Testament of Solomon.pdf

The Testament of Solomon

translated by F. C. Conybeare

PDF formatted by P. Yardley

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1. Testament of Solomon, son of David, who was king in Jerusalem, and mastered and controlled all spirits

of the air, on the earth, and under the earth. By means of them also he wrought all the transcendent works

of the Temple. Telling also of the authorities they wield against men, and by what angels these demons are

brought to naught.

Of the sage Solomon.

Blessed art thou, O Lord God, who didst give Solomon such authority. Glory to thee and might unto the

ages. Amen.

2. And behold, when the Temple of the city of Jerusalem was being builded, and the artificers were

working thereat, Ornias the demon came among them toward sunset; and he took away half of the pay of

the chief-deviser's (?) little boy, as well as half his food. He also continued to suck the thumb of his right

hand every day. And the child grew thin, although he was very much loved by the king.

3. So King Solomon called the boy one day, and questioned him, saying: "Do I not love thee more than all

the artisans who are working in the Temple of God? Do I not give thee double wages and a double supply

of food? How is it that day by day and hour by hour thow growest thinner?"

4. But the child said to the king: "I pray thee, O king. Listen to what has befallen all that thy child hath.

After we are all released from our work on the Temple of God, after sunset, when I lie down to rest, one of

the evil demons comes and takes away from me one half of my pay and one half of my food. Then he also

takes hold of my right hand and sucks my thumb. And lo, my soul is opressed, and so my body waxes

thinner every day."

5. Now when I Solomon heard this, I entered the Temple of God, and prayed with all my soul, night and

day, that the demon might be delivered into my hands, and that I might gain authority over him. And it

came about through my prayer that grace was given to me from the Lord Sabaoth by Michael his archangel.

[He brought me] a little ring, having a seal consisting of an engraved stone, and said to me: "Take, O

Solomon, king, son of David, the gift which the Lord God has sent thee, the highest Sabaoth. With it thou

shalt lock up all demons of the earth, male and female; and with their help thou shalt build up Jerusalem.

[But] thou [must] wear this seal of God. And this engraving of the seal of the ring sent thee is a Pentalpha."

6. And I Solomon was overjoyed, and praised and glorified the God of heaven and earth. And on the

morrow I called the boy, and gave him the ring, and said to him: "take this, and at the hour in which the

demon shall come unto thee, throw this ring at the chest of the demon, and say to him: 'In the name of God,

King Solomon calls thee hither.' And then do thou come running to me, without having any misgivings or

fear in respect of aught thou mayest hear on the part of the demon."

7. So the child took the ring, and went off; and behold, at the customary hour Ornias, the fierce demon,

came like a burning fire to take the pay from the child. But the child according to the instructions received

from the king, threw the ring at the chest of the demon, and said: "King Solomon calls thee hither." And

then he went off at a run to the king. But the demon cried out aloud, saying: "Child, why hast thou done

this to me? Take the ring off me, and I will render to thee the gold of the earth. Only take this off me, and

forbear to lead me away to Solomon."

8. But the child said to the demon: "As the Lord God of Israel liveth, I will not brook thee. So come hither."

And the child came at a run, rejoicing, to the king, and said: "I have brought the demon, O king, as thou

didst command me, O my master. And behold, he stands before the gates of the court of thy palace, crying

out, and supplicating with a loud voice; offering me the silver and gold of the earth if I will only bring him

unto thee."

9. And when Solomon heard this, he rose up from his throne, and went outside into the vestibule of the

court of his palace; and there he saw the demon, shuddering and trembling. And he said to him: "Who art

thou?" And the demon answered: "I am called Ornias."

10. And Solomon said to him: "Tell me, O demon, to what zodiacal sign thou art subject." And he

answered: "To the Water-pourer. And those who are consumed with desire for the 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 hide me to the

heavenly regions. I also appear as a lion, and I am commanded by all the demons. I am offspring of the

archangel Uriel, the power of God."

11. I Solomon, having heard the name of the archangel, prayed and glorified God, the Lord of heaven and

earth. And I sealed the demon and set him to work at stone-cutting, so that he might cut the stones in the

Temple, which, lying along the shore, had been brought by the Sea of Arabia. But he, fearful of the iron,

continued and said to me: "I pray thee, King Solomon, let me go free; and I will bring you all the demons."

And as he was not willing to be subject to me, I prayed the archangel Uriel to come and succour me; and I

forthwith beheld the archangel Uriel coming down to me from the heavens.

12. And the angel bade the whales of the sea come out of the abyss. And he cast his destiny upon the

ground, and that [destiny] made subject [to him] the great demon. And he commanded the great demon and

bold Ornias, to cut stones at the Temple. And accordingly I Solomon glorified the God of heaven and

Maker of the earth. And he bade Ornias come with his destiny, and gave him the seal, saying: "Away with

thee, and bring me hither the prince of all the demons."

