| (translated from the codex of the Paris
Library, after the edition of Fleck, Wissensch. Reise, bd. ii.
abth. 3)
Greek title:--
| NOTES:
|
| 1. Testament of Solomon, son of David, who was king in
Jerusalem, and mastered and controlled all spirits of the air, on the
earth, and under the earth. By means of them also he wrought all the
transcendent works of the Temple. Telling also of the authorities they
wield against men, and by what angels these demons are brought to naught.
Of the sage Solomon.
Blessed art thou, O Lord God, who didst give Solomon such authority.
Glory to thee and might unto the ages. Amen.
|
| 2. And behold, when the Temple of the city of Jerusalem was being
built, and the artificers were working thereat, Ornias the demon
came among them toward sunset; and he took away half of the pay of the
chief-deviser's (?)1 little boy, as well as half his food. [16] He also continued to suck the thumb of his right hand
every day. And the child grew thin, although he was very much loved by the
king.
| 1. [D: master workman’s ]
|
| 3. So King Solomon called the boy one day, and questioned him, saying:
"Do I not love thee more than all the artisans who are working in the
Temple of God? Do I not give thee double wages and a double supply of
food? How is it that day by day and hour by hour thou growest thinner?"
4. But the child said to the king: "I pray thee, O king. Listen to what
has befallen all that thy child hath. After we are all released from our
work on the Temple of God, after sunset, when I lie down to rest, one of
the evil demons comes and takes away from me one half of my pay and one
half of my food. Then he also takes hold of my right hand and sucks my
thumb. And lo, my soul is oppressed, and so my body waxes thinner every
day."
|
| 5. Now when I Solomon heard this, I entered the Temple of God, and
prayed with all my soul, night and day, that the demon might be delivered
into my hands, and that I might gain authority over him. And it came about
through my prayer that grace was given to me from the Lord Sabaoth
by Michael his archangel. [He brought me] a little ring, having a seal
consisting of an engraved stone, and said to me: "Take, O Solomon, king,
son of David, the gift which the Lord God has sent thee, the highest
Sabaoth. With it thou shalt lock up all demons of the earth, male and
female; and with their help thou shalt build up Jerusalem. [But] thou
[must] wear this seal of God. And this engraving of the seal of the ring
sent thee is a Pentalpha."2
| 2. [D omits the last sentence.]
|
| 6. And I Solomon was overjoyed, and praised and glorified the God of
heaven and earth. And on the morrow I called the boy, and gave him the
ring, and said to him: "take this, and at the hour in which the demon
shall come unto thee, throw this ring at the chest of the demon, and say
to him: 'In the name of God, King Solomon calls thee hither.3'
And then do thou come running to me, without having any misgivings or fear
in respect of aught thou mayest hear on the part of the demon."
| 3. [D: Come! Solomon summons you!]
|
| 7. So the child took the ring, and went off; and behold, at the [17] customary hour Ornias, the fierce demon, came
like a burning fire to take the pay from the child. But the child
according to the instructions received from the king, threw the ring at
the chest of the demon, and said: "King Solomon calls thee hither." And
then he went off at a run to the king. But the demon cried out aloud,
saying: "Child, why hast thou done this to me? Take the ring off me, and I
will render to thee the gold of the earth. Only take this off me, and
forbear to lead me away to Solomon4."
| 4. [D: Remove the ring and give it back to Solomon]
|
| 8. But the child said to the demon: "As the Lord God of Israel liveth,
I will not brook thee. So come hither." And the child came at a run,
rejoicing, to the king, and said: "I have brought the demon, O king, as
thou didst command me, O my master. And behold, he stands before the gates
of the court of thy palace, crying out, and supplicating with a loud
voice; offering me the silver and gold of the earth if I will only bring
him unto thee5."
| 5. [D: would not deliver him to you.]
|
| 9. And when Solomon heard this, he rose up from his throne, and went
outside into the vestibule of the court of his palace; and there he saw
the demon, shuddering and trembling. And he said to him: "Who art thou?"
And the demon answered: "I am called Ornias."
|
| 10. And Solomon said to him: "Tell me, O demon, to what zodiacal sign
thou art subject." And he answered: "To the Water-pourer6. And
those who are consumed with desire for the noble virgins upon earth . . .
. . [there appears to be a lacuna here], these I strangle7. But
in case there is no disposition to sleep8, I am changed into
three forms. Whenever men come to be enamoured of women, I metamorphose
myself into a comely female; and I take hold of the men in their sleep,
and play with them. And after a while I again take to my wings, and hie me
to the heavenly regions. I also appear as a lion, and I am commanded by
all the demons. I am offspring of the archangel
Uriel9, the power of God."
| 6. [D: Aquarius.]
7. [D: I strangle those who reside in Aquarius because of their passion
for women whose zodiacal sign is Virgo.]
8. [D: while in a trance...]
9. [D: Ouriel.]
|
| 11. I Solomon, having heard the name of the archangel, prayed and
glorified God, the Lord of heaven and earth. And I sealed the [18] demon and set him to work at stone-cutting, so that he
might cut the stones in the Temple, which, lying along the shore, had been
brought by the Sea of Arabia. But he, fearful of the iron, continued and
said to me: "I pray thee, King Solomon, let me go free; and I will bring
you all the demons." And as he was not willing to be subject to me, I
prayed the archangel Uriel to come and succour me; and I forthwith beheld
the archangel Uriel coming down to me from the heavens.
|
| 12. And the angel bade the whales10 of the sea come out of
the abyss. And he cast his destiny upon the ground, and that [destiny]
made subject [to him] the great demon11. And he commanded the
great demon and bold Ornias, to cut stones at the
Temple12. And accordingly I Solomon glorified the God of heaven
and Maker of the earth. And he bade Ornias come with his destiny,
and gave him the seal, saying: "Away with thee, and bring me hither the
prince of all the demons."
| 10. [D: sea monsters. ... The sea monsters are named
Behemoth (the male) and Leviathan (the female) in 4Ezra 6:48-52, 1En
60:7.]
11. [D: he withered up their species and cast his fate to the ground]
12. [D adds: and to bring to completion the construction of the Temple]
|
| 13. So Ornias took the finger-ring, and went off to
Beelzeboul, who has kingship over the demons. He said to him:
"Hither! Solomon calls thee." But Beelzeboul, having heard, said
to him: "Tell me, who is this Solomon of whom thou speakest to me?" Then
Ornias threw the ring at the chest of Beelzeboul,
saying: "Solomon the king calls thee." But Beelzeboul cried aloud
with a mighty voice, and shot out a great burning flame of fire; and he
arose, and followed Ornias, and came to Solomon.
14. And when I saw the prince of demons, I glorified the Lord God,
Maker of heaven and earth, and I said: "Blessed art thou, Lord God
Almighty, who hast given to Solomon thy servant wisdom, the assessor of
the wise, and hast subjected unto me all the power of he devil."
|
| 15. And I questioned him, and said: "Who art thou?" The
demon replied: "I am Beelzebub, the exarch of the demons. And all [19] the demons have their chief seats close to me. And I
it is who make manifest the apparition of each demon."13 And he
promised to bring to me in bonds all the unclean spirits. And I again
glorified the God of heaven and earth, as I do always give thanks to him.
| 13. [D: The demon said, "I am Beelzeboul, the ruler of the
demons." I demanded that without interruption he sit next to me and
explain the manifestations of the demons.]
|
| 16. I then asked of the demon if there were females among
them. And when he told me that there were, I said that I desired to see
them. So Beelzeboul went off at high speed, and brought unto me Onoskelis,
that had a very pretty shape, and the skin of a fair-hued woman; and she
tossed her head14.
| 14. [D: "... fair complexion, but her legs were those of a
mule." Onoskelis means "she who has ass's legs."]
|
| 17. And when she was come, I said to her: "Tell me who art
thou?" But she said to me: "I am called Onoskelis, a spirit wrought
...[?shabtai/Saturn?]15, lurking upon the earth. There is a
golden cave where I lie. But I have a place that ever shifts16.
At one time I strangle men with a noose; at another, I creep up from the
nature to the arms [in marg: "worms"]17. But my most frequent
dwelling-places are the precipices, caves, ravines. Oftentimes, however,
do I consort with men in the semblance of a woman, and above all with
those of a dark skin18. For they share my star with me; since
they it is who privily or openly worship my star, without knowing that
they harm themselves, and but whet my appetite for further mischief. For
they wish to provide money by means of memory
(commemoration?)19, but I supply a little to those who worship
me fairly."
| 15. [D: My name is Onoskelis. I am a spirit which has been
made into a body.]
16. [D: I have a many sided character.]
17. [D: I pervert them from their true natures.]
