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THE 

JEWISH QUAETERLY 
REVIEW 



OCTOBEB, 1898 

THE TESTAMENT OF SOLOMON. 

Inteoductory 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 Wissenscliaftliche Reise durch Deutsck- 
land, Itcdien, <&c. Seven years later, in 1844, Bomemann 
made a German translation in the pages of the Zeitschrift 
fur 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 Conjedanea in Salomonis Testamentum, to a serial 
publication called Studien von Geistlichen des Konigr. 
Sachsen, in its second year, 1843, PP- 45-'5o, 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 Furst'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. 

VOL. XI. B 



2 THE JEWISH QUARTERLY REVIEW 

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 Testavient 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 SahaSth. Grace is granted him, 
and the archangel Michael brings him a ring, of which the 
stone was engi-aved 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 Beelzehoul, prince and exarch of the demons, who 
promises to parade before Solomon all his subject spirits, 
and proceeds to do so, beginning with OnosJcelis. Asmo- 
deus follows after Onoakelis, and gives an account of 
himself which agrees with the Book of Tobit. Beelzehoul 
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 Eleeth. 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 
(oTotxeta) 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 



THE TESTAMENT OF SOLOMON 3 

Mabdos, 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 Ledphoros, 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 suifer much at the hands of 
men, but will precipitate this particular evil spirit into the 
water along with his legions. 

A three-headed dragon, KorupM, next appears, who is 
undone by the angel of great counsel that shall dwell on 
the cross. A female spirit, Ohizuth, 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. 

Enipsigos, 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 kosmohratores 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 

B 2 



4 THE JEWISH QUARTERLY EEVIEW 

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 forth- 
with 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 lannes and lambres against Moses, but after- 
wards, 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 sacri- 
fices grasshoppers to Moloch. Forthwith the Spirit of God 



THE TESTAMENT OP SOLOMON 5 

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 desci-ibed 
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. e;^a) Se ras vnoTeTayfievas (xoi Xeyeavas' Ssktikov eljii rois 
Tcmois' afia 8e tois nam Saijuocrt Tois toiv vn cfie Xey€d>va>i>, (See below, 

§51-) 

P. 124. €i7r€ Be fjLoi TO TTvevjxa 6 fuyoKois avBpanois €X<i>v noWa iraBeiv 
iiTTO avSpanraiv, ov to ovofMi ^fi<^os Xl^^t ° f"''""' ejijiavovjjK, hi Ka\ 
eBecrixevcrei' fjlJ^as, or Koi totc eXevcroixfvos kuto tov vSaTos Kpr^ixvo^aTTrio'ei 
fiixai. (See below, § 52.) 

p. 124. vKO<Tr}iX€ioviJi€vr]t rijs lepoveraXij/ii els tov Xeyojievov Tonov K€(j)d\aiov. 
eK€i yap irpoiipioTo 6 liyyekos ttjs fuyoKrjs ^ovXfis' Ka'i vvv (jiavepais t cm 
^vXov ohria-ei. (See below, § 54.) 

P. 127. TrXavij<roijiev nacrav Tqv olKovp.ivr)v fiexP' noWov Kaipov, ecoy tov 
6eov 6 vibs TavvaBfj eni ^vXov' Kal ovk(ti yap yivcTai toiovtos ^aciXeiis 
0/1010! airra, 6 navTas r]p,as KUTapyayv, ov 1) p^rp'rip ai>8p\ ov piyrjo'CTai, koi tis 
Xd^rj TOiavriji' i^oviriav KaTO irvevfiaTOV, €i fifj exeivos, ov 6 KpSiTOS Bid^oXos 
netpda'ai (riTTjO'ci Ka\ ovk i<txv<tu npos avTov' ov r] yj^fjfpos tov ovo/iaTos xi^^' 
6 ioTiv inpavovrjX. (See below, § 65.) 

P. 129. ifie KOTapyti o peXXav aaiTrjp yeveaBai I'lvdpamos, ov to oroip^ctoi/ 
cV Ta ptToiiTia €t Tis emypd^ei f/TTrjaei jxc, (See below, § 71.) 

