Asmodeus (Ashmedai) Dethrones King Solomon - King Solomon & The Demon Asmodeus (Part 2) | Talmud

It is no longer a secret that the great King Solomon of Israel had encounters and dealings with the most powerful of demons, jinn and gods of the old. It is no longer a secret that he, Solomon, was given dominion over all the spirits of the earth and under the earth by the Lord God Yahweh through a ring of power brought to the king by the archangel Michael. Sacred texts and grimoires like the Quran, the Testament of Solomon and the lesser and greater keys of Solomon confirm this. However, while it might be argued that some of these texts are non-canon, not inspired and not written by Solomon, there is a canonical and legitimate sacred text of the Jews that confirms these stories of Solomon's dealings with demons. And the sacred text we speak of is the Talmud, the Babylonian Talmud, to be precise. For in the book of Gittin, chapter 68a to chapter 68b, in the Babylonian Talmud, there is a story of how King Solomon was dethroned by the powerful demon Ashmedi, popularly known as Asmodeus. And today you shall know that story. Why was it necessary for Solomon, the author of Ecclesiastes, to have male demons and female demons? It is with regard to the building of the temple of the Lord. For the temple, when it was being built, was built of stone made ready at the quarry, and there was neither hammer nor axe nor any tool of iron heard in the house while it was being built. And King Solomon asked his sages, How shall I make it so that the stone will be precisely cut without using iron? And they said to him, There is a creature called Shamir that can cut the stones. It is the same creature which Moses brought and used to cut the stones of the ephod. What is a Shamir? A Shamir is a legendary tool, a worm-like creature fabled to be able to cut through and disintegrate stone, iron, and diamond. And Solomon asked them, Where is it found? And they answered, Bring a male demon and a female demon and torment them together. It is possible that they know where, and if they are tortured, they will reveal the place to you. And so Solomon brought a male demon and a female demon and tormented them together. And they said to him, We do not know where to find the Shamir. Perhaps Ashmedai, king of the demons, knows. And Solomon asked them, Where is Ashmedai? And they answered, He is on such and such a mountain. He has dug a pit for himself there and filled it with water, covered it with a rock and sealed it with his seal. And every day he ascends to heaven and studies in the heavenly study hall, and he descends to the earth and studies in the earthly study hall. And he comes and checks his seal to ensure that nobody has entered his pit, and then he uncovers it and drinks from the water in the pit. Then he covers it and seals it again and goes. Thus Solomon sent for Benayahu, son of Jehoiada, a member of the royal entourage, and gave him a magical chain onto which a sacred name of God was carved, and gave him fleeces of wool and wineskins of wine. Solomon also gave him a ring onto which a sacred name of God was carved. This is the same ring that the archangel Michael of the Most High had brought to him from the heavens, the same ring that gifted Solomon absolute power and dominion over the spirits and demons of all the elements of the earth and under the earth. And what did Benayahu do with the tools of power he had been given? He went and dug a pit lower down the said mountain, below the pit dug by Ashmedai. Then he drained the water and plugged it with the fleeces of wool so that Ashmedai's pit was emptied. After that he dug a pit higher up the mountain, above Ashmedai's pit, and poured the wine into it so that the wine filled Ashmedai's pit, and he plugged the lower and upper pits that he dug. Then he climbed up and sat in a tree, waiting and watching. When Ashmedai returned, he checked his seal, opened the pit, and found it to be filled with wine. And he said to himself, It is written that wine is a mocker, strong drink is riotous, and whosoever wallows in it is not wise. And it is written that harlotry, wine, and new wine take away the heart. Therefore I will not drink this wine. Alas, eventually when he became thirsty, he was unable to resist the wine, and he drank it, became intoxicated, and fell asleep. Seeing this, Benayahu descended from the tree, came, and threw the magical chain around Ashmedai, and enclosed him within it. When Ashmedai awoke, he struggled to remove the chain. But Benayahu said to him, The name of your master is upon you. You shall not tear the chain. The name of the Lord God is written upon this chain. You shall not destroy it. And so the great demon Ashmedai was bound and restrained by the magical chain, unable to remove it. When Benayahu took Ashmedai and came to Jerusalem, they reached a palm tree, and Ashmedai rubbed against it and knocked it down. They reached a house, and Ashmedai knocked it down. Then they reached a small shack, belonging to a certain widow. And this widow emerged and begged the demon not to knock down the house. But Ashmedai bent his body away from her to the other side and broke one of his bones and said, This is as it is written, that soft speech can break a bone. As they continued their journey, Ashmedai saw a blind man who was lost on the road, and he brought him to the correct road. He saw a drunk who was lost on the road, and he brought him to the correct road. He saw the joy of a wedding celebration in which they were celebrating, and he cried. He heard a certain man say to a shoemaker, Make me shoes that will last for seven years, and he laughed. He saw a certain sorcerer performing magic, and he laughed. Then the following day, Ashmedai said to the sages who had captured him, And why doesn't the king want me to come to him? And they answered, He ate too much and was overcome by food. When Ashmedai heard this, he took a brick off another brick and placed it on the ground, and by this action he was alluding to something. Thus the servants came and told Solomon what Ashmedai had done. And Solomon in his wisdom interpreted Ashmedai's actions, for he said to them, This is what he said to you through this allusion, that you should take my food away from me. At the end of three days, Ashmedai came before Solomon, and Ashmedai took a reed and measured four cubits and threw it before Solomon and said