King of demons from the deuterocanonical Book of Tobit
“ Sidonai ” redirects here. For the phoenician city and its inhabitants, see Sidon Asmodeus ( ; Ancient Greek : Ἀσμοδαῖος, Asmodaios ) or Ashmedai ( ; Hebrew : אַשְמְדּאָי‎, ʾAšmədʾāy ), besides Asmodevs, Ashema Deva or Amias ( see below for other variations ), is a prince of demons, [ 1 ] or in Judeo-Islamic lore the king of the earthly spirits ( shedim / genie ), [ 2 ] [ 3 ] largely known from the deuterocanonical Book of Tobit, in which he is the primary antagonist. [ 4 ] In Peter Binsfeld ‘s classification of demons, Asmodeus represents lust. The devil is besides mentioned in some Talmudic legends ; for exemplify, in the floor of the construction of the Temple of Solomon .

etymology [edit ]

The figure of Asmodeus in Rennes-le-Château

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The name Asmodai is believed to derive from the Avestan *aēšma-daēva, where aēšma means “ wrath ”, and daēva signifies “ devil ”. While the daēva Aēšma is frankincense Zoroastrianism ‘s demon of wrath and is besides well-attested as such, the compound aēšma-daēva is not attested in bible. It is however likely that such a shape did exist, and that the Book of Tobit ‘s “ Asmodaios ” ( Ἀσμοδαῖος ) and the Talmud ‘s “ Ashmedai ” ( אשמדאי ) reflect it. [ 5 ] In the zoroastrian and Middle Persian demonology, there did exist the conjuncted form khashm-dev, where the parole dev was the same as daeva. [ 6 ] The spellings Asmodai, [ 7 ] [ 8 ] Asmodee ( besides Asmodée ), [ 9 ] [ 10 ] Osmodeus, [ 11 ] [ 12 ] and Osmodai [ 13 ] [ 14 ] have besides been used. The mention is alternatively spelled in the bastardized forms ( based on the basic consonants אשמדאי, ʾŠMDʾY ) Hashmedai ( חַשְמְדּאָי, Hašmədʾāy ; besides Hashmodai, Hasmodai, Khashmodai, Khasmodai ), [ 15 ] [ 16 ] [ 17 ] [ 18 ] Hammadai ( חַמַּדּאָי, Hammadʾāy ; besides Khammadai ), [ 19 ] [ 20 ] Shamdon ( שַׁמְדּוֹן, Šamdōn ), [ 21 ] and Shidonai ( שִׁדֹנאָי, Šidonʾāy ). [ 20 ] Some traditions have subsequently identified Shamdon as the don of Asmodeus. [ 21 ] The Jewish Encyclopedia of 1906 rejects the otherwise accept etymological relation between the persian “ Æshma-dæva ” and Judaism ‘s “ Ashmodai ” claim that the atom “ -dæva ” could not have become “ -dai ” and that Æshma-dæva as such—a compound name—never appears in Persian sacred text. hush, the encyclopedia proposes that the “ Asmodeus ” from the Apocrypha and the Testament of Solomon are not merely associate reasonably to Aeshma but have similar behavior, appearance and roles, [ 22 ] to conclude in another article under the entry “ Aeshma ”, in the paragraph “ Influence of Persian Beliefs on Judaism ”, [ 23 ] that iranian Zoroastrian impression could have heavily influenced Judaism ‘s theology on the long term, bearing in beware that in some text there are crucial conceptual differences while in others there seems to be a bang-up softwood of similarity, proposing a pattern of determine over family beliefs that would extend further to the mythology itself. however, the jewish Encyclopedia asserts that although ‘Æshma does not occur in the Avesta in junction with dæva, it is probable that a full form, such as Æshmo-dæus, has existed, since it is paralleled by the subsequently Pahlavi-form “ Khashm-dev ” ‘. [ 24 ] Furthermore it is stated that Asmodeus or Ashmedai “ embodies an formula of the influence that the Persian religion or persian popular beliefs have exercised ” on Judaism. [ 25 ]

In the text [edit ]

In the Hebrew Bible [edit ]

The fully name “ Ashmedai ” is not found in the standard Masoretic canon of the Hebrew Bible .