P. 138. 6 povdpxis Beds, d tx'^^ i^ovtriav kut e/iov Ka'i axouecr^ai, 6 dta 
irapBfvov fieXXati yevvdcBai, Kal vrro 'lovdaiav aTavpadrjvai em ^vXov' ov 
irpotrKwovaiv ayyeXoi, dpxdyyeXoi. iKflvos p-f KaTapyel. (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 : — 

VTTCTa^f — depiav imyeiaiv Ka\ KaTaxQoviav — i^ovtriai — KaTapyovvTai — 
XaXiTtbv TTvevpa — cKpavyacrt Xeyav — dveKpa^e (jxovfj peydXrj — tov apxovTa 
Toiv daipoviav — aKddapTa nvevpara — /iij p,e KaTaKpivrjS els vd(op — aiama poi 
e<os TOvTOV — ev irot^ ovdpari — 6p,o&vpabov iv evX (TTdp,aTi — npos rovs (CotTjUO- 



6 THE JEWISH QUARTERLY REVIEW 

Kp&TOpas — ^curavi^fis — avaixfTprjrav fi — oixodviiaSov juig <j>a>v^ — Koafio- 
Kparopes tov ctkotovs — Satan fallen from heaven — aKpoyaviaios Xt^os 
K.T.X. — irrepvyiov tov vaov — " remove mountains." 

Again, on p. 124 of Fleck, the demon says koL iroiw 
KaTa-niTtreiv kol a<ppi^ii.v koL rpi^eiv rovs obovras. So Mark 
ix. 18 it is said of the Trvevna akaXov that whenever it 
seized the boy, pjjcro-et avrov, KoiX cK^pi^u kcX rpi^ei rovs 
obovras avTov koI ^-qpaiverai. Are we to regard the author 
of the Tedament as here imitating the Greek Testament ? 
Similarly on p. 136 we have the passage : koX eyiv^To kv tw 
ttvai fxe kv ttj [iacnKeCa piov, direa-TeiXi jxoi, iin(TToX.r]v 6 jSatnAeus. 
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 Koa-fioKpdropes tov <tk6tovs (§ 72), in spite 
of its recurrence in Paul (Eph. vi. 1 2), cannot be regarded 
as imported from Paul into the Testament. For Paul 
merely glances at a system of belief which the Testariient 
sets before us in lengthy detail. Celsus, in his book 
against the Christian i*eligion, 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 

' See Origen, c. Celsum, viii. 58. 



THE TESTAMENT OF SOLOMON 7 

termed decani, i.e. lords of ten degrees of the zodiacal 
circle : — 

Julii Pirmici 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 coUegit 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 (e'louo-ta) 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, Khnoumgu, 
and Khnakoumen, and Knat, and Sikat, and Bion, and Eron, and 
Erebion, and Ramanor, and Keianoor, 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 



8 THE JEWISH QUAETEKLY KEVIEW 

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 Tedame7it as it is by 
Origen. Clearlj' 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 lud., 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. ^^) 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 kosmo- 
kratores by the name of elements, staicheia, 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 {stolclieia) 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 

' apxofTiKcis fiop(pds. 



THE TESTAMENT OF SOLOMON 9 

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 

' PapPapiKuiv Sai/xovwy. ' yorjTfia. 

' In fine libri Do Annis Climaeterieis. 



lO THE JEWISH QUAETERLY REVIEW 

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. i6 are combined in i Pet. ii. 6, 7 in just the 
same way. The passages of the N. T., in which the corner- 
stone 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 Testavient 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 approxima- 
tions 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 lannes and lambres 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 
mii-acle of Gadai-a, 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 con-upt as to be wellnigh 



THE TESTAMENT OP SOLOMON II 

unintelligible. And the passage about Jerusalem, begin- 
ning, " 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 Tawa-Oeii 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 Tivelve 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 exhorta- 
tion 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 afiirm 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 



12 THE JEWISH QUARTERLY REVIEW 

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. a. 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 
kosmoJcrators 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 ravva-deis, 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. 3c, we have a clue to the sort of Christians whose souls 

' aivtais koJ ao<pia. 



THE TESTAMENT OF SOLOMON 1 3 

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 
Thauthaba6th or Onoel. However, in the diagram I find that he 
is called Onoel or Tharthara6th, 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 Tedafnent 
closely resembles that of the believers whom Celsus 

' 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 ? 



14 THE JEWISH QUARTERLY REVIEW 

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 supei-stitiona. 
It is also quoted as a genuine writing of Solomon in the 
Greek dialogue of Timothy and Aquila, a Christian monu- 
ment 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 whirl- 
wind of dust, with the belief in a nnoira 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 appeal' 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 Peraian formulae. Every demon, so Origen tells us, had 



THE TESTAMENT OF SOLOMON 1 5 

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 Tedament 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 trans- 
cendent 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, Omias 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. 

