ART. II.

ASMODAI.

OPUS ENCYCLOPEDICUM. Alphabetico ordine dispositum, et in quo res et voces ad historiam, geographiam, archeologiam, dignitates, sectas, illus tresque homines speitantes, quæ in utroque Talmude, Tosifta, Targumicis, Midraschicisque libris occurrunt, needum satis explicatæ sunt, illusCondidit S. I. L. Rapport, Rabbi, præsesque Synedrinis Pra

trantur.

gua.

Translated by H. BEAR, Esq., Columbia, S. C.

[The above is the title of a Hebrew work now publishing, in numbers, at Prague. The author is favorably known in the annals of modern Rabbinical literature. The present work-a Hebrew Encyclopædia-quoting the classics and modern profane authors, is certainly a novelty. Of course, it is written in the modern Hebrew Rabbinical language. To give the reader an idea of a "Hebrew Theological Dictionary," we translate an article, leaving the arrangement as we found it, although we have sometimes condensed, and even omitted obscure allusions or verbal criticisms. Jewish demonology is a subject but little known to Christian theologians generally, as the doctrines bearing upon it must be obtained directly from the Talmud, as yet a sealed book to most of them. The present article may throw some light on this subject, as well as on the demons and possessed of the New Testament. We merely present this as the crude material, out of which we hope, some more skilful contributor may construct a symmetrical edifice. The following is the article referred to.-TR.]

ASMODAI: The chief of the demons.-A remarkable story of this demon is told in the Talmud, (Gittin, fol. 68,) where we find, that King Solomon captured him by a stratagem,

An

that by another artifice, he eluded his vigilance, regained his liberty, laughed at Solomon, ejected him from his throne and reigned in his stead, having assumed Solomon's figure for that purpose. It was sometime ere the ministers and attendants recognized him to be Asmodai, which when they found out, they cast him forth. Whether Solomon regained the government is a matter of controversy in the Talmud. This is a tradition of the Babylonian Jews. In the legends of the Jews of Palestine, the name of Asmodai does not occur. other story, but of more modern origin, is given in the Tosafot: Asmodai brought to Solomon a man with two heads, who had two sons; one having two heads, and the other one. When, after the death of their father, these two sons came to divide the inheritance, he, with the two heads, claimed a double portion. Then both came before the judgment seat of Solomon. A prince of demons is mentioned under different names in various old Rabbinical works. Some designate him to be very mischievous, and others the contrary, (Pesachim, 110 a.) But the whole story of Asmodai and Solomon must be taken as a mixture of fact and fancy. Of the latter kind, are the passages quoted by Asmodai from books not then written; such as Hosea iv 11: Whoredom, and wine, and new wine take away the heart.' True it is, that the Tosafot say, that many of those persons knew the Scriptures before they were written down, as Joab is said to have quoted Jeremiah xlviii: 10: 'Cursed be he that doeth the work of the Lord deceitfully, and cursed be he that keepeth back his sword from blood,' (Baba Bathra, 21 a.) But the Tosafot are often very credulous; for how is it to be supposed that Joab who, according to the Talmud, could not even read a single verse in the Law correctly, should have known, by heart, a whole verse from Jeremiah, several hundred years before it was written! But still more strange would it be, to ascribe this faculty to Asmodai, a demon; and, in fact, our wise men find it difficult to give credence to the Talmud, (Chagiga, 16 a,) where they are said to see into futurity, the same as angels; and our wise men seek to evade this difficulty, by saying, that they know only

as much of the future as they happen to hear "behind the curtain" in the ante-chamber of heaven; that is to say, they often hear what will happen shortly, such as the near approach of the death of a person, but not what will transpire after centuries; and they, thus, may have expressed the sentiment contained in these Bible texts without having used the exact words. Asmodai knowing that excessive indulgence would injure his mind, refrained therefrom, and is poetically allowed to use the language of Hosea to express the idea. So with Joab, and so with all the traditions respecting Asmodai, consisting of ideas expressed under the concrete form of parables and allegories, as well as of tales believed true by the narraIn one word, the legends of Asmodai bear all the impress of an oriental tale.

tors.

etc.

