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 Sabaóth, 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[1] 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[2]." 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[3], 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[4], 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[5] him.
- ↑ οὐδὲν ἕτερον may, as Bornemann (Zeitschr. für die Hist. Theol. N. F. VIII, 1844) points out, be a corruption of οὐδὲν ἔτυμὀν, "nothing genuine."
- ↑ μὴ με καττακρίνῃς εἰς ὕδωρ. Cf. Mark v. 7–13. Certain spirits preferred waste and dry places.
- ↑ μετὰ καλαμίου στύρακος λύων.
- ↑ Cp. Gen. vi. 4; Book of Enoch, ch. vii.
- ↑ στηρίζω, a use common in the LXX.