• xnriraft. This is the word used in the N. T. to signify control over 
demons. 

' afpiaiv iiriyfiaiv Koi KaTaxOoviwv. The same classification in Phil. ii. 10, 
except that for aerial Paul uses celestial. 

' ilovaiat. Eegularly used in N. T. in the same sense, e.g. Col. i. 13 and 
i. 16. 

• KarapyovvTcu, 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. 

' wpwTO/ioiaTopos. The meaning of this word is conjectural only. 



l6 THE JEWISH QUAETERLY KEVIEW 

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 supplj' 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, 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 Sahadih ^ by Michael his archangel. [He brought me] 
a little ring, having a seal consisting of an engraved stone, and said 
to me : " Take, Solomon, king, son of David, the gift which the 
Lord God has sent thee, the highest Sabaoth. 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 Pentaljiha^." 

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 

' So in Mark ix. 18 the demoniac boy is said to pine away or to be dried 
up QripaiveTat). A vampii-e-spirit or <TTpi( sucked the life-blood of its 
victim in the same way. 

» Spelt"Saba6d"inMS. 

' 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. I. 



THE TESTAMENT OF SOLOMON 1 7 

customary hour (h-nias, 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 2, 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, 

king, as thou didst command me, 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, demon, to what 
zodiacal sign thou art subject." And he answered : " To the Water- 
p'ourer. 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 

1 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 

' X"^*"""- Literally, " difficult to deal with." The same epithet is 
applied in Matt. viii. 28 to the Gadarene demoniacs. 
' iKpaiyaae Xlyaiv, a phrase common in the N. T. 
' Reading Koto/iivovs for K€tfievovs, 

* Here the text inserts the words ry ^a>Ua) KeKXryrai, which perhaps crept 
in from the margin, «eic\i]Tat being a corruption oiimoKtircu. There appears 
to be a lacuna here. 

' Or " no hypnotic." 

* Mithras was represented as a lion. 

' The sense rather requires a meaning equlTalent to : "I have under 
my command all . ..." 

VOL. XI. C 



l8 THE JEWISH QUARTERLY REVIEW 

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 accord- 
ingly 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 Beelzehoul, who 
has kingship over the demons. He said to him : " Hither ! Solomon 
calls thee." But Beelzehoul, 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 Beelzehoul, §aying : " Solomon the king 
calls thee." But Beelzehoul 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 Beelzehoul, the exarch of the demons. And all 

' In folk-lore old or new the ginn or evil spirit dreads iron. 

' ipptif/fv Trjv /ioipav M ttjs 7^5. The same word fiotpa 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. 

' ifixpa^f (powri /xfyaKri. The words occur in Luke iv. 33. Cf. d.v(06rjaev 
<txuv^ liCfa\ri, LXX, i Sam. xxviii. 12. 

* t6v apxovTa tSiv Sat/ioviaiv. In Matt. ix. 34, xii. 24 ; Hark iii. 22, Luke 
xi. 15, Beelzehoul is described in the same terms. 

' rfjv Toiv ao(pSiv iripeSpov ao(ptav. Cp. Wisd. ix. 4 rijv rSiv aun/ $p6vaiv 
vapfSpov ctxpiav, where (Tofwv 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 TestametU it is called "the Spirit 
of God." 



THE TESTAMENT OF SOLOMON I9 

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 1 do alvrays give thanks to him. 

16. 1 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 

' aKaOapTa mxvuara. So in the N. T. 

' Tijv 'OvooKeXiSa. See Origen, c. Celsum, vi. ch. 30. 

' Reading Stp/ia for Setritd. 

* Tlie word at^ojitarco, which here stands in the text, is obscure. 
Perhaps '^ratr, shabtai, i.e. Saturn, transcribed SjjSjtoi in a Greek Papyrus 
Bibl. Nat. 11. 2501, underlies our text. See Schwab suh voce. 

' See note 2 on p. 28. ' In the mai^in is written "worms." 

' The sense is obscure to me. Perhaps one should render "for the 
purpose of commemoration." 