13. So Ornias took the finger-ring, and went off to Beelzeboul, who has kingship over the demons. He said

to him: "Hither! Solomon calls thee." But Beelzeboul, having heard, said to him: "Tell me, who is this

Solomon of whom thou speakest to me?" Then Ornias threw the ring at the chest of Beelzeboul, saying:

"Solomon the king calls thee." But Beelzeboul cried aloud with a mighty voice, and shot out a great

burning flame of fire; and he arose, and followed Ornias, and came to Solomon.

14. And when I saw the prince of demons, I glorified the Lord God, Maker of heaven and earth, and I said:

"Blessed art thou, Lord God Almighty, who hast given to Solomon thy servant wisdom, the assessor of the

wise, and hast subjected unto me all the power of the devil."

15. And I questioned him, and said: "Who art thou?" The demon replied: "I am Beelzebub, the exarch of

the demons. And all the demons have their chief seats close to me. And I it is who make manifest the

apparition of each demon." And he promised to bring to me in bonds all the unclean spirits. And I again

glorified the God of heaven and earth, as I do always give thanks to him.

16. I then asked of the demon if there were females among them. And when he told me that there were, I

said that I desired to see them. So Beelzeboul went off at high speed, and brought unto me Onoskelis, that

had a very pretty shape, and the skin of a fair-hued woman; and she tossed her head.

17. And when she was come, I said to her: "Tell me who art thou?'' But she said to me: "I am called

Onoskelis, a spirit wrought ...[?shabtai/Saturn?], lurking upon the earth. There is a golden cave where I lie.

But I have a place that ever shifts. At one time I strangle men with a noose; at another, I creep up from the

nature to the arms [in marg: "worms"]. But my most frequent dwelling-places are the precipices, caves,

ravines. Oftentimes, however, do I consort with men in the semblance of a woman, and above all with

those of a dark skin. For they share my star with me; since they it is who privily or openly worship my star,

without knowing that they harm themselves, and but whet my appetite for further mischief. For they wish

to provide money by means of memory (commemoration?), but I supply a little to those who worship me

fairly."

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18. And I Solomon questioned her about her birth, and she replied: "I was born of a voice untimely, the so-

called echo of a man's ordure [1] dropped in a wood."

[1. For the demon born of an echo we have an analogue in the Hebrew Bath Kol, "the daughter of a voice."

In the Gnostic Hymn to Hermes, edited by Dieterich, Abrasax, p 19, we read, l. 104...]

19. And I said to her: "Under what star dost thou pass?" And she answered me: "Under the star of the full

moon, for the reason that the moon travels over most things." Then I said to her: "And what angel is it that

frustrates thee?" And she said to me: "He that in thee [or "through thee"] is reigning." And I thought that

she mocked me, and bade a soldier strike her. But she cried aloud, and said: "I am [subjected] to thee, O

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

20. So I commanded her to spin the hemp for the ropes used in the building of the house of God; and

accordingly, when I had sealed and bound her, she was so overcome and brought to naught as to stand night

and day spinning the hemp.

21. And I at once bade another demon to be led unto me; and instantly there approached me the demon

Asmodeus, bound, and I asked him: "Who art thou ?'' But he shot on me a glance of anger and rage, and

said: "And who art thou?'' And I said to him: "Thus punished as thou art, answerest thou me?" But he, with

rage, said to me: "But how shall I answer thee, for thou art a son of man; whereas I was born an angel's

seed by a daughter of man, so that no word of our heavenly kind addressed to the earth-born can be

overweening. Wherefore also my star is bright in heaven, and men call it, some the Wain, and some the

dragon's child. I keep near unto this star. So ask me not many things; for thy kingdom also after a little time

is to be disrupted, and thy glory is but for a season. And short will be thy tyranny over us; and then we shall

again have free range over mankind, so as that they shall revere us as if we were gods, not knowing, men

that they are, the names of the angels set over us."

22. And I Solomon, on hearing this, bound him more carefully, and ordered him to be flogged with thongs

of ox-hide, and to tell me humbly what was his name and what his business. And he answered me thus: "I

am called Asmodeus among mortals, and my business is to plot against the newly wedded, so that they may

not know one another. And I sever them utterly by many calamities, and I waste away the beauty of virgin

women, and estrange their hearts."

23. And I said to him: "Is this thy only business?" And he answered me: "I transport men into fits of

madness and desire, when they have wives of their own, so that they leave them, and go off by night and

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

24. And I adjured him by the name of the Lord Sabaôth, saying: "Fear God, Asmodeus, and tell me by what

angel thou art frustrated." But he said: "By Raphael, the archangel that stands before the throne of God. But

the liver and gall of a fish put me to flight, when smoked over ashes of the tamarisk." I again asked him,

and said: "Hide not aught from me. For I am Solomon, son of David, King of Israel. Tell me the name of

the fish which thou reverest." And he answered: "It is the Glanos by name, and is found in the rivers of

Assyria; wherefore it is that I roam about in those parts."