18. [D: honey-colored]
19. [D: by remembering (me)]
|
| 18. And I Solomon questioned her about her birth, and she
replied: "I was born of a voice untimely, the so-called echo of a man's
ordure20 dropped in a wood."21
| 20. For the demon born of an echo we have an analogue in
the Hebrew Bath Kol, "the daughter of a voice." In the Gnostic Hymn to
Hermes, edited by Dieterich, Abrasax, p 19, we read, l. 104...
21. [D: I was generated from an unexpected voice which is called a
voice of the echo of a black (lead?) heaven, emitted in matter. (meaning
uncertain)]
|
| 19. And I said to her: "Under what star dost thou pass?"
And she answered me: "Under the star of the full moon, for the reason that
the moon travels over most things." Then I said to her: "And [20] what angel is it that frustrates thee?" And she said
to me: "He that in thee [or "through thee"] is reigning." And I thought
that she mocked me, and bade a soldier strike her. But she cried aloud,
and said: "I am [subjected] to thee, O king, by the wisdom of God given to
thee, and by the angel Joel."22
| 22. [Instead of "and by the angel Joel." D reads "So I
uttered the name of the Holy One of Israel and..."]
|
| 20. So I commanded her to spin the hemp for the ropes used
in the building of the house of God; and accordingly, when I had sealed
and bound her, she was so overcome and brought to naught as to stand night
and day spinning the hemp.
21. And I at once bade another demon to be led unto me; and instantly
there approached me the demon Asmodeus23, bound, and I asked
him: "Who art thou?'' But he shot on me a glance of anger and rage, and
said: "And who art thou?&q2uot; And I said to him: "Thus punished as
thou art, answerest thou me?" But he, with rage, said to me: "But how
shall I answer thee, for thou art a son of man; whereas I was born an
angel's seed by a daughter of man, so that no word of our heavenly kind
addressed to the earth-born can be overweening24. Wherefore
also my star is bright in heaven, and men call it, some the
Wain25, and some the dragon's child. I keep near unto this
star. So ask me not many things; for thy kingdom also after a little time
is to be disrupted, and thy glory is but for a season. And short will be
thy tyranny over us; and then we shall again have free range over mankind,
so as that they shall revere us as if we were gods, not knowing, men that
they are, the names of the angels set over us."
| 23. [Asmodeus also appears in Tobit 3:8, and is
ultimately derived from the Avestan demon Aeshma-daeva
("demon of wrath"). -JHP]
24. [arrogant.]
25. [D: Great Bear.] |
| 22. And I Solomon, on hearing this, bound him more
carefully, and ordered him to be flogged with thongs of
ox-hide26, and to tell me humbly what was his name and what his
business. And he answered me thus: "I am called Asmodeus among mortals,
and my business is to plot against the newly wedded, so that they may not
know one another. And I sever them utterly by many calamities, and I waste
away the beauty of virgin women, and estrange their hearts."
| 26. [D: flogged with a rod] |
| 23. And I said to him: "Is this thy only business?" And he
answered me: "I transport men into fits of madness and desire, when they
have wives of their own, so that they leave them, and go off by [21] night and day to others that belong to other men; with
the result that they commit sin, and fall into murderous
deeds.27"
| 27. [D: I spread (or, I *sting to ?) madness about
women through the stars, and I have often committed a rash of murders.]
|
| 24. And I adjured him by the name of the
Lord Sabaôth, saying: "Fear God, Asmodeus, and tell me by what angel thou
art frustrated." But he said: "By Raphael, the archangel that stands
before the throne of God. But the liver and gall of a fish put me to
flight, when smoked over ashes of the tamarisk28." I again
asked him, and said: "Hide not aught from me. For I am Solomon, son of
David, King of Israel. Tell me the name of the fish which thou reverest."
And he answered: "It is the Glanos29 by name, and is found in
the rivers of Assyria; wherefore it is that I roam about in those parts."
| 28. [D: smoking on coals of charcoal. Compare Tobit,
where Raphael instructs him in the use of the gall, heart, and liver for
various cures.]
29. [D: "sheatfish", a large catfish. Gk. ho, hê glanis.]
|
| 25. And I said to him: "Hast thou nothing else about thee,
Asmodeus?" And he answered: "The power of God knoweth, which hath bound me
with the indissoluble bonds of yonder one's seal, that whatever I have
told thee is true. I pray thee, King Solomon, condemn me not to [go into]
water." But I smiled, and said to him: "As the Lord God of my fathers
liveth, I will lay iron on thee to wear. But thou shalt also make the clay
for the entire construction of the Temple, treading it down with thy
feet." And I ordered them to give him ten water-jars to carry water in.
And the demon groaned terribly, and did the work I ordered him to do. And
this I did, because that fierce demon Asmodeus knew even the future. And I
Solomon glorified God, who gave wisdom to me Solomon his servant. And the
liver of the fish and its gall I hung on the spike of a reed30,
and burned it over Asmodeus because of his being so strong, and his
unbearable malice was thus frustrated.
| 30. [D: liver and gall of the fish, along with a branch of
storax.] |
26. And I summoned again to stand before me Beelzeboul, the
prince of demons, and I sat him down on a raised seat of honour, and said
to him: "Why art thou alone, prince of the demons?" And he said to me:
"Because I alone am left of the angels of heaven that came
down32. For I was first angel in the first heaven being
entitled Beelzeboul. And now I control all those who are bound in
Tartarus. But I too have a child33, and he haunts the Red Sea.
And on any suitable occasion he comes up to me again, being subject to me;
and reveals to me what he has done, and I support him.34
[22]
| 31. [D omits "on a raised seat of honour"]
32. [i.e. fell]
33. [D: There also accompanied me another ungodly (angel)]
34. [D: when he is ready, he will come in triumph.] |
| 27. I Solomon said unto him: "Beelzeboul, what is thy
employment?" And he answered me: "I destroy kings.35 I ally
myself with foreign tyrants. And my own demons I set on36 to
men, in order that the latter may believe in them and be lost. And the
chosen servants of God, priests and faithful men, I excite unto desires
for wicked sins, and evil heresies, and lawless deeds; and they obey me,
and I bear them on to destruction. And I inspire men with envy, and
[desire for] murder, and for wars and sodomy, and other evil things. And I
will destroy the world."37
| 35. [D: I bring destruction by means of tyrants]
36. [D: to be worshipped]
37. [So MS P. D reads simply "I bring about jealousies and murders in a
country, and I instigate wars."] |
| 28. So I said to him: "Bring to me thy child, who is, as
thou sayest, in the Red Sea." But he said to me: "I will not bring him to
thee. But there shall come to me another demon called
Ephippas38. Him will I bind, and he will bring him up from the
deep unto me." And I said to him: "How comes thy son to be in the depth of
the sea, and what is his name? "And he answered me: "Ask me not, for thou
canst not learn from me. However, he will come to thee by any command, and
will tell thee openly."39
| 38. [According to D, Ephippas is an Arabian wind demon.]
39. [D adds: So I said to him, "Tell me in which star you reside." "The
one called by men the Evening Star."] |
| 29. I said to him: "Tell me by what angel thou art
frustrated." And he answered: "By the holy and precious name of the
Almighty God, called by the Hebrews by a row of numbers, of which the sum
is 644, and among the Greeks it is Emmanuel1. And if one of the
Romans adjure me by the great name of the power Eleéth, I disappear at
once."
| 1. The text must be faulty, for the word Emmanuel is the
Hebrew. The sum 644 is got by adding together the Greek numbers.
|
| 30. I Solomon was astounded when I heard this; and I
ordered him to saw up Theban1 marbles. And when he began to saw
the marbles, the other demons cried out with a loud voice, howling because
of their king Beelzeboul.
| 1. We hear of Pentelic marble in Strabo, but the reference
in the text may be to Thebes in Egypt.
|
| 31. But I Solomon questioned him, saying: "If thou wouldst
gain a respite, discourse to me about the things in heaven." And
Beelzeboul said: "Hear, O king, if thou burn gum, and incense, and bulb of
the sea1, with nard and saffron, and light seven lamps in an
earthquake2, thou wilt firmly fix thy house. And if, being
pure3, [23] thou light them at dawn in the sun
alight, then wilt thou see the heavenly dragons, how they wind themselves
along and drag the chariot of the sun."
| 1. Perhaps the "sea-bulbs" were the balls of hair-like
texture which the sea washes up on Mediterranean shores, e.g. in Tunisia.
2. Perhaps "in a row," should be read.
3. For the condition here insisted on cp. Dieterich, Abrasax, p.
141, where in an incantation ceremonial purity is similarly insisted on.