' Reading PoXff'iTov for fiokv0Sov. 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 Hennes, edited by Dieterich, Abraoais, p. 19, we 
read, 1. 104 : 6 OcAs i^r) r^ taxopv' "^ M^" ^'"^ irownv<Tfiov rvyx^yf^s, ovros Si 

* '"PX?' For the word op. Origen, c. Celsum, vi. 31 irapoSci;ai t^i/ a^v 
iXtv6ifm ToKiv i^ovaiav .... ibv SifkOovra rhv 'laASa/SacUI. 

2, 



20 THE JEWISH QUAETERLY REVIEW 

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, king, by the wisdom of God given to thee, and 
by the angel Joel." 

20. So I commanded her to spin the hemp for the ropes used in the 
building of the house of God ; and accordingly, when I had sealed 
and bound her, she was so overcome and brought to naught as to 
stand night and day spinning the hemp. 

21. And I at once bade another demon to be led unto me ; and 
instantly there approached me the demon Asmodeus'^, bound, and 
I asked him : " Who art thou ? " But he shot on me a glance of 
anger and rage, and said : " And who art thou ? " And I said to 
him: "Thus punished as thou art, answerest thou me?" But he, 
with rage, said to me : " But how shall I answer thee, for thou art 
a son of man ; whereas I was born an angel's seed by a daughter of 
man, so that no word of our heavenly kind addressed to the earth- 
born can be overweening. Wherefore also my star is bright in 
heaven, and men call it, some the Wain, and some the dragon's- 
child. I keep near unto this star. So ask me not many things ; for 
thy kingdom also after a little time is to be disrupted, and thy glory is 
but for a season. And short will be thy tyranny over us ; and then we 
shall again have free range over mankind, so as that they shall revere 
us as if we were gods ^, not knowing, men that they are, the names 
of the angels * set over us." 

22. And I Solomon, on hearing this, bound him more carefully, and 
ordered him to be flogged with thongs of ox-hide, and to tell me 
humbly what was his name and what his business. And he answered 
me thus : "I am called Asmodeus among mortals, and my business is 
to plot against the newly wedded, so that they may not know one 
another. And I sever them utterly by many calamities, and I waste 
away the beauty of virgin women, and estrange their hearts." 

23. And I said to him : " Is this thy only business ? " And he 
answered me : " I transport men into fits of madness and desire, when 
they have wives of their own, so that they leave them, and go off by 

' Or (?) " through thee," iv ooi 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. 



THE TESTAMENT OF SOLOMON 21 

night and day to others that belong to other men ; with the result 
that they commit sin, and fall into murderous deeds." 

24. And I adjured him by the name of the Lord Sahadth, 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, 
Asmodeusl" 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 hver 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. 

' oihiv (Tipov may, as Bornemann {ZeUschr.fur die Hist. TheoWH. F. VIII, 
1844) points out, be a corruption of ovZiv irvjiov, "nothing genuine." 

2 /iij jxf KaTojcpivrii ei'j v5ap. Cf. Mark v. 7-13. Certain spirits preferred 
waste and dry places. 

^ l^(Tci KaKajjiov arvpaKos \vav. 

* Cp. Gen. vi. 4 ; Book of Enoch, ch. vii. 

' aTjjpi^a, a use common in the LXX. 



22 THE JEWISH QUARTERLY REVIEW 

27. I Solomon said unto him : " Beelzehoul, 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 ]^ower Eleeth, 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 Beelzehoul. 

31. But I Solomon questioned him, saying: " If thou wouldst gain 
a respite, discourse to me about the things in heaven." And Beel- 
zehoul said : "Hear, 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", 

' €K\eKTois Sov\ovs, 

* aipiafwv kokSiv, 

' 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. 

* iv afta/xw. Perhaps iv flpfiw, " in a row," should be read. 

^ KoSapos &v. For tiie condition here insisted on cp. Dieterich, Abraxas, 



THE TESTAMENT OF SOLOMON 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." 

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, 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, 

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. 

' aiwira itoi ecus tovtov. So Luke xxii. 51 iart tous tovtov, 

^ <ls iitl rroXv 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. 

* Tf<t>pas. 

' Heading a-naaiuiTa for a<paXiuira. 



24 THE JEWISH QUAETEELY REVIEW 

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 
fii-st, 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, LamechalaV 

' Cp. Acts iv. 7 iv vo'u} Swdfift ^ ey vol<fi ovojuni lironjaare toCto vixhs ; 
and Peter answers iv T(j) ovo/xari 'Irjaov Xpiarov toC Na^aipaiov. 

