ii. 6, 7 in just the same way. The passages of the N. T., in which the cornerstone is interpreted as the Messiah, could not have suggested a legend which is in all ways repugnant to them. If there is any connexion, it must be the Testament which lies behind the N. T., and not vice versa. Similarly, the Testament provides us with the key to the words of Luke x. 18, in which Jesus declares that he saw Satan fall as lightning from heaven. And the other approximations to the diction and thought of the N. T. must be regarded in a similar light. The Testament is in fact independent of the N. T., but opens before us a similar region of Graeco-Jewish beliefs and phraseology. The reference to the lost apocryph of Iannes and Iambres might well belong to the first century, when that book was in the hands of Christian writers. So also might the mention of the fallen angels and their offspring, of the three and more heavens, of the sons of the giants, of the eleven aeons. Many of these ideas are derived from the Enoch literature, which was so popular in the earliest age of the Church.
How then are the longer passages to be regarded which we have cited above in the original Greek? They are, of course, Christian, but not in such a way as to involve a literary connexion with the N. T. The first two of them belong to the same context, and contain an allusion to the miracle of Gadara, one of the oldest and most characteristic of the legends contained in the triple tradition. The allusion is not of such a kind as to involve our Gospel text in its present form, but rather reflects the oral tradition which went before it.
The third passage is so corrupt as to be wellnigh ​unintelligible. And the passage about Jerusalem, beginning, "Jerusalem being signified," has all the appearance of a gloss which has crept into the text.
The fourth passage, from p. 127 of Fleck's text, is unmistakably Christian in tone, and involves the teaching of the virgin-mother. The word τανυσθείς is not used of crucifixion in the N. T., though it occurs in this sense in writers of the second century. The apocryphal Book of Solomon, used by Lactantius in his Institutions, was so far Christian as to speak both of the birth from a virgin of Emmanuel and of the crucifixion.
In the fifth the humanity of the Saviour is asserted; whereas in the eighth (from p. 138 of Fleck's text) he is declared to be sole-ruling God, who is to be born of a virgin, crucified on a tree by the Jews, whom angels and archangels worship. The same patripassianism characterizes the Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs, especially that of Levi, in ch. 4 of which the crucifixion is spoken of as the passion of the Most High. In an exorcism published by Dieterich (Abraxas, p. 138) Jesus is in the same way called "the God of the Hebrews." This exorcism is found in the Paris Papyrus, 3009; and in the same document we have the following: "I adjure thee, every spirit of demon, to say whatsoever thou art. For I adjure thee by the ring which Solomon laid on the tongue of Jeremiah." And just below we have an allusion to the holy aeons, and a final exhortation not to eat pork as a condition of being able to control the demons. This papyrus belongs to that literature of charms and incantations which cannot be called exclusively either Christian or Jewish, but which formed the fringe of both religions. We hardly need affirm the Testament of Solomon to be a Christian work, unless we affirm the same of this papyrus, which Dieterich ascribes to a pre-Christian age.
In the Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs we have the same mixture of equivocal Christianity with unequivocal Judaism. It is likely that in both we have a Christian ​recension of a Jewish book. Is it possible then that the Testament in its original form was the very collection of incantations which, according to Josephus, was composed and bequeathed by Solomon? The passage is in his Antiquities, viii. 2. 5:—
God enabled him to learn also the art of overcoming demons for the help and healing of man. And he composed incantations by which diseases are assuaged, and modes of exorcisms, by which persons bound may expel demons so that they shall not return. And this therapy, even up to now, has the greatest power among us.
Josephus proceeds to relate how a certain compatriot of his, Eleazar by name, had drawn a demon out of a man possessed by holding to his nose a ring which had under the seal one of the roots revealed by Solomon. The possessed snuffed at it, and fell down; and Eleazar adjured the demon, as it left the man's nostrils, never more to return into him, mentioning Solomon, and repeating over him the incantations which Solomon composed. "This incident," concludes Josephus, "was a patent demonstration of the understanding and wisdom of Solomon." All this tallies quite well with the Testament, for in it the heaven-sent ring is described, and the power of Solomon over the demons ascribed to the sophia, or wisdom, communicated to him from God. The incantations prescribed against the kosmokrators may very well be the particular ones which Josephus knew and ascribed to Solomon.