The ritual of a magic papyrus given by Dieterich, p. 169, is very similar
to that here prescribed in the Testament.
|
| 32. And I Solomon, having heard this, rebuked him, and
said: "Silence for this present1, and continue to saw the
marbles as I commanded thee." And I Solomon praised God, and commanded
another demon to present himself to me. And one came before me who carried
his face high up in the air, but the rest of the spirit curled away like a
snail. And it broke through the few soldiers, and raised also a terrible
dust on the ground, and carried it upwards; and then again hurled it back
to frighten us, and asked what questions I could ask as a rule. And I
stood up, and spat2 on the ground in that spot, and sealed with
the ring of God. And forthwith the dust-wind stopped. Then I asked him,
saying: "Who art thou, O wind?" Then he once more shook up a dust, and
answered me: "What wouldst thou have, King Solomon?" I answered him: "Tell
me what thou art called, and I would fain ask thee a question. But so far
I give thanks to God who has made me wise to answer their evil plots."
| 1. So Luke xxii. 51.
2. For the use of spittle to produce a cure or other effect in a
magical way, cp. Mark vii. 33 and viii. 23. In John ix. 6, Jesus, we read,
"spat on the ground, and made clay of the spittle, and anointed the eyes
with the clay." Of this magic use of spittle Pliny, in his Natural
History, gives numerous examples. It was common in antiquity.
|
| 33. But [the demon] answered me: "I am the spirit of the
ashes (Tephras)." And I said to him: "What is thy pursuit?" And he said:
"I bring darkness on men, and set fire to fields; and I bring homesteads
to naught. But most busy am I in summer. However, when I get an
opportunity, I creep into corners of the wall, by night and day. For I am
offspring of the great one, and nothing less." Accordingly I said to him:
"Under what star dost thou lie?" And he answered: "In the very tip of the
moon's horn, when it is found in the south. There is my star. For I have
been bidden to restrain the convulsions of the hemitertian fever; and this
is why many men pray to the hemitertian fever, using these three names:
Bultala, Thallal, [24] Melchal. And I heal them." And I said to
him: "I am Solomon; when therefore thou wouldst do harm, by whose aid dost
thou do it?" But he said to me: "By the angel's, by whom also the third
day's fever is lulled to rest." So I questioned him, and said: "And by
what name1?" And he answered: "That of the archangel Azael."
And I summoned the archangel Azael, and set a seal on the demon, and
commanded him to seize great stones, and toss them up to the workmen on
the higher parts of the Temple. And, being compelled, the demon began to
do what he was bidden to do.
| 1. Cp. Acts iv. 7.
|
| 34. And I glorified God afresh who gave me this authority,
and ordered another demon to come before me. And there came seven
spirits1, females, bound and woven together, fair in appearance
and comely. And I Solomon, seeing them, questioned them and said: "Who are
ye?" But they, with one accord, said with one voice2: "We are
of the thirty-three elements of the cosmic ruler of the
darkness3." And the first said: "I am Deception." The second
said: "I am Strife." The third: "I am Klothod, which is battle." The
fourth: "I am Jealousy." The fifth: "I am Power." The sixth: "I am Error."
The seventh: "I am the worst of all, and our stars are in heaven. Seven
stars humble in sheen, and all together. And we are called as it were
goddesses. We change our place all and together, and together we live,
sometimes in Lydia, sometimes in Olympus, sometimes in a great mountain."
| 1. The Pleiades seem to be referred to. Cp. Job xxxviii.
31, in the Revised Version: "Canst thou bind the cluster of the Pleiades?"
They had a malign influence. The grouping of evil spirits by sevens is
common in Babylonian and Jewish folk-lore. As examples I may cite the
Testamentum of Reuben, ch. 2, and the seven evil spirits of the
N.T. Possibly, however, the Seven Planets are here in question; though
this is unlikely, for they do not tally with the description given.
2. Rom. xv. 6 has the same phrase. For "thirty-three" we should read
"thirty-six" elements. Note that later in the Testament these seven
spirits are not among the Kosmokrators, a proof that the document before
us is a composite one.
3. Paul speaks of the Kosmokrators in Eph. vi. 12: "Our wrestling is
not against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the
powers, against the world-rulers of this darkness." See Iren. Haer.
I. i. 10.
|
35. So I Solomon questioned them one by one, beginning with
the first, and going down to the seventh. The first said: "I am Deception,
I deceive and weave snares here and there. I whet and excite heresies. But
I have an angel who frustrates me, Lamechalal."
[25]
36. Likewise also the second said: "I am Strife, strife of strifes. I
bring timbers, stones, hangers, my weapons on the spot. But I have an
angel who frustrates me, Baruchiachel."
|
| 37. Likewise also the third said: "I am called
Klothod1, which is Battle, and I cause the well-behaved to
scatter and fall foul one of the other. And why do I say so much? I have
an angel that frustrates me: "Marmarath."
| 1. Fabricius, Cod. Pseudepigr. V.T. vol. I, p. 1047,
reads Klothon, which must be i.q. Kludun, which Hesychius explains thus:
...
|
38. Likewise also the fourth said: "I cause men to forget
their sobriety and moderation. I part them and split them into parties;
for Strife follows me hand in hand. I rend the husband from the sharer of
his bed, and children from parents, and brothers from sisters. But why
tell so much to my despite? I have an angel that frustrates me, the great
Balthial."
|
| 39. Likewise also the fifth said: "I am Power. By power I
raise up tyrants and tear down kings. To all rebels I furnish power. I
have an angel that frustrates me, Asteraôth."1 |
1. D: Asteraoth. Cp. 1Kgs 11:5. -JHP |
| 40. Likewise also the sixth said: "I am Error1,
O King Solomon. And I will make thee to err, as I have before made thee to
err, when I caused thee to slay thy own brother2. I will lead
you into error, so as to pry into graves3; and 1 teach them
that dig, and I lead errant souls away from all piety, and many other evil
traits are mine. But I have an angel that frustrates me, Uriel."
| 1. Cp. Testam. of Symeon, ch. 3.
2. See I Kings ii. 25.
3. A reference to necromancy, of which the object was to oblige the
spirit of the dead to enter oneself.
|
| 41. Likewise also the seventh said: "I am the worst, and I
make thee worse off than thou wast; because I will impose the bonds of
Artemis. But the locust1 will set me free, for by means thereof
is it fated that thou shalt achieve my desire . . . . . . . . . . . .. . .
. . For if one were wise, he would not turn his steps toward me."
| 1. This refers to the closing incident narrated in the
Testament, the sacrificing by Solomon of five locusts to Moloch.
Tatian, Orat. ad Graecos, cap. 12, speaks of Artemis magos. She is
the same as Hecate.
|
42. So I Solomon, having heard and wondered, sealed them
with my ring; and since they were so considerable, I bade them dig the
foundations of the Temple of God. For the length of it was 250 cubits. And
I bade them be industrious, and with one murmur of joint protest they
began to perform the tasks enjoined.
[26]
43. But I Solomon glorified the Lord, and bade another demon come
before me. And there was brought to me a demon having all the limbs of a
man, but without a head. And I, seeing him, said to him: "Tell me, who art
thou?'' And he answered: "I am a demon." So I said to him: "Which?" And he
answered me: "I am called Envy. For I delight to devour heads, being
desirous to secure for myself a head; but I do not eat enough, but am
anxious to have such a head as thou hast."
|
| 44. I Solomon, on hearing this, sealed him, stretching out
my hand against his chest. Whereon the demon leapt up, and threw himself
down, and gave a groan, saying: "Woe is me! where am I come to? O traitor
Ornias, I cannot see!" So I said to him: "I am Solomon. Tell me then how
thou dost manage to see." And he answered me: "By means of my feelings." I
then, Solomon, having heard his voice come up to me, asked him how he
managed to speak. And he answered me: "I, O King Solomon, am wholly voice,
for I have inherited the voices of many men. For in the case of all men
who are called dumb, I it is who smashed their heads, when they were
children and had reached their eighth day. Then when a child is crying in
the night, I become a spirit, and glide by means of his voice. . . . In
the crossways1 also I have many services to render, and my
encounter is fraught with harm. For I grasp in all instant a man's head,
and with my hands, as with a sword, I cut it off, and put it on to myself.
And in this way, by means of the fire which is in me, through my neck it
is swallowed up. I it is that sends grave mutilations and incurable on
men's feet, and inflict sores."
| 1. This seems the sense of enodiais, unless
understood, trivialibus dis, "to the demons of the wayside or
cross-road." Hecate was such a goddess, and in C.I. 26 we have
mention of a daimon enodia, the Latin Trivia. As a subst. the neut.
plur. enodia: = blisters caused by walking, in Theophr, Sud. 15.
|
| 45. And I Solomon, on hearing this, said to him: "Tell me
how thou dost discharge forth the fire? Out of what sources dost thou emit
it?" And the spirit said to me: "From the Day-star1. For here
hath not yet been found that Elburion, to whom men offer prayers
and kindle lights. And his name is invoked by the seven demons before me.
And he cherishes them."
| 1. Or, "from the Orient."
|
| 46. But I said to him: "Tell me his name." But he answered:
"I cannot tell thee. For if I tell his name, I render myself incurable.