" 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, oixoBvixahuv kv M (XTo/xaTi. 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 " ; irpis roiis KofffioKparopas 
Tov cKOTovs Tov aioivos TovTov. See Iren. Haer. I. i. 10. 



THE TESTAMENT OP SOLOMON 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 Kloihod S 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, Asteradth." 

40. Likewise also the sixth said : " I am Error \ 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 founda- 
tions 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. 

' Fabricius, Cod. Pseudepigr. V. T. vol. I, p. 1047, reads Klothon, which 
must be i. q. '&\6itoiv, which Hesychius explains thus : KKaihaivas tos 
Hi/MWovas, itatv&Sas, &6jq(a^- 

' In Testam. of Symeon, ch. 3, is a mention of the irvev/iaToiv t^s TrXdi^s. 

' See I Kings ii. 25. 

* A reference to necromancy, of which the object was to oblige the spirit 
of the dead to enter oneself. 

' KekevoTW dpri/juSos Sec/iovi in MS. I have adopted Fleck's suggestion 
KfKc6(xw. 

° 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 'Apreius inayos. She is the same as Hecate. 



26 THE JEWISH QUARTERLY REVIEW 

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 ? 

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, 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, 

1 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 cross- 
ways^ 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." 

^ This seems the sense of IvoUm^, unless indeed ditu^ or Salnoatv be 
understood, trivialihus 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 taiiuiv 
ivoSia, the Latin Trivia. As a subst. the neut. plur. ei/oSm^blistei's caused 
by walking, in Theophr. Sud. 15. 

2 Or " from the Orient," 



THE TESTAMENT OF SOLOMON 27 

And I bowed myself before the Lord God of Israel, and bade bim 
remain in the keeping of Beelzehoul until lax'^ 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 vsrith a loud voice, and said, " Hail, Lord, King 
Solomon ! " And I Solomon was astounded. I said to it : " Who 
art thou, hound ? " And it answered : " I do indeed seem to 
thee to be a hound, but before thou wast, 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 moun- 
tainous 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 

' Bornemann conjectures <pv\al, "a guardian or watcher." But the 
angel lax recurs below in § 86. 

^ The MS. has (^rjxlav. a vox nihili. Can it mean " her that is born of 
echo " (see above, p. ig, n. 8) ? 

' ^0Sos. * vpdaivov. 

' The text seems corrupt here. 



28 THE JEWISH QUAKTEKLY BEVIEW 

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 : 
" 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, 

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 

1 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 
SabaSth, 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 



' Ppt(a). Briareus is suggested by Bornemann as the right reading, but 
with little probability, since Briareus would not have been turned into an 
angel. 

" SeKTiKos seems here to bear this sense, as also in the fragment of a vei-y 
old commentary on the Shepherd of Hermas in the Oxyrhynchus papyri. 
part i, by Grrenfell and Hunt, 1898, p. 9: Soxp ScktiicSv iariv (sc. rb 
npotpTjTtKbv vvfvita). The dwelling-places are the pereons of whom the 
spirit, good or evil, takes possession. So in the Docetic Acta lohannis (ed. 
M. E. James) the Christ says : " I have no dwelling, and I have dwellings ; 
I have no place, and I have places ; 1 have no temple, and I have temples. 
. . . Behold thyself in me who address thee." 

' fiaSivSs, "slender tapering" is suggested by Bornemann as the true 
reading, because a "staff" might be such. 

* bvvaius is the vrord used, and which I render " host." 

' KprjuvoPaiTTiffei. The allusion is to the swine of Gadara. 

° iv Si Tois rpial xapaKTJJpai Karafovaaiis) wepirjxoviiffoi'. The three 
characters are apparently the numbers 644, xV^'. 



THE TESTAMENT OF SOLOMON 29 

lion-shaped one himself to saw up the wood small with his teeth, for 
burning in the unquenchable furnace for the Temple of God. 

54. And I worshipped the Lord God of Israel, and bade another 
demon come forward. And there came before me a dragon, three- 
headed, of fearful hue. And I questioned him: "Who art thou?" 
And he answered me : " I am a caltrop-like spirit ^, 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 frastrate 
me, and to him am I subject." 

55. " But in the place where thou sittest, King Solomon, standeth 
a column in the air, of purple. . . . ° The demon called EpMppas 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, 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 thj' face. Go 

' rptpokaios. The rpiPoXos was a three-spiked instrument, thrown on 
the ground to wound horses' feet. 

* Pa>0a, an unknown word. 