It is impossible to say when and where the Christian elements present in the Testament were worked into it, but the stress laid on the name Emmanuel and on its numerical value, on the writing of the name on the forehead, the use of the word τανυσθείς, the patripassian conceptions, all have a very archaic air, and seem to belong to about 100 A.D. The demonological shapes set before us are those with which Celsus was familiar, and in Origen's sixth book, ch. 30, we have a clue to the sort of Christians whose souls ​may have been satisfied by the Testament of Solomon. Origen wrote as follows:—
Next Celsus reverts to the matter of the seven ruling demons, though they are never named by Christians, but are, I believe, accepted by Ophiani. And indeed I have found in a diagram, which I too got possession of through the latter, their order (taxis) set forth agreeably to the exposition of Celsus. For Celsus declares that "the first was shaped like a lion," though he does not declare the name that these most truly impious persons give to him. I, however, have found that that accursed diagram asserts the lion-shaped demon to be Michael, the angel of the Creator that is praised in the holy Scriptures. Again Celsus asserts "the next and second one to be an ox." But the diagram I had said that the ox-shaped one was Suriel. Then Celsus tells us "of a third, amphibious sort of demon who is also hissing in a way that makes you tremble." Well, the diagram declares the dragon-like one to be Raphael. Again Celsus says that "the fourth has the shape of an eagle"; but the diagram calls the eagle-like one Gabriel. Next Celsus asserts "the fifth to have a bear's countenance"; but the diagram asserts the bear-like one to be Thauthabaôth or Onoêl. However, in the diagram I find that he is called Onoêl or Thartharaôth, and that he is actually like an ass in form.
Now I have thought it well to set this and the like forth in an accurate way, lest I should appear to be unaware of what Celsus professes to know. But as a Christian, and as having a more accurate knowledge of the matter than he, I must aver that these are not the doctrines of Christians, but of those who are wholly alien to salvation, and who in no way profess Jesus to be either Saviour, or God, or teacher, or Son of God.
It is clear from the above that Celsus had come across Ophiani and other Gnostics, and had in his book upbraided Christians in general with their absurdities. Origen denies that they were Christians at all who indulged in such vagaries, just as to-day a member of an Established Church would disown acquaintance with Mormons or Shakers. However this may be, the demonology of the Testament closely resembles that of the believers whom Celsus ​ridiculed and Origen disowned. It is probable therefore that the Testament was the favourite book of the Ophiani, or of some analogous sect which combined a belief in Emmanuel with a mass of pre-existent Jewish superstitions. It is also quoted as a genuine writing of Solomon in the Greek dialogue of Timothy and Aquila, a Christian monument of uncertain date, but anyhow based on an earlier dialogue of the middle of the second century.
One of the best commentaries on the Testament is the Arabian Nights. There, especially in the legend of the Brazen City, we meet again with the ring of Solomon, and with the spirits confined in bottles; in others of these tales we meet with dragon-like demons, enveloped in a whirlwind of dust, with the belief in a moira or destiny carried by the possessor, and to be cast on the ground on occasions. All these and kindred beliefs were probably as rife among the Jews of Palestine and Egypt in the first century as they were among Arabs in the thirteenth century or even in the present day. Even an interpreter of the N. T. can ill afford to disregard this great repertory of Semitic folk-lore.
We must not assume that the evil heresies inspired by Beelzeboul and by the Demon of Deception were Christian. For there were heresies within Judaism; and Christianity is as likely as not to be one of the heresies glanced at in a Jewish document of the first century. Beelzeboul, the father of heresies, also declares that he "destroys kings, and allies himself with foreign tyrants." The foreign tyrants may be Titus and Vespasian, and the reference to kings a reminiscence of the Herodian dynasty.
For convenience of reference I have divided the Testament into sections or short chapters; and in conclusion I add an appendix of all the names and of the unknown words used in spells. Many of the names of demons appear to be Greek words with Aramaic endings. The spells may most of them be mere gibberish, but an oriental scholar may detect in some of them depravations of Coptic, or Aramaic, or Persian formulae. Every demon, so Origen tells us, had ​to be addressed in a tongue which he understood, a Greek demon in Greek, a Syrian demon in Syriac, and so on. A lexicon of all the odd words used in invocations in the magic papyri and in such documents as this Testament is a great desideratum. But perhaps the time is hardly come for one to be made, since every year adds to our store of such documents.