In the Book of Tobit [edit ]

The Asmodeus of the Book of Tobit is hostile to Sarah, Raguel ‘s daughter, ( Tobit 6:13 ) ; and slays seven consecutive husbands on their marry nights, impeding the sexual consummation of the marriages. In the New Jerusalem Bible translation, he is described as “ the worst of demons ” ( Tobit 3:8 ). When the young Tobias is about to marry her, Asmodeus proposes the same destine for him, but Tobias is enabled, through the counsels of his attendant angel Raphael, to render him innocuous. By placing a pisces ‘s heart and resentment on red-hot cinders, Tobias produces a smoky vapor that causes the monster to flee to Egypt, where Raphael binds him ( Tobit 8:2–3 ). According to some translations, Asmodeus is strangled. possibly Asmodeus punishes the suitors for their animal desire, since Tobias prays to be spare from such desire and is kept condom. Asmodeus is besides described as an evil spirit in cosmopolitan : ‘Ασμοδαίος τὸ πονηρὸν δαιμόνιον or τὸ δαιμόνιον πονηρόν, and πνεῦμα ἀκάθαρτον ( Tobit 3:8 ; Tobit 3:17 ; Tobit 6:13 ; Tobit 8:3 ) .

In the Talmud [edit ]

The figure of Ashmedai in the Talmud is less malefic in character than the Asmodeus of Tobit. In the early, he appears repeatedly in the light of a good-natured and humorous mate. But besides that, there is one sport in which he parallels Asmodeus, in angstrom much as his desires turn upon Bathsheba and subsequently Solomon ‘s wives. Another Talmudic caption has King Solomon tricking Asmodai into collaborating in the construction of the Temple of Jerusalem [ 3 ] ( see : The Story of King Solomon and Ashmedai ). Another caption depicts Asmodai throwing King Solomon over 400 leagues away from the capital by putting one wing on the labor and the early stretched heavenward. He then changed places for some years with King Solomon. When King Solomon returned, Asmodai fled from his wrath. [ 26 ] similar legends can be found in Islamic folklore. There Asmodeus is called Sakhr ( Arabic : صخر‎ the Rock or the Stony One ), because in Islamic lore, Solomon banished him into a rock, after he takes his kingdom back from him. There he counts as the king of the genie. [ 27 ] Another passage describes him as marrying Lilith, who became his fagot. [ 28 ]

In the Testament of Solomon [edit ]

In the Testament of Solomon, a 1st–3rd century text, the king invokes Asmodeus to aid in the structure of the Temple. The devil appears and predicts Solomon ‘s kingdom will one sidereal day be divided ( Testament of Solomon, verse 21–25 ). [ 29 ] When Solomon interrogates Asmodeus farther, the baron learns that Asmodeus is thwarted by the angel Raphael, vitamin a well as by european catfish found in the rivers of Assyria. He besides admits to hating water and birds because both remind him of God. Asmodeus claims that he was born of a human mother and an angel church father .

In the Malleus Maleficarum [edit ]

In the Malleus Maleficarum ( 1486 ), Asmodeus was considered the demon of lust. [ 30 ] Sebastien Michaelis said that his adversary is St. John. Some demonologists of the sixteenth hundred assigned a month to a demon and considered November to be the month in which Asmodai ‘s power was impregnable. other demonologists asserted that his zodiacal sign was Aquarius but only between the dates of 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 butterfly. 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 early authors considered Asmodeus a prince of revenge .

In the Dictionnaire Infernal [edit ]

In the Dictionnaire Infernal by Collin de Plancy, Asmodeus is depicted with the front of a man, a cock leg, snake tail, three heads ( one of a man spitting arouse, one of a sheep, and one of a bull ), riding a leo with dragon wings and neck, all of these creatures being associated with either lascivity, lust or retaliation. [ citation needed ] The Archbishop of Paris approved his portrayal .

In the Lesser Key of Solomon [edit ]

Asmodai 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 rate. He “ is strong, brawny and appears with three heads ; the first is like a bull, the moment like a man, and the third base like a force ; the tail of a serpent, and from his talk emergence flames of fire. ” besides, he sits upon an infernal dragon, holds a spear with a streamer and, amongst the Legions of Amaymon, Asmoday governs seventy-two legions of subscript spirits .