' viroSwa is a word of doubtful sense. 

* aKaKos 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. 

' ■nop<pvpoSav6iiivos. The meaning of the last part of this compound is 
unknown. 

' Kopvifrfj. 

* Here we seem to have the Greek head of Medusa transformed into 
a demon. 



30 THE JEWISH QUAKTEKLY EEVIEW 

then into thy royal storehouses and wash thy hands. Then sit 
down afresh before thy tribunal, and ask me questions; and thou 
shalt learn, 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 child- 
birth. 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. 1 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, evil spirit ? " But she answered me : 
" By the angel of God called Afardf, 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. 

' 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. 

" aTajjaTi^a, an unknown verb. 

* Bornemann {Zeitschr.f. d. Hist. Theol. 1844, p. 38) gives the tale of figures. 
p = ioo: = 1 : ^ = 500 : a=i: jj = 8: X = 30. Total 640. 



THE TESTAMENT OF SOLOMON 3 1 

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, 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 xuU, of this star. And I pair with 
them in the guise of a spirit winged in form, coitnm hahens per nates. 
And she on whom I have leapt goes heavy with child, and that which 
is born of her becomes eros. But since such offspring cannot be 
carried by men, the woman in question breaks wind. Such is my role. 
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 EnSpsigos, 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 

' itTtpo^pajcav, a word not in the lexicons. 
* rd SI Sid irvp6s. 



32 THE JEWISH QUARTERLY REVIEW 

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 
Bathanael, 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 Enepsigos 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, 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 

* imyevofiivr]. 

" T& fiiv Tov CToixfiov iierpov, perhaps "the place or size of the heavenly 
body." 
' Reading x<wp5<^<" for xo'l^""'- 

* SiappayriixeTai. I conjecture the sense which the word must bear in 

this context. 

° X^. 

« This prophecy corresponds roughly to the one which Lactantius, 
Instil Div., lib. iv. c. 18, quotes from an apocryphal Book (^Solomon. 



THE TESTAMENT OF SOLOMON 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 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 ahorse, but behind of a fish. And he had a mighty 
voice, and said to me : " King Solomon, I am a fierce spirit of the 
sea, and 1 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 
Beelzebotd, 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 rdle. I metamorphose 
myself into waves ^, and come up from the sea. And I show myself to 
men, so that those on earth call me Kunolsl-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- 

' Cp. Jude 13 Kv/iara dypia OaKaaatjs i-naippi^ovra . . . alaxv""-^- Tliat Jude 
here indulges in no mere metaphor is clear from the words which follow: 
aaripes jrXxtvrJTai, which embody the belief detailed in the Testament of 
Solomon, p. 40. 

' aKfif/tv ? axTpf/iv, " descent, or spiritual assault." 

^ Reading icipiara for KavpuiTa. 

* Cf. Pliny, Nat. Hist. 24. 74 "Cynosbaton, alii Cynospaston, alii 
neurospaston vocant ; folium habet vestigio hominis simile. Fert et uvam 
nigram, in cuius aoino nervum habet, undo neurospastos dioitur." The 
human form revealed itself in the footstep, which the leaf resembled. 

* Paaavi^eis. Cp. Matt. viii. 6, 29 ; xiv. 24 ; Mark v. 7. 

VOL. XI. D 



34 THE JEWISH QUARTERLY REVIEW 

trated." And he answered : " By lameth." 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 vesseP. 
And having sealed it with my ring, I ordered it to be deposited in the 
Temple of God. And 1 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. Andhe 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, 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 

1 8ox<is SfKa ivaniTprfToiv ti. Cp. John ii. 6 xo'/'oSaat avd iKTpijTcis Sio 

^ Tpfts. 

^ d7Tr€(0v for ayyiKov. " KaTaSovKianevov. 

* 6x'k6v. See i Mos. vi. 4. ° (rrotxuov. 

' Rev. ix. 4 ; xiii. 16, 17. ' dfioOv/iaS&v /Ǥ <fxiw^ : Acts ii. i. 

' Koa/wKpaTofxs. Cp. Paul, Eph. vi. 12 ; Origen, c. Celsum, yiii. 58. 



THE TESTAMENT OF SOLOMON 35 

both twin and crab, lion and virgin, scales and scorpion, archer, 
goat-homed, water-pourer, and fish. 