But he will come in response to his name." And on hearing this, I Solomon
said to him: "Tell me then, by what angel thou art frustrated?" And he
answered: "By the fiery flash of lightning." [27] And I bowed myself before the Lord God of Israel, and
bade him remain in the keeping of Beelzeboul until Iax1 should
come.
| 1. Bornemann conjectures "a guardian or watcher." But the
angel Iax recurs below in # 86.
|
| 47. Then I ordered another demon to come before me, and
there came into my presence a hound, having a very large shape, and it
spoke with a loud voice, and said, "Hail, Lord, King Solomon!" And I
Solomon was astounded. I said to it: Who art thou, O hound?" And it
answered: "I do indeed seem to thee to be a hound, but before thou wast, O
King Solomon, I was a man that wrought many unholy deeds on earth. I was
surpassingly learned in letters, and was so mighty that I could hold the
stars of heaven back. And many divine works did I prepare. For I do harm
to men who follow after our star, and turn them to . . . .1 And
I seize the frenzied men by the larynx, and so destroy them."
| 1. The MS. has a vox nihili. Can it mean "her that
is born of echo" (see above, p. 19, n. 8).?
|
| 48. And I Solomon said to him: "What is thy name?" And he
answered: ''Staff" (Rabdos). And I said to him: "What is thine employment?
And what results canst thou achieve?" And he replied: ''Give me thy man,
and I will lead him away into a mountainous spot, and will show him a
green stone tossed to and fro, with which thou mayest adorn the temple of
the Lord God."
|
| 49. And I Solomon, on hearing this, ordered my servant to
set off with him, and to take the finger-ring bearing the seal of God with
him. And I said to him: "Whoever shall show thee the green stone, seal him
with this finger-ring. And mark the spot with care, and bring me the demon
hither. And the demon showed him the green stone, and he sealed it, and
brought the demon to me. And I Solomon decided to confine with my seal on
my right hand the two, the headless demon, likewise the hound, that was so
huge1; he should be bound as well. And I bade the hound keep
safe the fiery spirit so that lamps as it were might by day and night cast
their light through its maw on the artisans at work.
| 1. The text seems corrupt here.
|
| 50. And I Solomon took from the mine of that stone 200
shekels for the supports of the table of incense, which was similar in
appearance. And I Solomon glorified the Lord God, and then closed round
the treasure of that stone. And I ordered afresh the demons to cut marble
for the construction of the house of God. And I Solomon prayed to the
Lord, and asked the hound, saying: "By what angel [28] art thou frustrated?" And the demon replied: "By the
great Brieus1."
| 1. Briareus is suggested by Bornemann as the right reading,
but with little probability, since Briareus would not have been turned
into an angel.
|
| 51. And I praised the Lord God of heaven and earth, and
bade another demon come forward to me; and there came before me one in the
form of a lion roaring. And he stood and answered me saying: "O king, in
the form which I have, I am a spirit quite incapable of being perceived.
Upon all men who lie prostrate with sickness I leap, coming stealthily
along; and I render the man weak, so that his habit of body is enfeebled.
But I have also another glory, O king. I cast out demons, and I have
legions under my control. And I am capable of being received1
in my dwelling-places, along with all the demons belonging to the legions
under me." But I Solomon, on hearing this, asked him: "What is thy name?"
But he answered: "Lion-bearer, Rath2 in kind." And I said to
him: "How art thou to be frustrated along with thy legions? What angel is
it that frustrates thee?" And he answered: "If I tell thee my name, I bind
not myself alone, but also the legions of demons under me."
| 1. dektikos seems here to bear this sense, as also
in the fragment of a very old commentary on the Shepherd of Hermas in the
Oxyrhynchus papyri. part i, by Grenfell and Hunt, 1898, p. 9. The
dwelling-places are the persons of whom the spirit, good or evil, takes
possession. So in the Docetic Acta Iohannis (ed. M.R. James) the
Christ says: "I have no dwelling, and I have dwellings; I have no place,
and I have places; I have no temple, and I have temples. ... Behold
thyself in me who address thee."
2. radinos, "slender tapering" is suggested by Bornemann as the
true reading, because a "staff" might be such.
|
| 52. So I said to him: "I adjure thee in the name of the God
Sabaoth, to tell me by what name thou art frustrated along with thy host."
And the spirit answered me: "The 'great among men,' who is to suffer many
things at the hands of men, whose name is the figure 644, which is
Emmanuel; he it is who has bound us, and who will then come and plunge us
from the steep1 under water. He is noised abroad in the three
letters which bring him down2."
| 1. The allusion is to the swine of Gadara.
2. The three characters are apparently the numbers 644.
|
| 53. And I Solomon, on hearing this, glorified God, and
condemned his legion to carry wood from the thicket. And I condemned the [29] lion-shaped one himself to saw up the wood small with
his teeth, for burning in the unquenchable furnace for the Temple of God.
|
| 54. And I worshipped the Lord God of Israel, and bade
another demon come forward. And there came before me a dragon,
three-headed, of fearful hue. And I questioned him: "Who art thou?" And he
answered me: "I am a caltrop-like spirit1, whose activity in
three lines. But I blind children in women's wombs, and twirl their ears
round. And I make them deaf2 and mute. And I have again in my
third head means of slipping in3. And I smite men in the
limbless part of the body, and cause them to fall down, and foam, and
grind their teeth. But I have my own way of being frustrated, Jerusalem
being signified in writing, unto the place called 'of the
head4." For there is fore-appointed the angel of the great
counsel, and now he will openly dwell on the cross. He doth frustrate me,
and to him am I subject."
| 1. Tribolaios. The tribolos was a three-spiked
instrument, thrown on the ground to wound horses' feet.
2. bubá, an unknown word.
3. a word of doubtful sense.
4. i.e. Golgotha. The old legend was that Adam's skull reposed in this
spot, and that the cross was planted upon it.
|
| 55. "But in the place where thou sittest, O King Solomon,
standeth a column in the air, of purple...1 The demon called
Ephippas hath brought [it] up from the Red Sea, from inner Arabia. He it
is that shall be shut up in a skin-bottle and brought before thee. But at
the entrance of the Temple, which thou hast begun to build, O King
Solomon, lies stored much gold, which dig thou up and carry off." And I
Solomon sent my servant, and found it to be as the demon told me. And I
sealed him with my ring, and praised the Lord God."
| 1. The meaning of the last part of this compound is
unknown.
|
| 56. So I said to him: "What art thou called?" And the demon
said: "I am the crest of dragons." And I bade him make bricks in the
Temple. He had human hands.
|
| 57. And I adored the Lord God of Israel, and bade another
demon present himself. And there came before me a spirit in woman's form,
that had a head without any limbs1, and her hair was
dishevelled. And I said to her: "Who art thou?" But she answered: "Nay,
who art thou? And why dost thou want to hear concerning me? But, as thou
wouldst learn, here I stand bound before thy face. Go [30] then into thy royal storehouses and wash thy hands.
Then sit down afresh before thy tribunal, and ask me questions; and thou
shalt learn, O king, who I am."
| 1. Here we seem to have the Greek head of Medusa
transformed into a demon.
|
| 58. And I Solomon did as she enjoined me, and restrained
myself because of the wisdom dwelling in me1; in order that I
might hear of her deeds, and reprehend them, and manifest them to men. And
I sat down, and said to the demon: "What art thou?" And she said: "I am
called among men Obizuth; and by night I sleep not, but go my rounds over
all the world, and visit women in childbirth. And divining the hour I take
my stand2; and if I am lucky, I strangle the child. But if not,
I retire to another place. For I cannot for a single night retire
unsuccessful. For I am a fierce3 spirit, of myriad names and
many shapes. And now hither, now thither I roam. And to westering parts I
go my rounds. But as it now is, though thou hast sealed me round with the
ring of God, thou hast done nothing. I am not standing before thee, and
thou wilt not be able to command me. For I have no work other than the
destruction of children, and the making their ears to be deaf, and the
working of evil to their eyes, and the binding their mouths with a bond,
and the ruin of their minds, and paining of their bodies."
| 1. The Sophia, identified by Philo and the early Fathers
with the Logos, is supposed to have entered into and taken possession of
Solomon as it afterwards did with Jesus.
2. stamatihu, an unknown verb.
