Editing Asmodeus (section)

== Etymology ==
The name ''Asmodai'' is believed to derive from the [[Avestan]] ''*aēšma-daēva'' (𐬀𐬉𐬴𐬨𐬀𐬛𐬀𐬉𐬎𐬎𐬀*, *''aēṣ̌madaēuua''), where ''aēšma'' means "wrath", and ''[[daeva|daēva]]'' signifies "demon". <!-- not originally, but "demon" will do in this context --> While the ''daēva'' [[Aeshma|Aēšma]] is thus [[Zoroastrianism]]'s demon of wrath and is also well-attested as such, the compound ''aēšma-daēva'' is not attested in scripture. It is nonetheless likely that such a form did exist, and that the [[Book of Tobit]]'s "Asmodaios" ({{lang|grc|Ἀσμοδαῖος}}) and the [[Talmud]]'s "Ashmedai" ({{lang|arc|אשמדאי}}) reflect it.<ref>{{cite book
| last = Stave
| first = Erik
| editor-last=Singer |editor-first=Isidore |editor-last2=Adler |editor-first2=Cyrus
| orig-year = 1901–1906
| year = 2002
| title = [[Jewish Encyclopedia]]
| publisher = [[Funk & Wagnalls]]
| location = New York
| chapter = Æshma (Asmodeus, Ashmedai)
| lccn = 16-014703
| chapter-url = http://jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=873&letter=A&search=asmodeus
| quote= since it is paralleled by the later [[Middle Persian|Pahlavi-form]] "Khashm-dev" ("Khashm dev" = "Æshma dev"), written with the Aramaic "sheda," but pronounced "dev." [..] Asmodeus (Ashmedai) embodies an expression of the influence that the Persian religion or Persian popular beliefs have exercised on the Jewish—an influence that shows itself very prominently in the domain of [[demonology]]. 
| access-date = 7 March 2018|display-editors=etal}}</ref> In the [[Zoroastrianism|Zoroastrian]] and [[Middle Persian]] [[demonology]], there did exist the conjuncted form ''khashm-dev'' ([https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/%D8%AE%D8%B4%D9%85# خشم] + [https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/%D8%AF%DB%8C%D9%88 دیو]), where both terms are cognates.<ref>{{cite book|last= Bane|first= Theresa|editor= McFarland|editor-link= McFarland & Company|date= Jan 9, 2012|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=njDRfG6YVb8C&q=%C2%A0%22Khashm-dev%22&pg=PA191|title= Encyclopedia of Demons in World Religions and Cultures|page= 191|publisher= McFarland|isbn=978-0-786-46360-2}}</ref>