F. C. Conybeare.
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 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, Lord God, who didst give to 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 the half of the pay of the chief-deviser's little boy, as well as half his food. ​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 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 the half of my pay and 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 Sabaôth 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 Sabaôth. With it thou shalt lock up all the 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 ​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 not 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 the Water-pourer. And those who are consumed with desire for noble virgins upon earth …, 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 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 ​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 I 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 the devil."
15. And I questioned him, and said: "Who art thou?" The demon replied: "I am Beelzeboul, the exarch of the demons. And all ​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 …, 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. 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, 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 dropped in a wood."
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 ​what angel is it that frustrates thee?" And she said to me: "He that in 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 earthborn 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 ​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.
​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 my 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. And if one of the Romans adjure me by the great name of the power Eleêth, I disappear at once."
30. I Solomon was astounded when I heard this; and I ordered him to saw up Theban marbles. And when he began to saw the marbles, the other demons cried out with a loud voice, howling because of their king Beelzeboul.
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 bulbs of the sea, with nard and saffron, and light seven lamps in an earthquake, thou wilt firmly fix thy house. And if, being pure, ​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."
32. And I Solomon, having heard this, rebuked him, and said: "Silence for this present, 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 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."
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, ​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?" 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.
34. And I glorified God afresh who gave me this authority, and ordered another demon to come before me. And there came seven spirits, 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: "We are of the thirty-three elements of the cosmic ruler of the darkness." And the first said: "I am Deception." The second: "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 together, and together we live, sometimes in Lydia, sometimes in Olympus, sometimes in a great mountain."
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."
​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, Baruchiachêl."
37. Likewise also the third said: " I am called Klothod, 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."
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, 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. I will lead you into error, so as to pry into graves; and I 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."
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 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."
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.
​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 also I have many services to render, and my encounter is fraught with harm. For I grasp in an 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."
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. 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."
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." ​And I bowed myself before the Lord God of Israel, and bade bim remain in the keeping of Beelzehoul until Iax should come.
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 …. And I seize the frenzied men by the larynx, and so destroy them."
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; 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.
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 ​art thou frustrated?" And the demon replied: "By the great Brieus."
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 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 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 legion of demons under me."
52. So I said to him: "I adjure thee in the name of the God Sabaôth, 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 under water. He is noised abroad in the three letters which bring him down."
53. And I Solomon, on hearing this, glorified God, and condemned his legion to carry wood from the thicket. And I condemned the ​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, whose activity is in three lines. But I blind children in women's wombs, and twirl their ears round. And I make them deaf and mute. And I have again in my third head means of slipping in. 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.' 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."
55. "But in the place where thou sittest, O King Solomon, standeth a column in the air, of purple. … 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.
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, 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 ​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."
58. And I Solomon did as she enjoined me, and restrained myself because of the wisdom dwelling in me; 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: "Who 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; 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 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."
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?" But she answered me: "By the angel of God called Afarôf, 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." 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.
​60. And I again ordered another demon to come before me. And there 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 its 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 thee, 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, 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 rôle. Suppose 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 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."
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 Bazazath. 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 to 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 ​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 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 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."
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; 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, 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."
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 ​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 spirit 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, 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 in his company.
68. "But I also have another character and rôle. 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, 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 Beeleeboul; 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. Behold now, in two or three days the spirit that converseth with thee will fail, because I shall have no water."
69. And I said to him: "Tell me by what angel thou art frus​trated." 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. And I sealed them round above with 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.
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 died 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 what 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, 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.
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: "We are the thirty-six elements, the world-rulers 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 ​both twin and crab, lion and virgin, scales and scorpion, archer, goat-horned, water-pourer, and fish.
73. Then I Solomon invoked the name of the Lord Sabaôth, 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 decanus 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, 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 migrain. 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 …"
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. If I hear, 'Sabrael, imprison Sphendonaêl,' at once I retreat."