3. xalepón.
|
| 59. When I Solomon heard this, I marvelled at her
appearance, for I beheld all her body to be in darkness. But her glance
was altogether bright and greeny, and her hair was tossed wildly like a
dragon's; and the whole of her limbs were invisible. And her voice was
very clear as it came to me. And I cunningly said: "Tell me by what angel
thou art frustrated, O evil spirit?" By she answered me: "By the angel of
God called Afarôt, which is interpreted Raphael, by whom I am frustrated
now and for all time. His name, if any man know it, and write the same on
a woman in childbirth, then I shall not be able to enter her. Of this name
the number is 6401." And I Solomon having heard this, and
having glorified the Lord, ordered her hair to be bound, and that she
should be hung up in front of the Temple of God; that all the children of
Israel, as they passed, might see it, and glorify the Lord God of Israel,
who had given me this authority, with wisdom and power from God, by means
of this signet.
| 1. Bornemann (Zeitschr. f.d. Hist. Theol. 1844, p.
38) gives the tale of figures. r = 100; a = 1; f = 500; a = 1; m = 8; l =
30. Total 640.
|
| [31]
60. And I again ordered another demon to come before me. And the came,
rolling itself along, one in appearance like to a dragon, but having the
face and hands of a man. And all its limbs, except the feet, were those of
a dragon; and it had wings on its back. And when I beheld it, I was
astonied, and said: "Who art thou, demon, and what art thou called? And
whence hast thou come? Tell me."
|
| 61. And the spirit answered and said: "This is the first
time I have stood before the, O King Solomon. I am a spirit made into a
god among men, but now brought to naught by the ring and wisdom vouchsafed
to thee by God. Now I am the so-called winged dragon1, and I
chamber2 not with many women, but only with a few that are of
fair shape, which possess the name of xuli3, of this star. And
I pair with them in the guise of a spirit winged in form, coitum habens
per nates4. And she on whom I have leapt goes heavy with child,
and that which is born of her becomes eros. But since such offspring
cannot be carried by men, the woman in question breaks wind. Such is my
role. Supposed then only that I am satisfied, and all the other demons
molested and disturbed by thee will speak the whole truth. But those
composed of fire 5 will cause to be burned up by fire the
material of the logs which is to be collected by them for the building in
the Temple."
| 1. pterodrákun, a word not in the lexicons.
2. [i.e. copulate.]
3. [D: Touxylou.]
4. [D: copulating (with them) through their buttocks.]
5. Tà dè dià pyrós.
|
| 62. And as the demon said this, I saw the spirit going
forth from his mouth, and it consumed the wood of the frankincense-tree,
and burned up all the logs which we had placed in the Temple of God. And I
Solomon saw what the spirit had done, and I marvelled.
63. And, having glorified God, I asked the dragon-shaped demon, and
said: "Tell me, by what angel art thou frustrated?" And he answered: "By
the great angel which has its seat in the second heaven, which is called
in Hebrew Bazazeth. And I Solomon, having heard this, and having invoked
his angel, condemned him to saw up marbles for the building of the Temple
of God; and I praised God, and commanded another demon to come before me.
|
| 64. And there came before my face another spirit, as it
were a woman in the form she had. But on her shoulders she had two other
heads with hands. And I asked her, and said: "Tell me, who art thou?" And
she said to me: "I am Enêpsigos, who also have a myriad names." And I said
her: "By what angel art thou frustrated?" But she said to me: "What
seekest, what askest thou? I undergo changes, like the goddess I am
called. And I change again, and pass into possession of another shape. And
be not [32] desirous therefore to know all that concerns me. But
since thou art before me for this much, hearken. I have my abode in the
moon, and for that reason I possess three forms. At times I am
magically1 invoked by the wise as Kronos. At other times, in
connexion with those who bring me down, I come down and appear in another
shape. The measure of the element2 is inexplicable and
indefinable, and not to be frustrated. I then, changing into these three
forms, come down and become such as thou seest me; but I am frustrated by
the angel Rathanael, who sits in the third heaven. This then is why I
speak to thee. Yonder temple cannot contain me."
| 1. mageyoméne.
2. Perhaps "the place or size of the heavenly body."
|
| 65. I therefore Solomon prayed to my God, and I invoked the
angel of whom Enépsigos spoke to me, and used my seal. And I sealed her
with a triple chain, and (placed) beneath her the fastening of the chain.
I used the seal of God, and the spirit prophesied to me, saying: "This is
what thou, King Solomon, doest to us. But after a time thy kingdom shall
be broken, and again in season this Temple shall be riven
asunder1; and all Jerusalem shall be undone by the King of the
Persians and Medes and Chaldaeans. And the vessels of this Temple, which
thou makest, shall be put to servile uses of the gods; and along with them
all the jars, in which thou dost shut us up, shall be broken by the hands
of men. And then we shall go forth in great power hither and thither, and
be disseminated all over the world. And we shall lead astray the inhabited
world for a long season, until the Son of God is stretched upon the cross.
For never before doth arise a king like unto him, one frustrating us all,
whose mother shall not have contact with man. Who else can receive such
authority over spirits, except he, whom the first devil will seek to
tempt, but will not prevail over? The number of his name is
6442, which is Emmanuel. Wherefore, O King Solomon, thy time is
evil, and thy years short and evil, and to thy servant shall thy kingdom
be given3."
| 1. I conjecture the sense which the word must bear in this
context.
2. xmd.
3. This prophecy corresponds roughly to the one which Lactantius,
Instit. Div. lib. iv. c. 18, quotes from an apocryphal Book of
Solomon.
|
| 66. And I Solomon, having heard this, glorified God. And
though I marvelled at the apology of the demons, I did not credit it until
it came true. And I did not believe their words; but when they were [33] realized, then I understood, and at my death I wrote
this Testament to the children of Israel, and gave it to them, so
that they might know the powers of the demons and their shapes, and the
names of their angels, by which these angels are frustrated. And I
glorified the Lord God of Israel, and commanded the spirits to be bound
with bonds indissoluble.
|
| 67. And having praised God, I commanded another spirit to
come before me; and there came before my face another demon, having in
front the shape of a horse, but behind of a fish. And he had a mighty
voice, and said to me: "O King Solomon, I am a fierce spirit of the sea,
and I am greedy of gold and silver. I am such a spirit as rounds itself
and comes over the expanses of the water of the sea, and I trip up the men
who sail thereon. For I round myself into a wave1, and
transform myself, and then throw myself on ships and come right in on
them. And that is my business, and my way of getting hold of money and
men. For I take the men, and whirl them round with myself, and hurl the
men out of the sea. For I am not covetous of men's bodies, but cast them
up out of the sea so far. But since Beelzeboul, ruler of the spirits of
air and of those under the earth, and lord of earthly ones, hath a joint
kingship with us in respect of the deeds of each one of us, therefore I
went up from the sea, to get a certain outlook 2 in his
company.
| 1. Cp. Jude 13. That Jude here indulges in no mere metaphor
is clear from the words which follow, which embody the belief detailed in
the Testament of Solomon, p. 40.
2. "descent, or spiritual assault."
|
| 68. "But I also have another character and role. I
metamorphose myself into waves, and come up from the sea. And I show
myself to men, so that those on earth call me Kuno[s]paston1,
because I assume the human form. And my name is a true one. For by my
passage up into men, I send forth a certain nausea. I came then to take
counsel with the prince Beelzeboul; and he bound me and delivered me into
thy hands. And I am here before thee because of this seal, and thou dost
now torment me2. Behold now, in two or three days the spirit
that converseth with thee will fail, because I shall have no water."
| 1. Cf. Pliny, Nat. Hist. 24. 74 "Cynosbaton, alii
Cynospaston, alii neurospaston vocant; folium habet vestigio hominis
simile. Fert et uvam nigram, in cuius acino nervum habet, unde
neurospastos dicitur." The human form revealed itself in the footstep,
which the leaf resembled.
2. basaníxeis. Cp. Matt. viii. 6, 29; xiv. 24; Mark v. 7.
|
| 69. And I said to him: "Tell me by what angel thou art
frustrated." [34] And he answered: "By Iameth." And I
glorified God. I commanded the spirit to be thrown into a phial along with
ten jugs of sea-water of two measures each1. And I sealed them
round above the marbles and asphalt and pitch in the mouth of the vessel.
