Before the Solomonic keys and grimoires of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, there was already a text telling how King Solomon subdued the demons. It is the Testament of Solomon, a Greek writing of late antiquity that did more than any other to create the image of Solomon as lord of the spirits. It is at once a narrative, a catalogue of demons and a precious document of ancient beliefs.
A Greek apocryphon
The Testament is a pseudepigraphal work, falsely attributed to a biblical figure. It is written in Greek and its date is much debated: scholars' proposals range from the first to the fifth century AD, and many believe the present text is the result of several stages of composition. Its content reveals a setting in which Jewish, Christian and Greco-Egyptian elements coexisted.
Several manuscript versions exist, differing in length and detail.
The beginning of the story
The story begins during the building of the Temple in Jerusalem. A young workman, beloved of the king, is tormented every night by a demon called Ornias, who takes half his wages and food and drains his strength. Solomon, grieved, prays to God with all his heart.
In answer to the prayer, the archangel Michael brings him a ring with an engraved seal. With this ring, he tells him, he will be able to imprison all the demons and force them to work on building the Temple.
Solomon gives the ring to the young man, who throws it at Ornias when the demon returns. The demon is captured and brought before the king.
The questioning of the demons
From this point the text turns into a kind of interrogation. Solomon summons numerous demons one after another and asks each the same questions:
- what is your name;
- what is your activity, that is, what harm do you cause to people;
- which angel opposes you and renders you powerless.
Each demon answers and reveals the name of the angel or the formula that defeats it. The king then assigns it a task in building the Temple: cutting stones, carrying materials, spinning ropes. The power of the seal is thus placed at the service of a sacred work.
Among the demons appears Beelzebul, who presents himself as prince of the demons, and a female figure called Obizuth, who threatens women in childbirth.
The thirty-six decans
One of the most interesting sections concerns thirty-six spirits who appear together and correspond to the decans, the thirty-six divisions of the zodiac of Egyptian origin. Each is associated with a particular bodily ailment and gives the name that drives it away.
This section shows the influence of Hellenistic astrology and the Egyptian tradition of the decans. Today it should be read as evidence of ancient beliefs about the relationship between heaven, spirits and the body, certainly not as practical guidance.
The fall of Solomon
The Testament ends in a surprising way. Solomon, who has mastered all the demons thanks to his faithfulness to God, falls for love of a foreign woman. To win her, he agrees to offer a sacrifice to the gods of her people. At that moment the glory of God departs from him, and the king becomes an object of mockery for the very demons he had subdued.
The text then presents itself as a testament in the literal sense: Solomon writes his own story so that those who read it may learn from his example and not repeat his mistake.
Historical importance
The Testament of Solomon is valuable for many reasons:
- it is one of the first works to present an organised catalogue of demons with their names and angelic opponents;
- it fixed the image of Solomon's ring and seal, which would be taken up in countless traditions;
- it shows the fusion of Jewish and Christian culture with Hellenistic astrology;
- it anticipates many themes of the later Solomonic grimoires.
A moral tale
Beyond its historical value, the Testament contains a clear moral lesson. Solomon's power does not come from himself but from his relationship with God. When that relationship breaks, the power vanishes. The text thus insists on the idea that wisdom and authority over spirits depend on inner righteousness.
In short
- The Testament of Solomon is a Greek apocryphon, dated with much debate between the first and fifth centuries.
- It tells how the archangel Michael gives Solomon a ring with a seal to master the demons.
- The demons, questioned by the king, reveal their name, activity and the angel that opposes them.
- One section presents the thirty-six decans of the zodiac as spirits.
- The story ends with Solomon's fall, presented as a warning.