Certain it is, however, that they all' ascribed preternatural power to Asmodai; as for instance, that he tore up a tree by the roots, pulled down a house by merely passing by it, (Gittin, 68 a;) that in heaven he had heard the fate of mortals, But this does not prevent them from attributing to him qualities of a human, and sometimes of a wicked character; that he needed a large quantity of water to quench his thirst: that wine put him to sleep, and that he was otherwise of a very carnal disposition; all of which is founded on Chagiga. fol. 16 a, where we find; "The demons have six qualities; in three, they resemble angels, and in three, they appear like men. Like the angels, they have wings, can fly from one end of the world to the other, and may find out future events behind the curtain. They eat and drink, and propagate like All these, as mentioned before, were the views of the Babylonian Jews on demonology, and very different from those of their brethren at Jerusalem.

men."

In the "Ethics of the Fathers," (Pirkey Aboth,) we find, that on the sixth day, towards eve, God created ten things, and some think, also, the Masikim, or demons; by which is meant, that all those things created, towards eve, on the sixth day of creation, were of a preternatural kind. In Midrash Rabba, Gen. § 87, we find, that Rabbi taught, that the de

mons received their existence in this manner; that God had created their souls late on Friday evening, designing also to fit them with bodies, when-the Sabbath came on, and of course, put an end to all further labor. This Palestinian idea conflicts with the Babylonian, inasmuch as the latter gives them bodies also, and lets them eat and drink. These different theories have even exercised an influence over the interpretation of certain Scripture texts. Thus, the Babylonians translate shiddah veshiddoth,* (Ecc. ii: 8,) by shiddah veshiddathin, 'male and female demons ;' while those of Palestine render it by shideta, which, according to Raschi, signifies, 'chariots for men and chariots for women.' The Palestinians, theu, did not think that Solomon retained male and female demons' for his amusement. The author, however, thinks that the strict construction of the text is in favor of the Babylonian school. From different passages of the Babylonian Talmud, it would appear, that they thought that the spirits of the departed, and especially of the murdered, were sometimes changed into shedim, or demons.

We do not think that the above quoted passage from Chagiga was ever meant to be interpreted literally, although this soon took place. After mature reflection, we have come to the conclusion, that our wise men personified the human passions as demons; for it is through those, a man is urged to perform acts surpassing his ordinary capacities. What will a man not attempt when passion urges, whether it be revenge, anger, jealousy, or love? But passion may sometimes be an auxiliary in the performance of good actions; and man resembles, then, the angels. And yet, notwithstanding all this, the man is still but a mortal, and after the immediate influence of the passion has left him, he soon again sinks to the ordinary level of his race, if, indeed, not below them. These two classes of men may be meant by the above. Like the angels, they have wings; that is, they may rise and shake off every thing earthly, and become entirely spiritual. They may

The English Bible has it, "musical instruments, and that of all sorts."-TR.

fly from one end of the world to the other; that is, their wishes and desires are boundless. They can read the future from "behind the curtain ;" that is, their mind and reason are fitted to reveal the secrets of nature, and tell coming from past and passing events. Yet is this more of conjecture than positive knowledge, as if they merely heard a whispering "behind the curtain." Yet men they must still remain, with earthly wants and earthly foibles. According to this explanation, then, the passage from Chagiga refers to a man who, on the one hand, strives to rise upwards, but on the other, gives free course and indulgence to all his sensual passions and desires; thus continually wavering between the heights above and the abyss below, until, at length, his earthly propensities obtain the mastery, and he passes away like the brute.

All that is said above of demons generally, will more especially hold good in the case of Asmodai, their prince. As we have seen his great strength of body and mind, we will now call attention particularly to his wit. In a preceding section, it was said, that he felled a tree and threw down a house by a mere touch. A widow then begged him to spare her little hut. He consented, made a bow, and-broke one of his bones. Then he said; now is the Scripture fulfilled, "a soft tongue breaketh the bone." (Prov. xxv: 15.)

Still more remarkable is the hope he expresses of obtaining a portion in the world to come. He was once asked why he had directed a blind man who had lost his way, since generally he was intent only on doing evil; and he answered, that he had heard it said in heaven, that this blind man was a great saint, and that whoever should show him any kindness, would thereby inherit eternal life. But Asmodai may be supposed to have directed the blind man only in order to deprive some one else of the opportunity of securing a title to eternal life. If, now, we turn to what is said of his mode of life; how he drinks nothing but water; rises daily up to heaven to study its mysteries; then, again, descends to the earth to learn everything relating to it, it must appear an allegory, representing his wanderings between heaven and earth; his mind engaged