73. Then I Solomon invoked the name of the Lord Sahadth, 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 
foi-ward, 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: 
" 1, 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 ArStosael. I do harm to eyes, and 
grievously injure them. Only let me hear the words, ' Uriel, imprison 
AraiosaeV {sic), at once I retreat *" 

76. The fifth said : " I am called Iitdal, and I bring about a block 
in the ears and deafness of hearing. If I hear, ' Uruel Ivdal,' I at once 
retreat." 

77. The sixth said: "I am called Sphendonael. I cause tumours 
of the parotid gland, and inflammations of the tonsils, and tetanic 
recurvation °. If I hear, ' Sabrael, imprison SphendonaSl,' at once 
I retreat." 

78. And the seventh said : " I am called SphandSr, 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, 'Arail, imprison 
Sphanddr,' I at once retreat." 

79. And the eighth said : " I am called Belhel. I distort the hearts 
and minds of men. If I hear the words, 'AraSl, imprison Belhel,' I at 
once retreat." 

80. And the ninth said : " I am called Kurtael. I send colics in the 
bowels. I induce pains. If I hear the words, 'ladth, imprison Kurtail,' 
I at once retreat." 

81. The tenth said: "I am called Metaihiax. I cause the reins to 
ache. If I hear the words, 'AddnaSl, imprison Metathiax,' I at once 
retreat." 

82. The eleventh said : " I am called KatanikotaSl. I create strife 

* Si/cavos, ' Tohs iv ry SifXf fiov Kd/ih'ovs. 

' ^lUKpivofs (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. Aui-el. 

D 2, 



36 THE JEWISH QUARTERLY REVIEW 

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 : lae, led, sons of Sabadth, in the name of the great God let 
him shut up KatanikotaU. 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 SaphathoraM, and I inspire 
partisanship in men, and delight in causing them to stumble. If 
any one will write on paper these names of angels, laed, leald, Idelet, 
Sabadth, Ithoih, 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 Bobil {sic), and I cause 
nervous illness by my assaults. If I hear the name of the great 
' Adonael, imprison BoihoihM,'' I at once retreat." 

85. The fourteenth said: "I am called KumeatSl, and I inflict 
shivering fits and torpor. If only I hear the words : 'ZdroSl, imprison 
Kumentael,' I at once retreat." 

86. The fifteenth said : " I am called Roeled. I cause cold and frost 
and pain in the stomach. Let me only hear the words: '7a a;, 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 the e 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 leropael. 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 : ' ludarizi, Sabuni, DendS,^ I at once retreat." 

89. The eighteenth said : " I am called Buldumich. 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." 

• 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. 



THE TESTAMENT OP SOLOMON 37 

90. The nineteenth said : " I am called Na6th, and I take my seat 
on the knees of men. If any one write on paper: ' Phnunohoeol, 
depart Nathath, and touch thou not the neck,' I at once retreat." 

91. The twentieth said: "I am called Marderd. I send on men 
incurable fever. If any one write on the leaf of a book : ' Sphener, 
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 : ' Eorex, 
do thou pursue Alath,' and fasten it round his neck, 1 at once 
retire . . . ' " 

93. The twenty-third said : " I am called Nefthada. 1 cause the 
reins to ache, and I bring about dysury. If any one write on a plate 
of tin the words : ' lathdth, TJruel, Nephthada,'' and iasten 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 : ' Marmaraoth, 
Sabadth, pursue Akton,' and fasten it round the loin, I at once 
retreat." 

95. The twenty-fifth said : " I am called Anatreih, 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 : ' Allazool, pursue Enenuth,^ and tie the paper round 
him, I at once retreat." 

97. The twenty-seventh said: "I am called Pheth. I make men 
consumptive and cause hemorrhagia. If one exorcise me in wine, 
sweet-smelling and unmixed by the eleventh aeon'^, and say : ' I exor- 
cise thee by the eleventh aeon to stop, I demand, Pheth (Axidpheth),' 
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 vrrite ' Kokphnedismos,' and bind it 
round the temples, I at once retire." 

99. The twenty-ninth said : " I am called Anoster. 1 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, 
Anoster. Stop by Marmarad,' at once I retreat." 

100. The thirtieth said : " I am called AUeborifh. If in eating 



' There must here be a lacuna in the text. 

' A Gnostic reference. Just above "eleven fathers" were mentioned. 



38 THE JEWISH QUARTERLY REVIEW 

fish one has swallowed a bone, then he must take a bone from the fish 
and cough, and at once I retreat." 

loi. The thirty-first said: "I am called Hephesikirefh, 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 : ' Adonaeth, help ! ' I at once 
retire." 