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 eighth 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 ​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 names 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 Katanikotaél. 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 Saphathoraêl, and I inspire partisanship in men, and delight in causing them to stumble. If any one will write on paper these names of angels, Iaeô, 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 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 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."
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."
​90. The nineteenth said: "I am called Naôth, and I take my seat on the knees of men. If any one write on paper: 'Phnunohoêol, 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 …"
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 send 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, 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."
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 ​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 Hêphêsikireth, 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.'"
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. ​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 that 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 the 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 ​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 of all of them. For there are principalities, authorities, world-rulers, 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 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 heaven, like the sun and the moon."
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, ​glorifying the God of Israel; and she beheld the Temple of the Lord being builded. And she gave a siklos 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 (ἀναφόρους) 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 … apart from the demons whom I condemned to labour. And there was peace in the circle of my kingdom and over all the earth.
117. And it came to pass, while 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 thy 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, the end stone ​of the comer lying there, great, chosen out, one which I desired to 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 comer of the Temple."
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 the 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 ​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 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?" 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, and will stand it where thou wilt in Jerusalem."
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 ​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 this 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 with Moses in Egypt. I am he who fought against Moses with wonders with signs."
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."
​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 a 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." 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: "… by our fathers."
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, and to Rapha, and to Moloch, and to the other idols.
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 pray, and attend to the last things, and not to the first. So that ye may find grace for ever and ever. Amen.
* ↑ See Origen, c. Celsum, viii. 58.
* ↑ ἀρχοντικὰς μορφάς
* ↑ βαρβαρικῶν δαιμόνων.
* ↑ γοητεία.
* ↑ In fine libri De Annis Climactericis.
* ↑ σύνεσις καὶ σοφία.
* ↑ Is it possible that Origen misinterpreted the diagram, and that the angels whose names were written against the animal-shaped demons were the countervailing powers which could frustrate them and defend men from them?
* ↑ ὑπέταχε. This is the word used in the N. T. to signify control over demons.
* ↑ ἀερίων ἐπιγείων καὶ καταχθονίων. The same classification in Phil. ii. 10, except that for aerial Paul uses celestial.
* ↑ ἐχουσίαι. Regularly used in N. T. in the same sense, e.g. Col. i. 13 and i. 16.
* ↑ καταργοῦνται, which in the sequel I usually translate by "frustrate," is the word used by Paul passim in the sense of to "annul," "reduce to nothing," a sinister power.
* ↑ πρωτομαίστος. The meaning of this word is conjectural only.
* ↑ So in Mark ix. 18 the demoniac boy is said to pine away or to be dried up (χηραίνεται). A vampire-spirit or στρίχ sucked the life-blood of its victim in the same way.
* ↑ Spelt "Sabaôd" in MS.
* ↑ That is to say, five A's interlaced: . The symbol is engraved by Mr. C. W. King in his book on the Gnostics, second edition, Plate O, No. 1.
* ↑ χαλεπόν. Literally, "difficult to deal with." The same epithet is applied in Matt. viii. 28 to the Gadarene demoniacs.
* ↑ ἐκραύγασε λέγων, a phrase Common in the N. T.
* ↑ Reading καιομένους for κειμένους.
* ↑ Here the text inserts the words εῷ ζῳδίῳ κέκληται, which perhaps crept in from the margin, κέκληται being a corruption of ὑπόκειται. There appears to be a lacuna here.
* ↑ Or "no hypnotic."
* ↑ Mithras was represented as a lion.
* ↑ The sense rather requires a meaning equivalent to: "I have under my command all . . . ."
* ↑ In folk-lore old or new the ginn or evil spirit dreads iron.
* ↑ ἔρριψεν τὴν μοῖραν ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς. The same word μοῖρα is used below. The angels as well as the demons have their "destinies," in which it was written from all eternity what powers they might exercise. The same idea meets us in the Arabian Nights.
* ↑ ἀνέκραχε φωνῇ μεγάλῃ. The words occur in Luke iv. 33. Cf. ἀνεβόησεν φωνῇ μεγάλῃ, LXX, i Sam. xxviii. 12.
* ↑ τὸν ἄρχοντα τῶν δαιμονίων. In Matt. ix. 34, xii. 24; Mark iii. 22, Luke xi. 15, Beelzeboul is described in the same terms.