to Solomon, See, when you die, you will have nothing in this world except the four cubits of your grave. You have conquered the entire world, and yet you are not satisfied until you also conquer me. And Solomon said to him, I need nothing from you. I want to build the temple of the Lord, and I need the Shamir for this. And Ashmedai said to him, The Shamir was not given to me, but it was given to the angelic minister of the sea, and he gives it only to the wild rooster, also known as the Dukifat or the Hupo, whom he trusts by the force of his oath to return it. And what does the wild rooster do with the Shamir? He brings it to mountains that are not fit for habitation, and he places the Shamir on the craggy rock, and the mountain splits. And he takes and brings seeds of trees, throws them there, and it becomes fit for habitation. This is why we interpret the word Dukifat as a cutter of mountains. Thus, the sages of King Solomon investigated and found the nest of a wild rooster in which there were chicks, and one of the sages covered its nest with translucent glass. When the rooster returned, it wanted to enter the nest but was unable to do so. So it went and brought the Shamir and placed it on top of the glass to crack the glass. But the sage threw a clump of dirt at the rooster, and the rooster knocked over the Shamir. Then the sage took the Shamir, and the wild rooster went and strangled itself over the fact that it had not kept its oath by not returning the Shamir. Soon after, Benayahu said to Ashmedai, What is the reason that when you saw that blind man who was lost on the road, you brought him to the correct road? And Ashmedai answered, They proclaim about him in heaven that he is a completely righteous man, and anyone who does good for his soul shall merit to enter the world to come. Then Benayahu asked, And what is the reason that when you saw the drunk man who was lost on the road, you brought him to the correct road? And Ashmedai answered, They proclaim about him in heaven that he is a completely wicked man, and I did good for his soul so that he will consume his reward in this world, and not have any reward in the world to come. Benayahu continued and asked him, What is the reason that when you saw that joy of the wedding, you cried? And Ashmedai answered, I knew that this man would die within thirty days, and his wife is required to wait for the husband's brother, who is a minor, to reach the age of thirteen years, the age of majority, so that he can release her through Halitza, the ritual through which the brother of the childless man frees the widow of the childless man of her levirate bonds. And Benayahu asked him, What is the reason that when you heard that man say to a shoemaker, Make me shoes that will last for seven years, you laughed? And Ashmedai answered, That man does not have seven days to live, does he need shoes that will last for seven years? Benayahu then asked, What is the reason that when you saw that sorcerer performing magic, you laughed? And Ashmedai answered, Because he was sitting on the king's treasury, let him use his magic to know what is buried underneath him. King Solomon kept Ashmedai with him until he completed building the temple. Alas! One day he stood with Ashmedai alone, and he said to Ashmedai, It is written, For him like the lofty horns of the wild ox. In what way are you greater than us? Why does the verse praise your abilities and powers over those of human beings? By the phrase, For him like the lofty horns of the wild ox, Solomon was referring to demons and fallen angels. And he sought to know why they are above human beings in both power and abilities. And Ashmedai said to him, Take the chain engraved with God's name off me, and give me your ring with God's name engraved on it, and I will show you my strength. Alas! Solomon took the chain off the demon, and he gave him his ring of power. And Ashmedai swallowed the ring and grew until he placed one wing in the heavens and one wing on the earth. Then he picked up Solomon and threw Solomon away to a distance of four hundred parasangs. And with Solomon usurped from the throne, Ashmedai took his place, shapeshifting his appearance to that of Solomon that it was impossible to tell the difference between the two. Now reduced to a pauper and a beggar and far away from home, Solomon wandered from door to door collecting charity, and wherever he arrived he would say, I was king over Israel in Jerusalem. He kept saying this until he finally arrived at the Sanhedrin in Jerusalem, and the sages began to question themselves, saying, A madman does not fixate on one matter all of the time, so what is this he keeps saying? Is this man perhaps telling the truth that he is Solomon? Then the sages said to Benayahu, Has the king called you to himself lately? And Benayahu answered, No he hasn't. And so the sages sent a message to the queens and asked them, Does the king come to be with you? And the queens sent back a response to them saying, Yes he comes to us. Then the sages again sent a request to the queens saying, Check his feet to see if they are human feet. And the queens sent a response to the sages saying, He always comes in socks and it is not possible to see his feet. Then the queens revealed to the sages that the king, who is Ashmedai disguised as Solomon, demands of them to engage in sexual intercourse with him when they are menstruating. And he also demands that Bathsheba, his mother, engage in sexual intercourse with him. Once the Sanhedrin heard this, they knew at once that this being who sat on the throne was an imposter and not actually Solomon. Thus, the sages brought Solomon, the real Solomon, and gave him another ring of power and the chain on which the name of God was carved. Armed with these, Solomon entered his palace. And when Ashmedai saw him, he shapeshifted into his true form, which was so terrifying that it could strike fear into the bravest of hearts. And then Ashmedai fled. Even though Ashmedai had fled, Solomon would never forget the demon's terrifying countenance and appearance which he had witnessed and would forever remain fearful of Ashmedai till his death. Solomon never went to bed alone from then on. For every night as Solomon slept, his bed was surrounded by sixty strong men from the warriors of Israel, all of them holding swords and trained in war, each man with his sword on his thigh from fear in the nights.