The spellings '''Asmoday''', '''Asmodai''',<ref>{{cite book |last=Milton |first=John |author-link=John Milton |title=Paradise Regained |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rZlNAAAAcAAJ |year=1671}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Pomfret |first=John |author-link=John Pomfret (poet) |title=Poems Upon Several Occasions |chapter=Cruelty and Lust |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Us8TAAAAQAAJ |year=1724 |publisher=D. Brown |page=73}}</ref> '''Asmodee''' (also Asmodée),<ref>{{cite book |last=Mauriac |first=François |author-link=François Mauriac |title=Asmodee; or, The Intruder |year=1939 |publisher=Secker & Warburg }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Kleu |first1=Michael |last2=Eayrs |first2=Madelene |title=Who Are You? |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=g6Giy2CSu90C |year=2010 |publisher=Xulon Press |location=USA |isbn=978-1-61579-841-4 |page=214}}</ref> '''Osmodeus''',<ref>{{cite book |last=Connell |first=Evan S. |author-link=Evan S. Connell |title=The Alchymist's Journal |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XbPpM4_hyngC |year=1992 |publisher=Penguin Books |isbn=0-14-016932-6 |page=110}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Guppy |first=Henry |author-link=Henry Guppy (librarian) |title=Bulletin of the John Rylands Library |chapter=Tobit |volume=42 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tV4aAAAAMAAJ |year=1960 |publisher=Manchester University Press |page=375}}</ref> and '''Osmodai'''<ref>{{cite book |last=Garibay Mora |first=Ernesto |title=Dictionary of Demons and Related Concepts |year=2005 |publisher=L. D. Books |location=Miami, Florida |isbn=970-732-108-3 |page=103}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Nares |first=Robert |author-link=Robert Nares |title=A Glossary of Words, Phrases, Names, and Allusions |url=https://archive.org/details/glossaryorcollec01nareuoft |year=1888 |publisher=Reeves & Turner |location=London |page=[https://archive.org/details/glossaryorcollec01nareuoft/page/21 21]}}</ref> have also been used. The name is alternatively spelled in the [[Language change|bastardized]] forms (based on the basic consonants אשמדאי, ʾŠMDʾY) '''Hashmedai''' ({{lang|he|חַשְמְדּאָי}}, ''Ḥašməddāy''; also Hashmodai, Hasmodai, Khashmodai, Khasmodai),<ref>{{cite book |last=Association of Modern Austrian Philologists |title=Moderne Sprachen |volume=43 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=chYIAQAAIAAJ |year=1999 |page=63}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Ritchie |first=Leitch |author-link=Leitch Ritchie |title=The Magician |volume=I |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uS-wxAeo3i8C |year=1836 |publisher=Carey, Lea & Blanchard |location=Philadelphia |page=84}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=de Laurence |first=L. W. |author-link=L. W. de Laurence |title=The Great Book of Magical Art, Hindu Magic and East Indian Occultism |year=1914 |publisher=The de Laurence Co. |location=Chicago |page=183}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=MacGregor Mathers |first=S. L. |author-link=Samuel Liddell MacGregor Mathers |title=The Book of the Sacred Magic |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tMgr4062BpkC |year=1458 |page=110|publisher=Kessinger |isbn=9781425454142 }}</ref> '''Hammadai''' ({{lang|he|חַמַּדּאָי}}, ''Hammaddāy''; also Khammadai),<ref>{{cite book |last=Voltaire |author-link=Voltaire |title=A Philosophical Dictionary |volume=1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HwpJAQAAIAAJ |year=1824 |publisher=J. & H. L. Hunt |location=London |page=286}}</ref><ref name="Leland-1902">{{cite book |last=Leland |first=Charles Godfrey |author-link=Charles Godfrey Leland |title=Flaxius: Leaves from the Life of an Immortal |url=https://archive.org/details/flaxiusleavesfr00conggoog |year=1902 |publisher=Philip Wellby |location=London |page=[https://archive.org/details/flaxiusleavesfr00conggoog/page/n87 72]}}</ref> '''Shamdon''' ({{lang|he|שַׁמְדּוֹן}}, ''Šamdon''),<ref name="Funk and Wagnalls-1906">{{cite book |title=Jewish Encyclopedia |chapter=Asmodeus, or Ashmedai |url=http://jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/2019-asmodeus |access-date=May 1, 2013 |year=1906 |publisher=Funk and Wagnalls}}</ref> and '''Shidonai''' (שִׁדֹנאָי, ''Šīdōnʾāy'').<ref name="Leland-1902"/> Some traditions have subsequently identified Shamdon as the father of Asmodeus.<ref name="Funk and Wagnalls-1906"/>

The ''[[Jewish Encyclopedia]]'' of 1906 rejects the otherwise accepted etymological relation between the Persian "Æshma-dæva" and Judaism's "Ashmodai" claiming that the particle "-dæva" could not have become "-dai" and that Æshma-dæva as such—a compound name—never appears in Persian sacred texts.

Still, the encyclopedia proposes that the "Asmodeus" from the Apocrypha and the Testament of Solomon are not only related somewhat to [[Aeshma]] but have similar behaviour, appearance and roles,<ref>[http://jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/2019-asmodeus Jewish encyclopedia 1906 full text unedited version , entry "Asmodeus" paragraph "Asmodeus, Ashmedai, and Æshma." ]</ref> to conclude in another article under the entry "Aeshma", in the paragraph "Influence of Persian Beliefs on Judaism",<ref>Stave, E., [http://jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/873-aeshma-asmodeus-ashmedai Æshma (Asmodeus, Ashmedai)], Jewish Encyclopedia, unedited full text 1906 version</ref> that Persian Zoroastrian beliefs could have heavily influenced Judaism's theology on the long term, bearing in mind that in some texts there are crucial conceptual differences while in others there seems to be a great deal of similarity, proposing a pattern of influence over folk beliefs that would extend further to the mythology itself.

However, the Jewish Encyclopedia asserts that although 'Æshma does not occur in the Avesta in conjunction with dæva, it is probable that a fuller form, such as Æshmo-dæus, has existed, since it is paralleled by the later Pahlavi-form "Khashm-dev"'.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/873-aeshma-asmodeus-ashmedai|title=Æshma (Asmodeus) etymology in Jewish Encyclopedia|last=Strave|first=Erik|quote=Though "Æshma" does not occur in the Avesta in conjunction with "dæva", it is probable that a fuller form, such as "Æshmo-dæus", has existed, since it is paralleled by the later Pahlavi-form "Khashm-dev" ("Khashm dev" = "Æshma dev"), written with the Aramaic "sheda," but pronounced "dev."}}</ref> Furthermore, it is stated that Asmodeus or Ashmedai "embodies an expression of the influence that the Persian religion or Persian popular beliefs have exercised" on Judaism.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Ibid. Jewish Encyclopedia|quote=In fine, Asmodeus (Ashmedai) embodies an expression of the influence that the Persian religion or Persian popular beliefs have exercised on the Jewish—an influence that shows itself very prominently in the domain of demonology. Thus 'Ασμο' ... corresponds to "Æshma", and the ending δαῖος ... to "dæva".}}</ref>