* ↑ τὴν τῶν σοφῶν πάρεδρον σοφίαν. Cp. Wisd. ix. 4 τὴν τῶν σῶν θρόνων πάρεδρον σοφίαν, where σοφῶν is possible as an alternative reading. Wisdom is in the Testament regarded as a divine power immanent in Solomon as afterwards in Jesus. At the close of the Testament it is called "the Spirit of God."
* ↑ ἀκάθαρτα πνεύματα So in the N. T.
* ↑ τὴν Ὀνοσκελίδα See Origen, c. Celsum, vi. ch. 30.
* ↑ Reading δέρμα for δεσμά.
* ↑ The word σεβωματω, which here stands in the text, is obscure. Perhaps שבתאי, shabtai, i.e. Saturn, transcribed Σέβεται in a Greek Papyrus Bibl. Nat. li. 2501, underlies our text. See Schwab sub voce.
* ↑ See note 2 on p. 28.
* ↑ In the margin is written "worms."
* ↑ The sense is obscure to me. Perhaps one should render "for the purpose of commemoration."
* ↑ Reading βολβίτου for μολύβδου. 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, Abraxas, p. 19, we read, l. 104: ὁ θεὸς ἔφη τῷ ἰσχυρῷ· σὺ μὲν ἀπὸ ποππυσμοῦ τυγχάνεις, οὗτος δὲ ἐξ ἤχους.
* ↑ διέρχῃ. For the word cp. Origen, c. Celsum, vi. 31 παροδεύω τὴν σὴν ἐλεύθερος πάλιν ἐξουσίαν … τὸν διελθόντα τὸν Ἰαλδαβαώθ.
* ↑ Or (?) "through thee," ἐν σοί being taken as a hebraism.
* ↑ The particulars given about Asmodeus are clearly drawn from the apocryph of Tobit.
* ↑ Justin Martyr, Tertullian, Origen, and most of the early Fathers have the same account of the origin of polytheism, namely, that demons caused men to regard them as gods.
* ↑ The knowledge of the names of the angels was part of the secret lore of the Essenes, according to Josephus.
* ↑ οὐδὲν ἕτερον may, as Bornemann (Zeitschr. für die Hist. Theol. N. F. VIII, 1844) points out, be a corruption of οὐδὲν ἔτυμὀν, "nothing genuine."
* ↑ μὴ με καττακρίνῃς εἰς ὕδωρ. Cf. Mark v. 7–13. Certain spirits preferred waste and dry places.
* ↑ μετὰ καλαμίου στύρακος λύων.
* ↑ Cp. Gen. vi. 4; Book of Enoch, ch. vii.
* ↑ στηρίζω, a use common in the LXX.
* ↑ ἐκλεκτοὺς δούλους.
* ↑ αἱρέσεων κακῶν
* ↑ The text must be faulty, for the word Emmanuel is the Hebrew. The sum 644 is got by adding together the Greek numbers. Cp. note 4, p. 30.
* ↑ We hear of Pentelic marble in Strabo, but the reference in the text may be to Thebes in Egypt.
* ↑ Perhaps the "sea-bulbs" were the balls of hair-like texture which the sea washes up on Mediterranean shores, e.g. in Tunisia.
* ↑ ἐν σεισμῷ. Perhaps ἐν εἰρμῷ, "in a row," should be read.
* ↑ καθαρὸς ὤν. For the condition here insisted on cp. Dieterich, Abraxas, 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.
* ↑ σιώπα μοι ἕως τούτου. So Luke xxii. 51 ἐᾶτε ἕως τούτου.
* ↑ ὡς ἐπὶ πολύ stands in the text, but the phrase seems to be meaningless in the context.
* ↑ 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.
* ↑ τέφρας.
* ↑ Reading σπάσματα for σφάλματα.
* ↑ Cp. Acts iv. 7 ἐν ποίᾳ δυνάμει ἢ ἐν ποίῳ ὀνόματι ἐποιήσατε τοῦτο ὑμεῖς; and Peter answers ἐν τῷ ὀνόματι Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ τοῦ Ναζωραίου
* ↑ 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.