In The Magus [edit ]

Asmodeus is referred to in Book Two, Chapter Eight of The Magus ( 1801 ) by Francis Barrett. [ 34 ]

late depictions [edit ]

In Christian think [edit ]

Asmodeus was named as a decrease angel of the Order of Thrones by Gregory the Great. Asmodeus was cited by the nuns of Loudun in the Loudun possessions of 1634. [ 36 ] Asmodeus ‘ reputation as the personification of lust continued into by and by writings, as he was known as the “ Prince of Lechery ” in the 16th-century romance Friar Rush. The french Benedictine Augustin Calmet equated his identify with a fine dress. The 16th-century Dutch demonologist Johann Weyer described him as the banker at the baccarat postpone in hell, and overseer of earthly gambling houses. In 1641, the spanish dramatist and novelist Luis Velez de Guevara published the satirical novel El diablo cojuelo, where Asmodeus is represented as a mischievous devil endowed with a playful and satirical genius. The plot presents a imp scholar that hides in an astrologer ‘s mansard. He frees a devil from a bottle. As an recognition the devil shows him the apartments of Madrid and the tricks, miseries and mischiefs of their inhabitants. [ 39 ] [ 40 ] The french novelist Alain-René Lesage adapted the spanish source in his 1707 fresh le Diable boiteux, where he likened him to Cupid. In the book, he is rescued from an hex glaze bottle by a spanish student Don Cleophas Leandro Zambullo. Grateful, he joins with the young man on a series of adventures before being recaptured. Asmodeus is portrayed in a sympathetic light as good-natured, and a cagey satirist and critic of human society. In another episode Asmodeus takes Don Cleophas for a night flight, and removes the ceiling from the houses of a greenwich village to show him the secrets of what passes in individual lives. Following Lesage ‘s work, he was depicted in a numeral of novels and periodicals, chiefly in France but besides London and New York. Asmodeus was widely depicted as having a fine-looking countenance, good manners and an engage nature ; however, he was portrayed as walking with a limp and one stage was either clawed or that of a cock. He walks aided by two walking sticks in Lesage ‘s work, and this gave ascent to the English title The Devil on Two Sticks ( besides later translated The Limping Devil and The Lame Devil ). Lesage attributes his lameness to falling from the flip after fighting with another devil. On 18 February 1865, generator Evert A. Duyckinck sent President Abraham Lincoln a letter, apparently mailed from Quincy. Duyckinck signed the letter “ Asmodeus ”, with his initials below his pseudonym. His letter enclosed a newspaper clipping about an inappropriate joke allegedly told by Lincoln at the Hampton Roads Peace Conference. The purpose of Duyckinck ‘s letter was to advise Lincoln of “ an significant omission ” about the history of the league. He advised that the newspaper clipping be added to the “ Archives of the nation ”. [ 43 ]

In the Kabbalah [edit ]

According to the Kabbalah and the school of Shlomo ibn Aderet, Asmodeus is a cambion born as the solution of a union between Agrat bat Mahlat, a succubus, and King David. [ 44 ]

In Islamic culture [edit ]

The narrative of Asmodeus and Solomon has a reappearance in Islamic lore. Asmodeus is normally named Sakhr ( rock ) credibly a address to his destiny in coarse Islam-related belief, there, after Solomon defeated him, Asmodeus was imprisoned inside a box of rock, chained with iron, and thrown it into the sea. [ 45 ] In his sour Annals of al-Tabari, the celebrated Persian Quran exegete ( 224–310 AH ; 839–923 AD ) Tabari, referred to Asmodeus in Surah 38:34. consequently, the puppet is actually Asmodeus who took on the human body of Solomon for forty days, before Solomon defeated him. [ 46 ] Sakhr ( Asmodeus ) is consulted by Buluqiya, a young jewish prince, who tried to find the concluding prophet, Muhammad, in The Nights. During their conversation, he asked about hell, thereupon Asmodeus describes the different layers ( ṭabaqāt ) of hell. [ 47 ] [ 48 ]

In popular media [edit ]