And having sealed it with my ring, I ordered it to be deposited in the
Temple of God. And I ordered another spirit to come before me.
| 1. Cp. John ii. 6.
|
| 70. And there came before my face another enslaved spirit,
having obscurely the form of a man, with gleaming eyes, and bearing in his
hand a blade. And I asked: "Who art thou? But he answered: "I am a
lascivious spirit, engendered of a giant man who dies in the massacre in
the time of the giants." I said to him: "Tell me what thou art employed on
upon earth, and where thou hast thy dwelling."
|
| 71. And he said: "My dwelling is in fruitful places, but my
procedure is this. I seat myself beside the men who pass along among the
tombs, and in untimely season I assume the form of the dead; and if I
catch any one, I at once destroy him with my sword. But if I cannot
destroy him, I cause him to be possessed with a demon, and to devour his
own flesh, and the hair to fall off his chin." But I said to him: "Do thou
then be in fear of the God of heaven and of earth, and tell me by angel
thou art frustrated." And he answered: "He destroys me who is to become
Saviour, a man whose number, if any one shall write it on his
forehead1, he will defeat me, and in fear I shall quickly
retreat. And, indeed, if any one write this sign on him, I shall be in
fear." And I Solomon, on hearing this, and having glorified the Lord God,
shut up this demon like the rest.
| 1. Rev. ix. 4; xiii, 16, 17.
|
| 72. And I commanded another demon to come before me. And
there came before my face thirty-six spirits, their heads shapeless like
dogs, but in themselves they were human in form; with faces of asses,
faces of oxen, and faces of birds. And I Solomon, on hearing and seeing
them, wondered, and I asked them and said: "Who are you?" But they, of one
accord with one voice, said1: "We are the thirty-six elements,
the world-rulers 2 of this darkness. But, O King Solomon, thou
wilt not wrong us nor imprison us, nor lay command on us; but since the
Lord God has given thee authority over every spirit, in the air, and on
the earth, and under the earth, therefore do we also present ourselves
before thee like the other spirits, from ram and bull, from [35] both twin and crab, lion and virgin, scales and
scorpion, archer, goat-horned, water-pourer, and fish.
| 1. Acts ii. 1.
2. kosmokratores. Cp. Paul, Eph. vi. 12; Origen, c.
Celsum, viii, 58.
|
| 73. Then I Solomon invoked the name of the Lord Sabaoth,
and questioned each in turn as to what was its character. And I bade each
one come forward and tell of its actions. Then the first one came forward,
and said: "I am the first decans of the zodiacal circle, and I am called
the ram, and with me are these two." So I put to them the question: "Who
are ye called?" The first said: "I, O Lord, am called Ruax, and I cause
the heads of men to be idle, and I pillage their brows. But let me only
hear the words, 'Michael, imprison Ruax,' and at once I retreat."
74. And the second said: "I am called Barsafael, and I cause those who
are subject to my hour to feel the pain of migraine. If only I hear the
words, 'Gabriel, imprison Barsafael,' at once I retreat."
|
| 75. The third said: "I am called Arôtosael. I do harm to
eyes, and grievously injure them. Only let me hear the words, 'Uriel,
imprison Aratosael' (sic), at once I retreat . . . . .1"
| 1. There seems to be a lacuna here.
|
| 76. The fifth said: "I am called Iudal, and I bring about a
block in the ears and deafness of hearing. If I hear, 'Uruel Iudal,' I at
once retreat."
|
| 77. The sixth said: "I am called Sphendonaêl. I cause
tumours of the parotid gland, and inflammations of the tonsils, and
tetanic recurvation1. If I hear, 'Sabrael, imprison
Sphendonaêl,' at once I retreat.''
| 1. The Greek medical terms which stand in the Greek text
are found in Hippocrates, Galen, and Cuel. Aurel.
|
| 78. And the Seventh said: "I am called Sphandôr, and I
weaken the strength of the shoulders, and cause them to tremble; and I
paralyze the nerves of the hands, and I break and bruise the bones of the
neck. And I, I suck out the marrow. But if I hear the words, 'Araêl,
imprison Sphandôr,' I at once retreat."
79. And the eight said: "I am called Belbel. I distort the hearts and
minds of men. If I hear the words, 'Araêl, imprison Belbel,' I at once
retreat."
80. And the ninth said: "I am called Kurtaêl. I send colics in the
bowels. I induce pains. If I hear the words, 'Iaôth, imprison Kurtaêl,' I
at once retreat."
81. The tenth said: "I am called Metathiax. I cause the reins to ache.
If I hear the words, 'Adônaêl, imprison Metathiax,' I at once retreat."
82. The eleventh said: "I am called Katanikotaêl. I create strife [36] and wrongs in men's homes, and send on them hard
temper. If any one would be at peace in his home, let him write on seven
leaves of laurel the name of the angel that frustrates me, along with
these names: Iae, Ieô, sons of Sabaôth, in the name of the great God let
him shut up Katanikotaêl. Then let him wash the laurel-leaves in water,
and sprinkle his house with the water, from within to the outside. And at
once I retreat."
83. The twelfth said: "I am called Saphathoraél, and I inspire
partisanship in men, and delight in causing them to stumble. If any one
will write on paper these names of angels, Iacô, Iealô, Iôelet, Sabaôth,
Ithoth, Bae, and having folded it up, wear it round his neck or against
his ear, I at once retreat and dissipate the drunken fit."
84. The thirteenth said: "I am called Bobêl (sic), and I cause nervous
illness by my assaults. If I hear the name of the great 'Adonaêl, imprison
Bothothêl,' I at once retreat."
85. The fourteenth said: "I am called Kumeatêl, and I inflict shivering
fits and torpor. If only I hear the words: 'Zôrôêl, imprison Kumentaêl,' I
at once retreat."
86. The fifteenth said: "I am called Roêlêd. I cause cold and frost and
pain in the stomach. Let me only hear the words: 'Iax, bide not, be not
warmed, for Solomon is fairer than eleven fathers,' I at [once] retreat."
|
| 87. The sixteenth said: "I am called Atrax. I inflict upon
men fevers, irremediable and harmful. If you would imprison me, chop up
coriander1 and smear it on the lips, reciting the following
charm: 'The fever which is from dirt. I exorcise thee by the throne of the
most high God, retreat from dirt and retreat from the creature fashioned
by God.' And at once I retreat."
| 1. Pliny, Nat. Hist. xx. 20, notes the same use of
coriander: "Seminis grana tria in tertianis devorari iubent aliqui ante
accessionem, vel plura illini fronti." The Testament evidently
belongs to Pliny's age.
|
| 88. The seventeenth said: "I am called Ieropaêl. On the
stomach of men I sit, and cause convulsions in the bath and in the road;
and wherever I be found, or find a man, I throw him down. But if any one
will say to the afflicted into their ear these names, three times over,
into the right ear: 'Iudarizê, Sabunê, Denôê,' I at once retreat."
89. The eighteenth said: "I am called Buldumêch. I separate wife from
husband and bring about a grudge between them. If any one write down the
names of thy sires, Solomon, on paper and place it in the ante-chamber of
his house, I retreat thence. And the legend written shall be as follows:
'The God of Abram, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob commands
thee -- retire from this house in peace.' And I at once retire."
[37]
90. The nineteenth said: "I am called Naôth, and I take my seat on the
knees of men. If any one write on paper: 'Phnunoboêol, depart Nathath, and
touch thou not the neck,' I at once retreat."
91. The twentieth said: "I am called Marderô. I send on men incurable
fever. If any one write on the leaf of a book: 'Sphênêr, Rafael, retire,
drag me not about, flay me not,' and tie it round his neck, I at once
retreat."
|
| 92. The twenty-first said: "I am called Alath, and I cause
coughing and hard-breathing in children. If any one write on paper:
'Rorêx, do thou pursue Alath,' and fasten it round his neck, I at once
retire...1"
| 1. There must here be a lacuna in the text.
|
| 93. The twenty-third said: "I am called Nefthada. I cause
the reins to ache, and I bring about dysury. If any one write on a plate
of tin the words: 'Iathôth, Uruêl, Nephthada,' and fasten it round the
loins, I at once retreat."
94. The twenty-fourth said: "I am called Akton. I cause ribs and lumbic
muscles to ache. If one engrave on copper material, taken from a ship
which has missed its anchorage, this: 'Marmaraôth, Sabaôth, pursue Akton,'
and fasten it round the loin, I at once retreat."
95. The twenty-fifth said: "I am called Anatreth, and I rend burnings
and fevers into the entrails. But if I hear: 'Arara, Charara,' instantly
do I retreat."
96. The twenty-sixth said: "I am called Enenuth. I steal away men's
minds, and change their hearts, and make a man toothless (?). If one
write: 'Allazoôl, pursue Enenuth,' and tie the paper round him, I at once
retreat."
|
| 97. The twenty-seventh said: "I am called Phêth. I make men
consumptive and cause hemorrhagia. ,If one exorcise me in wine,
sweet-smelling and unmixed by the eleventh aeon1, and say: 'I
exorcise thee by the eleventh aeon to stop, I demand, Phêth (Axiôphêth),'
then give it to the patient to drink, and I at once retreat."
| 1. A Gnostic reference. Just above "eleven fathers" were
mentioned.
|
| 98. The twenty-eighth said: "I am called Harpax, and I send
sleeplessness on men. If one write 'Kokphnêdismos,' and bind it round the
temples, I at once retire."
99. The twenty-ninth said: "I am called Anostêr. I engender uterine
mania and pains in the bladder. If one powder into pure oil three seeds of
laurel and smear it on, saying: 'I exorcise thee, Anostêr. Stop by
Marmaraô,' at once I retreat."