103. The thirty-third said : " I am called Agehonidn. I lie among 
swaddling-clothes and in the precipice. And if any one write on 
fig-leaves ' Li/curgos,' taking away one letter at a time, and write it, 
reversing the letters, I retire at once. ' Lycurgos, yeurgos, 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. 1 cast evil 
eye on every man. Therefore, the eye much-suifering, 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 : 
'Meltd, 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 readj' 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. 

• PoTpvSov, for which Bornemann conjectures fiovaTpotprfiov. There is 
a parallel in a magic papyrus edited by Dieterich {Abraxas, p. 185) : 
rcii Kfpaias tSjv 6vofMTUv dTroffirdffas Poff-nfaSu kcH ratv inra offTtpoiv' afjjtova 
ttjiovw i/iovoi (ovoi ova) vai w uovirjia oviTjta vtrjta ir/ta i;ca ea a. 



THE TESTAMENT OP SOLOMON 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 
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. 

no. 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-bom 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, 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, 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 THE JEWISH QUAKTERLY REVIEW 

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 Omias 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, 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 Omias had told me the truth, glorified 
the God of Israel. 

1 16. And the queen of the south saw all this, and marvelled, 

' Ivvamdq. ' Cp. Heb. viii. 5. 

' Cp. Eom. viii. 38. 

* Luke X. 18 : "I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven." Jude 13 
aOTipet n\av^Tai ofs o fo<foj tov <7k6tovs (h rdv alufa TeT^pt]Ttu. 



THE TESTAMENT OF SOLOMON 4 1 

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 
{a.va<f)6povs) 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 vouch- 
safed 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 ! " 

n 8. 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 

1 A shekel. Philo has the form aixKos, 1. 468. aiyXos is the usual 
spelling in the LXX. 

* There seems to be here a lacuna in the MS. 

' Xt'flos aKpoyuviuos Ktintvos liiyas (KXeierds, ovriva (fiovK6iij]v BeTrcu (U T^f 
Ketpa\i)v TTJs yon/ias. Cp. I Pet. ii. 6, 7, who combines in the same way 
Ps. cxviii. 22 and Isa. xxviii. 16. Cp. Matt. xxi. 4a, Mark xii, lo, Luke 
XX. 17. 



42 THE JEWISH QUARTERLY REVIEW 

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." 

ng. And after seven days, being reminded of the epistle oi 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." 

1 20. 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 Sabadth. 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 

^ iirl TO irrepvyiov roS vaov. 



THE TESTAMENT OF SOLOMON 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 ques- 
tioned 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 bom 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 o£f." And I said to him : " Canst thou raise this 
stone, and lay it for the beginning of this comer which exists in the 
fair plan of the Temple ^ ? " And he said : " Not only raise this, 

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 comer.' 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 

1 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 

^ Cp. the faith which removes mountains. 

' iv T^ fiirpfvtiq. rod vaov. Bornemann suggests that the gate of the 
Temple called Beautiful (Acts iii. a, 10) is referred to. 
^ t6v depiarriv in MS. I conjecture the sense. 
* xaraaiKpiaaufvos on. Just below I conjecture tJ) before ^Svvayro. 



44 THE JEWISH QUAETERLY REVIEW 

ring on this side and that, and said : " Watch." And the spirits have 
remained upholding it until this day, for proof of the wisdom vouch- 
safed 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, 

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 
Ameteouth—l 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 lannes and lambres 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 

1 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 '." 

'■ iiov6rrr(pov. 

' olieovxi'iiivoi in the MS., a vox nihili. If we had the apocryph of lannes 
and lambres we might understand the reference. 

' 3 Tim. iii. 8. * Reading ripaat for vipaai. 

* 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 



THE TESTAMENT OP SOLOMON 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 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 worshijj 
strange gods, they told the maiden not to sleep with me until I com- 
plied and sacrificed to the gods. I then was moved, but crafty Eron 
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." A.nd 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 BaaP, 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. 

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 BiUica, Clarendon 
Press, 1898. 

' Song of Sol. vi. 12. 

" oiSth (sic) stands in the MS. ; perhaps reus 6(ais should be read. 

' Tj j8aa\, Fern. So Rom. xi. 4. 

* Toii iiTX°'^'>^^- Cp. Kev. ii. 19.