Asmodeus is a recurring antagonist in the 13th season of The CW series Supernatural, portrayed primarily by Jeffrey Vincent Parise. Created by Lucifer himself, Asmodeus was in the first place a prince of Hell alongside siblings Azazel, Dagon, and Ramiel. Upon the death of Crowley, Asmodeus succeeds him as the King of Hell despite being Lucifer ‘s weakest creation. Asmodeus is killed in the episode “ Bring ’em Back Alive “ by the archangel Gabriel, whose grace Asmodeus had been feeding on to make himself stronger. [ 49 ] Asmodeus in the main antagonist of the supernatural horror film series Paranormal Activity. Primarily an spiritual world force, the overarching plat of the series sees the Midwives Coven serve Asmodeus in exchange for absolute office for themselves on Earth, opposed by the benevolent White Witches. The films typically follow diverse families who become haunted by Asmodeus, primarily known as “ Tobi ” ( after his old enemy Tobias of the Book of Tobit ), who stalks, terrifies and ultimately murders several members of the families and early bystanders during the course of the films. In his possess forms, Tobi was primarily portrayed by Katie Featherston from 2007 to 2014, deoxyadenosine monophosphate good as Andrew Jacobs, Mark Steger, Kirby Johnson, and Henry Ayres-Brown in subsequent films. In Geoffrey Household ‘s 1939 spy thriller Rogue Male, the protagonist forms a firm chemical bond with a stray guy that he names Asmodeus. In 1969 composer Josef Tal wrote an opera, Ashmedai, which is based on the Talmud. It premiered at the Hamburg State Opera in 1971, and was inaugural performed in the United States in 1976 at the New York City Opera in a product directed by Hal Prince. [ 50 ] The character ‘Asmodai ‘ in A. L. Mengel ‘s supernatural series The Tales of Tartarus ( 2013–2016 ) is based on the monster Asmodeus. The demon haunts the main supporter, Antoine, through the series of novels. Asmodeus appears in the television series The Librarians ( season 4, episode 10 ) as a blue-skinned, growling devil in knight ‘s armor and carrying a sword. Asmodeus besides features heavily in the lore of the game Dungeons & Dragons as the rule of the Nine Hells. Different editions of the game offer different backstories, ranging from aboriginal evil to fallen angel to ancient idol, but his character as the King of the Nine Hells is always the same. Asmodeus is besides present in the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game in a alike function to his D&D one. The main difference is that he is an actual idol, one of the nine original deities in the Great Beyond, and that his church is widespread in certain nations on Golarion. Asmodeus appears as Magnus Bane ‘s father and Prince of Hell, otherwise known as Edom on the one-third season of Freeform ‘s Shadowhunters television receiver series based on Cassandra Clare ‘s popular reserve series The Mortal Instruments. He is portrayed by Jack J. Yang. Asmodeus appears in the 1997 book Asmodeus – a Forkful of Tales from Devil’s Peak by Alex D’Angelo, illustrated by Tony Grogan. [ 51 ] One history “ Asmodeus and the Bottler of Djinns ” is included in the anthology Favorite African Folktales edited by Nelson Mandela, published by Norton and available as an audiobook. Asmodeus appears as a foreman in the VR game, In Death : Unchained. Asmodeus is the final boss in Mace: The Dark Age. In the video game Pony Island, Asmodeus appears in the manifestation of a “ demonic ” artificial intelligence. Asmodeus appears as a character in the otome game, Obey Me !. He is depicted as the Avatar of Lust and one of seven brothers representing the seven deadly sins. In the video recording game Helltaker, Asmodeus is portrayed as a Demon of Lust, Modeus. In Disenchantment, Asmodeus is introduced by Luci as “ Asmodium, Lord of Darkness ”, voiced by Phil LaMarr. Singer-songwriter Ethel Cain has the diagnose Ashmedai tattoo on her brow in Hebrew. Asmodeus appears in the one-seventh episode of the first season of Helluva Boss, voiced by James Monroe Iglehart. [ 52 ] According to datamines of the popular Open-world RPG Genshin Impact, the Unknown God, differently known as the “ Sustainer of Heavenly Principles ”, as she calls herself, is named Asmoday .

See besides [edit ]

References and sources [edit ]

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