Editing Asmodeus (section)

==In the texts==
===In the Book of Tobit===
The Asmodeus of the [[Book of Tobit]] is hostile to Sarah, [[Reuel|Raguel]]'s daughter,<ref name="Tobit 6:13">{{Cite web |title=Tobit 6:13 |url=https://bible.oremus.org/?passage=Tobit%206:13&version=nrsvae |access-date=2024-05-22 |website=bible.oremus.org}}</ref> and slays seven successive husbands on their wedding nights, impeding the sexual consummation of the marriages. In the [[New Jerusalem Bible]] translation, he is described as "the worst of demons".<ref>{{Cite web |last= |first= |title=Tobit 3 |url=https://www.catholic.org/bible/book.php?bible_chapter=3&id=17 |access-date=2024-05-22 |website=Catholic Online |language=en}}</ref> When the young Tobias is about to marry her, Asmodeus proposes the same fate for him, but Tobias is enabled, through the counsels of his attendant angel [[Raphael (archangel)|Raphael]], to render him innocuous. By placing a fish's heart and liver on red-hot cinders, Tobias produces a smoky vapour that causes the demon to flee to [[Egypt]], where [[Raphael (archangel)|Raphael]] binds him.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Tobit 8:2–3 |url=https://bible.oremus.org/?passage=Tobit%208:2%E2%80%933&version=nrsvae |access-date=2024-05-22 |website=bible.oremus.org}}</ref> According to some translations,{{which|date=August 2024}} Asmodeus is strangled.{{fact|date=August 2024}}

Perhaps Asmodeus punishes the suitors for their carnal desire, since Tobias prays to be free from such desire and is kept safe. Asmodeus is also described as an evil spirit in general.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Tobit 3:8 |url=https://bible.oremus.org/?passage=Tobit%203:8&version=nrsvae |access-date=2024-05-22 |website=bible.oremus.org}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Tobit 3:17 |url=https://bible.oremus.org/?passage=Tobit%203:17&version=nrsvae |access-date=2024-05-22 |website=bible.oremus.org}}</ref><ref name="Tobit 6:13"/><ref>{{Cite web |title=Tobit 8:3 |url=https://bible.oremus.org/?passage=Tobit%208:3&version=nrsvae |access-date=2024-05-22 |website=bible.oremus.org}}</ref>

===In the Talmud===
The figure of Ashmedai in the [[Talmud]] is less malign in character than the Asmodeus of Tobit. In the former, he appears repeatedly in the light of a good-natured and humorous fellow. But besides that, there is one feature in which he parallels Asmodeus, in as much as his desires turn upon [[Bathsheba]] and later [[Solomon]]'s wives.

Another Talmudic legend has King Solomon tricking Asmodeus into collaborating in the construction of [[Solomon's Temple]]<ref>Raphael Patai ''Encyclopedia of Jewish Folklore and Traditions'' Routledge 2015 {{ISBN|978-1-317-47170-7}} page 39</ref> (see: [[s:Translation:The Story of King Solomon and Ashmedai|The Story of King Solomon and Ashmedai]]).

Another legend depicts Asmodeus throwing King Solomon over 400 leagues away from the capital by putting one wing on the ground and the other stretched skyward. He then changed places for some years with King Solomon. When King Solomon returned, Asmodeus fled from his wrath.<ref>{{cite book|last=Talmud|title=Gittin|pages=68b}}</ref> Similar legends can be found in [[Islam]]ic lore. Asmodeus is referred to as '''Sakhr''' ({{langx|ar|صخر}} ''the Rock'' or ''the Stony One''), because Solomon banished him into a rock, after he takes his kingdom back from him. He is considered to be a king of the ''[[Div (mythology)|divs]]'' or ''[[Ifrit|ifrits]]''.<ref>Robert Lebling ''Legends of the Fire Spirits: Jinn and Genies from Arabia to Zanzibar'' I.B.Tauris 2010 {{ISBN|978-0-857-73063-3}} p. 39</ref>

Another passage describes him as marrying [[Lilith]], who became his queen.<ref>{{cite book
| last = Schwartz
| first = Howard
| author-link = Howard Schwartz
| year = 1988
| title = Lilith's cave: Jewish tales of the supernatural
| publisher = [[Harper & Row]]
| location = San Francisco, CA
| page = [https://archive.org/details/lilithscavejewis00schw/page/8 8]
| isbn = 978-0-06-250779-2
| oclc = 62241318
| lccn = 87045196
| url-access = registration
| url = https://archive.org/details/lilithscavejewis00schw/page/8
}}</ref>

