I Solomon said unto him: Beelzeboul, what is thy employment? And he answered me: I destroy kings.35 I ally myself with foreign tyrants. And my own demons I set on36 to men, in order that the latter may believe in them and be lost. And the chosen servants of God, priests and faithful men, I excite unto desires for wicked sins, and evil heresies, and lawless deeds; and they obey me, and I bear them on to destruction. And I inspire men with envy, and [desire for] murder, and for wars and sodomy, and other evil things. And I will destroy the world.37 35. [D: I bring destruction by means of tyrants] 36. [D: to be worshipped] 37. [So MS P. D reads simply I bring about jealousies and murders in a country, and I instigate wars.] 28. So I said to him: Bring to me thy child, who is, as thou sayest, in the Red Sea. But he said to me: I will not bring him to thee. But there shall come to me another demon called Ephippas38. Him will I bind, and he will bring him up from the deep unto me. And I said to him: How comes thy son to be in the depth of the sea, and what is his name? And he answered me: Ask me not, for thou canst not learn from me. However, he will come to thee by any command, and will tell thee openly.39 38. [According to D, Ephippas is an Arabian wind demon.] 39. [D adds: So I said to him, Tell me in which star you reside. The one called by men the Evening Star.] 29. I said to him: Tell me by what angel thou art frustrated. And he answered: By the holy and precious name of the Almighty God, called by the Hebrews by a row of numbers, of which the sum is 644, and among the Greeks it is Emmanuel1. And if one of the Romans adjure me by the great name of the power Eleéth, I disappear at once. 1. The text must be faulty, for the word Emmanuel is the Hebrew. The sum 644 is got by adding together the Greek numbers. 30. I Solomon was astounded when I heard this; and I ordered him to saw up Theban1 marbles. And when he began to saw the marbles, the other demons cried out with a loud voice, howling because of their king Beelzeboul.
Posted on: Sun, 19 Oct 2014 00:31:48 +0000
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