100. The thirtieth said: "I am called Alleborith. If in eating [38] fish one has swallowed a bone, then he must take a
bone from the fish and cough, and at once I retreat."
101. The thirty-first said: "I am called Hephesimireth, and cause
lingering disease. If you throw salt, rubbed in the hand, into oil and
smear it on the patient, saying: 'Seraphim, Cherubim, help me!' I at once
retire."
102. The thirty-second said: "I am called Ichthion. I paralyze muscles
and contuse them. If I hear 'Adonaêth, help!' I at once retire."
|
| 103. The thirty-third said: "I am called Agchoniôn. I lie
among swaddling-clothes and in the precipice. And if any one write on
fig-leaves 'Lycurgos,' taking away one letter at a time, and write it,
reversing the letters, I retire at once. 'Lycurgos, ycurgos, kurgos,
yrgos, gos, os1.'"
| 1. botrydón, for which Bornemann conjectures
boystrofydón. There is a parallel in a magic papyrus edited by
Dieterich (Abraxas, p. 185).
|
| 104. The thirty-fourth said: "I am called Autothith. I
cause grudges and fighting. Therefore I am frustrated by Alpha and Omega,
if written down."
105. The thirty-fifth said: "I am called Phthenoth. I cast evil eye on
every man. Therefore, the eye much-suffering, if it be drawn. frustrates
me."
106. The thirty-sixth said: "I am called Bianakith. I have a grudge
against the body. I lay waste houses, I cause flesh to decay, and all else
that is similar. If a man write on the front-door of his house: 'Mêltô,
Ardu, Anaath,' I flee from that place."
107. And I Solomon, when I heard this, glorified the God of heaven and
earth. And I commanded them to fetch water in the Temple of God. And I
furthermore prayed to the Lord God to cause the demons without, that
hamper humanity, to be bound and made to approach the Temple of God. Some
of these demons I condemned to do the heavy work of the construction of
the Temple of God. Others I shut up in prisons. Others I ordered to
wrestle with fire in (the making of) gold and silver, sitting down by lead
and spoon. And to make ready places for the other demons in which they
should be confined.
108. And I Solomon had much quiet in all the earth, and spent my life
in profound peace, honoured by all men and by all under heaven. And I
built the entire Temple of the Lord God. And my kingdom was prosperous,
and my army was with me. And for the rest the city of Jerusalem had
repose, rejoicing and delighted. [39] And all the kings of the earth came to me from the
ends of the earth to behold the Temple which I builded to the Lord God.
And having heard of the wisdom given to me, they did homage to me in the
Temple, bringing gold and silver and precious stones, many and divers, and
bronze, and iron, and lead, and cedar logs. And woods decay not they
brought me, for the equipment of the Temple of God.
109. And among them also the queen of the South, being a witch, came in
great concern and bowed low before me to the earth. And having heard my
wisdom, she glorified the God of Israel, and she made formal trial of all
my wisdom, of all love in which I instructed her, according to the wisdom
imparted to me. And all the sons of Israel glorified God.
110. And behold, in those days one of the workmen, of ripe old age,
threw himself down before me, and said: "King Solomon, pity me, because I
am old." So I bade him stand up, and said: "Tell me, old man, all you
will." And he answered: "I beseech you king, I have an only-born son, and
he insults and beats me openly, and plucks out the hair of my head, and
threatens me with a painful death. Therefore I beseech you avenge me.
111. And I Solomon, on hearing this, felt compunction as I looked at
his old age; and I bade the child be brought to me. And when he was
brought I questioned him whether it were true. And the youth said: "I was
not so filled with madness as to strike my father with my hand. Be kind to
me, O king. For I have not dared to commit such impiety, poor wretch that
I am." But I Solomon on hearing this from the youth, exhorted the old man
to reflect on the matter, and accept his son's apology. However, he would
not, but said he would rather let him die. And as the old man would not
yield, I was about to pronounce sentence on the youth, when I saw Ornias
the demon laughing. I was very angry at the demon's laughing in my
presence; and I ordered my men to remove the other parties, and bring
forward Ornias before my tribunal. And when he was brought before me, I
said to him: "Accursed one, why didst thou look at me and laugh?" And the
demon answered: "Prithee, king, it was not because of thee I laughed, but
because of this ill-starred old man and the wretched youth, his son. For
after three days his son will die untimely; and lo, the old man desires to
foully make away with him."
112. But I Solomon, having heard this, said to the demon: "Is that true
that thou speakest?" And he answered: "It is true; O king." And I, on
hearing that, bade them remove the demon, and that they should again bring
before me the old man with his son. I bade them 40 make friends with one another again, and I
supplied them with food. And then I told the old man after three days to
bring his son again to me here; "and," said I, "I will attend to him." And
they saluted me, and went their way.
113. And when they were gone I ordered Ornias to be brought forward,
and said to him: "Tell me how you know this;" and he answered: "We demons
ascend into the firmament of heaven, and fly about among the stars. And we
hear the sentences which go forth upon the souls of men, and forthwith we
come, and whether by force of influence, or by fire, or by sword, or by
some accident, we veil our act of destruction; and if a man does not die
by some untimely disaster or by violence, then we demons transform
ourselves in such a way as to appear to men and be worshipped in our human
nature."
|
| 114. I therefore, having heard this, glorified the Lord
God, and again I questioned the demon, saying: "Tell me how ye can ascend
into heaven, being demons, and amidst the stars and holy angels
intermingle." And he answered: "Just as things are fulfilled in heaven, so
also on earth (are fulfilled) the types1 of all of them. For
there are principalities, authorities, world-rulers2, and we
demons fly about in the air; and we hear the voices of the heavenly
beings, and survey all the powers. And as having no ground (basis) on
which to alight and rest, we lose strength and fall off like leaves from
trees. And men seeing us imagine that the stars are falling from heaven.
But it is not really so, O king; but we fall because of our weakness, and
because we have nowhere anything to lay hold of; and so we fall down like
lightnings3 in the depth of night and suddenly. And we set
cities in flames and fire the fields. For the stars have firm foundations
in the heavens like the sun and the moon."
| 1. Cp. Heb. viii. 5.
2. Cp. Rom. viii. 38.
3. Luke x. 18: "I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven." June 13.
|
| 115. And I Solomon, having heard this, ordered the demon to
be guarded for five days. And after the five days I recalled the old man,
and was about to question him. But he came to me in grief and with black
face. And I said to him: "Tell me, old man, where is thy son? And what
means this garb?" And he answered: "Lo, I am become childless, and sit by
my son's grave in despair. For it is already two days that he is dead."
But I Solomon, on hearing that, and knowing that the demon Ornias had told
me the truth, glorified the God of Israel.
|
| 116. And the queen of the South saw all this, and
marvelled, [41] glorifying the God of Israel; and she
beheld the Temple of the Lord being builded. And she gave a
siklos1 of gold and one hundred myriads of silver and choice
bronze, and she went into the Temple. And (she beheld) the altar of
incense and the brazen supports of this altar, and the gems of the lamps
flashing forth of different colours, and of the lamp-stand of stone, and
of emerald, and hyacinth, and sapphire; and she beheld the vessels of
gold, and silver, and bronze, and wood, and the folds of skins dyed red
with madder. And she saw the bases of the pillars of the Temple of the
Lord. All were of one gold ...2 apart from the demons whom I
condemned to labour. And there was peace in the circle of my kingdom and
over all the earth.
| 1. A shekel. Philo has the form síklos, i. 468.
síglos is the usual spelling in the LXX.
2. There seems to be here a lacuna in the MS.
|
117. And it came to pass, which I was in my kingdom, the
King of the Arabians, Adares, sent me a letter, and the writing of the
letter was written as follows: --
"To King Solomon, all hail! Lo, we have heard, and it hath
been heard unto all the ends of the earth, concerning the wisdom
vouchsafed in thee, and that thou art a man merciful from the Lord. And
understanding hath been granted thee over all the spirits of the air,
and on earth, and under the earth. Now, forasmuch as there is present in
the land of Arabia a spirit of the following kind: at early dawn there
begins to blow a certain wind until the third hour. And its blast is
harsh and terrible, and it slays man and beast. And no spirit can live
upon earth against this demon. I pray thee then, forasmuch as the spirit
is a wind, contrive something according to the wisdom given in thee by
the Lord thy God, and deign to send a man able to capture it. And
behold, King Solomon, I and my people and all my land will serve thee
unto death. And all Arabia shall be at peace with thee, if thou wilt
perform this act of righteousness for us. Wherefore we pray thee,
contemn not our humble prayer, and suffer not to be utterly brought to
naught the eparchy subordinated to thy authority. Because we are
suppliants, both I and my people and all my land. Farewell to my Lord.