===In the Testament of Solomon===
In the [[Testament of Solomon]], a 1st–3rd century text, the king invokes Asmodeus to aid in the construction of the Temple. The demon appears and predicts Solomon's kingdom will one day be divided (Testament of Solomon, verse 21–25).<ref>{{cite journal
| last = Conybeare
| first = Frederick Cornwallis (trans.)
| author-link = Frederick Cornwallis Conybeare
|date=October 1898
| title = The Testament of Solomon
| journal = [[The Jewish Quarterly Review]]
| volume = 11
| issue = 1
| pages = 1–45
| issn = 0021-6682
| jstor = 1450398
| doi = 10.2307/1450398
| url = http://www.esotericarchives.com/solomon/testamen.htm
| access-date = 2012-02-09
| url-access = subscription
}}</ref> When Solomon interrogates Asmodeus further, the king learns that Asmodeus is thwarted by the angel [[Raphael (archangel)|Raphael]], as well as by sheatfish found in the rivers of Assyria. He also admits to hating water. Asmodeus claims that he was born of a human mother and an angel father.

===In the ''Malleus Maleficarum''===
In the ''[[Malleus Maleficarum]]'' (1486), Asmodeus was considered the demon of [[lust]].<ref>
{{cite book
| last1 = Kramer
| first1 = Heinrich
| author-link1 = Heinrich Kramer
| last2 = Summers
| first2 = Montague (trans.)
| title = Malleus Maleficarum Part 1 Question IV
| author-link2 = | publisher = [[John Rodker|J. Rodker]]
| location = London, England
| volume = 1
| chapter = Question IV: By which Devils are the Operations of Incubus and Succubus Practised?
| oclc = 504248484
| lccn = 29017069
| chapter-url = http://www.sacred-texts.com/pag/mm/mm01_04a.htm
| quote = But the very devil of Fornication, and the chief of that abomination, is called Asmodeus, which means the Creature of Judgement: for because of this kind of sin a terrible judgement was executed upon Sodom and the four other cities.
}}</ref> [[Sebastien Michaelis]] said that his adversary is [[John the Apostle|St. John]]. Some demonologists of the 16th century assigned a month to a demon and considered November to be the month in which Asmodeus's power was strongest. Other demonologists asserted that his [[zodiac]]al sign was [[Aquarius (astrology)|Aquarius]] but only between January 30 and February 8.

He has 72 legions of demons under his command. He is one of the Kings of Hell under [[Lucifer]] the emperor. He incites gambling, and is the overseer of all the gambling houses in the court of Hell. Some Catholic theologians compared him with [[Abaddon]]. Yet other authors considered Asmodeus a prince of revenge.

===In the ''Dictionnaire Infernal''===
The ''[[Dictionnaire Infernal]]'' (1818) by [[Collin de Plancy]] portrays Asmodeus with the breast of a [[Human|man]], a [[Rooster|cock]] leg, [[Snake|serpent]] tail, three heads (one of a man spitting fire, one of a [[sheep]], and one of a [[bull]]), riding a [[lion]] with [[dragon]] wings and neck - all of these creatures being associated with either lascivity, lust or revenge in some cultures.{{Citation needed|date=March 2009}} The [[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Paris|Archbishop of Paris]]{{which|date=August 2024}} approved the portrait.{{sfn|Rudwin|1970|p=93}}

===In the Lesser Key of Solomon===
Asmodeus appears as the king 'Asmoday' in the ''[[Ars Goetia]]'', where he is said to have a seal in gold and is listed as number thirty-two according to respective rank.{{sfn|Mathers|Crowley|1995|pp=68–70}}

He "is strong, powerful and appears with three heads; the first is like a bull, the second like a man, and the third like a ram or a [[goat]]; the tail of a serpent, and from his mouth issue flames of fire."{{sfn|Mathers|Crowley|1995|p=32}} Also, he sits upon an infernal [[dragon]], holds a lance with a banner and, amongst the Legions of ''Amaymon'', Asmoday governs seventy-two legions of inferior spirits.{{sfn|Mathers|Crowley|1995|pp=68–70}}

===In ''The Magus''===
Asmodeus is referred to in Book Two, Chapter Eight of ''[[The Magus (Barrett book)|The Magus]]'' (1801) by [[Francis Barrett (occultist)|Francis Barrett]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Barrett |first=Francis |author-link=Francis Barrett (occultist) |title=[[The Magus (handbook)|The Magus, a Complete System of Occult Philosophy]] |publisher=Cosimo Classics |year=2008 |isbn=978-1-60520-301-0 |volume=Book II |location=New York |pages=49–52 |chapter=VIII: The Annoyance of Evil Spirits, and the Preservation we have from Good Spirits |lccn=11015009 |oclc=428109956 |access-date=2010-09-28 |chapter-url=http://theology101.org/grim/magus/ma220.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110728100200/http://theology101.org/grim/magus/ma220.htm |archive-date=2011-07-28 |url-status=dead |orig-year=1801}}</ref>