* ↑ Rom. xv. 6 has the same phrase, ὁμοθυμαδὸν ἐν ἑπὶ στόματι. 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.
* ↑ 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"; πρὸς τοὺς κοσμοκράτορας τοῦ σκότους αἰῶνος τούτου. See Iren. Haer. I. i. 10.
* ↑ Fabricius, Cod. Pseudepigr. V. T. vol. I, p. 1047, reads Klothon, which must be i. q. Κλώδων, which Hesychius explains thus: Κλώδωνας τὰς μιμαλλόνας, μαινάδας, βάκχας.
* ↑ In Testam. of Symeon, ch. 3, is a mention of the πνευμάτων τῆς πλάνης.
* ↑ See 1 Kings ii. 25.
* ↑ A reference to necromancy, of which the object was to oblige the spirit of the dead to enter oneself.
* ↑ κελευστῶ ἀρτέμιδος δεσμούς in MS. I have adopted Fleck's suggestion κελεύσω.
* ↑ 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 Ἄρτεμις μάγος. She is the same as Hecate.
* ↑ This seems the sense of ἐνοδίαις, unless indeed θεαῖς or δαίμοσιν be 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 δαίμων ἐνοδία, the Latin Trivia. As a subst. the neut. plur. ἐνόδια = blisters caused by walking, in Theophr. Sud. 15.
* ↑ Or "from the Orient."
* ↑ Bornemann conjectures φύλαξ, "a guardian or watcher." But the angel Iax recurs below in § 86.
* ↑ The MS. has ἐξηχίαν, a vox nihili. Can it mean "her that is born of echo" (see above, p. 19, n. 8)?
* ↑ ῥάβδος
* ↑ πράσινον
* ↑ μετασαλευόμενον
* ↑ The text seems corrupt here.
* ↑ βριέῳ. Briareus is suggested by Bornemann as the right reading, but with little probability, since Briareus would not have been turned into an angel.
* ↑ δεκτικός 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: δοχῇ δεκτικόν ἐστιν (sc. τὸ προφητικὸν πνεῦμα). 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."
* ↑ ῥαδινός, "slender tapering" is suggested by Bornemann as the true reading, because a "staff" might be such.
* ↑ δύναμις is the word used, and which I render "host."
* ↑ κρημνοβαπτίσει. The allusion is to the swine of Gadara.
* ↑ ἐν δὲ τοῖς τρισὶ χαρακτῆρσι καταγούσαι(ς) περιηχούμενον. The three characters are apparently the numbers 644, χʹμʹδʹ.
* ↑ τριβολαῖος. The τρίβολος was a three-spiked instrument, thrown on the ground to wound horses' feet.
* ↑ βωβά, an unknown word.
* ↑ ὑπόδυνα is a word of doubtful sense.
* ↑ ἄκωλος may bear this sense.
* ↑ i. e. Golgotha. The old legend was that Adam's skull reposed in this spot, and that the cross was planted upon it.
* ↑ πορφψροδανόμενος. The meaning of the last part of this compound is unknown.
* ↑ κορυφή.
* ↑ Here we seem to have the Greek head of Medusa transformed into a demon.
* ↑ 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.
* ↑ σταματίζω, an unknown verb.
* ↑ χαλεπόν.
* ↑ Bornemann (Zeitschr. f. d. Hist. Theol. 1844, p. 38) gives the tale of figures. ρ = 100: α = 1: φ = 500: α = 1: η = 8: λ = 30. Total 640.
* ↑ πτεροδράκων, a word not in the lexicons.
* ↑ τὰ δὲ διὰ πυρός.
* ↑ μαγεουομένη.
* ↑ τὸ μὲν τοῦ στοιχείου μέτρον, perhaps "the place or size of the heavenly body."
* ↑ Reading χωρῆσαι forχωρίσαι.
* ↑ διαρραγήσεται. I conjecture the sense which the word must bear in this context.
* ↑ χμδ.
* ↑ This prophecy corresponds roughly to the one which Lactantius, Instit Div., lib. iv. c. 18, quotes from an apocryphal Book of Solomon.