25. And I said to him: "Hast thou nothing else about thee, Asmodeus?" And he answered: "The power of

God knoweth, which hath bound me with the indissoluble bonds of yonder one's seal, that whatever I have

told thee is true. I pray thee, King Solomon, condemn me not to [go into] water." But I smiled, and said to

him: "As the Lord God of my fathers liveth, I will lay iron on thee to wear. But thou shalt also make the

clay for the entire construction of the Temple, treading it down with thy feet." And I ordered them to give

him ten water-jars to carry water in. And the demon groaned terribly, and did the work I ordered him to do.

And this I did, because that fierce demon Asmodeus knew even the future. And I Solomon glorified God,

who gave wisdom to me Solomon his servant. And the liver of the fish and its gall I hung on the spike of a

reed, and burned it over Asmodeus because of his being so strong, and his unbearable malice was thus

frustrated.

26. And I summoned again to stand before me Beelzeboul, the prince of demons, and I sat him down on a

raised seat of honour, and said to him: "Why art thou alone, prince of the demons?" And he said to me:

"Because I alone am left of the angels of heaven that came down. For I was first angel in the first heaven

being entitled Beelzeboul. And now I control all those who are bound in Tartarus. But I too have a child,

and he haunts the Red Sea. And on any suitable occasion he comes up to me again, being subject to me;

and reveals to me what he has done, and I support him.

27. I Solomon said unto him: "Beelzeboul, what is thy employment?" And he answered me: "I destroy

kings. I ally myself with foreign tyrants. And my own demons I set on to men, in order that the latter may

believe in them and be lost. And the chosen servants of God, priests and faithful men, I excite unto desires

for wicked sins, and evil heresies, and lawless deeds; and they obey me, and I bear them on to destruction.

And I inspire men with envy, and [desire for] murder, and for wars and sodomy, and other evil things. And

I will destroy the world."

28. So I said to him: "Bring to me thy child, who is, as thou sayest, in the Red Sea." But he said to me: "I

will not bring him to thee. But there shall come to me another demon called Ephippas. Him will I bind, and

he will bring him up from the deep unto me." And I said to him: "How comes thy son to be in the depth of

the sea, and what is his name? "And he answered me: "Ask me not, for thou canst not learn from me.

However, he will come to thee by any command, and will tell thee openly."

29. I said to him: "Tell me by what angel thou art frustrated." And he answered: "By the holy and precious

name of the Almighty God, called by the Hebrews by a row of numbers, of which the sum is 644, and

among the Greeks it is Emmanuel [1]. And if one of the Romans adjure me by the great name of the power

Eleéth, I disappear at once."

[1. The text must be faulty, for the word Emmanuel is the Hebrew. The sum 644 is got by adding together

the Greek numbers.]

30. I Solomon was astounded when I heard this; and I ordered him to saw up Theban [1] marbles. And

when he began to saw the marbles, the other demons cried out with a loud voice, howling because of their

king Beelzeboul.

[1. We hear of Pentelic marble in Strabo, but the reference in the text may be to Thebes in Egypt.]

31. But I Solomon questioned him, saying: "If thou wouldst gain a respite, discourse to me about the things

in heaven." And Beelzeboul said: "Hear, O king, if thou burn gum, and incense, and bulb of the sea [1],

with nard and saffron, and light seven lamps in an earthquake [2], thou wilt firmly fix thy house. And if,

being pure [3], thou light them at dawn in the sun alight, then wilt thou see the heavenly dragons, how they

wind themselves along and drag the chariot of the sun."

[1. Perhaps the "sea-bulbs" were the balls of hair-like texture which the sea washes up on Mediterranean

shores, e.g. in Tunisia. 2. Perhaps "in a row," should be read. 3. For the condition here insisted on cp.

Dieterich, Abrasax, p. 141, where in an incantation ceremonial purity is similarly insisted on. The ritual of

a magic papyrus given by Dieterich, p. 169, is very similar to that here prescribed in the Testament.]

32. And I Solomon, having heard this, rebuked him, and said: "Silence for this present [1], and continue to

saw the marbles as I commanded thee." And I Solomon praised God, and commanded another demon to

present himself to me. And one came before me who carried his face high up in the air, but the rest of the

spirit curled away like a snail. And it broke through the few soldiers, and raised also a terrible dust on the

ground, and carried it upwards; and then again hurled it back to frighten us, and asked what questions I

could ask as a rule. And I stood up, and spat [2] on the ground in that spot, and sealed with the ring of God.

And forthwith the dust-wind stopped. Then I asked him, saying: "Who art thou, O wind?" Then he once

more shook up a dust, and answered me: "What wouldst thou have, King Solomon?" I answered him: "Tell

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