All health!"
|
| 118. And I Solomon read this epistle; and I folded it up
and gave it to my people, and said to them: "After seven days shalt thou
remind me of this epistle. And Jerusalem was built, and the Temple was
being completed. And there was a stone1, the end stone [42] of the corner lying there, great, chosen out, one
which I desired lay in the head of the corner of the completion of the
Temple. And all the workmen, and all the demons helping them came to the
same place to bring up the stone and lay it on the pinnacle of the holy
Temple, and were not strong enough to stir it, and lay it upon the corner
allotted to it. For that stone was exceedingly great and useful for the
corner of the Temple."
| 1. Cp. I Pet. ii. 6, 7, who combines in the same way Ps.
cxviii. 22 and Isa. xxviii. 16. Cp. Matt. xxi. 42, Mark xii, 10, Luke xx,
17.
|
| 119. And after seven days, being reminded of the epistle of
Adares, King of Arabia, I called my servant and said to him: "Order thy
camel and take for thyself a leather flask, and take also this seal. And
go away into Arabia to the place in which the evil spirit blows; and there
take the flask, and the signet-ring in front of the mouth of the flask,
and (hold them) towards the blast of the spirit. And when the flask is
blown out, thou wilt understand that the demon is (in it). Then hastily
tie up the mouth of to flask, and seal it securely with the seal-ring, and
lay it carefully on the camel and bring it me hither. And if on the way it
offer thee gold or silver or treasure in return for letting it go, see
that thou be not persuaded. But arrange without using oath to release it.
And then if it point out to the places where are gold or silver, mark the
places and seal them with this seal. And bring the demon to me. And now
depart, and fare thee well."
120. Then the youth did as was bidden him. And he ordered his camel,
and laid on it a flask, and set off into Arabia. And the men of that
region would not believe that he would be able to catch the evil spirit.
And when it was dawn, the servant stood before the spirit's blast, and
laid the flask on the ground, and the finger-ring on the mouth of the
flask. And the demon blew through the middle of the finger-ring into the
mouth of the flask, and going in blew out the flask. But the man promptly
stood up to it and drew tight with his hand the mouth of the flask, in the
name of the Lord God of Sabaôth. And the demon remained within the flask.
And after that the youth remained in that land three days to make trial.
And the spirit no longer blew against that city. And all the Arabs knew
that he had safely shut in the spirit.
121. Then the youth fastened the flask on the camel, and the Arabs sent
him forth on his way with much honour and precious gifts, praising and
magnifying the God of Israel. But the youth brought in the bag and laid it
in the middle of the Temple. And on the next day, I King Solomon, went
into the Temple of God and sat in deep distress about the stone of the end
of the corner. And when
[43] I entered the Temple, the flask stood up and walked
around some seven steps and then fell on its mouth and did homage to me.
And I marvelled that even along with the bottle the demon still had power
and could walk about; and I commanded it to stand up. And the flask stood
up, and stood on its feet all blown out. And I questioned him, saying:
"Tell me, who art thou?" And the spirit within said: "I am the demon
called Ephippas, that is in Arabia." And I said to him: "Is this thy
name?" And he answered: "Yes; wheresoever I will, I alight and set fire
and do to death."
|
| 122. And I said to him: "By what angel art thou
frustrated?" And he answered: "By the only-ruling God, that hath authority
over me even to be heard. He that is to be born of a virgin and crucified
by the Jews on a cross. Whom the angels and archangels worship. He doth
frustrate me, and enfeeble me of my great strength, which has been given
me by my father the devil." And I said to him: "What canst thou do?'' And
he answered: ''I am able to remove1 mountains, to overthrow the
oaths of kings. I wither trees and make their leaves to fall off." And I
said to him: "Canst thou raise this stone, and lay it for the beginning of
this corner which exists in the fair plan of the Temple2?'' And
he said: "Not only raise this, O king; but also, with the help of the
demon who presides over the Red Sea, I will bring up the pillar of
air3, and will stand it where thou wilt in Jerusalem.''
| 1. Cp. the faith which removes mountains.
2. Bornemann suggests that the gate of the Temple called Beautiful
(Acts iii. 2, 10) is referred to.
3. I conjecture the sense.
|
| 123. Saying this, I laid stress on him, and the flask
became as if depleted of air. And I placed it under the stone, and (the
spirit) girded himself up, and lifted it up top of the flask. And the
flask went up the steps, carrying the stone, and laid it down at the end
of the entrance of the Temple. And I Solomon, beholding the stone raised
aloft and placed on a foundation, said: "Truly the Scripture is fulfilled,
which says: 'The stone which the builders rejected on trial, that same is
become the head of the corner.' For this it is not mine to grant, but
God's, that the demon should be strong enough to lift up so great a stone
and deposit it in the place I wished."
124. And Ephippas led the demon of the Red Sea with the column. And
they both took the column and raised it aloft from the earth. And I
outwitted these two spirits, so that they could not shake the entire earth
in a moment of time. And then I sealed round with my [44] ring on this side and that, and said: "Watch." And the
spirits have remained upholding it until this day, for proof of the wisdom
vouchsafed to me. And there the pillar was hanging of enormous size, in
mid air, supported by the winds. And thus the spirits appeared underneath,
like air, supporting it. And if one looks fixedly, the pillar is a little
oblique, being supported by the spirits; and it is so to day.
|
| 125. And I Solomon questioned the other spirit which came
up with the pillar from the depth of the Red Sea. And I said to him: "Who
art thou, and what calls thee? And what is thy business? For I hear many
things about thee.'' And the demon answered: "I, O King Solomon, am called
Abezithibod. I am a descendant of the archangel. Once as I sat in the
first heaven, of which the name is Ameleouth -- I then am a fierce spirit
and winged, and with a single wing, plotting against every spirit under
heaven. I was present when Moses went in before Pharaoh, king of Egypt,
and I hardened his heart. I am he whom Iannes and Iambres invoked
homing1 with Moses in Egypt. I am he who fought against Moses
2 with wonders with signs."
| 1. oíkoyxúmenoi in the MS., a vox nihili. If
we had the apocryph of Iannes and Iambres we might understand the
reference.
2. 2 Tim. iii. 8.
|
| 126. I said therefore to him: "How wast thou found in the
Red Sea?" And he answered: "In the exodus of the sons of Israel I hardened
the heart of Pharaoh. And I excited his heart and that of his ministers.
And I caused them to pursue after the children of Israel. And Pharaoh
followed with (me) and all the Egyptians. Then I was present there, and we
followed together. And we all came up upon the Red Sea. And it came to
pass when the children of Israel had crossed over, the water returned and
hid all the host of the Egyptians and all their might. And I remained in
the sea, being kept under this 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 world1."
| 1. This legend of the heavy cornerstone and of the spirits
supporting a column in the Temple reappears in the Georgian Acts of Nouna
in the fourth century. There it is a huge wooden column that is lifted by
spirit-agency, when the king and workmen had failed to move it into place.
The spirits support it in the air before letting it sink into its place.
These Acts will shortly appear in an English translation by Miss Wardrop
in the forthcoming number of the Studie Biblica, Clarendon Press,
1898.
|
[45]
128. And I Solomon glorified God, and adorned the Temple of the Lord
with all fair-seeming. And I was glad in spirit in my kingdom, and there
was peace in my days. And I took wives of my own from every land, who were
numberless. And I marched against the Jebusaeans, and there I saw
Jebusaean, daughter of a man: and fell violently in love with her, and
desired to take her to wife along with my other wives. And I said to their
priests: "Give me the Sonmanites (i.e. Shunammite) to wife1."
But the priests of Moloch said to me: "If thou lovest this maiden, go in
and worship our gods, the great god Raphan and the god called Moloch." I
therefore was in fear of the glory of God, and did not follow to worship.
And I said to them: "I will not worship a strange god. What is this
proposal, that ye compel me to do so much?" But they said: ". . . .
.2 by our fathers."
| 1. Song of Sol. vi. 12.
2. utheìs (sic) stands in the MS.; perhaps taîs theaîs
should be read.
|
| 129. And when I answered that I would on no account worship
strange gods, they told the maiden not to sleep with me until I complied
and sacrificed to the gods. I then was moved, but crafty Eros brought and
laid by her for me five grasshoppers, saying: "Take these grasshoppers,
and crush them together in the name of the god Moloch; and then will I
sleep with you." And this I actually did. And at once the Spirit of God
departed from me, and I became weak as well as foolish in my words. And
after that I was obliged by her to build a temple of idols to
Baal1, and to Rapha, and to Moloch, and to the other idols.
| 1. Fem. So Rom. xi. 4.
|
| 130. I then, wretch that I am, followed her advice, and the
glory of God quite departed from me; and my spirit was darkened, and I
became the sport of idols and demons. Wherefore I wrote out this
Testament, that ye who get possession of it may pity, and attend to
the last things1, and not to the first. So that ye may find
grace for ever and ever. Amen.
| 1. Cp. Rev. ii. 19. |