* ↑ Cp. Jude 13 κύματα ἄγρια θαλάσσης ἐπαφρίζοντα … αἰσχήνας. That Jude here indulges in no mere metaphor is clear from the words which follow: ἀστέρες πλανῆται, which embody the belief detailed in the Testament of Solomon, p. 40.
* ↑ σκέψιν? σκῆψιν, "descent, or spiritual assault."
* ↑ Reading κύματα for καύματα.
* ↑ 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, undo neurospastos dicitur." The human form revealed itself in the footstep, which the leaf resembled.
* ↑ βασανίζεις. Cp. Matt. viii. 6, 29; xiv. 24; Mark v. 7.
* ↑ δοχὰς δέκα ἀναμετρητῶν β. Cp. John ii. 6 χωροῦσαι ἀνὰ μετρητὰς δύο ἢ τρεῖς.
* ↑ ἀγγείου for ἀγγέλου.
* ↑ καταδουλισμένον
* ↑ ὀχικόν. See 1 Mos. vi. 4.
* ↑ στοιχεῖον
* ↑ Rev. ix. 4; xiii. 16, 17.
* ↑ ὁμοθυμαδὸν μιᾷ φωνῇ: Acts ii. 1.
* ↑ κοσμοκράτορες. Cp. Paul, Eph. vi. 12; Origen, c. Celsum, viii. 58.
* ↑ δέκανος
* ↑ τοὺς ἐν τῇ ὥρᾳ μου κειμένους
* ↑ ἡμικράνοες (sic).
* ↑ There seems to be a lacuna here.
* ↑ The Greek medical terms which stand in the Greek text are found in Hippocrates, Galen, and Cael. Aurel.
* ↑ 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.
* ↑ There must here be a lacuna in the text.
* ↑ A Gnostic reference. Just above "eleven fathers" were mentioned.
* ↑ βοτρυδόν, for which Bornemann conjectures βουστροφηδόν. There is a parallel in a magic papyrus edited by Dieterich (Abraxas, p. 185): τὰς κεραίας τῶν ὀνομάτων ἀποσπάσας βοσπεαδιι καὶ τῶν ἑπτὰ ἀστέρων· αεηιουω εηιουω ηιουω ιουω ουω υω ω ωουιηεα ουιηεα υιηεα ιηεα ηεα εα α.
* ↑ γόης.
* ↑ δυναστείᾳ
* ↑ Cp. Heb. viii. 5.
* ↑ Cp. Rom. viii. 38.
* ↑ Luke x. 18: "I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven." Jude 13 ἀστέρες πλανῆται οἷς ὑ ζόφος τοῦ σκότους εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα τετήρηται.
* ↑ A shekel. Philo has the form σίκλις, i. 468. σίγλος is the usual spelling in the LXX.
* ↑ There seems to be here a lacuna in the MS.
* ↑ λίθος ἀκρογωνιαῖος κείμενος μέγας ἐκλεκτός, ὅντινα ἐβουλόμην θεῖναι εἰς τὴν κεφαλὴν τῆς γωνίας. Cp. 1 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.
* ↑ ἑπὶ τὸ πτερύγιον τοῦ ναοῦ.
* ↑ Cp. the faith which removes mountains.
* ↑ ἐν τῇ εὐπρεπείᾳ τοῦ ναοῦ. Bornemann suggests that the gate of the Temple called Beautiful (Acts iii. 2, 10) is referred to.
* ↑ τὸν ἀερίστην in MS. I conjecture the sense.
* ↑ κατασοφισάμενος ὅτι. Just below I conjecture μή before ἠδύναντο.
* ↑ μονόπτερον
* ↑ οἰκουχώμενοι in the MS., a vox nihili. If we had the apocryph of Iannes and Iambres we might understand the reference.
* ↑ 2 Tim. iii. 8.
* ↑ Reading τέρασι for πέρασι.
* ↑ This legend of the heavy comer-stone 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 Studia Biblica, Clarendon Press, 1898.
* ↑ Song of Sol. vi. 12.
* ↑ ωθεὶς (sic) stands in the MS.; perhaps ταῖς θεαῖς should be read.
* ↑ τῇ βάαλ, Fem. So Rom. xi. 4.
* ↑ τοῖς ἐσχάτοις. Cp. Rev. ii. 19.
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